In This Issue:  | | • | BIG SETBACK IN ROBLES-WONG LAWSUIT: Judge rejects constitutional claim for adequate funding | | | • | GOV. BROWN CALLS EDUCATION FUNDING A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE | | | • | TEACHERS NO LONGER SAFE IN SENIORITY + UTLA STATEMENT + smf 2¢ | | | • | PARENTS IRATE OVER LAUSD LOCKDOWNS: Police and school officials trade blame over the lack of services for students during search for suspect | | | • | 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: | | | | LAUSD has only one high school that doesn't qualify as a "Title One School" - only one school where the percentage of students on the Free-or-Reduced Lunch Program doesn't qualify it for additional funding to improve the achievement of at-risk children of low socioeconomic means. Ironically it's the Department of Agriculture that runs the school meals program and thereby makes the determination which inner city schools get extra aid ...not the Dept of Education.
The bad news is that non-Title I schools get no federal subsidy for their programs. The good news is that they are not subject to the carrots-and-sticks/test-and-kill of No Child Left Behind. If non-Title-I schools' test scores go into the dumpster the feds don't complain, the state can't pull the parent trigger and the district can't invite in the outside operators.
That one high school - that island of middle-class affluence in a sea of economic need - is El Camino Real in Woodland Hills.
El Camino Real normally makes it onto the news because they are perennial national Academic Decathlon champs. And because test scores don't matter - they soar.
Wednesday ECRHS made the news when a school police officer got shot adjacent to campus. The school was locked down, the community was barricaded, the adjacent middle school and six elementary schools were similarly locked down. 350 police officers responded along with all the police and city officials and school district brass and every piece of police equipment in the inventory. The news helicopters and the law enforcement helicopters filled the air and reporters filled the airwaves - interviewing every pedestrian in Woodland Hills. It was triumph of feel-good journalism. "The lucky policeman" was saved by his bulletproof vest and went home that evening.
Later the same day an actual student was shot in Bell, adjacent to Bell High School. I realize all the cops and LAUSD bigwigs and news units were 37 miles away - but that story with an actual student shot and wounded was pretty much an non-event - newswise.
The adventures in Woodland Hills and Bell followed the accidental shootings of two kids the day before at Gardena High School; on Friday there was a gun observed on campus and a lockdown at South Gate High School. The gun was confiscated and arrests were made at South Gate. The story rated X ho-hum words in The Times.
IF WE DECONSTRUCT THE EVENTS ABOVE it's hard to miss the reaction from the media and the powers-that-be to events in Woodland Hills compared to the events in Gardena, Bell and South Gate. Admittedly Gardena, Bell and South Gate are not parts of the City of Los Angeles - but we also need to admit that we the population of Greater Los Angeles is accustomed to gun play in those communities ...and not used to it in Woodland Hills.
El Camino HS's API is: 798
Gardena HS's API is: 586
Bell HS API is: 671
South Gate HS's API is: 649
We are in a Twilight Zone; there's a signpost up ahead. We are at the intersection of Acceptable and Exceptional. And if we accept it - accept that the gun violence around us is tolerable in one zip code and not in another we all lose ...no matter where we live.
I am not questioning the official reactions - I am questioning the community outrage and lack thereof.
Woodland Hills doesn't want to be a community where children are endangered going to-and-from ...or-at-school. But neither do Bell or South Gate or Gardena - or any other neighborhood in any city, anywhere from Tehran to Temecula.
I'm going to ask you to revisit Steve Lopez' article about Monte Vista Elementary School, Surge in Highland Park violence terrifies students:
"Gina Amodeo shouted "Pancake!" and her second-grade students knew exactly what to do. They immediately dropped to the floor and flattened out, minimizing the chance of getting shot." [http://lat.ms/fP1IdF]
Consider the story of the grandfather whose past caught up with him on the front lawn of Aragon Elementary School at pickup time one afternoon:
"A car full of youths approached him as he walked ... to pick up his daughter. Without a word, they shot him 17 times as he carried his 2-year-old granddaughter. Only a chain-link fence separated the shooting scene from kindergartners at play."[http://lat.ms/hNKASf]
Yes, the grandfather apparently had-been and maybe-still-was was a gangster - but they pulled bullets out of the ceiling of a second grade classroom that day; a classroom occupied by kids when the shooting started.
Those are old stories, old news. But we are long past the point of Enough-is-Enough. Unless we are willing to accept a body count after the API Scores.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
PS: I am going to suggest that the metal detectors used on occasional Tuesdays at LAUSD HQ to screen the audience at school board meetings might be put to use more effectively elsewhere.
BIG SETBACK IN ROBLES-WONG LAWSUIT: Judge rejects constitutional claim for adequate funding
By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/gStIjI
1/21/11 • An Alameda County Superior Court judge has rejected the main claims in two lawsuits charging that the state’s “insufficient, irrational and unstable” school funding system violated children’s fundamental right to an education.
The ruling substantially restricts whether and how the case might go to trial. It is a setback to a coalition of powerful education groups – the California School Boards Association, the California Teachers Association, the state PTA, and the Association of California School Administrators – and attorneys for disadvantaged children. They had hoped the court would order the Legislature to adequately fund and reform how the state finances K-12 schools.
Instead, Judge Steven Brick ruled that the two articles in the state Constitution requiring state-supported education don’t require setting funding at any particular level. He also wrote that there is no equal protection right in the state Constitution for students harmed by inadequate funding, “however devastating the effects of such underfunding have been on the quality of public school education.” It is the Legislature’s and the people’s prerogative to determine what’s adequate.
Brick did leave open the possibility that attorneys in the two combined lawsuits – Robles-Wong v. California and Campaign for Quality Education v. California – could move forward with a narrower focus, and set a Feb. 14 deadline for filing an amended lawsuit. Its focus should be, he indicated, whether the state’s current funding provides an equal opportunity to meet success as defined by the state’s learning standards. This would not be an adequacy case, whether there is sufficient funding, but instead an equity case – whether current funding is fairly and sensibly distributed to all students, especially disadvantaged children in under-resourced schools, in ways that meet the state’s education goals.
Bill Koski, a Stanford Law School professor who represented low-income students in Robles-Wong, said Friday that attorneys were disappointed “that the Court dismissed the children’s claim that the current irrational and insufficient school finance system has failed to deliver to our children that qualitative right to an education.”
Attorneys were reviewing their options: whether to amend or to appeal. “We will continue to vigorously challenge the State’s finance system on the grounds that it fails to deliver an equitable and sufficient education to our children,” he said in a statement.
Plaintiffs’ attorneys had argued that the basis for requiring sufficient funding can be found in Article IX of the Constitution, which required the Legislature to establish a “system of common schools” and to promote “intellectual, scientific, moral and agricultural” knowledge. Another article, adopted later, said that the Legislature should first set aside money for public schools and universities.
But Brick said that the state Supreme Court already had examined and dismissed that argument. The case was the famous 1976 equity case, Serrano v. Priest, in which the court declared that a funding system based on property taxes was inequitable and unconstitutional. “The seminal decision of the Supreme Court in Serrano considered and rejected the argument that section 5 of article IX included any particular financing requirement,” Brick wrote.
Brick actually issued his ruling on Jan. 14, before the three-day holiday weekend. The plaintiffs’ lawyers did not announce the ruling, expecting that the Attorney General’s office would. After a week went by, they passed on the word. The Attorney General’s office still had nothing to say about the case as of Friday (which I find strange), and State Board of Education President Michael Kirst told me that neither he nor Gov. Brown was prepared yet to comment.
GOV. BROWN CALLS EDUCATION FUNDING A CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE
By David Siders | Sacramento Bee | http://bit.ly/ifhUeD
Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 - 12:00 am | Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday called education funding a civil rights issue, defending his plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies as necessary to reduce California's yawning budget deficit and to push more tax revenue to schools and public safety.
"We take from redevelopment and we put $1 billion into schools – that's a good thing," Brown said at a Sacramento breakfast celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "We've got to make sure whatever we do, we give a chance to those who are coming along in the next generation. And that is a civil rights issue."
Brown had made a similar, if less explicit, assertion in remarks to city officials the previous day, framing his proposal as a choice between education and redevelopment.
Chris McKenzie, executive director of the League of California Cities, said it is misleading to suggest the state can't have both.
"To say that we can't have strong schools and continue to revitalize our communities and create jobs and build the local economy," he said, "is a false choice."
In a procedural move Thursday, Brown reaffirmed the fiscal emergency Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared last month, rebooting a 45-day clock for legislative action on a budget deal Brown is seeking by March.
As part of his budget plan, Brown proposes dissolving redevelopment agencies by July 1, diverting $1.3 billion to schools and other local governments next fiscal year, while also taking $1.7 billion to fund Medi-Cal and trial courts.
"We know Latino and African American kids are way behind other kids," Brown said at a conference hosted by the League of California Cities on Wednesday. "We know the poor districts are not as good as the wealthier districts, so I don't want to take more money from schools. I'd like to put more money into schools." City officials contend redevelopment is necessary to rebuild blighted areas and to create jobs.
Following Thursday's breakfast, hosted by the California Legislative Black Caucus at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, Brown told reporters, "There's a lot of good things in redevelopment, but it's coming from a property tax that is primarily intended for schools and public safety."
Brown said the political landscape has become more polarized than when he was last governor, from 1975 to 1983.
He reminded the crowd, as he has many times since being elected, that the state budget deficit is inherited.
"Boy, things went downhill after I left," Brown said. "We started building prisons and stopped building colleges."
●●smf: It is interesting to note that the charter-schools-and-mayoral-control-flavor-of-reformers - of whom Jerry Brown was once a member - were the first advocates of the Education-is-the-Civil-Rights-Issue-of-the-21st-Century mantra. Now we see a rightsizing of the (uh...) right, with ed funding being the civil right. As Americans we need to confirm and embrace that Free Quality Public Education is a Fundamental Right - one that has emerged as self evident since Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness began the list.
TEACHERS NO LONGER SAFE IN SENIORITY + UTLA STATEMENT + smf 2¢
JUDGE OKS SETTLEMENT THAT LIMITS USE OF SENIORITY IN L.A. TEACHER LAYOFFS
LAWYERS REPRESENTING STUDENTS' INTERESTS HAIL THE RULING; THE TEACHERS UNION SAYS IT PROBABLY WILL APPEAL.
By Jason Felch and Jason Song, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/i51oKm
January 21, 2011, 7:59 p.m. - In a case that pits the constitutional rights of students against the job protections of teachers, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge approved a groundbreaking settlement Friday that limits the effect of layoffs on the district's most vulnerable students.
Up to 45 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses will be shielded from teacher layoffs altogether, Judge William F. Highberger ordered Friday, and layoffs in the district's other 750 schools must be spread more equitably. That could lead some experienced teachers to lose their jobs.
The decision comes amid deep education cuts and a debate over teacher tenure rules, which are being challenged across the country. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently called for the end of tenure, as have leaders in Florida, Idaho, Wyoming and elsewhere.
"This year, if we are forced to lay off teachers, we will be forced to lay off some of the most effective, and keep some of the least effective," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a speech this week. "It's not right. It's not fair. And it's not something we can allow to happen."
Locally, L.A. Unified faces a nearly $400-million shortfall that could force thousands more teachers out of the classroom this year.
Lawyers representing district students hailed the judge's ruling as a "landmark victory" that put the interests of children ahead of their instructors.
"The court today handed these children an umbrella in a hurricane," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director for the Los Angeles office of the American Civil Liberties Union which, along with Public Counsel and several other public interest law firms, brought the suit on behalf of students.
Representatives of United Teachers Los Angeles, which vigorously opposed the settlement in court, said the teachers union will probably appeal the order, which "eviscerates seniority" and will damage the morale of district teachers.
"We do not agree with the remedy that the court is mandating," said Julie Washington, a union vice president.
Washington and other union leaders have said the district needs to find a way to better train instructors and administrators and help students from impoverished backgrounds.
The settlement is an attempt to address a problem all parties recognize: the devastating effect that layoffs have had on district campuses in recent years. Some schools have lost as much as 50% of their teaching staffs to cutbacks, unraveling some reform efforts and causing turmoil at already struggling campuses.
A Times investigation last year found that seniority-based layoffs in the district had led to the dismissal of hundreds of highly effective teachers and fell hardest on schools in the city's poorest neighborhoods. Far fewer layoffs would be necessary if the decisions were based on performance rather than seniority, a Times analysis found.
In February 2010, civil rights attorneys representing students at three district middle schools filed a class-action lawsuit arguing that that the layoffs, which under state law are based exclusively on seniority, had a disproportionate effect on poor and minority students.
Highberger granted an injunction last March that blocked further layoffs at those schools and in December tentatively approved a settlement between the school district and the students' attorneys that allowed some schools to be exempted from future layoffs.
During a three-day hearing, the teachers union urged the court to reverse its decision and order a deeper examination of the causes of high turnover at troubled schools.
Richard Ingersoll, an education expert for the union, argued that the settlement would "divert attention from the real problem, which is that these schools are a leaky bucket."
Tom Torlakson, the state's newly elected superintendent of public instruction, submitted a brief echoing the teachers' union position on Friday, saying that districts already have the ability to dismiss instructors based on factors other than seniority. State law allows for some exceptions for teachers with special skills or credentials.
Torlakson asserted that teachers union officials were not part of settlement negotiations, a statement that district officials and other attorneys dispute.
A spokeswoman for Torlakson, who was heavily supported by teachers unions during his campaign, said he was unavailable for comment but that the brief was based on the "merits of the case."
The 45 protected schools have not yet been identified, and union lawyers objected to the discretion given to the district to name 20 of them.
John Deasy, incoming Los Angeles schools superintendent, said district officials would begin determining this weekend which schools would be exempted and how that would affect expected layoffs. The district must send preliminary layoff notices by March 15 and the board must approve them before then.
●●smf's 2¢: I haven’t seen the settlement or the court’s opinion, any comments from me are based on the news reportage.
* The Two Jasons are hardly impartial observers, they are the principal drivers of the ‘value added’ argument.
* If “a case that pits the constitutional rights of students against the job protections of teachers” were to be settled by a negotiated settlement between the parties I would expect the judge to be handed his head in the court of appeal. Constitutional issues are not bargained.
* I am shocked – shocked – that Mayor Bloomberg – a fully vested member of The Billionaire Boys Club Reform School – is in agreement with the Two Jasons!
* LAUSD, in spite of the injunction – has been merrily RIFing and reassigning staff (not necessarily teachers) based on seniority at Liechty Middle School (ground zero in this appeal). The protection accorded students must be about more than only teachers.
* What’s good for 45 schools must be good for all schools - we don’t have a population or a school or a community more deserving of equity than another.
* NYC High School Teacher Marc Epstein wrote: "Tenure for public school teachers is not a lifetime sinecure. In most respects it is no different from civil service protections for police, fire, and sanitation workers. You have to have due process in order to fire an employee." http://huff.to/fCGw0K In the same article he also wrote: "When there is evidence of bad public policy, you can safely assume that it took two parties working collaboratively to create the swamp."
UTLA TO APPEAL HARMFUL ACLU SETTLEMENT
from UTLA.NET
UTLA strongly opposes Judge Highberger's decision to approve the settlement which will have a series of unintended negative consequences that will hurt our students.
- Student learning will be harmed by widespread staff instability .
- Experienced teachers will be laid off solely because they happen to teach at a school with a large number of veteran teachers.
- The settlement does nothing to solve the systemic problems at hard-to-staff schools or address the inequities suffered by our most at-risk students.
- Read Full UTLA Response...http://bit.ly/auDNT3
PARENTS IRATE OVER LAUSD LOCKDOWNS: Police and school officials trade blame over the lack of services for students during search for suspect
By Howard Blume and Andrew Blankstein, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/fkNUZi
January 21, 2011 - Thousands of students were kept in classrooms without food, water or access to restrooms longer than necessary, the Los Angeles school district's police chief acknowledged, as officials coped with complaints from parents frustrated once more with the district's handling of an emergency situation.
Students from nine San Fernando Valley schools were in lockdown for as long as five hours as officers combed campuses and neighborhoods for a suspect who shot and wounded a school police officer Wednesday just outside El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills.
Although lockdowns are the most common school crisis in the nation's second-largest school district, the Los Angeles Unified School District has repeatedly faced problems providing basic provisions and services for students.
"We unfortunately did not have the communication network we would have liked to," said Los Angeles School Police Chief Steve Zipperman. "There were restrooms down the hallways from classrooms and some schools did have the ability to deliver food. We have to determine how we get the word to schools that it's safe to do that."
Los Angeles police and school district officials each said responsibility for student conditions during lockdowns rest largely with the other agency.
Police said individual schools develop their own plans for managing emergencies. Officers focus on finding suspects and basic student safety. At El Camino, they spent hours searching hallways, storage rooms, lockers and athletic fields.
"That is not the time to attempt to deliver food to 3,500 students — during the search for an armed assailant," said LAPD Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese.
Educators said they follow the orders of law enforcement during such emergency situations. For example, they requested clearance to bring lunch to students but were denied.
The lockdown and subsequent confusion came as an early test for L.A. Unified's new schools police chief, Zipperman, who began his tenure this month, and for incoming schools Supt. John Deasy. Both men pledged to review policies and procedures as they sought to mollify frustrated and angry parents.
Wednesday's crisis came a day after two students were shot accidentally by a 17-year-old classmate at Gardena High School. Parents there complained that the school district has failed to keep the campus safe, and Deasy found that the school failed to use metal detectors in accordance with district policy.
The suspect, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, was charged Thursday with two felonies: possessing a firearm in a school zone and discharging a firearm in a school zone. He was on probation for a misdemeanor battery charge, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Joanne Baeza. Prosecutors have filed a motion to have the minor tried as an adult.
The wounded girl remained in critical condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center with a skull fracture and brain trauma. A spokeswoman for the hospital said she has been able to respond to basic commands. The male victim was released from the hospital late Wednesday.
Parents in Woodland Hills complained about confusing and conflicting processes for dismissing students once the emergency passed, although officials defended their performance in this regard.
There weren't problems at every campus. Students at Hale Middle School were fed and allowed bathroom breaks after Wednesday's lockdown because authorities set up the command post there and were able to quickly search his smaller campus, Principal Neal Siegel said Thursday.
"Yes, parents are upset that their children at El Camino perhaps weren't allowed to use the bathroom," Siegel said, "but safety of the students is our top priority."
Restrictions were relaxed at six schools within a couple of hours, but not at El Camino, Woodlake Elementary or Leonis Continuation School, which were closer to the crime scene.
Some parents complained about student hardships.
"No food was given. My son and daughter said classmates were peeing into trash cans," said Odette Fulliam, whose children attend Hale and El Camino.
In fact, a 5-gallon pail is part of a "lockdown kit" that is supposed to be accessible to every classroom. The pail with a removable lid is "solely for the purpose of this kind of situation," said district spokesman Robert Alaniz.
Other elements of the lockdown kit include toilet paper and a portable toilet seat. There's also a flashlight, polyethylene bags, blankets, a pocket radio, bandages, tissues, disposable vinyl gloves, assorted batteries and duct tape.
Every new teacher is supposed to receive training in using the kit, which includes a recommendation that teachers supply a sheet that can be draped to provide privacy, said Bob Spears, the district's director of emergency services.
Other districts expressed surprise at how L.A. Unified handles emergencies.
A Chicago school district official said she had never heard about students urinating in buckets. Most lockdowns last less than an hour, said spokesperson Monique Bond, or only affect parts of a campus.
"In the event a student needs to use the facilities, they're generally escorted by an adult," she said.
Parents in Woodland Hills also were unhappy about the size of the 7-square-mile security perimeter established by Los Angeles police and its duration. Police were unapologetic.
"I know the parents are upset, but it would be nothing compared to what they would feel if their children were needlessly exposed to an armed gunman. Those kids' safety is No. 1," said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck. "This guy had shown total disregard for public safety and the community by shooting an armed police officer who was doing his job."
The size of the dragnet zone was due to several factors, Albanese said. Police initially had a limited description of the suspect, who was armed and running through the neighborhood. The LAPD also received several 911 calls reporting possible prowlers in the area. Police charted the calls and set the perimeter accordingly, Albanese said.
The suspect eluded a massive manhunt involving more than 300 officers.
"At the end of the day, every single [student] was safely home with their families," Albanese said. "What other objective is more important than that?"
About 20% of El Camino's students were absent Thursday, district officials said. Normally, the absence rate is about 6%.
At Gardena High, attendance also was down, with about 365 students absent Wednesday and 216 on Thursday, compared to about 140 daily absences normally. Some parents have complained about the district's emergency notification system. They said the first alert went out for El Camino families after 1:30 p.m., more than two hours following initial news reports.
Other parents praised the district's efforts. "The school was fabulous. They communicated with us all day long," said Stuart Meadows, the father of a Hale sixth-grader.
"The parents were really horrendous," he added. "They behaved much worse than the kids. They were screaming, pushing. Maybe the school could be more efficient, but who plans for this kind of thing?"
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
SAFE COMMUNITIES. SAFE SCHOOLS. SAFE STUDENTS.: Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 18-21, 2011 By UCLA IDEA... http://bit.ly/dThymH
TEACHERS NO LONGER SAFE IN SENIORITY + UTLA Statement + smf 2¢ + more : Judge OKs settlement that limits use of ... http://bit.ly/gth3e9
SOUTH GATE HIGH IS ON A ‘PRECAUTIONARY’ LOCKDOWN [UPDATED]: Catherine Saillant - LA tIMES la nOW BLOG|http://lat... http://bit.ly/eAYBW3
PARENTS IRATE OVER LAUSD LOCKDOWNS: Police and school officials trade blame over the lack of services for studen... http://bit.ly/eUss4B Friday, January 21, 2011 9:28:39 AM via twitterfeed
# L.A. CLASSROOM ‘LOCKDOWN KIT’: includes bathroom bucket, batteries …no drinking water or food.: -- Howard Blume ... http://bit.ly/gaIZh3
LAUSD Violence Highlights BHUSD Security Concerns -The Beverly Hills BdofEd will discuss security issues at its Mon. mtg.http://t.co/qbUAkHh
SAVE MY P.E. PROGRAM WEBINAR: National Association for Sport and Physical Education If your PE program is in da... http://bit.ly/h9X2zp
JAMIE OLIVER LANDS A VISIT AT AN LAUSD HIGH SCHOOL: Mary MacVean in the LA Times Daily Dish blog | http://lat.ms... http://bit.ly/hpQtlj
GARDENA HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTING SUSPECT TO APPEAR IN COURT FRIDAY: Beverly Hills Courier from City News Service | h... http://bit.ly/ijCjvQ
IN THE WAKE OF SHOOTINGS, MAYOR DEMANDS LOOK AT CAMPUS PROCEDURES: By Connie Llanos, Daily News Staff Writer | h... http://bit.ly/gzBroV
CHAOTIC SCENES AS STUDENTS ARE RELEASED AFTER ALL-DAY LOCKDOWN: One middle school had parents standing in line f... http://bit.ly/haAC8K
GARDENA HIGH SHOOTING SUSPECT STOLE GUN FROM HIS STEPFATHER, SOURCE SAYS + OFFICIALS' REASSURANCES FAIL TO CALM ... http://bit.ly/hSbS47
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS: In Nebraska, a proposal to arm teachers + How did gun in 'accidental' Gardena High School shoo... http://bit.ly/hf3mcV
4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: TWO PICTURES WORTH TWO THOUSAND MORE QUESTIONS http://bit.ly/e4AMBS Thursday,
Statement from Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines: ALL SCHOOLS WILL BE OPEN ON THURSDAY: LAUSD News Statement: For... http://bit.ly/h5kxnV
SIX LEARNING COMMUNITIES VYING FOR SPOTS IN NEW NORTHEAST L.A. HIGH SCHOOL - School will house students from Eag... http://bit.ly/iaUHnh
____________________________________
THE 4LAKids TWEETS RE THE EL CAMINO HS LOCKDOWN:
●UPDATE: woodlake es, hale ms and el camino hs release info released. woodlake kids will be released to parents on emergency card only -smf
●Gardena High students arrested after school shooting incident | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times http://lat.ms/i7SVpT
●Bell High School student shot near campus | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times http://lat.ms/ekDJps
●UPDATE: parent at el camino reports that students asked not to call or text parents ...or the media. -smf Wednesday, January 19, 2011 3:53:53 PM via txt
●UPDATE: hale ms &woodlake to be released in next 10 to 15 minutes. camino real & leonis continuation hs will remain on lockdown -smf
●UPDATE; students @ el camino hs & hale ms told to NOT call or text the media. -smf
●UPDATE: no suspect in custody, shooting NOT on school grounds. -smf
●lausd school policeman stenerud shot multi x stopping suspect in car break-in adj to school parking lot. officer is stable and expected ...
●UPDATE: 6 west valley elementary schools + el camino hs + hale ms on lockdown -smf
●UPDATE: person in custody may not be shooting suspect. -smf
●UPDATE: Hale MS also on lockdown. -smf
●UPDATE: officer in fair condition all students safe. lockdown continues. adult suspect in custody. shooting was off campus. -smf
●school police officer shot @ el camino hs. shot in bulletproof vest. transported to hospital. suspect(s) unknown -smf
____________________________________
L.A/ UNIFIED TO REVIEW SEARCH POLICY IN WAKE OF GARDENA HIGH SHOOTING: District officials consider whether the s... http://bit.ly/gCu2p9
GARDENA HIGH SHOOTING: Deasy to review safety in wake of Gardena High shooting + Two Gardena High students wound... http://bit.ly/h7J9Q9
Via @nprnews: Police Say 3 Shot At Los Angeles-Area High School | http://t.co/64V94aY
3 shot at Gardena High School; gunman still at large | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times http://lat.ms/eWr62T
A glooming peace this morning with it brings: SANTA MONICA HIGH STUDENT LEAPS TO HIS DEATH: The 14-year-old boy ... http://bit.ly/hzYms1
LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT ANNOUNCES COMMITTEE TO CLOSE ACHIEVEMENT GAP: KPCC Wire Services | http://bit.ly/hVefx0 ... http://bit.ly/fevnrG
Video: KINGS DREAM, VERY WELL REMEMBERED: from the PBS NewsHour | http://to.pbs.org/h5S9Xo 17 Jan 2011 - Martin... http://bit.ly/gikAKH
CELEBRITY CHEF JAMIE OLIVER. OF ‘FOOD REVOLUTION’ FAME, SPEAKS TO CALIFORNIA SCHOOL NUTRITIONISTS: L.A. Unified ... http://bit.ly/hC8pYX
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD RACE DONATIONS: A CALM BEFORE EXPECTED STORM: -- Howard Blume, LA Times LA Now | http://lat.ms... http://bit.ly/gvNLt1
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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