In This Issue:  | | • | IS MAYOR TONY PUSHING TO REPLACE SUPERINTENDENT CORTINES WITH JOHN DEASY? + CORTINES TO BE BOOTED WITHIN A WEEK... PRINCE JOHN DEASY TO BE CROWNED | | | • | L.A. SCHOOL BOARD EXPECTED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEXT SUPERINTENDENT ON TUESDAY + LAUSD BOARD POISED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEW SUPERINTENDENT | | | • | STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF TORLAKSON DECLARES 'STATE OF EMERGENCY' FOR SCHOOLS + more | | | • | PIPE DOWN MR. MAYOR: Attacking the teachers union won't help reform our schools | | | • | 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: | | | | Friday AM I got a phone message giving me the heads up from a senior UTLA honcho that "Surprise-surprise" the LAUSD Board of Education is poised to appoint/anoint Deputy Superintendent John Deasy as Superintendent next Tuesday in a closed session/secret meeting.
As I was already reading the LA Times and Daily News - plus LA Weekly and Hollywood Highland Democratic Club's disclosure of the secrets of the various secret meetings I wasn’t really surprise/surprised at all. [all follow] The words, Paul Simon told us. of the prophets (or perhaps for Eli Broad’s friends: the Profits) are written on the subway walls. In Krylon Gloss Black in letters six feet high. Mayor Tony has cut funding for graffiti removal, (proving that Chief Bratton really has left town) re-purposing it for pothole filling - making the prophesy even more clear.
(As if this writing my favorite pothole at San Fernando Road and Avenue 26 - last mentioned in these pages on Dec.12/http://bit.ly/dJ4k7Z - is still there. It welcomed me home with a teeth-jarring thump on my drive home from LAX after 16 days @ sea from which I have returned but will probably never recover!)
As I wrote earlier from 24º53' N, 45º18' W in response to an LA Times editorial [Tuesday, December 28, 2010: THE CORTINES FACTOR | http://bit.ly/fIacGz] : "If Cortines is to exit on or about April 1 as he has announced the Board of Ed should be in the midst of a superintendent search now...and they are not. So one...assumes that it is the intent of the Board of Ed to appoint Dr. Deasy as interim-supe and omit, postpone or cancel a national search in a bit of penny-wise/pound-foolishness.
"THE LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION'S MOST IMPORTANT JOB IS THE SELECTION OF THE SUPERINTENDENT. [emphasis re-emphasized]
"The Board of Education of the City of Los Angles is the (largest and) most important school board in the nation and a national search is really what is called for. If Dr. Deasy is the right person - and indeed he may be - he would rise to the top in the search process. Of course, a national search would raise the specter of Michelle Rhee (the Sarah Palin of public education) coming to LA ...but - hey - bring her on!"
Now it seems with this 6 word announcement in the Board of Ed closed session agenda for next Tuesday [http://bit.ly/dSHqgx]:
2. Personnel (Government Code 54957)
Superintendent of Schools
....and a lot of rustling behind the Curtain-of-Secrecy - put-a-fork-in-the District - the Done-Deal is about to be Done!
Patrick Range McDonald’s LA Weekly article on this morass (worse than a brouhaha or even a quagmire) starts off citing the "conventional wisdom.". An oxymoron if ever there was one ( and no offense to those who matriculated at Occidental College - including the Charter-Proponent-and-School- Privatizer-in-chief).
The hiring of a Superintendent is NOT a matter for Closed Session meeting.
Quoting the Times: "elected officials said it would be improper to discuss the board's private deliberations". If there have been 'private deliberations' - that statement - if it came from 'elected officials' would amount to a acknowledged and egregious violation of California's open meetings law: The Ralph M. Brown Act.
THE BROWN ACT governs meetings conducted by local legislative bodies such as boards of supervisors, city councils and school boards. As these legislative bodies are charged with conducting the people’s business, the Brown Act ensures that the business be conducted in open meetings, allowing public access and a free exchange of opinions. The law recognizes that a balance must be struck between the public’s right to open meetings and the legislative body’s need for confidentiality in certain circumstances. Although the Brown Act allows for closed sessions in specific, narrowly drawn exceptions, there is a presumption in favor of public access.
THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE HAS THE AUTHORITY TO PROSECUTE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY CRIMINALLY AND TO INITIATE CIVIL ACTIONS TO PREVENT OR NULLIFY ACTIONS TAKEN IN VIOLATION OF THE BROWN ACT.
The LA County District Attorney Public Integrity Division has the responsibility of investigating and prosecuting allegations of Brown Act violations.
Public Integrity Division | http://bit.ly/fBhdwp
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
320 West Temple St., Rm. 766
Los Angeles, CA. 90012
Phone: (213) 974-6501
If this plays out as it seems to be headed this will end in the Never-Neverland of another oxymoron: Legal Briefs. And though the case law is from Massachusetts and not California, here is the precedent: DISTRICT ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT vs. SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF WAYLAND | http://bit.ly/hYHiHC
Please fasten your seat belts - in the unlikely chance of an overwater landing your seat cushion can be used for a floatation device.
Stay tuned, Onward/Adelante - and Happy New Year everyone! - smf
IS MAYOR TONY PUSHING TO REPLACE SUPERINTENDENT CORTINES WITH JOHN DEASY? + CORTINES TO BE BOOTED WITHIN A WEEK... PRINCE JOHN DEASY TO BE CROWNED
IS MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA PUSHING TO REPLACE L.A. UNIFIED SUPERINTENDENT RAMON CORTINES WITH JOHN DEASY?
By Patrick Range McDonald | LA Weekly - http://bit.ly/igAGfU
Fri., Jan. 7 2011 @ 7:00AM - The conventional wisdom in local public education circles was that Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines would retire this spring... well, so much for that.
HollywoodHighlands.org bloggers John Walsh and Miki Jackson (story follows)and the Los Angeles Times are reporting Cortines could be gone by early next week, with deputy superintendent John Deasy taking over. An L.A. Unified insider told us the same thing, and that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is making all the moves behind the scenes to make it happen.
As reported by the Los Angeles Daily News, Deasy is already making $25,000 more than Cortines and the deputy superintendent took over his boss's office. So the change was destined to come.
People just didn't know it was going to take place so soon.
Just like our inside source, Jackson and Walsh say Villaraigosa and his people told L.A. Unified Board of Education President Monica Garcia in no uncertain terms that Deasy must become superintendent, and pronto.
The L.A. Times reports that Villaraigosa met with Garcia and Deasy on Wednesday to discuss "transition issues."
According to our source, there's now a battle of sorts between Villaraigosa and L.A. Unified Board members over how the promotion of Deasy goes down. Board members, according to our source, don't want to look as if they are the mayor's puppets. Yet Villaraigosa wants to somehow score political points since he's long talked about improving L.A.'s public schools.
As L.A. Weekly reported several months ago, John Deasy is no stranger to controversy. http://bit.ly/dQzhPq
______________________
CORTINES TO BE BOOTED WITHIN A WEEK... PRINCE JOHN DEASY TO BE CROWNED
Hollywood/Highlands Democratic Club “LAUSD Watch Blog” | http://bit.ly/fpKJPa:
January 6, 2011 - originally sent out at 4:54 pm - Raymond (sic) Cortines, LAUSD Superintendent (as I write this) has been told to clean out his desk because he will be gone within a week. The background - Mayor Antonio delivered that message to LAUSD Board Member and Broad/Riordan puppet Monica Garcia at a secret meeting earlier this week. Antonio is, of course, merely doing the bidding of his brain - Eli Broad and Broad’s sidekick former Mayor Ricard (sic) Riordan.
John Deasy, Deputy Superintendent for a few days -- before he ascends to the LAUSD puppet throne, was hand picked by LA "City Father" and power behind all thrones in our little town, Eli Broad. The LAUSD Board rubber stamped Broad's selection of Deasy by hiring him back in June of 2010. LA Weekly reporter Patrick Range McDonald exposed the Controversy Surrounding Deasy’s | selection in his blog back then. ([http://bit.ly/dQzhPq]
The L.A. Times article which will appear in print tomorrow keeps to their Howard Blume "speak no unflattering truth about anyone backed by Eli Broad" policy. [http://bit.ly/dQzhPq]
Deasy gave the LAUSD Board an ultimatum just before the holidays - if he was not crowned King of LAUSD immediately in the new year, he was picking up his toys and leaving. More importantly, he might take some of Uncle Eli's toys with him.
Deasy then marched over to the head attorney at LAUSD and said that upon ascending to the throne he intends to buy out the contracts of many of the main honchos at LAUSD so he can put his puppets (read Broad approved puppets) in. -Maybe Deasy didn't exactly put it that way - but everyone heard it loud and clear. Want to bet everyone who gets installed is a big Charter/privatization booster. If you're a top honcho at LAUSD better start polishing up the old resume.
Could this have anything too do with Governor Brown’s State Board of Education changes, putting in less charter privatization loving appointees of his own and taking the most rabid privatizing crowd out? [http://lat.ms/fWJ4AA] Looks like LAUSD is lining it's (sic) puppets up to do battle with Brown's puppets. Sounds like a Punch and Judy show - only not so high minded. So may puppets fighting it out with each other...seems that a lot of strings will get tangled. No one in this little play seems to have the least concern for the school kids - but that's nothing new. Bottom line - Deasy is a Charter School, privatization loving hand picked puppet. Read the posts we put up over the last year and a half to get the background to the drive to privatize that has consumed LAUSD under the influence of Broad/Riordan and their collections of puppets from Mayor Antonio to the new fair haired boy in town, Deasy (he likes it pronounced "Daisy" - a little like Hyacinth Bucket who prefers her humble name pronounced "Bouquet" in the BBC classic comedy "Keeping Up Appearances".
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD EXPECTED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEXT SUPERINTENDENT ON TUESDAY + LAUSD BOARD POISED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEW SUPERINTENDENT
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD EXPECTED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEXT SUPERINTENDENT ON TUESDAY: John Deasy, 50, would replace Ramon C. Cortines, 78, who has headed the nation's second-largest school system since 2008. Deasy joined the district in August as Cortines' top deputy.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/fvNmSQ
January 07, 2011| The Los Angeles Board of Education is expected to vote Tuesday to appoint John Deasy as the next superintendent of the nation's second-largest school district, sources said Thursday.
Deasy would replace Ramon C. Cortines, 78, who announced last year that he would retire this spring from the system he has headed since 2008.
No Los Angeles Unified School District officials or administrators were willing to publicly discuss Deasy's presumed hiring. Employees said they had no authorization to do so, and elected officials said it would be improper to discuss the board's private deliberations. Deasy also said he could not discuss the matter. Several insiders, however, confirmed the pending hire.
Deasy joined the district in August as the top deputy to Cortines, who promptly vacated his office for his heir apparent, moving into smaller quarters next door. Deasy, 50, came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversaw efforts to revamp how teachers are evaluated, but he also has 20 years' experience as a school district superintendent.
During his five months in Los Angeles, Deasy has pushed for the controversial use of student test score data as part of a revamped system to evaluate teachers and principals. When The Times published a series on teacher effectiveness using a "value-added" model that ranks instructors by their students' test scores, Deasy urged the board and the teachers union to negotiate a new evaluation that would include a similar analysis.
That effort has been vigorously opposed by United Teachers Los Angeles. The district's teachers union supports the use of data to improve teaching but opposes its use in formal teacher evaluations. Deasy has historically enjoyed a good relationship with employee unions, despite their disagreement with him over the use of data.
Deasy's anticipated promotion ends months of speculation on when he might take over. There also have been uncomfortable moments between Cortines and Deasy, both of whom are strong-willed leaders with a clear idea of what they want to do. They got along in part by focusing on different arenas. Cortines led the way on managing painful budget cuts. Deasy oversaw the teacher evaluation initiative and litigation that is widely expected to alter traditional seniority protections for teachers.
Still, past heirs apparent to the top job have fallen out of favor before rising to the top. That didn't happen with Deasy, who has generally impressed board members, even when they disagree with him.
Deasy's hiring is nonetheless expected to meet some resistance from a minority on the seven-member Board of Education. Their objection will probably be over the lack of a nationwide search for Cortines' replacement.
In securing Deasy, the board hands the reins to one of the nation's most respected and energetic educators, but there's an element of political gamble. Four seats on the school board are on the ballot in March. If the board's philosophical composition changes, it could want to choose its own superintendent.
That happened in 1999, when an outgoing school board extended the contract of Ruben Zacarias. The new board quickly became disenchanted with the holdover and fired him anyway — resulting in a contract buyout and extended uncertainty over district leadership.
A similar scenario happened in 2006, when the board locked in former Navy Adm. David Brewer with a four-year contract. A new board majority that arrived months later never warmed up to Brewer, who lasted about two years before accepting a costly buyout.
The result is that upcoming board elections loom large. Candidates backed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will probably support Deasy. It's unclear whether the same would be true for candidates backed by the teachers union, which is expected to oppose the mayor's slate. Villaraigosa has yet to formally endorse candidates.
But the mayor did meet with Deasy and school board President Monica Garcia on Wednesday morning to discuss "transition issues," according to sources who said they were familiar with Deasy's calendar. The mayor's office had no comment Thursday.
Districts Deasy has headed include the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland.
Deasy has a bachelor's and a master's degree in education from Providence College in Rhode Island and a doctorate from the University of Louisville in Kentucky. His three children are in their early 20s; two attend college locally. His wife Patty is a nurse practitioner.
Officials have tentatively scheduled a news conference for Tuesday that is to follow a closed-door session at which the board members will vote. No candidate other than Deasy will be considered at the meeting, and contract terms are already under negotiation, district insiders said.
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LAUSD BOARD POISED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEW SUPERINTENDENT
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/g6RgKE
01/06/2011 08:16:35 PM PST/Updated: 01/07/2011 02:32:01 PM PST | The Los Angeles Unified school board is expected to officially appoint John Deasy – the district's current No. 2 – as superintendent on Tuesday, according to district sources.
Deasy was recruited last year from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and was being groomed as the likely successor to Superintendent Ramon Cortines, who announced he was retiring this spring.
Cortines had already vacated his office for his deputy superintendent, so the move was widely expected. Terms of Deasy's contract, including salary and length of term, were still being negotiated. He is expected to take office 90 days after the contract is signed, which board members expect to happen by Tuesday.
A New England native, Deasy had previously served as superintendent of Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland from 2006 to 2008 and had earlier stints heading Santa Monica-Malibu Unified and Coventry Public Schools in Rhode Island.
He would become the district's fourth superintendent in five years, and would have to face massive budgetary problems while continuing to implement controversial school reform proposals such as School Choice, while mediating conflicts with charter schools over use of district space and funds.
STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF TORLAKSON DECLARES 'STATE OF EMERGENCY' FOR SCHOOLS + more
By Connie Llanos Staff Writer | LA Daily News - http://bit.ly/g3ifY7
01/07/2011 - New state schools superintendent Tom Torlakson declared a financial "state of emergency" Thursday for all California schools, while pledging to support any budget plan or ballot measure that prevents further cuts.
"The law won't let me call out the National Guard," Torlakson said, noting that 174 school districts are in financial jeopardy. "But it's time we call it what it is. ... This is an emergency."
In his first official news conference since taking office Monday, Torlakson said he plans to complete a "top to bottom" review of the state Department of Education in an effort to cut costs.
But Torlakson said streamlining alone would not restore the $18 billion in state budget cuts that have hit California's schools over the last three years.
At Los Angeles Unified School District, those cuts have resulted in larger class sizes at every grade level, a shortened school year, thousands of layoffs and cutbacks in arts, music and after-school programs.
With the state facing a budget deficit of some $28 billion, the situation for schools is not expected to get better and Gov. Jerry Brown has spoken publicly about how "painful" this latest budget could be for schools and other services.
The budget is expected to be released early next week. Some observers have speculated that Brown may try to avert further cuts to education by proposing an extension of $8 billion in temporary tax increases that former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators enacted in 2009.
Brown has said he would not implement any tax increases without voter approval, but Torlakson said he believed voters would support education at the ballot box if asked to do so.
"I think the public places education as a priority," Torlakson said.
Referring to a failed attempt to raise revenues for state parks by increasing vehicle license fees, Torlakson said "car fees for parks didn't rise to the level of priority" that school funding would.
LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines, who is struggling to close a $142 million deficit for the 2011-12 school year, questioned Torlakson's timing.
"This is the worst time to ask the voters for additional money for schools," Cortines said.
"Not only is the need great in every area, but voters themselves are hurting. Look at the unemployment rate, the home sales and foreclosures in this state. ... It's a very difficult time."
In March, Los Angeles residents rejected a proposed parcel tax that would have generated $92 million annually for four years for LAUSD.
Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, echoed Cortines' statements.
"Under better economic conditions, voters would be more more sympathetic but now people are sitting down at their dinner table eating modestly. They are buying less meat and more beans and rice," Vosburgh said.
"People just aren't in the mood to give anybody any more money, not to schools or any other government program."
Still, some educators warned that if something isn't done to help schools weather the financial crisis, the consequences could be irreparable.
"The cuts are not just a short-term fiscal crisis, they threaten the future of generations of students," said Dana Dillon, a teacher and member of the California Teachers Association board.
"The financial crisis for schools is real and growing. ... How we deal with it will define us."
Additional coverage:Google News | http://bit.ly/eaBjl1
By the CNN Wires Staff (CNN) -- CALIFORNIA'S SCHOOLS ARE IN A STATE OF FINANCIAL EMERGENCY, ACCORDING TO THE STATE'S EDUCATION CHIEF, TOM TORLAKSON. ...
NEW STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF DECLARES "FINANCIAL EMERGENCY" - San Francisco Chronicle (blog)
The state's newly elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson, declared a state of "financial emergency" for California's schools yesterday ...
PENINSULA EDUCATION LEADERS REACT TO DECLARATION OF FISCAL EMERGENCY - San Jose Mercury News
California Superintendent of Schools Tom Torlakson has declared a state of fiscal emergency in public education and pledged to find ways to ...
NEW SCHOOLS SUPT. TOM TORLAKSON CITES WORSENING FINANCIAL PICTURE - Los Angeles Times
New state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson joined with education leaders in Sacramento on Thursday to call attention to what he called an education ...
SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION DECLARES CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS IN 'STATE OF ... - San Jose Mercury News
SACRAMENTO -- Saying schools are in a "state of financial emergency," the state Superintendent of Public Instruction on Thursday ...
CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE IN FISCAL CRISIS AS CUTS LOOM, OFFICIAL SAYS - Bloomberg
California's public schools are mired in a fiscal crisis, the state's top education official said, ...
PIPE DOWN MR. MAYOR: Attacking the teachers union won't help reform our schools
Op-Ed in the LA Times by By Kirti Baranwal and Gillian Russom | http://lat.ms/dXMal1
January 7, 2011 | Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in an inflammatory speech last month, referred to United Teachers Los Angeles as the "loudest opponent and the largest obstacle to creating quality schools." In his enthusiasm to join the national chorus blaming teachers unions, he chose to ignore the myriad positive reforms teachers are making in L.A. schools with the support of our union leadership.
We are UTLA representatives at schools in the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, or PLAS, which is affiliated with the mayor's office, and which the mayor has repeatedly identified as "my partnership schools." His speech reflects a lack of knowledge of the progressive reforms UTLA is part of creating at "his" schools.
As chapter chairs, we are part of the "UTLA leadership" the mayor disparages. Like the vast majority of that leadership, we are classroom teachers who work every day with the children of Los Angeles, while he barely sets foot in our schools. We also stand up for the rights of our colleagues as workers and as educators, and work with teachers, parents and communities to make schools better for all.
At our schools, we are seeing excellent examples of grass-roots school reform. While politicians cut our funding, lay off our colleagues, raise class sizes, threaten our schools with outside takeovers and then blame everything on our union, teachers are continuing the difficult day-to-day work of transforming public education — with UTLA's full support.
•At Gompers Middle School, the majority of English teachers have chosen to use a progressive reading and writing workshop curriculum that works with students at their academic level and helps them grow. Struggling students last year on average improved by two years of growth in reading comprehension. Gompers has spent thousands of dollars on classroom libraries for students who have limited access to quality books.
•At Mendez Learning Center, English teachers have designed their own benchmark writing assessment and set a collective goal for moving more students toward writing proficiency by the end of the year.
•At Roosevelt High School's Academy of Environmental and Social Policy, teachers have designed an exhibition night when students present projects addressing real-world problems to parents and community members. This year, the school is organizing an internship fair so that seniors can get involved in their community.
•At Roosevelt's School of Law and Government, teachers have developed a student career path through activities such as Teen Court, mock trial, guest speakers, courthouse field trips and courses taught by community college professors. The school recently began a second six-week parent workshop series including information on GPA, credits and college entrance requirements; preparing children for college; supporting independent readers; and improving parent-child communication.
Progressive reforms like these aren't only happening at PLAS schools. Teachers are driving similar efforts in dozens of other schools across Los Angeles, such as Woodland Hills Academy, the UCLA Community School and Manual Arts and Crenshaw high schools. These are places where UTLA leaders and members have fought successfully to loosen the grip of L.A. Unified bureaucracy and to increase opportunities for teachers and school communities to initiate our own reforms.
Moreover, the mayor's criticism of our union comes as UTLA has been advancing several broader reform initiatives. These include proposals for creating more stability at our hardest-to-staff schools, a new, detailed plan for authentic teacher evaluations that focuses on improving instruction, and support for new forms of school governance.
UTLA has also fought for school reform at the bargaining table. We called for L.A. Unified to prevent teacher layoffs and class-size increases by eliminating the layers of bureaucracy that have long stifled reforms. We called on the district to avoid laying off 1,000 school employees in November by spending the federal Ed Jobs Fund money it has in its hands. The mayor and his political allies on the school board have opposed these demands.
When UTLA resumes contract negotiations with the district this month, we will bring with us bargaining initiatives for authentic school change, a new teacher evaluation and support program, increased teacher autonomy and an end to class-size increases. These are the bargaining priorities that UTLA members favored in a recent survey.
Just because we oppose some of the ideas that the mayor calls "reform" — evaluating teachers based on student test scores, charter school takeovers and eliminating seniority protections — he accuses our organization of opposing educational change. We question whether his "reforms" are intended to improve education or to scapegoat teachers. What we want instead are reforms that will allow us to better meet the needs of all of our students in the public schools. We ask the mayor, how is this a partnership when instead of helping to foster school-based reform, you use your position as a bully pulpit to attack our union?
These kinds of political attacks show more than ever the need for a strong union that will simultaneously protect our rights as workers and support genuine, locally driven reform in our public schools.
● Kirti Baranwal is a sixth-grade history and English teacher and UTLA chapter chair at Gompers Middle School. Gillian Russom is a history teacher and UTLA chapter chair at the Academy of Environmental and Social Policy at Roosevelt High School. This article reflects their views and those of UTLA representatives from 10 other PLAS schools.
●● smf: The spin, the spin: Isn't it interesting that the Times' print edition had the above headline - but the online edition had it: EDUCATION REFORM THE UNION WAY.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
K-12 FUNDING, POLICY ON RADAR FOR NEW CONGRESS: By Alyson Klein - EdWeek | Vol. 30, Issue 15 | http://bit.ly/dQr.
TO BROWN ADMINISTRATION: ADEQUATE, EQUITABLE, RATIONAL SCHOOL FUNDING: Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 3... http://bit.ly/gr7lk3
BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH KIRST & HONIG: Brown names seven to State Board: By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess | ... http://bit.ly/gjIr8F
MANY SEE INFLUENCE OF CTA IN GOV. BROWN’S SHAKEUP OF STATE BOARD OF ED: Proponents of charter schools are among ... http://bit.ly/gWQJlF about
LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE SCHOLARS FEEL THE PINCH: Academics holding their annual meeting in L.A. lament the effec... http://bit.ly/gU5XjX
Teacher profile: STEVE GEBBART ISN’T WAITING FOR SUPERMAN AT SAN PEDRO HIGH: from Neon Tommy|USC Annenberg Sc... http://bit.ly/fA0Eng
Short Takes on Impending Deasy Superintendency: Former Santa Monica-Malibu Schools Leader Expected to be Named L... http://bit.ly/g5wsQd
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD EXPECTED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEXT SUPERINTENDENT ON TUESDAY: John Deasy, 50, would replac... http://bit.ly/eoabCi
LAUSD BOARD POISED TO APPOINT JOHN DEASY AS NEW SUPERINTENDENT: By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News |... http://bit.ly/gzlFcV
IS MAYOR TONY PUSHING TO REPLACE SUPERINTENDENT CORTINES WITH JOHN DEASY? + CORTINES TO BE BOOTED WITHIN A WEEK,... http://bit.ly/eJmQuq
L.A. Unified's downtown arts high school: Hold the applause - latimes.com http://lat.ms/fj73wi
PRINICIPAL AT DOWNTOWN L.A. ARTS HIGH SCHOOL VOWS TO RESOLVE ENROLLMENT CONTROVERSY: Howard Blume/LA Times | htt... http://bit.ly/ibS2t1
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD REJECTS PETITION FOR NEW CHARTER SCHOOL IN CARSON: By Melissa Pamer, Staff Writer | Daily Breeze... http://bit.ly/gUiLKi
CHARTER SCHOOLS TO STEER SPECIAL ED: District OKs plan to give campuses control of funding.: By Connie Llanos, D... http://bit.ly/fizoE6
APPLICANTS’ PLANS FOR HIGH SCHOOL TO BE EXPLAINED: Daily Breeze | From staff reports| http://bit.ly/dH1Mw3 ... http://bit.ly/gisbxv 7:11 PM
RECESSION GIVES RISE TO ‘GENERATION R’ -NPR Marketplace | http://bit.ly/g3jODi
Jan 6, 2011 - The Great Recession has affected people of all ages and classes, but for Generation R -- the 20-somethings who have just graduated college to find a poor job industry -- it's their day-to-day lives. Jeremy Hobson talks to researcher Maria Kefalas about this important group.
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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