In This Issue:  | | • | Fiscal New Year’s Eve: MORE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS EDGING CLOSER TO INSOLVENCY, STATE SAYS | | | • | MORE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH L.A. UNIFIED'S PAYROLL SYSTEM. GRAND JURY SAYS | | | • | Budget Report: RACE TO THE BOTTOM? California’s three decades of underfunding education + School spending falls further behind rest of nation +report | | | • | Public School Choice 2.0: CHARTERS, TEACHERS VIE TO TAKE OVER LAUSD SCHOOLS + LAUSD CAMPUSES ATTRACTING BIDDERS + 6 OPERATORS APPLY FOR NEW CARSON HS | | | • | 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: | | | | from the PBS NewsHour on Friday:
JUDY WOODRUFF: Speaking of the Fourth of July, a poll I noticed today -- Marist College in New York did a poll which showed that a fourth of Americans, when you ask them from what country did the United States win its independence, one-fourth of Americans said they weren't sure or they didn't know. And 40 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds in this country said they didn't know or weren't sure.
What does that say?
DAVID BROOKS: Yes. I think it is an insult to Abraham Lincoln's leadership of the Revolutionary War.
DAVID BROOKS: No. To me, the substance of it is that we have traded history for social studies in schools, that we don't do the ABCs, here is what happened when.
And I notice this when I talk to kids, including sometimes my own kids. They just don't get the dates. They don't get the dates. They don't have the scaffolding of history. And they do a lot more social structure. They do cultures. They do this. They do that.
But they don't have the basics -- the facts and lineage of what happened when. And, so, those basic facts if, you don't have the scaffolding, you are not going to remember. You're not going to know how to organize it and put it all together into some sort of theory.
MARK SHIELDS: We're a lot more sensitive, but we're a lot less informed.
What is rather terrifying is the figure you cited about 40 percent of the people under the age of 29. And 80 percent, close to, over -- those over 45 do know. There was something going on in schools. The people, the older people are less likely to have gone to college than are the younger ones.
And the idea that somebody is going through college and graduating and not knowing a fundamental fact like that is terrifying and it's depressing. And...
JUDY WOODRUFF: I mean, when I saw the poll, I looked at it and looked at it again, and checked the validity, checked it with another pollster, and they said, these are real numbers.
MARK SHIELDS: Yes. It's not good news.
________________
THE MARIST COLLEGE POLL QUESTION: "On July 4th we celebrate Independence Day. From which country did the United States win its independence?" The results: http://bit.ly/9qLt7g
JEFFERSON, ET AL: "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."
________________
Jefferson's list of injuries and usurpataions by George III is extensive ...when one begins to enumerate outrages by government the laundry list always extends beyond washday.
Ask Glen Beck or Sarah Palin or Rush Limbauagh.
Before Lincoln and the Civil War the Declaration of Independence was considered our national charter - after it the Constitution reigned supreme. It was the Constitution that was tested in the Civil War; its legalisms won out over the Declaration's soaring rhetoric and catalog of complaint.
Unilateral declarations of independence and popular sovereignty were neither new nor unique to the US when this country was founded; the Declaration of Arbroath (1320) declared the independence of Scotland, as The Magna Carta (1215) established the beginnings of constitutional rule in Britain.
America's great gift to democracy has been Free* Universal Public Education; a right guaranteed in no national archive and currently challenged from the clowns on the left and and jokers on the right.
[* - "Free" being rhetorical. Freedom as Kris Kristoferson said, is just another word for nothing left to lose.]
SO - THIS WEEK'S INJURIES AND USURPATIONS - OLD BUSINESS: The previous outrages continue:
● Public School Choice continues into Year 2 two and version 2.0. The "choice" is still with the same 7 choosers.
● The Board of Education's cancellation of Committee Meetings and public discourse on issues goes into year two. Facilities and Curriculum & Instruction and Charters & Innovation and School Safety, Health and Human Services can take care of themselves. -Quietly - outside the public eye.
● At the Bd of Ed's annual meeting on Thursday all the board-members but one listened to, applauded and acknowledged the speeches of outstanding graduates. (Were those-mails that important? Were those deals on eBay that that good?) and then reelected Monica Garcia president -- and, that deal done - dispensed with the rest of the order of business.
● On Tuesday the Bd of Ed approved the final budget for School Year 2010-2011 - in so doing cementing LAUSD on the list of qualified budget districts -described in the Times as: "meaning that they are at risk although probably not in danger of immediate bankruptcy"
● Wednesday The Grand Jury issued a report extremely critical of the LAUSD Payroll System Implementation - and warning of further disaster to come. The Board had a meeting on Tuesday and a meeting on Thursday ....but no one was available to respond to the Grand Jury report on Wednesday because of vacations and furloughs.
● And Thursday State Legislature and The Governor led California into a new fiscal year without a budget - with the argument at this point in time NOT between Demos or the Repos - or the Lege and the Governator - but between the Assembly Democratic leadership and the Senate Democratic Leadership.
● While in DC the Congress and the Administration fight over Educational Priorities, Dems against Dems. Teachers must be laid-off the preserve Race to the Top! It must be an election year!
When adults fight it is children who lose. ...or continue to lose.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
PS: THE LIBRARY THING: Wandering slightly off-topic into places we don't belong is 4LAKids stock-in-trade:
I direct you to Sandy Banks' article on public library funding: L.A.'s LIBRARY CUTS DON'T ADD UP - http://bit.ly/cgRNng . Public libraries are often the schools you and I and our communities go to when we don't go to school . Our kids go there after school - or at least say say they do.
But stowing that soapbox - read what happens when good questions get asked but the people who should be listening - and asking the good questions themselves - think they already have the answers.
PPS: Be safe+sane out there. If you're riding your bike at night, wear white. Alcohol and gunpowder don't mix. And please: don't play with fireworks while texting.
Fiscal New Year’s Eve: MORE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS EDGING CLOSER TO INSOLVENCY, STATE SAYS
● 14 DISTRICTS IN THE STATE ARE CLASSIFIED AS IN ESPECIALLY DIRE CONDITION, INCLUDING LYNWOOD USD IN L.A. COUNTY.
● 160 SCHOOL SYSTEMS ARE AT RISK - INCLUDING LAUSD, BURBANK, CULVER CITY, GLENDALE, INGLEWOOD, MONTEBELLO, NORWALK-LA MIRADA, POMONA, SANTA MONICA-MALIBU & SOUTH PASADENA.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times
June 30, 2010 - An increasing number of California school districts are edging closer to financial insolvency, state officials reported Tuesday.
One immediate effect has been teacher layoffs — probably in the thousands, although neither state officials nor the California Teachers Assn. have final numbers.
Since the beginning of 2010, the number of school systems that may be "unable to meet future financial obligations" has increased by 38%, according to the state Department of Education.
"Schools on this list are now forced to make terrible decisions to cut programs and services that students need or face bankruptcy," said state Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell.
Of the state's 1,077 school districts, 14 are classified as in especially dire condition. They are unlikely to avoid bankruptcy based on their current approved budgets. L.A. County has one such system, the Lynwood Unified School District, officials said. Other districts in this category include Hayward Unified in Alameda County, Vallejo City Unified in Solano County and Natomas Unified in Sacramento County.
An additional 160 school systems have a "qualified" financial outlook, meaning that they are at risk although probably not in danger of immediate bankruptcy. L.A. County districts in that situation include L.A. Unified, Burbank Unified, Culver City Unified, Glendale Unified, Inglewood Unified, Montebello Unified, Norwalk- La Mirada Unified, Pomona Unified, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified and South Pasadena Unified.
About 26,000 teachers were notified in March that they might be laid off, according to data collected by the California Teachers Assn. At least 9,000 of those notices have been rescinded so far. Last year also brought teacher layoffs, leading to a decline of about 15,000 in the union's membership. The state has about 300,000 teachers.
Non-teaching employees also have been hit hard. Thousands have lost jobs in Los Angeles Unified alone. Many of those still working have experienced pay cuts, while students have to deal with larger classes, a shorter school year and decreased services.
The education portion of the current budget proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could result in additional layoffs, although other sectors of governments have faced even steeper cuts.
MORE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH L.A. UNIFIED'S PAYROLL SYSTEM. GRAND JURY SAYS
by Howard Blume | LA Times LA Now blog
June 30, 2010 | 2:27 pm | The payroll system used by the nation's second-largest school district remains at risk of collapse because of a lack of follow through after an earlier, much-publicized payroll debacle, a grand jury has concluded.
The L.A. County Grand Jury annual report, released Wednesday, took aim at the malfunctioning payment system launched in January 2007 in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Thousands of employees were overpaid, underpaid or not paid at all. The underpayments and other glitches caused distress for thousands; the district has attempted to recoup nearly $60 million from about 35,000 employees. Early this year, the district was still in pursuit of more than $9 million.
The grand jury investigation traveled well-worn ground in examining what went wrong, noting inadequate employee training and the lack of a sufficient trial run to work out glitches.
But it also made new findings about future hazards. The report noted that three internal district audits in the wake of the crisis listed 47 recommendations -- most of which officials accepted as correct. Yet no formal follow-up has occurred to make sure that employees acted successfully on these recommendations.
In addition, district technical staff said tight finances and a reluctance to integrate more new technology have delayed the introduction of the final portion of the payroll system.
The district's own technical staff indicated that on "a scale of one to ten with … ten being a disaster, LAUSD is currently at eight on the scale of exposure," according to the report.
The risks of a system collapse could result in an inability to replenish stock in the food warehouse or to receive, process and deliver supplies to schools. In addition, the district could lose crucial financial data or forfeit funding for failing to file mandated reports.
Completing the payroll system could take up to 36 months and cost $25 million to $30 million, and "personnel required to perform this task are not currently available," the report concluded. The lack of qualified expertise is a result of layoffs and the severing of ties with payroll consultants.
A spokesperson for the school district said officials would have no immediate comment because key senior staff were either on vacation or were forced to take a furlough day as part of ongoing budget cuts.
the entire civil grand jury report is recommended – available at: http://bit.ly/d6U1LE pp.57-63
Budget Report: RACE TO THE BOTTOM? California’s three decades of underfunding education + School spending falls further behind rest of nation +report
CALIFORNIA'S THREE DECADES OF UNDERFUNDING EDUCATION by John Fensterwald | The Educated Guess
July 2nd, 2010 -- A new report by the California Budget Project – “Race to the Bottom? California’s Support for Schools Lags the Nation” [follows]– underscores what’s at stake in the coming battle between Gov. Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders on state education spending, a key difference in the stalemate over the state budget.
The report tracks 30 years of underfunding K-12 schools. Its conclusion: “The spending gap (between California and other states) widened after the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, narrowed from the late 1990s through 2001-02, and has grown substantially since 2006-07.”
Many of the data points on expenditures are familiar:
* California ranked 44th among the 50 states in K-12 spending in 2009-10, according to the National Education Association’s calculations. (Education Week, which factors in cost of living, ranks California lower.)
* California spent $2,546 less per student than the rest of the nation in 2009-10. It would have to spend $15,4 billion more to reach the national average.
* The state ranked anywhere between 46th and 50th in terms of the number of K-12 students per teacher, guidance counselor, librarian and administrator.
As Democrats and Republicans get ready to square off once again on new taxes, consider a key measure of effort, what the state spends relative to what it can afford. California ranked 46th in spending as a percentage of personal income, a measure that reflects the size of the state’s economy and wealth. In 2008-09, it devoted 3.28 percent of personal income to K-12 schools, nearly 1 percentage point less than the national average of 4.25 percent. That’s the widest gap in 30 years – a reflection of how hard California’s been whacked in the current recession.
But with the exception of 2001-02, when spending in California spent 3.9 percent of personal income – 2 tenths percent behind the nation – California has always substantially lagged other states. The height of state spending was 1971-72, at 4 percent of personal income (4.5 percent nationally). Spending plummeted, to 3.4 percent, following the passage of Prop 13 in 1978, bumped along at roughly that level for 20 years before recovering in the dot-com years and falling again in the last four years.
The start of the fiscal year on Thursday found Schwarzenegger and Democratic leaders about 10 percent apart on spending for public schools.
According to the California Budget Project, California would have to raise $15. 3 billion more for K-12 schools to reach the national average of 4.25 percent. That’s three times the $5 billion difference between the $54 billion that Assembly Speaker John Perez and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg are calling for in public school spending and what Schwarzenegger has proposed.
Democrats are calling for an extraction tax on oil and the rescission of corporate tax breaks the Legislature passed last year. So far, no Republicans have indicated they’d go along.
____________________________________________
SCHOOL FUNDING FALLS FURTHER BEHIND REST OF THE NATION by Louis Freedberg - California WatchBlog
July 2, 2010 | California continues to fall behind other states when it comes to school funding.
Just how far? California now ranks 44th in how much it spends on its students – or $2,546 less than the average spent in the rest of the United States. That's the lowest it has been in 40 years compared to other states, in a depressing report from the California Budget Project.
The report calculates that just to bring California to the national average would require an extra $15.4 billion in spending – an increase of 29.5 percent. Those numbers underscore the impossibility of California catching up to the rest of the nation within any reasonable time period – if ever.
In fact, if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has his way, California will fall even further behind the rest of the nation during the coming fiscal year.
Schwarzenegger is proposing to cut the basic amount school districts get for every student in attendance to $7,417, an 11 percent drop from $8,423 just two years ago (2008-09), according to a report by the legislative analyst's office.
The report also provides some ammuniton for those pushing back against GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's assertion that 40 percent of education dollars don't make it into the classroom. The implication is that the funds are going to pay bureaucrats and other expenses extraneous to the educational process.
In fact, California has a lower proportion of administrators compared to all but three other states. According to the California Budget Project report, California schools average 358 students per administrator – far below the 216 students per administrator in the rest of the United States. California also spends a greater share of its education dollars on instruction and student services than do schools in the rest of the U.S. – 95.3 cents of every education dollar, compared to 93.8 cents in the rest of the United States.
By contrast, California spends 4.7 cents on each K-12 dollar on administration, food services and other expenses, while the rest of the country spends 6.2 cents on these same expenses.
In one arena, California has managed to find itself dead last in the nation: the number of librarians per K-12 student. California has one librarian for every 5,038 students – a ratio six times worse than the U.S. at a whole, which averages one librarian for every 809 students.
That was the ratio in 2007-08, the last year for which figures for librarians are available. As schools cut a range of school personnel even more deeply, even as California tries to motivate students to become literate, the state has nowhere further to fall, at least in rankings relative to other states.
Public School Choice 2.0: CHARTERS, TEACHERS VIE TO TAKE OVER LAUSD SCHOOLS + LAUSD CAMPUSES ATTRACTING BIDDERS + 6 OPERATORS APPLY FOR NEW CARSON HS
CHARTERS, TEACHERS VIE TO TAKE OVER L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS: The district is inviting bidders to run poorly performing and new campuses with 35,000 students. More than 80 groups submitted letters of intent for new or low-achieving schools for fall 2011.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times
July 2, 2010 -- The nation's second-largest school system is once again inviting bidders to take over poorly performing and new campuses, in a school-control process that is, once again, pitting teachers and their union against independently operated charter schools, most of which are nonunion.
Teachers working for the Los Angeles Unified School District put in bids for every school. And charters are vying for all but one.
At stake is the education of more than 35,000 students who will attend those schools.
"Teacher-led plans offer the best chance to achieve genuine student improvement," said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.
"We're here again to fight for our children," said Corri Tate Ravare, president of ICEF Public Schools, which operates 15 local charter campuses. "Our track record absolutely speaks for itself."
In the first round in February, groups of teachers, frequently allied with district administrators, won 29 schools; charter schools were given four, and three went to the education nonprofit controlled by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Some campuses were split into several schools.
The mayor got most of what he wanted, but charter schools prevailed in only a fraction of their bids. And they were criticized for mostly preferring new campuses over struggling schools.
This time nearly every existing school attracted charter bids. ICEF is going for five: Muir, Mann, Harte and Audubon middle schools and Woodcrest Elementary, all of them south or southwest of downtown. Green Dot Public Schools put in for Clay and Harte middle schools. The Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools submitted for Clay and Huntington Park High School. Only Los Angeles High School lacks a charter bid.
The mayor's nonprofit, which controls 15 schools, is seeking no additional ones. Instead, Villaraigosa has sided with charters and suggested last week that he would lean on allied school board members to do likewise, something he did not do in the first round. Ravare, of ICEF, made her comments standing at the mayor's side.
All told, more than 80 groups submitted letters of intent for new schools or low-achieving ones for fall 2011. A few bids came from outside groups that aren't charters, including Youth Policy Institute, a social service nonprofit, and MLA Partner Schools, which manages two district high schools while honoring district union contracts.
Six new high schools are up for bid. Each probably will be divided into smaller academies that could be managed by different operators.
Central Region High School No. 13 in Glassell Park attracted 16 bidders, including three long-established charters, teams of district administrators and teacher groups from four existing high schools — Marshall, Roosevelt, Franklin and Crenshaw. The new $231-million, 23-acre school will enroll students living in areas served by Marshall, Franklin and Eagle Rock high schools.
Final proposals are due in December. L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines will then recommend who should run individual schools to the Board of Education, which is expected to vote in February.
In the earlier round of bidding, applicants had to put together their proposals in weeks. This time, they will have the better part of a year. Officials also are trying to improve the process by which employees, parents, high school students and community members take part in nonbinding votes for their favored proposals.
__________________________________________
LAUSD CAMPUSES ATTRACTING BIDDERS
Daily News Wire Service
2 July 2010 -- More than 80 teams of teachers, staff, charter- school groups and nonprofit organizations submitted letters of intent in hopes of taking over management of eight troubled campuses and nine new schools, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced Thursday.
The various groups, which submitted the letters as part of the LAUSD's Public School Choice program, have until December to submit final applications outlining their plans for managing the schools.
The letters of intent were submitted by a wide range of hopefuls, ranging from teacher coalitions to charter school operators to alumni groups. The LAUSD teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, submitted letters for all 17 campuses.
About 20 groups or individuals submitted bids for two new San Fernando Valley high schools scheduled to open in September 2011.
Valley Region High School No. 4, which will open in Granada Hills, drew the following bidders:
Granada Hills Charter High School; Partnership to Uplift Communities Valley; applicant team from Cleveland High School; applicant team from Crenshaw High School; applicant team from Monroe High School; United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA); Community Day School, West Hollywood; Youth Policy Institute; and applicant team from Local District 1.
Valley Region High School No. 5, which will open in the city of San Fernando, drew the following bidders:
Applicant team from Sylmar High School; applicant team from San
Fernando High School; applicant team from San Fernando Elite Medical Academy; applicant team from Foothill Arts Academy; applicant team from Monroe High School; applicant team from Social Justice Humanitas Academy; Community Day School, West Hollywood; UTLA; applicant team from Local District 2; Youth Policy Institute; and applicant team from Business & Leadership Academy Charter.
_________________________________________
SIX SCHOOL OPERATORS APPLY TO RUN NEW CARSON-AREA HIGH SCHOOL
By Melissa Pamer – Daily Breeze Staff Writer
2 July 2010 -- Six applicants - including three charter groups - have signaled their desire to run a new Los Angeles Unified School District campus that will serve students from Carson and Banning high schools.
The district on Thursday published a list of groups that had met a Wednesday evening deadline to submit letters of intent to run the campus, which is now under construction in Long Beach, just over the Carson border.
The school is one of nine new and eight troubled, existing campuses up for bid in the second round of the district's unusual Public School Choice process, which lets groups inside and outside the district bid for educational control.
More than 80 groups submitted nearly 200 letters of intent to apply to run the schools, the district said. Final applications are due in December.
For the new South Bay campus, three of the applicants are nonprofit charter organizations: ICEF Public Schools, Magnolia Schools and MATTIE Academy School of Change.
Los Angeles-based ICEF runs 14 schools, most in South Los Angeles, with two in Inglewood.
Magnolia runs eight campuses in the Los Angeles area, including a middle school that opened in 2008 in Gardena and is now in Carson.
MATTIE Academy is a proposal from a group that ran a charter campus in Long Beach for one year until the school district there closed the campus in 2008 following allegations of fiscal mismanagement.
MATTIE Executive Director Denice Price said Long Beach Unified School District shared responsibility for that failure. Conversations during the school's unsuccessful appeal to state education officials persuaded MATTIE to keep trying, Price said.
"It was a good program," she said. "We're encouraged to go ahead and try again. "
United Teachers Los Angeles also submitted a letter of intent, as it did for all campuses up for bid.
Gardena-based Local District 8 also applied to retain control over the campus.
Local District 8 Superintendent Michael Romero said his office is selecting a group of teachers, community members and parents to serve on a panel drawing up an application in coming weeks.
"It'll be a plan that uses data to drive decision-making," Romero said.
A sixth letter of intent was received from Dangil Jones, who is apparently an English teacher at LAUSD's downtown Santee Education Complex, according to the school's website.
The planned Carson-area campus received fewer applicants than the five other new high schools up for bid, which were the subject of eight to 16 letters of intent.
The school is currently known as South Region High School No. 4.
In the last academic year, the district put San Pedro and Gardena high schools through similar processes. But no outside groups applied to run the campuses.
Instead, a group of teachers and district staff at each campus proposed reform plans, which were approved by the Board of Education in February.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
GETTY’S ARTFUL LESSON PLANS AIM TO BOOST STUDENT CREATIVITY: Mark Bradford enlists other artists to draw up lesson... http://bit.ly/9XwHOh
DECLINING COLLEGE ADMISSIONS: By Christopher Mendoza | from the Titan Template Hercules Middle/High School Hercule... http://bit.ly/93PdcL
NCLB RENEWAL SPARKS PUSH FOR EQUITY FUNDING: by Joyce Jones | Diverse Education Blog | http://bit.ly/cT5St7 Ju... http://bit.ly/9ZFWoL
CHARTER SCHOOL LESSONS: Themes in the News for the week of June 28 to July 2, 2010 | By UCLA IDEA Staff 07-02-201... http://bit.ly/9cipO4
CHARTER ADVOCATES DEFEAT RESTRICTIONS, ACCOUNTABILITY: By John Fensterwald | The Educated Guess July 1st, 2010 -... http://bit.ly/czSTHw
Budget Report: RACE TO THE BOTTOM? California’s three decades of underfunding education [includes report]: By Joh... http://bit.ly/bpxDRc
Public School Choice 2.0: CHARTERS, TEACHERS VIE TO TAKE OVER L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS + LAUSD CAMPUSES ATTRACTING BID... http://bit.ly/95IB9y
JOBS BILL COLLIDES WITH OBAMA EDUCATION AGENDA: Teachers’ jobs …or Race to the Top, merit pay and charter schools?... http://bit.ly/99sBAy
APPEALS COURT BLOCKS NYC PLAN TO CLOSE 19 SCHOOLS: By The Associated Press July 2, 2010 -- New York City did not ..
ZIMMER WEIGHS IN ON LEADERSHIP, iDESIGN, FUTURE OF AUTONOMY AND HIS VIEWS ON A CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL: BY GARY WALKER... http://bit.ly/cKBfIC
MORE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS WITH L.A. UNIFIED'S PAYROLL SYSTEM. GRAND JURY SAYS: by Howard Blume | LA Times LA Now blo... http://bit.ly/bKmcUW
Executive Summary & Recommendations: LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT - LAUSD PAYROLL SYSTEM IMPLE... http://bit.ly/aOKiSp
Fiscal New Year’s Eve: MORE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS EDGING CLOSER TO INSOLVENCY, STATE SAYS + additional cover... http://bit.ly/dzu4Uo
Fiscal New Year’s Eve: PLAN COULD KEEP SOME L.A. COUNTY ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL PROGRAMS OPEN: Officials are looking at... http://bit.ly/9ajThh
MEALS PROGRAMS OFFER HUNGRY STUDENTS A BREAK DURING SUMMER: L.A. Unified expects to serve nearly 5 million meals t... http://bit.ly/dyRs7Z
FIXING SCHOOL STAFFING: With teacher layoffs disproportionately hurting lower-performing schools, SB 1285 would he... http://bit.ly/a5sOL1
L.A. BRACES FOR PINK SLIPS: By Rick Orlov and C.J. Lin, Staff Writers | Los Angeles Daily News 30 June 2010 - Tho... http://bit.ly/deY1RB
THOUSANDS OF ABBY SUNDERLANDS IN OUR MIDST: Countless kids are forced to navigate neighborhoods as fearsome as 20-... http://bit.ly/dhbu85
VALEDICTORY: by School boardmember Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte - from her monthly newsletter val·e·... http://bit.ly/cwOHbJ
BUDGET CUTS PAINFUL AT INNER-CITY L.A. SCHOOLS: from CBS-2.com by The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) ― When st... http://bit.ly/aoQHuy
STUDENTS FACE CLOSURE OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS BECAUSE OF L.A. COUNTY BUDGET CUTS: Students, teachers and some count... http://bit.ly/c4htaJ
SHOWCASING STUDENT TALENTS IN ‘PETER PAN,’ DOWNTOWN ARTS SCHOOL CONCLUDES ITS FIRST YEAR: Overcoming a few roadblo... http://bit.ly/d9mZsY
YouTube: DOE MEETING WITH PARENTS: A Conversation with Parents about Parental Involvement and Education: Washingt... http://bit.ly/9cP1dT
Bad headline o’ th’ week: PARENTS BRAWL AT KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION; OFFICIALS LOCK DOWN CAMPUS: Shelby Grad -- Los ... http://bit.ly/bUpBeS
►CloseTheLoophole.com: TAKE ACTION TO SHUT THE CORPORATE TAX LOOPHOLE AND BRING FISCAL SANITY TO THE CALIFORNIA STA... http://bit.ly/9qKY0E 3:54 PM Jun 28th via twitterfeed
►LEARNING TEAMS AND THE FUTURE OF TEACHING: “Learning is no longer preparation for the job, it is the job.”: Commen... http://bit.ly/94BvSd
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: 213-241.8700
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! • Find your state legislator based on your home address. Just go to: http://bit.ly/dqFdq2 • 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.
|
