The Centenarian in the Arena

4LAKids:24|25•April•2010 Parent Summit+Book Fest In This Issue: • 14TH ANNUAL PARENT SUMMIT and InfoTECH 2010 • LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS • ESCALANTE’S SUCCESS LIVES ON: Glimmers of high achievement are still evident on the eastside campus long after the famed math instructor left Garfield • SPENDING FLEXIBLITY. YES, BUT AT WHOSE EXPENSE? • 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: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • 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. "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." – Theodore Roosevelt – from his address “Citizenship in a Republic”, http://bit.ly/9wA10Q delivered in The Sorbonne on April 23, 1910. The celebrated 'Man in the Arena' passage above calls across the century, a call to arms and an indictment of inaction and a damnation of criticism and cynicism for c+c's sake. Its language is stilted - by not including women it could be labeled misogynistic, sexist or anti-feminist – but to take that path is to wrap oneself in the critic's mantle and slither down the very slippery slope the Roosevelt of 1910 describes! I recommend reading the speech in it's entirety.http://bit.ly/9wA10Q It is steeped in what would later be Churchill's 'blood, toil, tears and sweat'– and with plenty of testosterone to boot. In the alchemy of power these elements are best used in moderation – and that may be Roosevelt's subtext. If Kipling realizes/idealizes the fin de siècle Imperial British Democratic Subject, Roosevelt gives us the Franco-American Republican Citizen. TR touches on many aspects of citizenship in a republic – because I know many 4LAKids readers won't read the suggested assignment entire I'm going to violate the context to touch on the ones about: PEACE AND WAR: “War is a dreadful thing, and unjust war is a crime against humanity. But it is such a crime because it is unjust, not because it is war.”. POWER & PROPERTY: “My position as regards the moneyed interests can be put in a few words. In every civilized society property rights must be carefully safeguarded; ordinarily, and in the great majority of cases, human rights and property rights are fundamentally and in the long run identical; but when it clearly appears that there is a real conflict between them, human rights must have the upper hand, for property belongs to man and not man to property.”. EQUITY & EQUALITY/SOCIALISM & SOCIAL JUSTICE: “But we should not take part in acting a lie any more than in telling a lie. We should not say that men are equal where they are not equal, nor proceed upon the assumption that there is an equality where it does not exist; but we should strive to bring about a measurable equality, at least to the extent of preventing the inequality which is due to force or fraud.” ... “[I]it is foolish to reject a proposal merely because it is advanced by visionaries. If a given scheme is proposed, look at it on its merits, and, in considering it, disregard formulas. It does not matter in the least who proposes it, or why. If it seems good, try it. If it proves good, accept it; otherwise reject it. There are plenty of men calling themselves Socialists with whom, up to a certain point, it is quite possible to work. If the next step is one which both we and they wish to take, why of course take it, without any regard to the fact that our views as to the tenth step may differ. But, on the other hand, keep clearly in mind that, though it has been worth while to take one step, this does not in the least mean that it may not be highly disadvantageous to take the next. It is just as foolish to refuse all progress because people demanding it desire at some points to go to absurd extremes, as it would be to go to these absurd extremes simply because some of the measures advocated by the extremists were wise.” And the horse we rode in on: EDUCATION: “Let those who have, keep, let those who have not, strive to attain, a high standard of cultivation and scholarship. Yet let us remember that these stand second to certain other things. There is need of a sound body, and even more need of a sound mind. But above mind and above body stands character—the sum of those qualities which we mean when we speak of a man's force and courage, of his good faith and sense of honor. I believe in exercise for the body, always provided that we keep in mind that physical development is a means and not an end. I believe, of course, in giving to all the people a good education. But the education must contain much besides book-learning in order to be really good. We must ever remember that no keenness and subtleness of intellect, no polish, no cleverness, in any way make up for the lack of the great solid qualities. Self-restraint, self-mastery, common sense, the power of accepting individual responsibility and yet of acting in conjunction with others, courage and resolution—these are the qualities which mark a masterful people. Without them no people can control itself, or save itself from being controlled from the outside. I speak to a brilliant assemblage; I speak in a great university which represents the flower of the highest intellectual development; I pay all homage to intellect, and to elaborate and specialized training of the intellect; and yet I know I shall have the assent of all of you present when I add that more important still are the commonplace, every-day qualities and virtues.” _____________________ ► This weekend is the LAUSD PARENT SUMMIT: a daylong event on Saturday - April 24th at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90015. Schedule an agenda: http://bit.ly/bUP87O ► and the LA TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS; Saturday & Sunday, April 24-25, 2010 at UCLA http://bit.ly/ay2ITD ►Next Week is the CALIFORNIA STATE PTA CONVENTION in Sacramento. http://bit.ly/aA9Vbh I hope to see everyone at one or the other, A special tip o' th' 4LAKids chapeau (and my heartfelt entreaty to get a life!) to anyone else at all three! _____________________ AGAINST THE BACKDROP OF THE FESTIVAL OF BOOKS let us remember that the current proposed LAUSD budget proposes to eliminate Library Aides in elementary schools ...unless individual schools elect to find the money to keep them! I'm going to go all cynical and call that a cynical attempt to cut the budget in a masquerade of 'local control': “We poor board members & superintendent didn't cut your librarians and close your libraries; you did! We would never do such a thing! Here's not enough money, make it work... but don't fail to meet API/AYP!” • Sometime really bad ideas - like closing all small schools because thyy're small - just go away; that happened this week. • The "stop us before we cut again" strategy was used against intermural sports and thye City Section – and the LA sports cartel came together to save those programs this week. • Who will save libraries and arts programs and music? There is no more important classroom in a school than the Library. Or the Art Room. Or the Band Room. One must shout 'enough-is-enough' especially when there isn't enough. It's not either/or ...it must be this-and-more. School libraries are not optional. When we build schools libraries are considered core facilities; to not staff them is as egregious an educational failure as to not put teachers in classrooms. 'Library Aides' is a misnomer; a work-around from previous rounds of sharp-penciled/green eye-shaded contract-compromising, budgeteering and underfunding. Library Aides are nothing less than Elementary School Librarians. They maintain the collections, catalog the books, supervise the library and its budget, work with teachers and children and parents to put books into the hands of young readers. And the content of books into young minds. They are professionals; they teach. Labor laws are quite explicit – you cannot lay off employees and replace them with 'volunteers' - whether teachers in their 'free time' or parents - no matter how well meaning. The courts will require that back pay be paid to laid off and voluntarily replaced workers. Interest and penalties will be assessed. Libraries without librarians will need to be closed and/or their collections dispersed to classrooms. Large holes will be introduced into the educations of the quite small. Young people will not meet Harry Potter, The Boxcar Children, Henry and Ramona and Beezus; Ishmael and Captains Ahab, Courageous and Underpants. David Copperfield will only be a Vegas magician. The Achievement Gap will widen. The Festival of Books – rather than an Imaginarium of the Possibilities – will become a celebration of another time like the Renaissance Faire. Gadzooks+Forsooth and Onward/Adelante! -smf _____________________ AccaDeca + CALIFORNIA DISTINGUISHED SCHOOLS: The El Camino Real High School decathletes, representing LAUSD and the State of California is competing in Omaha as this issue goes out. To them we send our high expectations and wishes for good luck and all the right answers. You are champions. As are all the California Distinguished School honorees announced this week: Amanecer Primary Center; Antonio Maria Lugo Academy; Arroyo Seco Museum Science Magnet; Camino Nuevo Charter Academy; Celerity Troika Charter; Colfax Avenue Elementary; Crescendo Charter Preparatory West; Franklin Avenue Elementary; Harvard Elementary; Hollywood Primary Center; Kentwood Elementary; Lomita Math/Science Magnet; Madison Elementary; Maywood Elementary; Milagro Charter; Park Western Place Elementary; Plummer Elementary; Reseda Elementary; Robert Hill Lane; Roscomare Road Elementary; Serrania Elementary; Seventh Street Elementary; West Hollywood Elementary; Wonderland Avenue Elementary; Fifty-fourth Street Elementary and 122nd Street Elementary. 14TH ANNUAL PARENT SUMMIT and InfoTECH 2010 This daylong event on April 24th at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90015, will serve to engage and inform parents and the community regarding current educational initiatives and programs, family and school partnerships, and District resources. Parents can select from more than 40 different workshops, which will include teaching parents in-home literacy and strategies to support homework, explanations of state and federal legislation, information to assist parents of children with special needs, and information on community resources. The District's annual InfoTech Conference, showcasing the use of student technology in the classroom, takes place during the morning hours of the Parent Summit. LAUSD teachers throughout the District are expanding student learning with the innovative use of instructional technology. Across subject areas and grade levels, teachers are engaging students with video conferencing, podcasting, interactive white boards, voting devices, animation, web-based applications, and collaborative tools. Don't miss the opportunity to show your students support. Watch them reveal their enthusiasm for learning. This year's Parent Summit and InfoTech will also include participation by the Superintendent, members of the Board of Education, and other elected officials. 14TH ANNUAL PARENT SUMMIT and InfoTECH 2010 :: Schedule and Agenda LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS The annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will be held Saturday & Sunday, April 24-25, 2010 at UCLA 405 Hilgard Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90024 Map of the Festival: http://bit.ly/bRhahF Hours Saturday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Sunday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year. WHO ATTENDS THE FESTIVAL? - People of all ages from across Southern California and even other parts of the country. The festival is a free public event, and includes exciting author events, storytelling, cooking demonstrations and poetry readings. The Festival of Books also includes nearly 300 exhibitor booths representing booksellers, publishers, literacy and cultural organizations. WHO EXHIBITS? - Booksellers, publishers, literacy and cultural organizations sell and promote books and book-related merchandise and distribute related information. Many of the independent booksellers participating in the festival represent the diverse ethnic and cultural communities of Los Angeles and sell books of different languages and genres. WHO IS SPEAKING AT THE FESTIVAL? - Almost 100 author panels and events planned by the festival programming committee are held indoors in lecture halls. In addition, outdoor readings, storytelling and presentations are held on the Target Children’s Stage, the Los Angeles Times Stage, the Cooking Stage, the Etc. Stage, the YA Stage and the Poetry Stage. Authors’ discussions and readings will cover diverse interests including fiction, science, biography, politics, and more. HOW CAN I ATTEND AN AUTHOR EVENT? -Please refer to the 2010 Festival of Books program guide, which will be published in The Times on Sunday, April 18, 2010, or click here for more ticketing info. HOW CAN I ATTEND ONE OF MANY OUTDOOR EVENTS? - These events are free and have open seating, available on first-come, first-served basis. WILL I HAVE A CHANCE TO HAVE ONE OF MY BOOKS SIGNED? - The festival committee plans almost 100 panel discussions and readings, featuring nearly 450 authors. All Festival of Books authors are asked to remain after their event(s) for at least one hour to sign copies of their books at official festival book-signing areas. The books of each festival author signing in the Los Angeles Times Signing Areas are available for sale at the signing areas, and you may purchase these books while in line to get your books signed. WHAT DO YOU HAVE FOR CHILDREN? - The outdoor Target Children’s Stage will feature storytelling and readings for children. The YA Stage features panels and talks for teens and tweens. There are dozens of booths featuring children’s books, toys and art. In addition, there will be several activities coordinated by educational and cultural groups and costumed characters on the festival grounds. No tickets are required for these events. SCHEDULE INFORMATION: SATURDAY Target's Children Stage Carl Reiner, author of "Tell Me a Silly Story," at 11 a.m. Bernadette Peters, author of "Stella Is a Star!," at 12:40 p.m. Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul & Mary fame, author of several books, including "Puff, the Magic Dragon," at 1:25 p.m.; also Sunday at noon Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver, authors of "Hank Zipzer: A Brand-New Me! No. 17," at 2:40 p.m. Shawn and Marlon Wayans, authors of "Sneaker Madness" and "The Boo Crew," at 3:25 p.m. Los Angeles Times Stage Melissa Rivers, author of "Red Carpet Ready: Secrets for Making the Most of Any Moment You're in the Spotlight," at 10:30 a.m. Todd Bridges, author of "Killing Willis: From Diff'rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted," at 11:30 a.m. Jeff Ross, author of "I Only Roast the Ones I Love," at 2:30 p.m. Louis Gossett Jr., author of "An Actor and a Gentleman," at 3:30 p.m. Ackerman Grand Ballroom Carol Burnett in conversation with The Times' Mary McNamara, at 2:30 p.m. Cooking Stage Alicia Silverstone, author of "The Kind Diet," at 3:30 p.m. Poetry Stage Amber Tamblyn reads from "Bang Ditto" at noon SUNDAY Target Children's Stage John Carter Cash, author of "Daddy Loves His Little Girl," at 12:35 p.m. Holly Robinson Peete and Ryan Elizabeth Peete, authors of "My Brother Charlie," at 12:55 p.m. Los Angeles Times Stage Buzz Aldrin, author of "Magnificent Desolation: The Long Journey Home From the Moon," at 11 a.m. Sarah Silverman, author of "The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee," at noon Daisy Fuentes, author of "Unforgettable You: Master the Elements of Style, Spirituality, and True Beauty," at 1 p.m. Pam Grier, author of "Foxy: My Life in Three Acts," at 2 p.m. Victoria Rowell, author of "Secrets of a Soap Opera Diva," at 3 p.m. Cooking Stage Trisha Yearwood, singer and author of "Home Cooking With Trisha Yearwood," at 2 p.m. TICKETS & ADMISSION General attendance is free! For information on attending, see our Attendee FAQ. http://bit.ly/cdKNh7 Tickets are required for all Festival of Books indoor panel and speaker sessions. Tickets for the 2010 Festival of Books will become available on Sunday, April 18, 2010, at noon through Ticketmaster.com for a nominal fee of $1 per ticket. PARKING Parking on the UCLA campus is $10. Free shuttle bus services will connect the outlying UCLA parking lots with the main festival entrances. Effective January 1, 2010, visitors to the UCLA campus who use a Department of Motor Vehicles issued disabled person (DP) placard or license plate to park on campus will be required to pay a $3 daily parking permit fee. ESCALANTE’S SUCCESS LIVES ON: Glimmers of high achievement are still evident on the eastside campus long after the famed math instructor left Garfield By Paul Aranda Jr., EGP Staff Writer | Eastside Sun / Northeast Sun / Mexican American Sun / Bell Gardens Sun / City Terrace Comet / Commerce Comet / Montebello Comet / Monterey Park Comet / ELA Brooklyn Belvedere Comet / Wyvernwood Chronicle / Vernon Sun April 22, 2010 -- With the recent passing of Jaime Escalante, Garfield High School paused to honor its past as it finalizes reform efforts to capitalize on the momentum the famed calculus teacher brought to the school decades ago. Escalante rose to prominence after developing a nationally recognized math department at a school known more for its poverty-riddled community than its academic programs. The success Garfield once achieved serves as an example of the challenges faced at most inner city high schools, how to translate the accomplishments of a small group of high achievers to the larger student body. When the Los Angeles Unified School District board voted to adopt a progressive reform initiative late last summer, much of the debate focused on the low scores of those schools on the State’s Annual Performance Index. Garfield was often at the epicenter of contentious community meetings as the district implemented its Public School Choice initiative. Yolie Flores, Garfield’s board representative and initiative sponsor, received a harsh reception at a campus town hall in August 2009. Opponents of the initiative mislabeled it as a “privatization” of public schools. Flores was accused of being an absentee representative who focused on the school’s negative data to promote the initiative. Partly because its already low API score fell three points to 594 in 2009, Garfield became eligible for outside takeover under the initiative. On February 23, the board rejected a Montebello Unified School District proposal to take over Garfield. The MUSD proposal was based on the success of its high schools that serve students of similar demographics. Instead, a Garfield focus team comprised of administrators and faculty was allowed to maintain control of the school although the decision was made with reservations as the plan was returned for further revisions. An application to run a separate Green Architectural Design Academy already on campus was also approved. Since the February vote, Jose Huerta has taken over as Garfield’s principal after its former top administrator, Michael Summer, resigned around the same time the school’s initial application was made public. While much of the focus is placed on Garfield’s low API, there are signs of high achievement on campus. Recent figures show the school’s performance on the Advance Placement exams are within range of the district average. The rate of Garfield students who took and received a passing grade on the AP exams mirrors those of a local school that annually scores much higher on the State’s API. According to State education data, in 2007-2008, the latest figures available, nearly 38 percent of AP exam takers at Garfield received a passing score. Of the 416 AP exams taken, 156 received a score of either a 4 or 5, the highest scores possible. Those numbers are similar to those of Eagle Rock High School in northeast Los Angeles. With a 2009 API of 717, Eagle Rock is the highest-rated public school in the greater East Los Angeles region. According to the State’s 2007-2008 data, 39 percent of Eagle Rock’s AP exam takers received a passing score. Of the 471 AP exams taken, 186 received a score of either a 4 or 5. The districts passage rate is 44 percent. EGP was unable to find a statistical breakdown on the AP exams of public schools, compared to charter and magnet schools that can generally produce higher scores as a result of their campus enrichment programs. In another example of success for some Garfield students, the school’s academic decathlon team reached the statewide competition in February for the ninth time in the past 13 years after it finished in a three-way tie for first in the district’s annual academic decathlon tournament. The young team featured only one returning student after seven seniors from the 2009 squad graduated. That team beat-out 47 other California schools to finish 13. The school’s AP exam passage rates and the annual success of its decathlon team shows Garfield can still produces academic achievement comparable to its once nationally recognized AP Calculus program. Several fundamental changes create the potential to expand that achievement to the rest of the student body. Garfield’s student population is expected to drop from 4,500 in 2009-2010 to approximately 3,000 in 2010-2011 with the opening of the Esteban Torres Learning Center. As a result, Garfield will move from a three-track, year-around schedule to a traditional one-track schedule. Overcrowding has long been an issue of many inner city schools as they struggled to stretch thin resources to all its students. Furthermore, the Garfield reform plan calls for the school to be divided into six small learning centers designed to allow even more focus on individual students. With changes for its future looming, the Garfield community gathered Saturday to remember its past at the East Los Angeles College football stadium. Hundreds of current students, alumni and school employees gathered to celebrate Escalante’s legacy with a public memorial on April 17. A stable of public officials took turns to not only praise Escalante for his success as a math instructor, but to rally support for all teachers. Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger called Escalante a personal hero for his ability to inspire students beyond his classroom. “He did not teach a subject,” Schwarzenegger said. “He made it a gift to create a curiosity to want to learn more.” County Supervisor Gloria Molina urged all teachers and students to use Escalante’s legacy as motivation to improve the current state of education. “It is the imprint of Jaime Escalante that we can do better,” Molina said. “We can move up to a standard and then move that standard further. With so much of the current discussions on education focused on budget cuts and teacher layoffs, at least one former Garfield teacher called it an exciting time for educators. For one year, Norma De La Pena taught at Garfield alongside Escalante. She said the stories on the success of Escalante’s pupils serve as an example for today’s students. Now a professor at Los Angeles Trade Tech College, De La Pena called the current era a positive one for those teachers motivated to pursue the kind of ideas that she advocated for years ago as a high school instructor. “It’s a good time in terms of change,” De La Pena said. She called the inclusion of teachers in the School Choice initiative progress from her and Escalante’s era when they were only expected to carry out district-centered curriculums. A retired LAUSD teacher and former UTLA member, she credited the increase in charter schools as another educational option for both students and teachers. “The charters are encouraging the system to acknowledge the need for change,” she said. With that she added that the district must be cautious as it moves forward on reforms concerning teacher accountability. “As a teacher, sometimes we are placed in a situation where we are limited to what we can do,” she said. “I am not in support of saying it’s just the teacher’s fault. We can’t just blame the teachers.” For at least one Saturday morning, all teachers, along with Escalante, were publicly celebrated for their efforts to instill knowledge in the next generation. “What we should do,” Schwarzenegger said, “is reach out and say thank you to any teacher you run into.” Actor Edward James Olmos who portrayed Escalante in the 1988 film “Stand and Deliver” followed Schwarzenegger’s speech by repeatedly thanking Escalante’s family for their sacrifice. “We need to thank the families of all teachers,” Olmos said. Prior to the memorial, Olmos told EGP that the young and future teachers should not see their role diminished based on the current education climate. “Education has always been in turmoil,” Olmos said. “The most important people on this planet are teachers…I don’t know one president, one pope, one basketball player, astronaut or engineer who did it without a teacher.” SPENDING FLEXIBLITY. YES, BUT AT WHOSE EXPENSE? by John Fensterwald, The Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/bnn5Md April 23, 2010 - In slashing education spending over the past two years, Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have given school districts more authority to choose how to spend their dwindling dollars. Sacramento has untied the strings on many “categorical programs” – those funded for specific purposes, such as buying textbooks and teaching civics education. But, to an extent, equity has been sacrificed for flexibility: In many districts, programs primarily benefiting low-income, minority students – summer school, high school exit exam tutoring, community day schools – have been sacrificed to prevent further layoffs and keep the lights on for everyone. Now there’s an opportunity to really get it right. Democratic co-sponsors Sens. Alan Lowenthal and Gloria Romero are proposing SB 1396, a three-year pilot program to give three districts latitude over most remaining categorical programs, with Lowenthal’s home district, Long Beach Unified, a likely participant. Programs that would be freed up for general use would include home-to-school transportation, foster youth programs, AVID (counseling and activities for college-aspiring low-income students), child nutrition and class-size reduction, which many districts have abandoned already. Last year, the governor and legislators gave district pretty much free reign when they mixed categoricals with general spending. School boards are supposed to vote on the use of the former categorical money and invite public comment. But the state’s not keeping track on how and for whom the dollars are being spent. SB 1396 would be an improvement. The three chosen districts would have to show that they have used the money to improve student performance, close the achievement gap and increase college entrance rates and preparation for careers. Half of district teachers and half of parents surveyed would have to approve participating in the program. And some of the money from Economic Impact Aid, one of the categorical programs, would have to be dedicated to helping English learners. Debate over weighted student spending But are general promises enough? Two years ago, before the recession hit hard, the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Education Excellence recommended eliminating categorical spending and using the money to move to weighted student funding, a system that appropriates more money for low-income and English learners. That’s what Public Advocates, a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization, favors for SB 1396. Districts would still have flexibility under Public Advocates’ approach, but they’d have to spend more money on children for whom the categoricals were targeted in the first place. Public Advocates has a point. The bill was passed by the Senate Education Committee 7-0 this week but faces opposition from the California Teachers Association, in part because the union wants to see class-size reduction money preserved. Long Beach Unified is recognized as one of the state’s best run districts, with good data systems to track student progress. But with a severe money crunch, administrators and board trustees will face intense pressure to divert money intended for low-income kids to shore up other programs. SB 1396 offers the districts the chance to be innovative and free of paperwork and regulations. If the district is committed to closing the achievement gap, then it should be willing to commit freed-up money to the students being left behind. By John Fensterwald on April 23rd, 2010 HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources from The Times: CAPISTRANO TEACHERS STRIKE, COLLEGE DEGREE IN 3 YEARS, UC+CSU SHOULD ADMIT MORE (Not Less) STUDENT... http://bit.ly/bfQ3DT Report :: HIGHER EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA: New Goals for the Master Plan: Hans Johnson for the Public Policy Instit... http://bit.ly/9Kas4C ESCALANTE’S SUCCESS LIVES ON: Glimmers of high achievement are still evident on the eastside campus long after the... http://bit.ly/dmTliu LAUSD SCHOOL IN JEOPARDY OF NOT BEING ACCREDITED: By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News April 22 -- Lo... http://bit.ly/bBZkn2 FRANK McCOURT HELPS LAUSD CLOSE SPORTS FUNDING GAP: Dodgers owner is part of a team providing funds to maintain sp... http://bit.ly/d0tNJf 1 ENVIRONMENTAL FIRM ACCUSED OF “EGREGIOUS” OVERCHARGING OF L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT + smf's 2¢: by Howard Blume... http://bit.ly/bVGor4 LAUSD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AMONG ‘BEST OF THE BEST’: 27 LAUSD Schools Recognized as 2010 California Distinguished S... http://bit.ly/9Tbikg 1 4/21-Today’s News: ADMINISTRATORS APPROVE CONTRACT WITH SHORTENED YEAR, SCHWARZENEGGER ANNOUNCES LEGISLATION LIMIT... http://bit.ly/aG8pOo TODAY IS DENIM DAY IN LAUSD & THE USA: Wednesday April 21, 2010 - Eighteen years ago a convicted rapist was... http://bit.ly/9Ebz29 SAN DIEGO USD IS A MODEL FOR BREAKFAST FIRST CAMPAIGN: By Maureen Magee, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER Joh... http://bit.ly/cio9RQ NEEDLE POKE TURNS INTO A BIG PROBLEM AT L.A. CHARTER SCHOOL: Parents of a 6-year-old student at Goethe Internation... http://bit.ly/d0jzO6 LAUSD BOARD MEMBERS AUTHORIZE $200 MILLION FOR SPECIAL PROJECTS: By Connie Llanos Staff Writer | LA Daily News 04... http://bit.ly/9vBYhb HUNDREDS OF LAUSD TEACHERS NOT FULLY CERTIFIED: David Goldstein CBS2 Reporting -- Is your child's teacher fully... http://bit.ly/d7ONho from California State PTA: SIGNATURES NEEDED FOR PARCEL TAX INITIATIVE - Only two weeks left to collect signatures... http://bit.ly/bII337 1 WriteGirl – JUMPSTARTING THE MUSE: Helping girls write their way to more positive futures (+ save the date!): From... http://bit.ly/9xgPYN U.C. BOOSTS OUT-OF-STATE FRESHMAN ADMISSIONS, CUTS RESIDENTS + ESCALANTE MEMORIAL: UC a tougher bet this year for ... http://bit.ly/cuQP2w EVENTS: Coming up next week... Save the Dates WriteGirl FUNDRAISER :: WriteGirl gets Fancifull! Friday, May 7th, 7:00- 9:00 pm 5617 Melrose Avenue @ Gower St. Hollywood, CA 90038 | http://bit.ly/bXDMgS FREE CONCERT: Tonight Show Bandleader Kevin Eubanks and LAUSD student musicians will perform a free concert at 2 p.m. Sunday June 6 at the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. *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: 213-241.8700 • 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 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. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is an elected Representative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • 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 SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

Food 4 Thought: Data-driven to distraction

4LAKids: Sunday 18•April•2010 In This Issue: • THE AMAZING RACE [TO THE TOP]: Unreality, redefined • Senate Appropriations Subcommittee: DUNCAN URGES NEW AID TO SAVE EDUCATION JOBS;HEARS RttT COMPLAINTS + Cortines Testimony + Coverage • ODD PRIORITIES: LAUSD furloughs teachers, shortens school year - and buys solar panels! • NO RENEWAL FOR POOR PERFORMING STANFORD CHARTER SCHOOL • 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: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • 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. In the last week I went to two - count 'em - two presentations by authors on book tours. The first was with Diane Ravitch – on the road promoting THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM. So much has been written about Diane's book and her repudiation of No Child Left Behind – and her warning that Race to the Top is More of the Same. She is right and enlightened and all the rest. Plus her book is a NYT bestseller. Beyond asking you to read it and share the enlightenment I'm finished on that subject for this week. Go buy her book, or borrow it from the library. Download it to your Kindle or i Pad. The second was by Jan Poppendieck and her book FREE FOR ALL: FIXING SCHOOL FOOD IN AMERICA. School food is the lightweight pop subject du jour – with Alice Waters Jamie Oliver all over it like brown on rice. Free for All is not quite the indictment of national education policy or the NYT bestseller as the previous book ...but, gentle readers, let's go all scholarly+scholastic. Let's do our homework: Compare and Contrast! Here it gets very interesting – because the National School Lunch Program used to be the Federal Government's sole foray into public education – once the exclusive bailiwick of the states and local governments. For reasons that change every decade or so the feds took an interest in school food beginning in the 1930's. Pellagra, scurvy and rickets in the hinterlands. Food surpluses to deal with. Poor nutrition in military draftees and recruits. Epidemics of Obesity. Feeding the Poor, etc. For these reasons and others the feds have set standards and subsidized and regulated and mandated; and – by minimally funding – have driven the calorie count up and the standards of fare down. Because the money-per-child is minimal but the volume-of-children is high – and because compliance is the mandate – they have provided business opportunities for businesses that skate along the bottom line. And remember what the Department of Agriculture said: Ketchup (or catsup) is a vegetable! So Corporate America got in the school lunch business and the lunch ladies who used to cook and serve became the lunch ladies who warm and distribute. High fructose corn syrup is cheaper than sugar and the ROI on sweetened beverages is better than milk. You save one-point-two-five-cents-per-meal on food and two-point-eight-cents on labor and you shave four-percent off the cafeteria budget and before you know it Con-Agra/PepsiCo/KFC makes a billion dollars and kids get Pop Tarts and Pizza Hut! ...and a serving of ketchup the vegetable. One meets the minimum guidelines so Uncle Sam sends a check. Plus fast food is fast, all the more time for teaching-to-the-test! There is no downside ladies and gentlemen; kids are happy and fat and so are Mr. Archer and Mr. Daniels and Mr. Midland. SO NEXT WE SET SOME STANDARDS in DC for educational content and measurable outcomes – plug in some subsidies and penalties for noncompliance -- and we are data-driven to distraction as the test makers and the textbook publishers and the charter management organizations and vulture capitalists take out their business models. OMG: Johnny Can't Read ...and the pellagra crisis has turned into the algebra crisis! The billionaires and the Ford Foundation rise up in arms and ride to the rescue ...with the politicians and policymakers right behind. Stop me if you've figured out the ending already. If Johnny can't read maybe we should ...because these books are gonna make lousy movies! Diane Ravitch, THE DEATH AND LIFE OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SCHOOL SYSTEM: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education At Amazon: http://amzn.to/ca5S8z Janet Poppendieck, FREE FOR ALL: Fixing School Food in America At Amazon: http://amzn.to/b3Bg5F ¡Onward/Adelante! - smf DENIM DAY IN LA & USA 2010 Wednesday April 21, 2010 Eighteen years ago a convicted rapist was acquitted on appeal based on a defense that his victim was wearing tight jeans – she was “asking for it”. It is that outrage that prompted the establishment of Denim Day. Peace Over Violence is presenting the 11th Annual Denim Day in LA & USA 2010, a campaign to raise awareness and educate the public about rape and sexual assault. This year it is Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Make a difference by wearing jeans on Denim Day as a visible means of protest against misconceptions that surround sexual assault. For additional information visit the website at www.denimdayinla.org THE AMAZING RACE [TO THE TOP]: Unreality, redefined snarky commentary by smf for 4LAKids April 15, 2010 – YOUR SCHOOL TAXES @ WORK: So yesterday the LAUSD Board of Ed approved eliminating 10 schooldays from the futures of 617,798 kids (a cumulative 34,322 school years of education) and 12 days from the paychecks of 31,876 teachers and administrators to save $147 million – and decided to invest a good deal of the money they saved in solar panels and moving the school police HQ 13 blocks. Plus $50 million for projects to be named later. They did this in the depth of “a budget crisis of the most unprecedented proportion” -- while the superintendent (whose definition of the crisis that is) was on an airplane to go plead for more money from the federal government. And at the Washington DC hearing did Superintendent Cortines make a case for the best idea he’s had in recent memory? That LAUSD – the Charter School/School Reform Capital of the World be allowed to apply on its own for Race to the Top funds – separate from the functionally challenged Sacramento budgetary sinkhole …thinking not just out of the box but truly pushing the limits of the envelope? No. Was he critical of the judging criteria of RttT? No. But it gets better. Here’s some thinking from the Secretary of Education at that same hearing in the article that follows: "Following his testimony, Mr. Duncan told reporters that he would like to see Congress pass an education jobs package in May, so that school districts could count on the aid as they work out their budgets for the next school year.” I don’t know how they do it in Chicago, but California school districts are supposed to “work out” their budget three years in advance. We have passed the date teachers and administrators need to be notified whether they have a job or not. School Site Councils are making decisions whether to rehire nurses, librarians, psychologists and clerical staff right now! The Fiscal Year and the School Year begin on July 1. Some students in LAUSD start school on July 6th. Duncan is using the same federal paradigm for rescue as the infamous “Brownie” ran after Katrina in New Orleans: Too little, too late. Luckily charter schools will save us. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee: DUNCAN URGES NEW AID TO SAVE EDUCATION JOBS;HEARS RttT COMPLAINTS + Cortines Testimony + Coverage By Alyson Klein | Ed Week Vol. 29, Issue 29 | http://bit.ly/aJIqD0 April 14, 2010 – U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today urged Congress to pass new aid to preserve education jobs. He testified before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that deals with education spending on the same day the panel’s chairman introduced a bill that would provide $23 billion for that purpose. The legislation offered by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, would be modeled on the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. That fund was included in the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic-stimulus measure approved by Congress last year. The money could be used for compensation and benefits to help districts hold on to existing employees and to hire new staff members to provide early-childhood, K-12, or postsecondary services. It could also be used for on-the-job training for “education-related careers.” Secretary Duncan’s public support for such aid marks the first time the Obama administration has explicitly called for new federal funding to help schools weather the continuing economic problems facing states and school districts. “It is brutal out there,” Mr. Duncan told reporters after his testimony. “It is really scary. We’re seeing massive layoffs around the country.” The ARRA included up to $100 billion for education. But the law only covers fiscal 2009 and 2010, so states and districts are bracing for a major fiscal squeeze—the so-called “funding cliff”—when those dollars dry up. Districts are considering a range of measures, including eliminating summer school programs, reducing staff, trimming benefits, and even shortening the school year. In December, the House of Representatives approved a measure that would also allocate $23 billion in job aid to schools, but the Senate has yet to consider such legislation. The House measure also includes $4.1 billion for school facilities, an issue that Mr. Harkin has championed. But he said facilities funding would not be in his version of the bill. Sen. Harkin said in an interview that, while he isn’t “giving up” on the idea of more aid for school modernization, he wants to keep the focus of this package on jobs. WORKING WITH CONGRESS Following his testimony, Mr. Duncan told reporters that he would like to see Congress pass an education jobs package in May, so that school districts could count on the aid as they work out their budgets for the next school year. He said he wasn’t sure if the $23 billion that Sen. Harkin is proposing would be sufficient, but he called it “a good start.” Sen. Harkin agreed that Congress needs to act quickly, saying the measure “can’t wait until August” when many teachers would already have been put out of work. “The number of pink slips for educators for educators could easily, easily, top 100,000,” Mr. Harkin said in his opening statement at the hearing. “Job cuts of this magnitude would, of course, have a devastating impact on families throughout the country.” The senator said the $23 billion figure is roughly half of what was in the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund portion of the stimulus package, which covered two fiscal years. The new measure would only cover the 2010-11 school year. During the hearing, Sen. Harkin said the cost of the bill doesn’t need to be offset by other revenue because it would be considered emergency spending. So far, his measure has attracted more than a dozen co-sponsors, all Democrats. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., the top Republican on the Senate education appropriations subcommittee, did not support the ARRA. But he left open the possibility that he would back a more limited package aimed only at education, saying that he was taking a look at his colleague’s measure. During the hearing, the state superintendent of schools in Mr. Shelby’s home state, Joseph B. Morton, urged lawmakers to support Sen. Harkin’s bill. He said he surveyed his districts and found that, without the additional aid, there are likely to be more than 2,800 job cuts in Alabama next year, including nearly 1,600 teachers. “We know that we need a jobs bill,” he said. Ramon Cortines, the superintendent of the Los Angeles school system, which recently agreed to shorten the school year by five days to help avert layoffs, also testified in support of the measure. He said it could save as many as 3,000 jobs in his district alone. “Our students and teachers are losing instructional time and taking a pay cut,” Mr. Cortines said. Layoffs are still expected, he added. [Cortines' full statement: http://bit.ly/cCmLaX] RACE TO TOP COMPLAINTS During the hearing, lawmakers began to push back on the Education Department’s approach to the $4 billion Race to the Top competition, which rewards states for making progress on teacher quality and distribution, standards and assessments, state data systems, and low-performing school turnarounds. The Obama administration has asked Congress to provide $1.35 billion in fiscal 2011 to extend the program. Forty states and the District of Columbia applied for the first round of funding, but only Delaware and Tennessee were awarded grants. States have the opportunity to compete for a second phase of funding, which will be allocated later this year. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., whose home state was a finalist for the program and was considered a front-runner, sharply criticized the judging system for the competition. She said her state, which placed eleventh in the competition, would have done better if the department had discarded each state’s highest and lowest scores. Ms. Landrieu also said she was dismayed that the competition placed a premium on getting districts and unions to support state plans. While both the winners had near-universal backing from districts and unions, Louisiana was only able to get 67 percent of districts and 78 percent of its unions on board. That shouldn’t have cost the state its grant, she said. “Nothing in our application was watered down,” Sen. Landrieu told Mr. Duncan. “The problem is that if you push to get everyone there, you will give us no choice but to water down. … There are many members [of Congress] ... that are absolutely taken aback by the posture of this department.” Sen. Shelby pointed out that states only receive an additional 15 points out of a possible 500 for having a plan to boost education in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. “That seems to be low and is troubling to me,” he said. “Fifteen points out of 500 [for an area that will] drive the nation and the world in the future. …. It seems like it’s upside down; this needs to be changed.” Sen. Harkin promised to “look into” that issue. “That doesn’t sound like it should be,” he agreed. Additional Coverage on this Story ODD PRIORITIES: LAUSD furloughs teachers, shortens school year - and buys solar panels! LA Daily News Editorial April 15, 2009 -- THIS week the Los Angeles Unified School District made some hard choices in the face of budget deficits. All things considered, cutting the school year by one week, or five school days, this year and the next is vastly better than laying off 1,400 people and increasing class size. It will cost teachers, who agreed to take 12 furlough days to save jobs, and working parents, who will have to arrange care for their kids those days. But when times are tough, these are the kinds of hard choices that everyone - from individuals to public organizations - must make to get by. But it undercuts the district's cries of poverty when on the very same day that the Board of Education approved a drastic cost-saving measure it also gave a nod to borrow millions to pay for capital improvements, some of highly questionable need. This is money that will need to be repaid - including interest - from the same fund that pays for teachers and general school operating costs. If roofs were threatening to fall down on students' heads or school buses were in danger of exploding, the district could justify using what amounts to a credit card purchase. But solar panels? Fancy green school buses? What is Superintendent Ramon Cortines thinking? For that matter, what's in the air over in LAUSD's facilities offices? Facility administrators have been taken some baffling, as well as suspicious, actions recently. For example, senior facilities executive Bassam Raslan two weeks ago was indicted on conflict-of-interest charges for allegedly using his district position to hire employees from a company he also runs. As a result, both District Attorney Steve Cooley and City Controller Wendy Greuel are very interested in the department's documentation. Last week, the facilities department decided it was time to do some house cleaning of paperwork. It started purging computer files until a union complaint forced it to halt the conveniently timed data dump. Now we're supposed to trust that this department "needs" $360 million for new stuff? Residents might be scratching their heads wondering what happened to the $7 billion in bond revenue that voters endorsed in 2008 for upgrading schools and facilities. The recession, it seemed, happened. Declining home values mean the district won't be able to collect this money until 2016. But Cortines said these projects can't wait until then. Solar panels can't wait? In addition to spending $51 million to repair the auditorium at Garfield High School (they must be using the same firm County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas was planning to use for his $707,000 office remodel) and $38 million for environmentally friendly school buses, the district also wants to borrow $100 million to install solar panels at 90 schools. The payoff on this investment won't be realized for more than two decades. The district expects to save about $5 million a year on its $85 million utility bill - and possibly more if power rates increase. That means it won't really save the district money until at least 20 years at current power rates, and even longer when you factor in the cost of borrowing money. This seems an odd priority for a school district so strapped it has to cut 12 days worth of pay from thousands of schoolteachers and cheat its students out of two weeks of education. Of course, this is the same district that spent more than $100 million on a payroll system so flawed it took years and millions more to fix. And where are the school board members on this? The people who were elected to act as some sort of citizen oversight and representative to the district? They sat by and gave this project a thumbs up. Is it a wonder this district is in such a crisis with priorities like these? Cortines Response NO RENEWAL FOR POOR PERFORMING STANFORD CHARTER SCHOOL By John Fensterwald | The Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/agwGu5 April 15th, 2010 -- Stanford New Schools, a K-12 charter school in East Palo Alto, comes with a good pedigree. It’s operated by Stanford’s School of Education. But last month, as this blog noted [Stanford-run charter on ‘worst’ list|http://bit.ly/bdWndn] , the state named it one of the state’s 188 persistently lowest performing schools, designated for restructuring. Then on Wednesday night, as Palo Alto Online reported, the Ravenswood School Board voted not to renew the school’s charter. Unless the trustees relent, the school will shut down in June. Contrary to the perception that it’s next to impossible to close a poor-performing charter, here’s a case where it just might happen. Everyone from the dean of the ed school to tearful parents came out to the hearing to request a charter renewal, to no avail. The school can make a plausible case, despite its lagging test scores, for an extension. Stanford New Schools is a combination of a charter high school and a new charter elementary. The high school has an impressive record of sending students to college — more than 90 percent – but its STAR scores are low. The three-year old elementary charter’s first two years of tests are also low – less than 20 percent proficiency in math and English language arts. But the school can legitimately argue that a startup deserves at least a little more time. The board voted 3-2 to deny the charter but subsequently 4-1 to at least consider a two-year extension, under the close watch of the district. The superintendent will present a plan. Ravenswood itself has been a chaotic district and has been in District Improvement for six years. Having Ravenswood intensely supervise a Stanford operation promises to be humbling, if nothing else. (Update: The New York Times today did an excellent story on the charter schools and the Ravenswood vote. See here: Charter Extension Denied to Low-Scoring Stanford School|http://nyti.ms/cnnMQe) ●●smf - Calling the Irony Police: It was he charter community who commissioned the CREDO National Charter Study from Stanford [http://credo.stanford.edu/] - which thoroughly discredited any evidence of the 'magic bullet status' of charter schools. HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources KEVIN EUBANKS TO HEAD LAUSD JAZZ IN THE CLASSROOM PROGRAM: from a LA Times staff writer in the Times Quick Takes b... http://bit.ly/cgNLk8 L.A. COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD NAMES NEW CHANCELLOR + smf homework assignment: by Gale Holland | LA Times ... http://bit.ly/a6f3nD LAUSD WORKER SHAKE-UP AFTER CONFLICT-OF-INTEREST PROBE: Two reassigned, two resign: By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer... http://bit.ly/cLcC59 a IS FIRING BAD TEACHERS REALLY THE KEY TO FIXING EDUCATION?: Posted by caroline to the solidaridad blog |http://bit... http://bit.ly/aC1XPN Themes in the News: YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: SAVING JOBS, SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES: By UCLA IDEA Staff 04-16-201... http://bit.ly/cm3ilF NO RENEWAL FOR POOR PERFORMING STANFORD CHARTER SCHOOL: By John Fensterwald | The Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/a... http://bit.ly/aVktF6 a U.S. FALLS SHORT IN MEASURE OF FUTURE MATH TEACHERS: By SAM DILLON | New York Times April 14, 2010 -- America’... http://bit.ly/cbOF8A MERIT PAY FOR STUDENTS FAILS TO RAISE SCORES, STUDY FINDS + STUDY LINK + TIME MAGAZINE: Should Kids Be Bribed to D... http://bit.ly/9YDVrP COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES PULL BACK LEASE AND SPENDING AT VAN DE KAMPS BUILDING: Van de Kamps Coalition Accuses Vice Chancellor Linked to Mayor’s Office of Contract Conflict-of-Interest in Lease That Would Benefit His Own Non-Profit... http://bit.ly/c7FcJq Associated Press+CBS2: LAUSD FINDS MORE IMPROPER CONTRACTOR HIRINGS + LAUSD PRESS RELEASE + smf’s 2¢: what Associa... http://bit.ly/aEWwN4 SUPERINTENDENT RESPONDS TO CRITICISM OVER COPS: ●●smf's 2¢: some, including 4LAKids, the Daily News, former boardm... http://bit.ly/dpQN8C C.O.P.S.: Statement from UTLA President A.J. Duffy on School Board approval of plan that would prioritize capital ... http://bit.ly/aIclqG THE AMAZING RACE [TO THE TOP]: Unreality, redefined: snarky commentary by smf for 4LAKids April 15, 2010 – YOUR S... http://bit.ly/dDt5GK ED WEEK TOP STORIES: Duncan Urges Aid to Save Education Jobs, New Definition of Career Readiness, RTI's Unmet Prom... http://bit.ly/bIsHYx SANTA MONICA-MALIBU USD PREPARES FOR NEXT LAUSD STUDENT TAKE-BACK ATTEMPT: By Jonathan Friedman / Special to The M... http://bit.ly/ctYnMx CORTINES’ SENATE TESTIMONY: “California's Bad News Budget Threatens Education Reform”: Ramon Cortines Los Angeles ... http://bit.ly/cCmLaX ODD PRIORITIES: LAUSD furloughs teachers, shortens school year - and buys solar panels!: LA Daily News Editorial ... http://bit.ly/cwxa0a 1 LAUSD BOARD RESCINDS 1,400 LAYOFF NOTICES, OKs PLAN TO SHORTEN SCHOOL YEAR: By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Da... http://bit.ly/ag5ovX 1 LAUSD WANTS TO BORROW $360M: By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News 04/13/2010 -- Even as they face a mas... http://bit.ly/aEk7Zu This week's 4LAKids: EXTRA: The eternal sunshine of a spotted contract http://bit.ly/ajOV4I EVENTS: Coming up next week... Thursday Apr 22, 2010 South Region High School #9: Groundbreaking Ceremony Time: 10:00 a.m. Location: South Region High School #9 5225 Tweedy Blvd. South Gate, CA 90280 *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: MEETS ON WEDNESDAY APRIL 21 in the Beaudry Boardroom @ 10 AM - Wear Denim! http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-241.8700 • 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 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. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is an elected Representative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • 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 SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.