In This Issue:  | | • | L.A. SCHOOL OFFICER FAKED SHOOTING, LAPD SAYS | | | • | STRUGGLING BELMONT HIGH TO BE RESTRUCTURED + BLINDSIDED AT BELMONT | | | • | PRODUCER, STADIUM DEVELOPERS DONATE TO GROUP BACKING VILLARAIGOSA'S SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES: | | | • | U.S. SCHOOLS ARE STILL AHEAD—WAY AHEAD: US's alarm about international rankings of students overlooks some critical components of our education system | | | • | A CLOSER LOOK AT DENVER SCHOOL PRAISED BY OBAMA IN STATE OF THE NATION + HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT | | | • | EVENTS: Coming up next week... | | | • | What can YOU do? | |
Featured Links: | | | | If last weeks 4LAKids asked the question "Where’s the outrage?" - there was outrageous conduct enough this past week to answer the question again and again.
I: Saving the worst 'til last: FIRST WE HAVE THE SCHOOL POLICE SHOOTING/LOCKDOWN/HOAX/UNREALITY TV. UNRAVELING (see L.A. SCHOOL OFFICER FAKED SHOOTING: below ) My just turned twenty-year-old daughter and my one-year-shy of nonagenarian mother asked the same question on the same day: "Why would anyone do such a thing?"
And so ask we all, betwixt+between.
I'm afraid Andy Warhol's guaranteed fifteen minutes of fame has met reality TV and the endless news cycle and our attention spans that shorten with the velocity of Moore's Law. I'm going to put on my Writers Guild T-shirt and give you my easy answer: Just because it's unscripted doesn't mean it's real.
THE LOS ANGELES SCHOOL POLICE are a vital part of the District's mission to keep children safe at-and-around schools - but the budgeteers+bean-counters have no respect for vitality and and little for safety: "Show me the safety part of API+AYP scores." The Supe(s) and the Board have egg on their faces and will not look favorably upon the school police the next time their budget is up for rightsizing. Bob Dylan tells us "A lot of people don't have much food on their table. But they got a lot of forks 'n knives. And they got to cut somethin'." Mayor Tony would love to absorb the school police into the LAPD, especially if he could bill LAUSD for the service.
II. WELCOME TO THE POST-CORTINES ERA. At Superintendent Cortines' first State o' th' Schools Address two yaers back he chose Belmont High School as the setting: Rebuilt/refurbished and educationally re-energized; Belmont was a school of excellent potential and a poster child for his administration and program of reform. On Wednesday a questionable+questioned decision was reached - not by Cortines but by the Local District Superintendent - to take the school over and "restructure" it - firing and replacing the staff. (see STRUGGLING BELMONT HIGH TO BE RESTRUCTURED + BLINDSIDED AT BELMONT) Local District 4 Superintendent Dale Vigil has already been publicly accused of responding to politics-over-reality in his handling of High School #9/The High School for the Visual and Performing Arts in the name of politics [http://bit.ly/hALm23]...could this be more of the same?
III. CURRENT EVENTS IN TUNISIA AND EGYPT DEMONSTRATE THE POWER AND COMPLICATION AND IMPERFECTION OF DEMOCRACY; it may be beautiful but it ain't petty! And it can be ugly. This is proven out by the Public School Choice elections/advisory votes/beauty contests this week. In most places the first parent/student/staff/community vote was on Monday and the second chance to vote was on Saturday. And apparently on Wednesday or Thursday the District changed (or "clarified") the qualifications for who can vote - in essence permitting proponents to bus-in voters from across town. (see: HUNDREDS VOTE ON TAYLOR YARDS HIGH SCHOOL ACADEMIES:http://bit.ly/fzhW77 + NORTHEAST L.A. HIGH SCHOOL BRINGS EXCITEMENT http://bit.ly/fJjOHp + Chaos 0r Success?: ELIGIBILITY LOOPHOLE TIGHTENED http://bit.ly/gHFLQe + FIRST HAND REPORT - http://bit.ly/hjjr7n- and notice how my attitude changed as the winds of change blew every-which-way but fair!)
IV: THE BEST SCHOOL BOARD (DEVELOPERS') MONEY CAN BUY (see: DEVELOPERS DONATE TO GROUP BACKING VILLARAIGOSA'S SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES: below ) Sometimes reading between the lines is so easy one wonders where the depth of deception is? Are we all that easily hoodwinked by the political shenanigans practiced by LA politicos and developers?
a: Read the article above.
b: Remember that the (Mayor's) Partnership for Los Angeles Schools is bankrolled and funded by developers Melanie & Richard Lundquist and their $50 million gift. | http://lat.ms/hWH2qP
c. Remember developer Richard Muerelo? "Downtown/s largest landowner" - who bankrolled Mayor Tony's 2005 election campaign for mayor? - and the rather shady dealings when Muerelo bought the Taylor Yards High School property out from under LAUSD and made a huge profit when LAUSD had to sue to take the property by eminent domain? - How he illegally dumped toxic waste on the property from another development he had going - and how he leveraged all this with borrowed CalPers (teacher's) pension money? I remember how Antonio Villaraigosa promised me personally on May 17, 2005 that he would intervene ...and then obviously didn't.(see http://bit.ly/fXWRnd) Google Richard Muerelo [http://bit.ly/gjRW7O] - it's like picking up a rock and finding out what's under it. Though maybe that analogy gives creepy-crawly things a bad name.
IV (B) PATT MORISON IS DOING HER TWO HOUR RADIO SHOW TOMORROW AFTERNOON (KPCC 89.3 | Monday Jan 31 1-3 PM) on two subjects | http://bit.ly/ffxcgU:
a: NEW DIRECTIONS IN EDUCATIONAL REFORM: No Child Left Behind vs. Every Child Counts.
b: WHETHER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES ARE IMPORTANT JOB ENGINES? ...OR POLITICAL PATRONAGE PLUMS FOR DEVELOPERS AND LOCAL POLITICOS?
Maybe someone should call in [Call-in number: 1-866-893-KPCC (1-866-893-5722)] and tie the two together: Could Mayor Tony's interest in School Reform and LAUSD really be a way to get his hands on the the school building and modernization program - a 'redevelopment" plum with $6 Billion plus still to be spent? Or perhaps, misspent?Ya think? He apparently has done this at the community college district. (In fairness - not to Tony but to you the reader - the forgoing complaint is a current subject of litigation.)
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
L.A. SCHOOL OFFICER FAKED SHOOTING, LAPD SAYS
THE REPORT OF AN OFFICER SHOT BY AN ATTACKER FORCED A LOCKDOWN OF NINE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY CAMPUSES LAST WEEK.
By Joel Rubin and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/dRjezd
January 28, 2011 - A Los Angeles school police officer who said he was shot by an attacker last week, prompting a manhunt that shut down a large swath of Woodland Hills, has been arrested on suspicion of concocting the story, authorities said Thursday night.
The startling revelation came at a hastily called news conference by Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, who said detectives became suspicious about the officer's story as they investigated the case.
A terse Beck said Los Angeles School Police Department Officer Jeff Stenroos had been booked on a felony charge of filing a false police report. He declined to elaborate further on the case, which the head of the Los Angeles Police Protective League called an "embarrassment to law enforcement."
Police had said Stenroos was shot in the chest Jan. 19 after he confronted a man who was attempting to break into vehicles near the eastern boundary of the El Camino Real High School campus. Stenroos' bulletproof vest absorbed the impact of a single gunshot, which Los Angeles Police Department officials said could easily have killed the officer.
The incident sparked a massive police response that inconvenienced thousands of people for the day as officers blocked roads, locked down schools and refused to let people in or out of a 7-square-mile area.
Authorities arrested Stenroos after he allegedly admitted to fabricating the story, a senior LAPD official close to the investigation told The Times.
The official said investigators were still piecing together how Stenroos had pulled off the hoax.
But the source added that Stenroos' protective vest showed obvious signs of having been struck by the bullet. Stenroos suffered bruising to his chest, raising questions for detectives about whether the officer shot himself accidentally and then fabricated a story or concocted the whole scenario. The source declined to say whether additional arrests would be made in the case.
"Obviously it's as shocking to us as it is to anyone else," Steven Zipperman, chief of the Los Angeles School Police Department, said late Thursday.
Zipperman, a former LAPD captain, said his department was cooperating fully with the investigation.
Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said Stenroos was a "disgrace."
"The law enforcement community is disgusted," Weber said in a statement. "While Mr. Stenroos is a disgrace to the badge, his individual and dangerous actions should not reflect on the hard-working men and women in law enforcement."
More than 300 officers swarmed the west San Fernando Valley in search of a gunman, locking down nine schools and setting up a dragnet as they looked for a suspect described as a white man in his 40s, wearing a bomber or black-hooded jacket and blue jeans.
Although many in the community expressed frustration and anger at the inconvenience caused by the size and length of the operation, LAPD officials defended the decision as necessary to protect the public from a suspect who was believed to have shot an armed officer. They noted that the incident was especially serious because it involved an attack against a fellow law enforcement officer.
Stenroos said he was knocked back and hit his head. Coast Guard Auxiliary member Michael Brodey found Stenroos and immediately summoned help using the officer's police radio while providing aid. Brodey did not report seeing a gunman.
Authorities offered a $100,000 reward for information in the case and even distributed a composite of the suspected gunman.
STRUGGLING BELMONT HIGH TO BE RESTRUCTURED + BLINDSIDED AT BELMONT
MOST EMPLOYEES WILL HAVE TO REAPPLY FOR THEIR JOBS AND AGREE TO A CURRICULUM IN WHICH THE SCHOOL'S NEARLY 1,300 STUDENTS WILL BE TAUGHT IN ENGLISH, SPANISH AND MANDARIN.
By Jason Song, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/dPW0Cg
January 27, 2011 - Los Angeles school district officials announced Wednesday that Belmont High School will be restructured and most employees will have to reapply for their jobs and agree to a curriculum in which students will be taught in English, Spanish and Mandarin.
The move marks the third time recently that officials have taken such measures using federal guidelines allowing districts to revamp struggling campuses.
Belmont has improved almost 100 points on the Academic Performance Index over the last two years, which uses students' standardized test scores. Although its latest score of 639 is still poor, outgoing Supt. Ramon C. Cortines has publicly praised the campus several times.
The two other campuses that were restructured, John C. Fremont and Jordan high schools, showed much less progress than Belmont before teachers, administrators and staff were made to reapply for their jobs.
But Dale Vigil, the local superintendent who oversees Belmont near downtown, said he made the decision to overhaul the nearly 1,300-student school because a small percentage of students score at grade level or above in English and math on standardized tests and a low percentage graduate in four years.
Last year, 9% of students tested at grade level or above in math and 25% reached the same levels in English. Both figures were below district averages.
"If you go deep in the data, you can see there is room for improvement," Vigil said.
Vigil blamed the school's curriculum for the academic problems — not the instructors.
"I'm hoping 100% of the teachers come back," he said.
Vigil said the school would switch to a system in which students will do more long-term projects and also will be able to take classes in English, Spanish and Mandarin. (Teachers will need to be certified to teach in those languages.)
Belmont serves a student body that is almost 90% Latino. It also serves parts of Chinatown.
Cortines pushed for Fremont and Jordan to be restructured, but played little role in deciding to change Belmont.
"I have his support [but] it was my idea," Vigil said.
Teachers union leaders said they were caught by surprise by the decision.
Many teachers are "intrigued" by the concept but thought it would have been more effective if Vigil or other officials had discussed the plan with them or done something less drastic than restructuring, said Gregg Solkovits, a vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles.
"We would have been happy to participate in the discussions," he said.
Teachers and administrators who do not reapply or are not chosen to return are guaranteed a job elsewhere in the district. The non-classroom staff at Belmont will not have to reapply for their positions.
__________________________________
BLINDSIDED AT BELMONT: LA Times: “…that's why the restructuring of Belmont High School is such a befuddling decision even for the inconsistent Los Angeles Unified School District”
posted by smf to 4LAKids/quoting google news
Saturday, January 29, 2011 9:23 AM - An LA Times editorial cited on Google News from 15 hours ago (6PM Friday) critical of LAUSD http://lat.ms/idmHuS : has been pulled from the Times website and doesn't appear in the Times print or online edition. What’s with that?
PRODUCER, STADIUM DEVELOPERS DONATE TO GROUP BACKING VILLARAIGOSA'S SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES:
STEPHEN BING AND ANSCHUTZ CORP., WHOSE SISTER FIRM WANTS TO BUILD A FOOTBALL STADIUM IN DOWNTOWN L.A., JOIN FAMILIAR NAMES IN THE FUNDRAISING WARS OVER SCHOOL REFORM.
By Maeve Reston and Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/gNBBUM
January 29, 2011 - Developers seeking city approval to build a football stadium downtown as well as Democratic financier and producer Stephen Bing were among the major contributors to a committee set up to support Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's favored candidates for the Los Angeles Board of Education, new filings show.
Bing and the Anschutz Corp. joined familiar names in the fundraising wars over school reform, including philanthropist Eli Broad ($150,000), former Mayor Richard Riordan ($25,000) and Spanish-language media executive Jerry Perenchio ($250,000). All told, the informal Villaraigosa slate — he is actively raising money for three candidates but has yet to endorse them officially — has collected more than $1 million on behalf of Tamar Galatzan, Luis Sanchez and Richard Vladovic.
Villaraigosa's drive to maintain control of the school board is expected to take center stage March 8, when four of seven board seats will be on the ballot. In a recent speech, Villaraigosa branded the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, an obstacle to reform. The mayor began raising money about a month ago, seeking donations from as far afield as New York and Chicago, an aide said.
"He's supporting the Coalition for School Reform because it is supporting the candidates who are fighting the downtown bureaucracy," said Janelle Erickson, deputy chief of staff to Villaraigosa. She praised the mayor's favored candidates for "bringing new leadership to our failing schools."
The union's long-rumored money play has yet to appear in forms filed with the city. The union reported $64,503 in contributions to its political action committee from Jan. 1 to Jan. 22.
Rules, approved in 2007, for funding Los Angeles school board races have pushed money away from candidates and into independent committees.
Under these rules, donors can give no more than $1,000 to candidates. Deep-pocketed contributors instead are giving to committees that are supposed to operate without any coordination or control by those running for office. Villaraigosa, as an elected city officeholder, cannot control such committees.
Some of the largesse may relate to issues before the city.
The Anschutz Corp. donated $100,000 to the Coalition for School Reform. Its sister company AEG has a plan before the city for a privately financed $1-billion stadium next to Staples Center.
"Our education system is a mess and Phil [Anschutz] wants to help" said Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive of AEG. Leiweke said the mayor spoke directly with Anschutz, the corporation's chairman.
Four other entities that contributed a total of $100,000 to the Coalition for School Reform — AP Properties Ltd., APDS1 Properties LLC, 78 Development LLC and the Constellation Land Ltd. Partnership — listed the same Chicago-based address as JMB Realty Corp., a major landlord and developer in Century City. City records list JMB Realty as being affiliated with AP Properties.
Several years ago, Villaraigosa's appointees on the Planning Commission approved JMB's proposal for two 47-story condominium buildings in Century City. The project has not yet been built.
JMB officials could not be reached for comment.
All of the donors to the Coalition for School Reform support the efforts of Villaraigosa to keep the board majority that took office four years ago. The board has fired a superintendent and hired two new ones since, while approving a raft of sometimes controversial reforms.
One-term incumbents Galatzan, in District 3, and Vladovic, in District 7, have raised $36,346 and $63,101 on their own, respectively. And Sanchez, who is running for the District 5 seat that Yolie Flores is vacating, has raised $85,483.
Service Employees International Union Local 99 recently formed two committees to support challenger Eric Lee and incumbent Vladovic.
Lee is running against two-term incumbent Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte in District 1. Her best hope lies with the teachers union, and it wants to keep her.
LaMotte has reported raising $11,600 to Lee's $9,993.
A separate committee has formed to support Lee; its report was not available Friday.
The teachers union has also endorsed Vladovic challenger Jesus Escandon, who has raised $1,662. And the union has endorsed John Fernandez, who reported that he hasn't raised any money, over Sanchez. The union hasn't endorsed in District 3, where Galatzan faces Louis Pugliese, who has raised $5,250.
U.S. SCHOOLS ARE STILL AHEAD—WAY AHEAD: US's alarm about international rankings of students overlooks some critical components of our education system
By Vivek Wadhwa | Bloomberg BusinessWeek | http://bit.ly/fGyHK9
January 12, 2011 - America has an inferiority complex about its education system. You hear the sirens every year, when the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Program for International Student Assessment (OECD-PISA) releases its annual test results. Finland, South Korea, and Singapore usually come out on top; we start blaming our K-12 teachers for not teaching enough mathematics and science; we begin worrying about the millions of engineers and scientists China and India graduate.
This year the big surprise was that Shanghai garnered first place in the PISA rankings. Then The Wall Street Journal ran a story on the home page of its website titled "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior." The Journal article claimed that Chinese (and Korean, Indian, etc.) parents raise "stereotypically successful kids"—math whizzes and music prodigies. They do this by not allowing their children to attend sleepovers; have a playdate; be in a school play; complain about not being in a school play; watch TV or play computer games; choose their own extracurricular activities; get any grade less than an A; not be the No. 1 student in every subject except gym and drama. The article went on to recount as typical a series of acts that would be considered child abuse in the U.S. (and aren't the norm in India and China).
The Journal article was simply bizarre, yet it is true that education in China and India is very challenging and fiercely competitive. Children are brought up to believe that education is everything, that it will make the difference between success and starvation. So from their early years they work long and hard. Most of their childhood is spent memorizing books on advanced subjects.
American Stereotypes
Meanwhile, the perception is that American children live a relatively easy life and coast their way through school. They don't do any more homework than they have to; they spend an extraordinary amount of time playing games, socializing on the Internet, text-messaging each other; they work part time to pay for their schooling and social habits. And they party. A lot. These stereotypes worry many Americans. They believe the American education system puts the country at a great disadvantage. But this is far from true.
The independence and social skills American children develop give them a huge advantage when they join the workforce. They learn to experiment, challenge norms, and take risks. They can think for themselves, and they can innovate. This is why America remains the world leader in innovation; why Chinese and Indians invest their life savings to send their children to expensive U.S. schools when they can. India and China are changing, and as the next generations of students become like American ones, they too are beginning to innovate. So far, their education systems have held them back.
My research team at Duke looked in depth at the engineering education of China and India. We documented that these countries now graduate four to seven times as many engineers as does the U.S.The quality of these engineers, however, is so poor that most are not fit to work as engineers; their system of rote learning handicaps those who do get jobs, so it takes two to three years for them to achieve the same productivity as fresh American graduates.As a result, significant proportions of China's engineering graduates end up working on factory floors and Indian industry has to spend large sums of money retraining its employees. After four or five years in the workforce, Indians do become innovative and produce, overall, at the same quality as Americans, but they lose a valuable two to three years in their retraining.
Rankings Reconsidered
And then there is the matter of the PISA rankings that supposedly show the U.S. trailing the rest of the world. Hal Salzman, a professor at Rutgers' John J. Heidrich Center for Workforce Development, debunked myths about these in a May 2008 article in Nature magazine. Salzman noted that international tests use different sampling criteria from country to country, so we're not always comparing apples to apples. As well, the tests compare select populations of small countries such as Singapore and Finland, which each have about 5 million people, with the U.S., which has 310 million. These countries achieve the top rankings on the PISA list. Compare these countries to similar-sized U.S. states, however, and you find that some of those states, including Massachusetts (population 6.5 million), produce the top students. Additionally, we're comparing America's diverse population—which includes disadvantaged minorities and unskilled immigrants with little education—with the homogeneous populations of countries like Finland, Japan, and New Zealand.
Much is made of the PISA test scores and rankings, but the international differences are actually quite small. Most of the U.S. ranking lags are not even statistically significant. The U.S. falls in the second rank on some measures and into the first on others. It produces more highest-performing students in science and reading than any other country does; in mathematics, it is second only to Japan. Moreover, one has to ask what the test results actually mean in the real world. Do high PISA rankings make students more likely to invent the next iPad? Google (GOOG)? I don't think so.
Let's keep improving our education system and focus, in particular, on disadvantaged groups. Education is the future of our nation. But let's get over our inferiority complex. America is second to none. Rather than in mastery of facts learned by rote and great numbers of accomplished martinets, its strength lies in the diversity and innovation that arise in an open, creative society.
● Dr. Wadhwa is a visiting scholar at University of California-Berkeley, senior research associate at Harvard Law School, and director of research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. Follow him on twitter—@vwadhwa .
A CLOSER LOOK AT DENVER SCHOOL PRAISED BY OBAMA IN STATE OF THE NATION + HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT
A CLOSER LOOK AT DENVER SCHOOL PRAISED BY OBAMA IN STATE OF THE UNION
by Larry Abramson | NPR All Things Considered | http://n.pr/hDxdkc
Listen to the Story: [3 min 31 sec]
January 26, 2011 - President Obama gave a shout-out in his State of the Union address to Bruce Randolph High School, a Denver public school in a tough neighborhood that last year graduated 97 percent of its seniors. Bruce Randolph was Denver's first "innovation" school. It was taken over by its principal and teachers a few years ago. But a more complete picture of the school is a little less glowing than the president let on.
TRANSCRIPT
MICHELE NORRIS, host:
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Michele Norris.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
And I'm Melissa Block.
In his State of the Union Address last night, President Obama stressed the importance of education in keeping America competitive and he praised the turnaround effort at one Denver high school.
President BARACK OBAMA: Three years ago, it was rated one of the worst schools in Colorado, located on turf between two rival gangs. But last May, 97 percent of the seniors received their diploma. Most will be the first in their families to go to college.
BLOCK: As NPR's Larry Abramson reports, the makeover of the Bruce Randolph school is still a work in progress.
LARRY ABRAMSON: Just a few years ago, Bruce Randolph Middle School really was one of the worst schools in Colorado. But an ambitious turnaround effort has completely changed the atmosphere. Today, the school has a combined middle and high school focused on getting kids into college. The halls are lined with college banners and awards for academic achievement.
The current principal, Cesar Cedillo, says it's been a tough fight.
Mr. CESAR CEDILLO (Principal, Bruce Randolph High School): It was incredible difficult work. Students were very reluctant to learn. And so we battled with the students. And we stuck together as a staff and we won out.
ABRAMSON: In the speech, the president recounted an incident where a student thanked the previous principal for showing that we are smart and we can make it. Eleventh grader Nomi Rodriguez(ph) says students have a unique and frank relationship with their teachers.
Ms. NOMI RODRIGUEZ: The teachers know how to receive feedback from the students. And, you know, it's not feedback that actually puts down the teacher. It makes the teacher become better at their job.
ABRAMSON: But the experience of this school highlights just how complicated and fragile these turnaround efforts can be. The transformation hinged on giving the staff of Bruce Randolph more autonomy from the central administration of the Denver city schools.
So the president's remarks are a bit of a swipe at big city school systems. Van Schoales, executive director of the think tank Education Reform Now, points out that Bruce Randolph also got a break from the city's teacher's union contract.
Mr. VAN SCHOALES (Executive Director, Education Reform Now): It's certainly a dig at hundred-page contracts that describe every detail in terms of when teachers are supposed to show up, when they're supposed to take their breaks.
ABRAMSON: The Obama administration has frequently butted heads with teachers unions on these kinds of issues, and there will be more fights ahead. For all of its success, the Bruce Randolph school still bears the scars of its rough beginnings. The city still has the school on an academic watch list. While test scores are improving, they are still very low.
Mike Cohen is head of the advocacy group Achieve, Inc. He says that if Bruce Randolph is graduating 97 percent of its college seniors, that's laudable. But he says we need to know another number.
Mr. MIKE COHEN (President, Achieve, Inc.): Not just the percentage of 12th graders who graduate, but the percentage of 9th graders. Because a lot of students who drop out, drop out before they get to their senior year.
ABRAMSON: Like many schools, Bruce Randolph can't say just how many freshmen made it all the way through to graduation, since many transferred to other schools. Many of the school's graduates have been accepted to college. Some, as the president pointed out, may be the first in their families to do so. But most have been accepted to open admission schools, like a community college.
Those schools traditionally have very low graduation rates. So, many of these students will need a lot of special attention for years to come or their experience in college could be short-lived.
Larry Abramson, NPR News.
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1. ALL CHILDREN MUST “WIN THE FUTURE”: Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 24-28, 2011 by UCLA IDEA | http://bi... http://bit.ly/eRsJqN
2. FIRST-HAND REPORT FROM THE HS#13/TAYLOR YARDS PSC ELECTION: by smf for 4LAKidsNews School buses from across the... http://bit.ly/hjjr7n
3. BLINDSIDED AT BELMONT: LA Times: “…that's why the restructuring of Belmont High School is such a befuddling deci... http://bit.ly/gPnCe1
4. L.A. UNIFIED GETS PRAISE FOR AUTHORIZING, OVERSEEING CHARTER SCHOOLS: by Howard Blume | LA Times/LA Now | http:/... http://bit.ly/fDneFu
5. NEW SUPERINTENDENT OR JUST AN ATTENDANT: Carson High School Trailblazer Staff Editorial (student newspaper from ... http://bit.ly/icXkPk
6. Chaos 0r Success?: ELIGIBILITY LOOPHOLE TIGHTENED FOR ROUND TWO OF PSC VOTING + ●●smf 2¢: by Gloria Angelina Cas... http://bit.ly/gHFLQe
7. NORTHEAST L.A. HIGH SCHOOL BRINGS EXCITEMENT, UNCERTAINTY: Last chance advisory vote for ‘Taylor Yard’ high scho... http://bit.ly/fJjOHp
8. OFFICER'S STORY OF BEING SHOT WAS INCONSISTENT FROM THE BEGINNING, CHIEF BECK SAYS: -- Richard Winton, Joel Rubi... http://bit.ly/eaEinY
9. L.A. CATHOLIC SCHOOLS TO ADD 20 DAYS TO ACADEMIC YEAR: The switch to a 200-day calendar will give campuses run b... http://bit.ly/hyHG7C
10. ‘PARENT TRIGGER’ SCHOOLS PROCESS CHALLENGED IN COMPTON + smf’s 2¢: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC | http://bit.ly/hK... http://bit.ly/fodguy
11. L.A. SCHOOL OFFICER FAKED SHOOTING, LAPD SAYS - The report of an officer shot by an attacker forced a lockdown o... http://bit.ly/fGV0Qz
12. California Alliance for Arts Education: STATE ARTS ED POLICY ISSUES BRIEF: California Alliance legislative updat... http://bit.ly/ftihNS
13. EL CAMINO REAL HIGH, HALE MIDDLE SCHOOL BRIEFLY ON LOCKDOWN (again), MAN WITH GUN REPORTEDLY SEEN ON CAMPUS: And... http://bit.ly/g1hpVs
14. LAUSD OKs $531 MILLION CONSTRUCTION PLAN: By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/hAg48W ... http://bit.ly/g7NYXL
15. SUSPECT ADVISORY VOTE IS TARNISHING EFFORT TO REFORM LAUSD CAMPUSES: LA Daily News Editorial| http://bit.ly/gX19... http://bit.ly/dSh2Bg
16. PARENTS CROSS LINES TO GET KIDS INTO GOOD SCHOOLS …and go to jail!: NPR Talk of the Nation | January 26, 2011 | ... http://bit.ly/dOoIyz
17.UPDATE: The California 2011-12 Budget Process Begins + Notice of Budget Hearing in Los Angeles on Governor’s Rea... http://bit.ly/gIzR6C
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.
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