In This Issue:  | | • | U.C. ON THE BRINK: Another increase in 'fees' hits students hard, but the system itself may now be at risk. | | | • | GROUP CALLS FOR PILOT SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE EASTSIDE | | | • | VETERAN SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS WIN BACK SENIORITY RIGHTS IN L.A. UNIFIED | | | • | STATE'S SCHOOL FUNDING PROCESS IS FAILING: The way California doles out money to K-12 education isn't merely inefficient and ineffective, it's insane. | | | • | 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: | | | | "Education should be a priority for California and not "sold" off to the highest bidder like LAUSD is doing with charter schools."
The above quote came from an LA Times blog post from the student protests at UCLA over the tuition hikes; it was edited/updated-out of later postings. [http://bit.ly/2Or9rP]
Omar Khayyam tells us: "The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it."
Tying the fee hike to the LAUSD giveaway seems a cheap shot. It ties loose ends that may not belong together -- one can understand The Times' desire to cancel half a line; they oppose the tuition hikes (see UC ON THE BRINK, following) but support (for the most part) the giveaway …if only there was some more accountability!
But the ends do need to be tied.
The ongoing dismantling of the Master Plan for California Education, as pursued by the Regents in Covey Commons last week and the politicos in Sacramento for the past decades seems at first blush a worse offense than the giveaway of LAUSD — but in truth both are part+parcel of the same affront.
Both are elements of the "privatize-the-beast" strategy of disassembly-and-call-it-decentralization going on. In our rush to form Public-Private Partnerships to operate Public Education we have lost track not just of the budget but of the goals and the desired outcome.
That outcome isn't AYP or API or college readiness or 100% graduation; those are buzz word/catch phrase/sound bytes. The goal is lives of passion, purpose and meaning for the students of this district, now and into the future.
Current business modeling is focused on the bottom line and the short-term outcomes of the budget/election/business cycle; public education is a long term investment that only begins to pay off after twenty-plus years. As an overseer of the public's investment in school construction bonds - which have a term as long as thirty years - I think the public (i.e.: parents and voters and taxpayers) get this. Their elected representatives? Slow learners/left behind.
IT IS, AFTER ALL, PUBLIC EDUCATION; not "Privatized Education" or "Public-Private Partnership Education".
Probably our most conservative founding father, John Adams wrote: "The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it," …here Adams pauses, anticipating Bill Gates, Eli Broad and Steve Barr; "…not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." There is room and need, gentle readers, for philanthropy and partnership, but not at the expense of private control of public education.
We are struggling mightily to prepare our LAUSD students for post-secondary education; "College Ready" is our mantra --and the colleges and universities of the California system: Community Colleges, CSU and UC - are destinations of choice. However (it is always 'however…') it has become more and more clear that they are not ready for our kids. And that those programs are being priced beyond their grasp.
The regents seemed to get their public interest mission properly aligned on partnering with the MLK Hospital - it's too bad they missed the tuition+funding point entirely as trustees for a public university. Students are being asked to pay more and get less …and this is applying business practices in the public sector? Is this why a private university MBA is worth more in the job market than a public university one?
Public Education is a right even though it is enshrined nowhere in the National Archives. It is an evolving right - the K and the 9-through-12 part of K-12 are 20th century developments. Maybe the current developments in K-12 are evolutionary - already we are seeing a movement in Eastside of LA to create a zone-of-choice and pilot schools within the Public School Choice framework [GROUP CALLS FOR PILOT SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE EASTSIDE]. But pilot schools and the Belmont Zone of Choice are Inside LAUSD models.
Let me reprise my argument made previously:
• We are obsessed with being Data Driven - yet seem to ignore the data as it applies to charter schools.
• LAUSD has more charter schools than anywhere else and little to show for it.
• The CREDO Stanford Study [http://bit.ly/YkG8o] and the NAEP data crunched by Diane Ravitch in her article cited below [OBAMA AND DUNCAN ARE WRONG ABOUT CHARTERS] tell us that charters aren't working.
• The Johns Hopkins data from Philadelphia [http://www.csos.jhu.edu/new/AERA_2006.pdf]- where charter operators took over underperforming neighborhood schools - tell us that those "EMO" schools underperform both charters and regular schools - and this is the Mayor's Partnership/Green Dot-at-Locke model that the Public School Choice Resolution attempts to replicate.
MEANWHILE it sorta seems like déjà vu and the Houston public schools special relationship with the Bush II administration: The Chicago Public Schools-US Department of Education tie-in is shaken as the President of the Chicago Board of Ed apparently commits suicide …and there may be some funny business between the Obama Administration, AmeriCorps and a charter school run by Sacramento mayor/NBA star Kevin Johnson … who just got engaged to DC schools superintendent Michelle Rhee. If Public Education is Tragedy and LAUSD is Farce, the goings-on in the US Dept of Ed approach Soap Opera: Bi-coastal Romance… Intrigue… Basketball.
¡Onward thankfully/Adelante gracias a Dios! - smf
U.C. ON THE BRINK: Another increase in 'fees' hits students hard, but the system itself may now be at risk.
L.A. Times Editorial
November 21, 2009 -- Sorry to say, the University of California Board of Regents took the easiest route possible out of its crushing financial dilemma Thursday by placing the burden squarely on the shoulders of students. We can't help wondering whether the regents understand that the nearly one-third increase in undergraduate tuition -- it's time to dispense with the euphemism of "fees" for UC students -- could prove the tipping point for the nation's greatest public university system, including its star campus, UC Berkeley, the top-ranked public university in the world.
UC is still cheap, relatively speaking, though its tuition is higher than average for public colleges. Even tuition of more than $10,000, which will start next year at UC, compares well with the $26,300 average at private universities and colleges. But that's more than twice what it was a decade ago, meaning it grew at four times the rate of inflation. And room and board at UC costs another $14,000 or so, about the same as at private schools.
UC has long drawn the best and brightest from all the socioeconomic strata in California, especially among the middle class, whose incomes were too high for financial aid at private universities. But private schools have pumped up their merit-based scholarships in recent years to attract top students. Once those awards are figured in, there's not much difference between UC and a private college except that UC also has been reducing class offerings to the point where students are finding it hard to get into courses they need. And as Times staff writer Larry Gordon reported, some private colleges already are using the cutbacks to recruit students away from the state's public universities.
A 32% higher price for bigger classes and less chance of a seat in desired courses won't sound like a bargain to many potential students. This isn't just a matter of easing up on families, many of whom face their own financial crises these days. UC's ability to draw top academic talent is at stake, and with that, its prestige. We all know that once prices are raised, they seldom reverse course, but the regents should not see this increase as a permanent UC entitlement. The board should consider this an emergency increase, to be lifted as soon as possible.
Some kind of fee increase was inevitable. The state's budget ax has fallen heavily on UC, and families had to expect to share some of the pain. But there were ways to soften the blow, including by greatly expanding plans to recruit and enroll more out-of-state students, who pay higher tuition, and brokering a deal with Sacramento to temporarily reduce overall enrollment without losing funding. Such measures would be easy to calibrate up or down as future needs demand, and they are more likely to be reversed in better times than the newly approved tuition increase.
GROUP CALLS FOR PILOT SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE EASTSIDE
By Gloria Angelina Castillo, EGP Staff Writer [Eastside Sun / Northeast Sun / Mexican American Sun / Bell Gardens Sun / City Terrace Comet / Commerce Comet / Montebello Comet / Monterey Park Comet / ELA Brookyln Belvedere Comet / Wyvernwood Chronicle / Vernon Sun]
November 19, 2009 - Meeting near the fenced entrance to the new Esteban E. Torres High School in East Los Angeles, parents, students, organizers, educators and former Congressman Torres himself on Nov. 13 called on the community to embrace empowerment and expand Pilot Schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
The Torres high school in unincorporated East Los Angeles is scheduled to open in September 2010. Some Eastside residents want it to be modeled after the Belmont Zone of Choice, Lizette Patron of InnerCity Struggle told EGP.
The group, in addition to InnerCity Struggle, included La Causa Youth Build, SEIU 99, Volunteers of East LA (VELA), and Father Rigoberto Rodriguez of Guadalupe Church. They say they want both Torres and Garfield high school campuses to become “East Los Angeles Education Empowerment Zones of Choice,” thereby allowing students and their parents the choose the school that better suits their aspirations, rather than district imposed attendance areas.
“This zone will give parents and students the choice to decide what school they would like to attend in East LA,” Maria Brenes, executive director of InnerCity Struggle, said. “This zone will give all students access to the classes they need to go to college. This zone will give parents, students and teachers a stronger voice in our schools.”
The Belmont Zone of Choice schools are proof that pilot schools work to improve academic achievement and they want the same for East LA, said Brenes.
Belmont Zone of Choice Schools are theme based college prep schools based on the Boston Pilot School Network. Some of the Belmont Zone of Choice Schools are: the Los Angeles High School of the Arts (LAHSA) on the Belmont campus, the Civitas School of Leadership (Civitas Sol) on the Roybal Learning Complex campus, the Academic Leadership Community High School (ALC) on the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex campus, and the Los Angeles Teacher Preparatory High School (LATP) on the Belmont campus.
Those present called for collaboration between LAUSD and the teachers’ union to make sure East LA gets pilot schools.
“We want to start a new tradition at Esteban E. Torres High School of academic excellence,” Brenes said.
A retired congressman and Garfield High School alum, Torres told the audience he supports the pilot system being implemented at the school named after him, and encouraged the crowd to continue fighting for change.
“This empowerment zone is key to bringing about a pilot school here and at other places still organizing themselves,” Torres said in Spanish. “But you, as parents, as teachers, and as students need to work together, unite to bring about this vision, because the programming and planning for this school is in your hands.”
In an editorial, published on Nov. 5 in EGP newspapers, Torres said he supports Empowerment Zones at eastside schools, because he remembers when California was known for having one of the best educational systems in the country. Today, they rank 50th. Making matters worse, in East LA only 45 percent of incoming freshmen graduate within four years, he said.
LAUSD School Board Vice President Yolie Flores Aguilar, who authored the Small School Resolution, also supports the effort.
“It [the educational model] should be what the community asks for and it should be what’s in the best interest of the students. If a pilot presents to this community the best educational model than that’s what they should have. But if a charter school presents to the parents and to the students what they believe will help them achieve and excel and go on to college and have a great career, than that should be the option. This is about creating more choices and more options for parents and not limiting for them what’s available to their children. Every parent wants the absolute best for their child so lets open up the world of possibilities, demand excellence, and have the community’s voice be part of the process,” Flores Aguilar told EGP.
She noted that just like LAUSD has failing and good schools, there are also charters that have failing and excelling schools.
“My hope is that we look past what the institution is and to what is going to be offered to students. To me, that’s the most important thing,” she said.
Alejandra Muñoz, who has a student at Griffith Middle School, said everyone should support the pilot schools.
“Our community dreams of having a new educational system that guarantees our children will graduate prepared for college and good jobs. An Educational Empowerment Zone for East Los Angeles offers new hope for the future of our children and our community, said Muñoz.
Muñoz said this is the first time parents and students are being given an opportunity to choose the school of their dreams.
The plan calls for five schools, each with less than 500 students, located on the Torres high school campus, as well as a series of small learning communities at Garfield.
María León, a local mother, said the pilot schools will help prepare students to go to college
.
“[We have to] work with the school district to move ahead. We already see that traditional schools aren’t working, and we want to work with those schools to improve them, … said León.
VETERAN SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS WIN BACK SENIORITY RIGHTS IN L.A. UNIFIED
by Howard Blume | LA Times Online
November 19, 2009 | 8:41 am -- Veteran substitute teachers in Los Angeles will get more work and a shot at keeping their health benefits after the teachers union approved an agreement restoring their seniority rights.
The agreement approved Wednesday night puts back in place a system that gives the most experienced substitutes the first shot at jobs when regular teachers call in sick within the Los Angeles Unified School District. That traditional system had been altered in June under a one-year pact between district officials and A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, the district’s teachers union.
That pact gave priority in substitute assignments to former full-time teachers who had been laid off July 1 because of budget cuts. About 1,800 laid-off teachers signed on as substitutes; the district uses about 2,200 substitutes per day. The specifics of the deal, which came to light two months later, caused immediate outrage among veteran substitutes and also among many full-time teachers. They said they objected both to the treatment of their part-time colleagues and to the idea that seniority rights could be so easily and quickly abrogated.
Duffy insisted that he signed the June pact to benefit district students. The laid-off teachers would have incentive to remain with L.A. Unified as substitutes, he said, stabilizing school staffs that were subject to massive turnover because of the layoffs. But Duffy also said he would abide by the decision of the union if it wished to restore seniority.
When UTLA’s governing House of Representatives did just that in October, Duffy asked the school district to reopen negotiations. After some initial resistance, the district agreed to tear up the June deal. And last night, the union’s House of Representatives overwhelmingly ratified the restoration of seniority.
The laid-off teachers are still likely to get work because full-time teachers can request any substitute by name. The veteran substitutes now hope there’s enough time and opportunity for them to work at least 100 days this year -- that’s the minimum required to earn health benefits.
Overall work opportunities are down for a number of reasons: the larger pool of substitutes, larger class sizes (and thus fewer classes), fewer year-round schools and shrinking enrollment.
For now, at least, the veteran substitutes are celebrating.
“This is a landmark decision,” substitute Audrey Linden wrote in an e-mail. “A handful of substitutes, since the end of August, worked diligently without ceasing and we got back the rights for all the substitute teachers.” She added: “I will not complain about being woken up at 5:30 a.m. ever again.”
STATE'S SCHOOL FUNDING PROCESS IS FAILING: The way California doles out money to K-12 education isn't merely inefficient and ineffective, it's insane.
By Michael Hiltzik | LA Times Finance Columnist
November 19, 2009 - Anyone who has spent time in or around government, from the deeply embedded bureaucrat to the young policy wonk, knows that there are two important issues in funding a public program.
One, is it getting enough money? Two, is the money being spent wisely?
On both counts, California's method of financing its schools gets a big fat F. On a per-pupil basis, our schools are among the most poorly funded in the country, and no one can be sure that the money they do get serves its purpose.
Ask those who have devoted time to examining the system: The way this state doles out money to K-12 education isn't merely inefficient and ineffective, it's insane.
This is the standard opinion of economists, education experts and business leaders. Eric Hanushek, an economist at the conservative Hoover Institution, told me he finds the system "just crazy." UC Davis education professor Thomas Timar calls it "completely disconnected from reality."
The system is so infested with complexities, state mandates and unaccountability that Ted Mitchell, president of the state Board of Education and former president of Occidental College, says that "it's remarkable that school administrators can open the doors of their schools on a daily basis."
We treat this problem lightly at our peril. California's economic future depends on the effectiveness of its schools. Corporate managers whine constantly about the declining qualifications of young people seeking jobs.
Hanushek says he has personally warned Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that "if California is going to continue to be a hotbed of innovations and entrepreneurship, it's going to do it with people it imports from other states and other countries, because our schools aren't up to maintaining the level of innovation we need."
Adding to the urgency, California's education policies are so dysfunctional that the state risks being entirely shut out in the competition for
$4.35 billion in federal grants to stimulate innovation in education, so-called Race to the Top funds to be handed out early next year.
Although the state funding system is byzantine, explaining how we got here is pretty simple. The first step was a pair of state Supreme Court decisions in the 1970s Serrano vs. Priest case, which required the state to reduce disparities in education funding between rich and poor school districts. Then came 1978's Proposition 13, which cut the guts out of the property tax, the source of 60% of school funding at that time.
In response to these events, the state largely took over responsibility for school funding from local authorities. Pre-Serrano and Proposition 13, the state provided 34% of K-12 funding, Timar says. Today it's 67%.
The real problem is that the Legislature dictates how 40% of that state share can be spent -- it's "restricted," in educational parlance. By some estimates there are more than 130 separate state mandates, including requirements for teacher training, special education and programs for non-English-speaking pupils. Restricted funds pay for the class-size reductions ordered, during a fiscal surplus, by Gov. Pete Wilson. The state earmarks funds for districts to spend on textbooks, but only on textbooks approved by the state.
Not all of this is bad. Some mandates have broad support from districts, teachers and parents. And district administrators appreciate how earmarking funds rather than providing them as block grants keeps them from being entirely consumed by teacher salary increases in union contract talks.
Yet the Legislature's tendency to promulgate one-size-fits-all policies puts local administrators in an intolerable position.
"There are a thousand different school districts in California, one with 700,000 students [Los Angeles, actually with 688,000] and 50 with fewer than 100 students," Hanushek observes. No one could fashion a regulatory scheme applying equally well to each, he says.
Moreover, the system holds local schools hostage to the state's roller-coaster fiscal cycle and chuckleheaded budget policies in Sacramento.
Consider what happened after Schwarzenegger slashed the car tax in 2003. That money (this year it would have been more than $6 billion) had been going to cities and counties. In the aftermath of the cutback, the state made the localities whole by handing over to them property taxes that had been going to school districts, then covered the districts' loss from the general fund -- which made it look like the state was giving the schools more money.
Can you follow this? Me neither. "This is the only state where a tax cut shows up as increased spending for schools in the state budget," says Rick Pratt, a finance expert at the California School Boards Assn.
Possibly the most baleful effect of this system is that it destroys local communities' interest in their own schools.
"It's pretty clear that participation in school board elections has decreased, because people feel they don't have a stake in the game anymore," Mitchell says. "That's even true of people with kids in the school district."
Where does our "pro-education governor" stand on all this? Schwarzenegger's most recent initiative on school policy came Oct. 12. That day he vetoed a measure creating a panel to draft a finance reform bill, dismissing it, nastily, as "yet another working group" providing "the appearance of activity without actually translating to achievement." (Does anyone know more about that style of governing than Schwarzenegger?)
The governor's veto message did touch on one inescapable fact: The state's school-financing process has been studied nearly to death. From 1999 to 2002, five separate study commissions proposed master plans to improve the administration of public education. In April 2005 Schwarzenegger impaneled the Governor’s Committee on Education Excellence, proclaiming that "there is no issue more important to me." The panel, which Mitchell chaired, helped launch an 18-month survey of state education policies titled "Getting Down to Facts."
The panel proposed in 2007 to streamline mandates, give local administrators more flexibility in spending to go with their accountability for results (today the state controls the money but the locals are on the hook for performance) and delink the school funding process from the annual budget cabaret in Sacramento. But its program was "DOA" in the Legislature, Mitchell says, because additional spending was needed for a transition to a new funding and governance system, and the state budget was in the red.
The bill vetoed by Schwarzenegger was designed to move the reform process again off square one by creating "a final bill," says its sponsor, Assemblywoman Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica).
"For years we've said this is a problem, and for years the governor and the Legislature haven't done anything about it," she told me.
The need is desperate. Californians don't understand how badly our schools are shortchanged, because it's impossible to track the education dollar and determine whether it's being spent effectively. If we had a more rational and transparent funding process, we'd see not only where our money should go to get the biggest bang for the buck, but also how much more we need to invest to get the world-class education system we deserve.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
CELLPHONES IN SCHOOLS: FLIP 'EM OPEN: EdWeek Commentary By Matt Levinson Published Online: November 20, 2009 | .. http://bit.ly/08iBTlH
Hiltzik on WWLA/KCRW: CALIFORNIA SCHOOL FUNDING SYSTEM 'RIDICULOUSLY COMPLEX': LA Times LA Now Blog | November .. http://bit.ly/08BtU2F
wsj: THE EDSEL OF EDUCATION REFORM - The Ford Foundation finds a needy cause: teachers unions.: Wall Street Jou.. http://bit.ly/07AcfL0
No budget/No clue: RED INK IN THE GOLDEN STATE: Letters to the LA Times 11/20 Re “State facin.. http://bit.ly/08pPSo3
REPUBLICANS CRITICIZE DISMISSAL OF AMERICORPS WATCHDOG: A GOP report contends that the Obama White House was po.. http://bit.ly/3ywp1Q
BRIEFLY: Education Headlines from L.A. Now: UCLA students end a day of protest over fee hikes 11/19/2009, 8:14 .. http://bit.ly/2XvnkF
PARCELING PAIN: The ghost of proposed parcel tax returns to haunt L.A. homeowners: LA Daily News Editorial 20 N.. http://bit.ly/1v9HVc
GROUP CALLS FOR PILOT SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE EASTSIDE: Grupo Quiere Nueva Tradición de Rendimiento Excelente, Com.. http://bit.ly/2IqHpY
Headlines that say it all: MIAMI-DADE SCHOOL BOARD BANS SCHOOL BUS DRIVERS FROM TEXTING WHILE DRIVING: …just li.. http://bit.ly/4e3poS
THE PLAYERS ARE REVEALED FOR REFORMING SAN FERNANDO MIDDLE SCHOOL: Written by Diana Martinez, Editor | San Fern.. http://bit.ly/383GIm
ADVOCATING PUBLIC EDUCATION ROUNDUP: from the solidaridad blog by Robert D. Skeels Monday, November 16, 2009 --.. http://bit.ly/3fHXzu
THE CALIFORNIA MODEL …as seen by the students of Arizona State University: By: Editorial Board of The State Pre.. http://bit.ly/2Vqhlu
No budget/No clue: CALIFORNIA FACES A PROJECTED DEFICIT OF $21 BILLION: "Less than four month.. http://bit.ly/YeAat
STUDENTS STORM UCLA BUILDING TO PROTEST FEE HIKE "Education should be a priority for California and not 'sold' .. http://bit.ly/2Or9rP
VETERAN SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS WIN BACK SENIORITY RIGHTS IN L.A. UNIFIED: by Howard Blume | LA Times Online Novemb.. http://bit.ly/39lW46
STATE'S SCHOOL FUNDING PROCESS IS FAILING: "The way this state doles out money to K-12 education isn't merely i.. http://bit.ly/3pHUui
CAL STATE TRUSTEES APPROVE BUDGET; SEEK $884 MILLION IN SUPPORT. PROTESTERS RALLY OUTSIDE LONG BEACH HEADQUARTE.. http://bit.ly/2dENd0
COMMUNITY COLLEGES TO GET BACK TO BASICS: KCBS’ (SF Bay Area) Barbara Taylor Reports: 18 Nov 2009 -- SAN FRAN.. http://bit.ly/22al9T
UC EXPECTED TO RAISE STUDENT FEES 32%: Regents are expected to approve yet another increase, arguing it's neede.. http://bit.ly/m4P83
CTA WEIGHS BALLOT MEASURES TARGETING BIG BUSINESS TO FUND SCHOOLS: CapitolAlert -The latest on California polit.. http://bit.ly/2LY3Zm
31st CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT STUDENT ART COMPETITION: Nicolas Rodriquez writes 4LAKids 2009 Winner Joshua Fraust.. http://bit.ly/2AU1Mb
SUPERINTENDENT’S BOARD INFORMATIVE RE LETTERS OF INTENT RE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE - 17 Nov 2009: Psc Letters of I.. http://bit.ly/3COxzN
Briefly: CHICAGO SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT COMMITS SUICIDE: By EMMA GRAVES FITZSIMMONS | NY Times Michael W. Scott.. http://bit.ly/2rHg1G
OBAMA AND DUNCAN ARE WRONG ABOUT CHARTERS: from Bridging Differences in Ed Week By Diane Ravitch on November .. http://bit.ly/204z3G
FUNDING CUTS MAY LEAVE GIFTED KIDS BEHIND: By Cheri Carlson | Ventura County Star Photo by Juan Carlo - Fifth-.. http://bit.ly/2kIdqa
NEW CELL TOWER NEAR TAPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DRAWS FIRE: San Pedro parents, residents join officials to protest .. http://bit.ly/47pPf9
CORTINES NOV 13 LETTER: “Dear LAUSD Union Presidents . . .”: Friday the Thirteenth, Be afraid, be very afraid http://bit.ly/318rhu
Ed Coalition: PARENTS, STUDENTS, EDUCATORS, SCHOOL EMPLOYEES AND OTHERS STAND UP FOR CALIFORNIA’S SCHOOLS DURIN.. http://bit.ly/4CHdoF
Public School Choice - CORTINES TO CHOOSE BETWEEN MAYOR TONY AND UTLA: He used to work for one, he’s in contrac.. http://bit.ly/2GtdLP
The ‘09-‘10 Contract: UTLA SAYS “NO WAY”: Teachers Say LAUSD's "Terror Tactics" Won't Work - Superintendent: "T.. http://bit.ly/1xoAlx
MELODY ROSS (1993 – 2009) ‘What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground?’: In her profile on the murde.. http://bit.ly/1ImQRW
TWO WORLDS ON ONE CAMPUS: The adversarial aura remains as students at Daniel Pearl journalism magnet high schoo.. http://bit.ly/1mvwr8
YOU WONDER WHERE THE MONEY WENT WHEN LAUSD DOESN’T SPEND IT WHERE IT’S MEANT: Stuart Goldurs, LA Public Educati.. http://bit.ly/v0vB1
SCHOOLS GRAPPLE WITH SUBGROUPS AND STANDARDIZED TESTING:: 11/13/2009, 11:23 pm Melissa Garzanelli, The Times (O.. http://bit.ly/1rrPjf
MOST KIDS LEFT BEHIND + FEDERAL RESEARCHERS FIND LOWER STANDARDS IN SCHOOLS: New evidence shows that the Bush a.. http://bit.ly/3ITCSX
CORTINES: MORE LAUSD CUTS NEEDED: City News Service Saturday, November 14, 2009 -- LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Los Ang.. http://bit.ly/488gjl
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
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385
Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
...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.
• If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE.
• If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT.
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