Saturday, December 18, 2010

Doing one thing and saying another



4LAKids: Sunday 19•Dec•2010
In This Issue:
SCHOOL BOARD MUSCLES THROUGH NEW CALENDAR; PARENT VOICES MISSING
THIS CLASS IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY….
L.A. TEACHERS UNION WON’T ACCEPT PAY CUTS, ‘VALUE-ADDLED’ EVALUATIONS + TEACHERS UNION OFFICIALS SAY THEY ARE NOT ‘VILLAINS OF EDUCATION’
Green Dot’s Animo Justice Charter High School: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHARTER SCHOOL FAILS?
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?


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EVERY TWO OR THREE YEARS The District reviews+renews its commitment to Parent Involvement and/or Engagement. A new resolution is resolved - and from that point forward LAUSD is parent-friendly and the voices of mothers and fathers and guardians is heard and heeded. This new commitment is carefully defined, described and resolved with all the whereases and wherefores - and it is invariably semantic. The 2010 version of the District Parent Engagement Policy contains the word 'family' in the definition: "Parent and Family Involvement". That fixed it!

This lasts as long as the parents are properly appreciative-of-and-compliant-in their new role/voice/power ...and when parents ask questions or would like an actual say it ebbs away like any metaphor escaping containment - drawn by gravity downward in a clockwise spiral north of the equator.

This year's flavor lasted less than Tuesday's marathon eight-hour board meeting as the new calendar change was imposed upon the district and the parents and families thereof.

Parents are a troublesome bunch. They rarely agree with each other, let alone Board Rules, the Ed Code and the current conventional wisdom in the schools of education. They have not universally bought into the thinking of the US Dept of Education or the charter-centric thinking of bought-and-paid-for school reformers. They have no collective bargaining so parent involvement is purely voluntary on the part of The District.

There isn't a boardmember up there on the horseshoe who doesn't wrap themselves in the flag of parent engagement - but the lack of clothing is not disguised by the colorful bunting. It isn't about the flag - it's about the practice.


THERE WAS A MOMENT IN TUESDAY'S MEETING when the board came to a unanimous and uncomfortable conclusion: They saw the future and it sucks.

El Camino Real High School, a the jewel in the crown and LAUSD's only remaining non-Title One high school is going to go charter. Driven by the State of Reality: The Charter Law, the union contract, the economy; a lack of leadership from Beaudry and Sacramento. It has no choice. Within a year or two this will be true of every non-Title One school in the district, K through 12.

The superintendent predicted that this flight/decline would soon bring LAUSD to a total enrollment of 400,000 - down from a high of 747,000. And LAUSD will find itself in the business of educating English Language Learners, Special Ed and Children of Poverty - while high achieving and middle class kids will go to privately subsidized public charter schools - separate and unequal. . Public education moves from a universal to an institutional part of the social safety net.


SUPERINTENDENT CORTINES told the Tenth District PTA president and I on December 6th that he would be retiring effective 'after April first' - naming the date. When asked if that date was official and/or public knowledge he said he had informed the board president the day before and he considered it public knowledge. I have been waiting for an official announcement and have yet to see it.


THIS MAY BE THE LAST 4LAKids UNTIL JANUARY 9th. It all depends on whether I can find an Internet connection and/or LAUSD news in the middle of the ocean. And on how hard I try. There is no truth to the rumor that I have fallen off the edge of the earth, but I am on a voyage exploring those regions. A transatlantic crossing on the maiden voyage of a great ship in the middle of the winter - proving, I suppose, that some of us did not get the message of "Titanic".

It's not all that bad. No phone. No internet. No email. There's a signpost up ahead: Welcome to the Olden Days.


Happy/Merry/Onward/Adelante!

- smf

LAST MINUTE GIFT GIVERS: Nothing gives and keeps on giving like a subscription to 4LAKids. The Revealed Truth about Public Education in LA (or what passes for it) in one's email box every Sunday.

SUBSCRIBE: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com


SCHOOL BOARD MUSCLES THROUGH NEW CALENDAR; PARENT VOICES MISSING
Diana L. Chapman in CityWatch Vol 8 Issue 100 | http://bit.ly/hcIazJ

Dec 17, 2010 - Despite one school member’s wariness that a calendar change had limited parent input, the Los Angeles Unified School Board forged ahead and adopted a policy Tuesday to begin school Aug. 15 district wide – a decision that will impact thousands of students and their families.

The board voted 6-1 to begin school in one of the hottest months of the year -- mid-August in summer of 2011 while not all campuses have air conditioning. The only schools not included are those that remain on a multi-track calendar.

School Board Member Richard Vladovic, who heads the Harbor area and parts of northern Los Angeles, heatedly dissented.

In the lone no vote, Vladovic urged other board members to wait until more data had been collected and parents received more information and time to respond to the change.

“There was clearly not enough information given to parents about this calendar change,” said Vladovic, who is up for re-election in June. “Parents and families need to be part of the process. Though I think that educationally the early start calendar change makes sense, I supported the parents who have expressed to me that they have not been given enough information.”

The new calendar does not garner students any additional educational time. While Los Angeles Unified will start earlier in the year, students will be released at the beginning of June rather than toward the end of that month – as was done in the past.

Besides seeking further information from parents, Vladovic argued that the district should wait for such a change until all its schools were off multi-track, a system that school officials determined later to be a failure for its students, but was forced into due to intense overcrowding. With bond measures, the district has been able to build new schools and slowly return most schools to the traditional schedules, starting in September and ending in June.

Vladoic’s amendment – which asked for the board to allow school complexes by community to decide their fate -- died on the table.

LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said the district would incur higher costs by implementing the early start by complex, citing additional transportation and special education expenses.

David Kooper, Vladovic’s chief of staff, said it was ironic how the board voted after spending several hours earlier in the day debating how they could get parents involved and engaged.

And yet, families were only notified about this as a proposal in October on a Los Angeles Unified website.

“It’s not fair to families,” said Kooper, who added that he received emails from upset parents. “It is incredibly unfortunate for those families who already planned vacations. Now these families have to make the decision whether or not to cancel their trip and perhaps incur a cost in doing so or go on the trip and miss school. If this was done next year, this issue would not be a problem.

“This is a clear example of doing one thing and saying another.”

Should families decide to go on vacation the district will lose funds from ADA, or average daily attendance. States fund schools about $30 per day per student

One mother agreed with Kooper’s assessment.

“Here goes LAUSD again making a desperate stab in the dark to make changes with little data to support it,” said mother Jennifer Marquez, who has two children in a San Pedro elementary school. “I think families were defeated again and students are being treated like nothing more than test scores. I know many families that are upset over this and wonder if LAUSD knows that they may end up losing more students over this decision.”

Seventeen high schools – driven by their principals – urged Cortines to allow them to begin school early this past fall so that its students could end their first semester before the winter break.

Many administrators believe adding three weeks to the beginning of the year – and loping off June, which one principal called a “dead” month, would raise student test scores. Most of the year is dedicated to working toward the test, which are taken in May. After that, both teachers and students are exhausted, school officials said.

Linda Del Cueto, the superintendent who heads 14 of the high schools that started early this year, said while she’s heard few complaints she has not been able yet to delve into the data of how successful the early start has been.

At the end of the semester, Del Cueto said they will be able to look at students grades, but test scores will be unavailable until the summer.

(Diana Chapman has been a writer/journalist for nearly thirty years. She has written for magazines, newspapers and the best-seller series, Chicken Soup for the Soul. You can reach her at: hartchap@cox.net or her website theunderdogforkids.blogspot.com ) -cw


THIS CLASS IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY….
Charles Feldman in the Huffington Post | http://huff.to/eUlgtM

December 16, 2010 05:07 PM - "Good morning class. Before I begin, let me just say that this section of Biology 101 is brought to you by the makers of genuine Bayer aspirin. If you get a headache from this class, remember to reach for Bayer -- the brand doctors trust! Now, if you can please open your text books to chapter three."

Far-fetched? Maybe not.

The cash-starved Los Angeles Unified School District has chosen the path of least resistance to the corporate world at a time when companies are anxious to get their hands on the young minds of school children at the earliest age possible.

The board is apparently going ahead with plans to seek corporate sponsors for such things as school auditoriums and athletic fields. Off limits, at least for now: corporate promotions for alcohol, tobacco and firearms, according to the New York Times. Well, thank God for that, right?!

Imagine how embarrassing it would be if the next time there is a campus shooting, it turns out the weapon used was actually sponsored by some gun maker?

Ramon Cortines, the L.A. schools superintendent, is quoted by the LA Times as saying, "we're not going to put advertising where it offends."

Really? Well, Mr. Cortines, that sort of misses the point, doesn't it? The point is, all corporate advertising in school in order to raise cash offends. Doesn't matter where it is.

The pity is, the LAUSD is willing to sell its soul to the devil in exchange for very little money, really.

School district officials are quoted as projecting potential ad revenue at about $18 million. The operating budget for the district, however, is reportedly about $5.4 billion.

So, any money raised by corporate advertising is a drop in the bucket, in exchange for a bucket of KFC chicken potentially plastering its logo on a school's cafeteria's walls.

Some might argue, especially teachers facing layoffs, that better this than have more cutbacks.

I doubt it.

Opening up LA's schools to corporate sponsorship is a major step in a very wrong direction. Students are better off with more crowded classrooms than they are with minds crowded with corporate logos.

Charles Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, "No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle." He has covered politics and police in L.A. since 1995 and is a regular contributor of investigative reports to KNX1070 Newsradio.


L.A. TEACHERS UNION WON’T ACCEPT PAY CUTS, ‘VALUE-ADDLED’ EVALUATIONS + TEACHERS UNION OFFICIALS SAY THEY ARE NOT ‘VILLAINS OF EDUCATION’
L.A. TEACHERS UNION WON’T ACCEPT PAY CUTS, ‘VALUE-ADDLED’ EVALUATIONS: UTLA leaders dispute criticisms from the mayor and others, but reiterate their firm opposition to furloughs, larger classes and use of students' test scores to evaluate teachers' performance.

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/hYGfGb

December 16, 2010 - The state's largest teachers union Wednesday fired an early salvo in contract negotiations, serving notice that it wouldn't accept pay cuts easily and that it won't consider linking teacher evaluations to student test scores in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The afternoon news conference, at union headquarters in Koreatown, was a familiar exercise in rallying the rank and file. But it also marked a renewed effort to lead the public debate over school reform, coming shortly after L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa labeled United Teachers Los Angeles the primary obstacle to improving schools.

The union "today is setting the record straight," said vice president Julie Washington, who heads the union's negotiating team and is running for president. "We are not the villains of education. We are the solution. We are dedicated and care about the children and the community. … We are going on the record pushing back."

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The union contract expires at the end of June, but both the district and the union can reopen the current contract on a few selected issues.

Top union priorities include resisting class-size increases and restoring the five days cut from the current school year through employee furloughs, Washington said. The former would spare teachers from layoffs; the latter would return teacher pay to prior levels. Washington insisted that the underlying goal is to promote the best interests of students as well as employees.

Washington didn't completely rule out furlough days but she echoed the union call of past years as she challenged the district to "open its books" and cut out waste and high-priced consultants.

District officials countered that they face a projected $142-million deficit for next year — and that seven furlough days would only make up $97 million.

The nation's second-largest school system already has laid off about 5,000 employees since July 1, 2009, and reduced pay for thousands of others.

The union remained firm on another point: No part of teachers' evaluations should be based on their students' standardized test scores, said treasurer David Goldberg. The union supports using data to improve instruction, he added, and wants to fix a broken teacher evaluation system.

The district wants test scores to count for at least 30% of evaluations through a "value-added" system that measures student improvement, taking into account past performance. Some unions elsewhere have accepted value-added formulas as one measure of teacher effectiveness.

The union also took a swipe at a proposed lawsuit settlement that aims to prevent a school's staff from being decimated by layoffs based on seniority. The union has defended traditional seniority rules.

The best solution would be to avoid having schools staffed with mostly new teachers — who are the first to be laid off, said Kirti Baranwal, a teacher at Samuel Gompers Middle School in South Los Angeles. Gompers was among three middle schools especially hard-hit by layoffs.

Baranwal credited the mayor's education team for giving teachers at some schools under its control the freedom to make strides. But she said the mayor himself is "speaking from a lack of knowledge of what's going on at his own schools."

____________________

TEACHERS UNION OFFICIALS SAY THEY ARE NOT ‘VILLAINS OF EDUCATION’

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/icrUvd

12/15/2010 07:06:48 PM PST - After receiving several public bashings amid unprecedented political and community pressure for school reform, leaders of the Los Angeles teacher's union said Wednesday that they are not "the villains of education."

Union leaders also laid out their plan to push for teacher-led reforms, as they prepare for a new round of salary negotiations with school district officials.

The teachers union has faced growing criticism in recent months from Los Angeles Unified officials, community groups and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for opposing key proposals for school improvement, including key changes to teacher evaluations and the hiring and firing process of educators.

At a news conference Wednesday, labor leaders denounced the idea that they are "defenders of the status quo."

"Too often we are painted as greedy and uncaring, well today, we are setting the record straight.. that is not true and we are pushing back," said Julie Washington, a vice-president for United Teachers Los Angeles.

Facing one of the toughest rounds of contract negotiations to date, UTLA leaders said they want LAUSD to stabilize schools by reducing staff layoffs. Union leaders also said they wanted to push for more freedom for educators to decide how they teach state required subjects and how they measure student success.

"District mandated programs have killed ingenuity," said teacher Queena Kim, who works at the UCLA Community School in Koreatown. However, union leaders maintained their opposition to using test scores and to the elimination of the seniority system, which forces the district to keep teachers who have worked with LAUSD the longest, regardless of performance, during layoffs.

In an interview this week, LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said he saw the union as a critical and integral part of the district, however he said recently his own negotiation invitations to labor leaders have gone ignored.

"I've always felt the union has to be a part of the reform agenda," Cortines said. "But they cannot continue to stonewall."

Union leaders said they have not turned down any district negotiation meetings.

Some in the community though have grown increasingly impatient with the union, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who last week blasted the teacher's union as "one unwavering roadblock to reform."

"We all welcome a more progressive teachers union in Los Angeles .... but up until now they have been the party of no," said LAUSD school board member Yolie Flores.


Green Dot’s Animo Justice Charter High School: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A CHARTER SCHOOL FAILS?
“The school was the only one in the Green Dot network that offered classes in English as a Second Language”

Bertha Rodríguez Santos, New America Media, News Report, Translated by Elena Shore | http://bit.ly/ePMLCZ

Dec 13, 2010 - LOS ANGELES—California leads the nation in charter school growth this year, according to a report released last month by The Center for Education Reform.

With 912 charter schools in the state, up 114 from the 2009-2010 academic year, charter administrators are being praised for developing what many believe is one of the most effective models for educating low-income students.

But far less attention has been paid to the closure rate of charter schools. According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, over the past two academic years, 281 charter schools, or about 6 percent of the total open in 2008-09, closed nationwide. In California, there have been 150 closures since in 1992, when the state’s charter school law was enacted, and 72 in just the past three years.
What happens to kids when a charter school fails?

Thalía Saavedra, 17, has a sweet and mild demeanor, but she grows angry when discussing the unexpected closure of her school, Animo Justice Charter High School, earlier this year.

“They didn’t even give up the opportunity to share our opinions,” said Thalia.“They never gave us a voice, they never notified us in advance. They just told us, ‘It’s closing,’ and that’s it.”

The news came one Friday morning in late March, when Saavedra and her classmates were asked to gather in the school gym. The students assumed they were to attend an ordinary assembly, though none was scheduled.

Instead, representatives from Green Dot, the L.A-based charter school network that opened Animo Justice in 2006, informed the students that the school was being shut down in June.

In an interview, Marco Petruzzi, president of Green Dot, blamed the decision on financial problems, low enrollment, and poor academic performance, in addition the failure of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to provide the school with promised facilities.

Teachers learned the news just 20 minutes before the announcement to students. Green Dot’s chief academic officer, Cristina de Jesús, and vice president of education, Megan Quaile, gave a Power Point presentation on the school’s attendance and test scores, then informed teachers of the closure.

Science teacher Judy Riemenschneider called the process of evaluating and shutting down the school unfair and “truly insulting.”

Another teacher, who asked not to be identified, said she was told not to say anything to students and warned that if she “opened her mouth,” she would be in trouble

The school’s 500 students, meanwhile, were shocked—and devastated. More than 90 percent of them were Latinos, nearly half were English Language Learners, and the school was the only one in the Green Dot network that offered classes in English as a Second Language. Where were students supposed to go? What would happen to the community they had worked so hard to create?

Fast Growth, Big Plans

Founded in 1999, Green Dot is a fast-growing charter-school network that operates 18 schools in Los Angeles and one in New York with public and private funds. Supporters include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Oscar de la Hoya Foundation, the Wachovia Foundation and Wells Fargo bank, among others

On its website, it says it is “leading the charge to transform public education in Los Angeles and beyond so that all children receive the education they need to be successful in college, leadership, and life.” Yet Animo Justice’s problems began even before it was launched.

Originally, Green Dot had sought to take over troubled Jefferson High School, in South Central Los Angeles. But when LAUSD did not allow the charter school network to use the Jefferson facilities as originally planned, Green Dot decided to compete with Jefferson students by opening five charter schools in surrounding neighborhoods, according to Marco Petruzzi.

Animo Justice’s first location was a building between Broadway and 26th Street in South Central L.A. But the next year, the school moved to Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, where students took classes in 10 portable classrooms installed in the parking lot.

In 2008, the school changed locations again, to a small building, near Long Beach Boulevard in South Central, where it remained until its closure.

The industrial environment wasn’t optimal for academic achievement. Less than a block away, a train passed by every 15 minutes, and the noise made it difficult for students to concentrate, Thalia said.

Ismael “Mike” Sebastián, who followed the school from one campus another and graduated in June, recalled one day when a strong odor from the bathroom’s flooded drainage system gave students bad headaches, and they had to call the paramedics. A sociology teacher said the poor air quality near the school “affects the brain cells.”

Petruzzi acknowledged that the frequent moves and lack of a permanent building contributed to low student enrollment, which in turn added to the school’s financial problems. The school was under-resourced in other ways that hurt achievement.

For example, Thalia said her regular math and English teachers were absent for an entire year. Instead, the classes were taught by substitutes with little experience

Meanwhile, with three principals in four years, the school lacked strong leadership, Riemenschneider said

According to Ed-Data, during the 2008-2009 school year, only 13.9 percent of Animo Justice students were proficient in English Language Arts, a significant drop from 26.9 percent proficiency the previous year. The percentage of students proficient in math dropped from 23.1 percent in 2007-08 to 14 percent in 2008-09

A Strong Community

For all its problems, however, students deeply cared about the school. It was they and parents who chose to combine the word “Justice” with the word “Animo,” a name now borne by all of Green Dot’s L.A. schools. They also chose the school’s colors and the phoenix as the school’s mascot.

The small class size allowed students to form close relationships. Everyone knew each other. Thalia said she considered the school to be her second home: the academic part of her family. Mike Sebastián said the teachers always knew what was going on with the kids.

At first, students were paralyzed by the news. Then, putting their academic lessons on social justice into action, they decided to fight. The next day, they staged a sit-in protest in the hallways instead of attending class.

Several days later, some 400 students spontaneously marched the six miles to Green Dot’s offices on Bunker Hill in downtown Los Angeles.

“You got your education. Now give us ours. We want justice,” the students’ signs read.

But the students’ chanting and discontent had no effect. Marco Petruzzi met them for two hours to explain the reasons for the closure, but did not change his mind.
Education as a Business

"For them, our education is a business,” Thalia said. “They used grades to try to blame us, but in reality, they were the ones who failed.”

One teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity, believes Green Dot and other charter school operators mislead students and parents about what they can accomplish. They promise families a high-quality education, but unlike parents in affluent areas like Beverly Hills, low-income parents lack the resources to supplement what the schools can provide, the teacher said. In the end, many charter schools are unable to meet the expectations they set.

“It’s exactly like a factory,” she said. If a school does not perform according to the established parameters, the charter school operator can close it, lay off the teachers, and kick out the students—leaving them in the lurch.

In the interview, Petruzzi responded to the criticisms. “It wasn’t a decision we took lightly...The state is in bankruptcy; there’s not enough funding. The district has broken the law and not given us facilities.

“We did not give up on the students,” he said. “No teachers lost their jobs because of this. We offered placement in other schools. We are just trying to face the very difficult financial situation the best way possible.”

But the teacher who declined to give her name, who taught at the high school for two years, said she and her colleagues were put in a difficult position. Those who dared to support the students in their attempt to save the school were not rehired by Green Dot, she said many had to look for work in other schools or find another career.

Of the 25 teachers who taught classes at Animo Justice, only half returned to teach at Green Dot schools.

Students, meanwhile, were given a list of Green Dot schools they could select from. They were placed at schools through a lottery system and consideration of what schools would be the best fit for Animo Justice students.

Thalia Savedra is attending a charter school outside the Green Dot network. She plans to graduate this coming June—“if they don’t close it down in the middle of the school year.”

* Bertha Rodríguez-Santos, a reporter and editor at El Tequio magazine, has been a newspaper, radio, and TV reporter in Mexico and the United States for 18 years. She produced this story as part of the 2010 NAM Education Beat Fellowship for ethnic media journalists, which is supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
“Doing one thing and saying another” :”SCHOOL BOARD MUSCLES THROUGH NEW CALENDAR; PARENT VOICES MISSING: Diana L... http://bit.ly/efYsNY

DEADLINE TODAY: NCLB/PSC + Magnet students face deadline - Chance to move kids from low-performing schools ends ... http://bit.ly/fYGMZj

THIS CLASS IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY….: Charles Feldman in the Huffington Post | http://huff.to/eUlgtM December 16, ... http://bit.ly/eToQrV

OXY TAKES ON THE WHITE HOUSE: Nine-member panel of students and community leaders interact with top White House ... http://bit.ly/faUP6e

CALIFORNIA BOARD OF ED SEEKS PROBE OF COMPTON CHARTER CAMPAIGN: The board will ask the state attorney general to... http://bit.ly/gIBCD1

L.A. TEACHERS UNION WON’T ACCEPT PAY CUTS, ‘VALUE-ADDLED’ EVALUATIONS + TEACHERS UNION OFFICIALS SAY THEY ARE NO... http://bit.ly/fnyYFf

FORMER NEW ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL PLEADS GUILTY TO EMBEZZLING $1.3 MILLION+: Ruben Vives - LA Times/LA... http://bit.ly/gZaOm3

Pick ‘n choose: TODAY’S NEWS LINKS: 16 Dec: from google news: California budget crisis poses new attacks on tea... http://bit.ly/h0WG9N

QUINCY JONES CUTS RIBBON AT NAMESAKE SCHOOL: Leo Stallworth - ABC7.COM | http://bit.ly/eQ5x8l Wednesday, Dece... http://bit.ly/gLVTj4

Compton Trigger/Takeover: McKINLEY PARENTS ALLEGE INTIMIDATION, MICHELLE RHEE COMES TO TOWN: Sandra Poindexter, ... http://bit.ly/gUfGM9

LOOKING FOR ONLINE LEARNING EXEMPLARS: Posted by Eduflack (Patrick Riccards) | http://bit.ly/h87A4q 12/15/201... http://bit.ly/hGUQjT

SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES NEW PARENT POLICY: MEDIA REPORTS ON CALENDAR CHANGE + SPONSORSHIP PROGRAMS INSTEAD: Could ... http://bit.ly/eAdNMg

Does visual skills training improve reading outcomes? KCBS IN LOS ANGELES TO AIR REPORT ON PILOT PROJECT OUTCOME... http://bit.ly/gpUrJB
Rise of the iKids: SCHOOLS TEST iPADS IN CLASSROOMS: By Bruce Newman | San Jose Mercury News | http://bit.ly/hOj... http://bit.ly/gMOITa

UCLA Ed Budget Forum: ANOTHER DOSE OF BROWN GLOOM AND DOOM: The latest on California politics and government Po... http://bit.ly/eBddQ0

DEFICIT DIALOGUE: By Jeff Simering, Director of Legislation, Council of Great City Schools|from Nov/Dec Urban Ed... http://bit.ly/gbDkrz

REPORT OF THE RABEN GROUP: Federal Education Policy and Funding in the 111th Congress …looking forward to the 11... http://bit.ly/f425tU


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


• 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! • 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.


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




Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD and is Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. 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.
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