In This Issue:  | | • | THE AMERICAN PROMISE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION + "A NEED TO KNOW" | | | • | LAUSD ANNOUNCES POTENTIAL LAYOFF PLANS | | | • | SCHOOLS MAY GAIN FROM LOSS OF REDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES | | | • | MASTER OF MYTH: WHAT ARNE DUNCAN SAYS AND DOES | | | • | HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources | | | • | SPECIAL US DEPT OF ED WEBCAST ON THE BUDGET + EVENTS: Coming up next week... | | | • | What can YOU do? | |
Featured Links: | | | | I SPENT MONDAY AND TUESDAY IN SACRAMENTO, walking the halls and meeting + hearing from legislators, public officials and policy wonks on matters educational as part of State PTA's Annual Legislative Conference. In a sidebar a couple of us parent-types sat in as a delegation from the LAUSD Board was introducing superintendent-elect Deasy around - and was delighted to hear Deasy's repeated commitment to the health + welfare of students.
And that was the extent of the good news.
The budget picture is one of gloom followed by predictions of doom. And if the tax extension proposed for the June ballot doesn't pass - or doesn't make it onto the ballot - the physicist’s Event Horizon is crossed/the theologian's Apocalypse is upon us and public education in California becomes unrecognizable. Veteran political reporter George Skelton said that Gov. Brown's promise to take any tax increases to the voters was "good politics but bad governance" ...and nobody in the room said "Wait a minute George!"
The pledge the republicans have made to Grover Norquist to not raise taxes apparently extends to disallowing "We-the-People" to even consider raising taxes ourselves - and that's the kind of mistake that leads to the kind of scene we saw in Egypt on Friday. (Grover Norquist isn't even a constituent - he lives in Virginia.) The minority party needs to remember that it may take two-thirds to accomplish something they aren't happy with ...but it only takes a simple majority to add them the rolls of the unemployed. Redistricting is coming and safe seats may be getting precarious. Keep your legs and hands inside the ride chicle at all times.
NEXT TUESDAY THE BOARD OF ED will vote to send out notices to 5000 employees, most of them teachers; notifying them that they are subject to layoff and not being rehired in September. State law says the board must send out those notices by March 15th. Employees who get them lose their credit ratings because they don't have secure jobs. Whatever morale they may have will plummet. And if the tax extension proposal doesn’t make it on the ballot - or if it does and is defeated (it takes a 2/3rd majority) - those notices will become pink slips. And those folks will be out of the classroom and the school - and into the unemployment office.
Two years ago the Feds saved us from a similar fate -- that ain't happenin' again!
WEDNESDAY I got a phone briefing on children's health issues in congress, the economic and political and 'why-can't-we-just-get-along?' situation in D.C. is no better than Sacramento. (I used the Dylan quote about how some folks have knives and they gotta cut somethin' last week. Still true.)
ALSO WEDNESDAY the State Board of Ed put the trigger lock on the "Parent Trigger" - at least for now.
AND THURSDAY I went to a meeting about my new community high school - where We-the-Community were going to be consulted about the proposed attendance boundaries of our brand-shiny-new neighborhood school - and get to hear the folks from LAUSD Planning and Demographics defend their map.
The proposed 'proposal' was a done-deal, carved in stone.
And nobody from P&D was there - we got the interim principal who will not have to run the school separated by a three-and-a-half mile unbridged section of the LA River and a railroad marshaling yard from half of its student body. There is no public transportation, No yellow school buses. No supplemental Environmental Impact Report on the impact on traffic, noise, pollution, etc. And this is LAUSD's flagship green school with the highest CHPS score! (Collaborative for High Performance Schools - www.chps.net)
IF YOU READ ABOUT the process of engaging the community at Burbank Middle School or Huntington Park High in stories below - or if you've ever been a part of any of the other community engagement opportunities under Public School Choice or other programs you know of what I speak.
PROMISES MADE CAN BE KEPT OR BROKEN. Proposals become fait accompli when left unattended. The holidays got in the way of disclosing the maps earlier. 'I'm sorry, it was my furlough day.' Expedience gets in the way of doing it right.
Pardon my Anglo-Saxon, but when the adults settle for crap, the children get crap.
Excuse the electioneering - but this is just another reason to write in Scott Folsom for School Board in Board District Five. Because transparency and accountability and integrity aren’t just nouns, they're values. They are High but Reasonable Expectations to have of the people who educate + work with our children, of our public officials, and of our children and ourselves.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
THE AMERICAN PROMISE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION + "A NEED TO KNOW"
essay by Jon Meacham from the PBS Show "Need To Know" on February 11, 2011| http://to.pbs.org/f9FhoS
Americans of all political persuasions tend to get nostalgic about what they think of as the great causes of the past. World War II is the most obvious example. At home, the civil-rights movement has the same kind of warm glow. The fight against Jim Crow has become a kind of civic fairy tale in which the forces of good triumphed over the forces of evil; the saga has its heroes and villains, its martyrs and shrines.
Here’s the thing, though: a movement is just that, something in motion. And now, in 2011, those who care about civil rights — those who care about human rights — must dedicate themselves to the cause of public education. It’s the crucial front in the ongoing struggle to realize fully the Jeffersonian promise that all of us are created equal.
This may sound hokey, or conventional. And it is. But so what? The hokey and the conventional can be true, and this point surely is: access to a good public education is the civil-rights issue of our time. End of debate.
Martin Luther King Jr. often invoked Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence as the “promissory note” of American life and freedom. Jefferson is relevant here, too. In a letter to his friend James Madison in 1787, reflecting on the new Constitution, Jefferson wrote: “Above all things I hope the education of the common people will be attended to; convinced that on their good sense we may rely with the most security for the preservation of a due degree of liberty.”
Above all things. True then, true now. Let’s get on with it.
__________________
●●smf: This program, "Need to Know", is new to me. The program Friday 2/11 [http://to.pbs.org/epdcPL] was devoted exclusively and excellently to education.
● SCHOOL OF THOUGHT IN BROCKTON, MASS. | http://to.pbs.org/ibDxDF
In 1998, when Massachusetts implemented new standardized testing, administrators at Brockton High School, the largest public school in the state, learned that more than 75 percent of their 4,000 students would fail to graduate. But thanks to a small group of dedicated teachers who implemented a school-wide program to bring reading and writing lessons into every classroom, even gym, Brockton is now one of the highest performing schools in the state.
● A PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN NAPERVILLE | http://to.pbs.org/i8xHZM
While physical education has been drastically cut back across the country — in response to budget concerns and test score pressures — Naperville Central High School, in the Chicago suburbs, has embraced a culture of fitness: PE is a daily, graded requirement. And for one group of struggling students, there’s an innovative program to schedule PE right before their most challenging classes. In the six years since that program started, students who signed up for PE directly before English read on average a half year ahead of those who didn’t, and students who took PE before math showed dramatic improvement in their standardized tests.
● GOOD CHEMISTRY | http://to.pbs.org/hbMYp2
Most people agree that for the U.S. to remain competitive in the global economy, we need more people in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). But today, two-thirds of college students who start out majoring in the sciences end up switching concentrations. One university in Maryland is bucking that trend. Under the leadership of Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County is transforming the way science is taught, emphasizing lab settings and small group problem solving. The results: more students majoring in subjects like chemistry and more students passing the class. The University has also been a leader in minority achievement in STEM fields. In the school’s Meyerhoff Scholars Program, which focuses on high-achieving minority students, nearly 90 percent graduate with degrees in science or engineering.
● EDUCATION ROUNDTABLE | http://to.pbs.org/eTRSXd
Alison Stewart leads a lively discussion with education reformers about practical solutions that work. Panelists include: Dr. Susan Szachowicz, principal of Brockton High School in Massachusetts and one of the reform leaders; Zakiyah Ansari, parent leader with the Coalition for Educational Justice in New York; and Dr. Pedro Noguera, Professor of Education at New York University and author of “The Trouble with Black Boys…And Other Reflections on Race, Equity and the Future of Public Education.
The panel discusses the program sequences (above), school turnarounds v. continuous reform, lessons learned + best practices, charter schools, teachers unions and "bad teachers".
smf: 4LAKids readers are notoriously adverse to following links - please follow these! Note that LA has three public TV outlets: KCET with four channels, LAUSD's own KLCS with four - and KOCE with two ...and none carries this show!
LAUSD ANNOUNCES POTENTIAL LAYOFF PLANS
Jason Song in LA Times/LANow | http://lat.ms/fO95jL
February 11, 2011 | 6:35 pm - Los Angeles school officials unveiled a plan Friday to send preliminary layoff notices to more than 5,000 teachers and other staff members to help close a projected budget gap. This is the first time that the nation's second-largest district will protect some campuses that previously had been hit hard by layoffs.
The district is facing a nearly $400-million budget shortfall and is required by law to warn employees that they could lose their jobs by March 15. The Board of Education is scheduled to vote on the matter Tuesday and must approve sending final notices to employees by mid-summer.
If approved, the notices would go to nearly about 4,500 teachers and 600 support staff, including social workers, nurses and counselors. The notices are issued strictly on seniority.
Forty-five campuses will be exempted from the layoff notices because of a recent court ruling that found some low-performing urban schools had been unfairly affected by large numbers of layoffs. Notices that would have gone to instructors at those campuses will be spread out at other schools.
The court ruling only named three campuses that would be shielded by layoffs. The rest were chosen by Los Angeles Unified School District officials.
Teachers union president A.J. Duffy criticized the move Friday and urged district officials to find other ways to balance the budget.
"This large number of proposed layoffs shows that LAUSD has clearly abandoned its all-too-frequent, and hollow, promise to 'keep cuts away from the classroom,' " he said in a statement.
SCHOOLS MAY GAIN FROM LOSS OF REDEVELOPMENT AGENCIES
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News |
9 Feb 2010 - Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies is sparking heated discussions among local and state officials, but education experts say the benefits for school districts are beyond debate.
The proposal to close more than 400 community redevelopment agencies would funnel an estimated $1.7billion back to California's coffers by 2012-13. State officials say about $1billion of that total would be allocated to schools, boosting the districts' finances after three years of devastating budget cuts.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials are campaigning aggressively against Brown's plan, which they say will hurt communities and kill jobs. Education experts, however, say it would be a boon for schools.
"This plan would be astoundingly good news for school districts statewide," said John Mockler, a Sacramento-based education consultant.
Brown's plan, Mockler said, would give give schools more than the state-required minimum funding for the first time since 1978, when voters approved Proposition 13. The landmark initiative limits the taxes cities and counties can levy on homeowners.
"It's an incredible change of course," he said.
Some independent experts estimate the governor's plan could give school districts an additional $170per student annually. That would mean about $114 million for Los Angeles Unified, which has an enrollment of 670,000.
The funding could grow to more than $350 per student over time as property values rise and as existing CRA projects are completed and phased out.
"This is not a trivial amount of money," said Steve Rhoads, a lobbyist for LAUSD and other school districts statewide.
EXTRA CASH COULDN'T ARRIVE FOR SCHOOL DISTRICTS AT A BETTER TIME.
Los Angeles Unified officials have projected a $400 million deficit for 2011-12 if voters fail to heed Brown's plea to approve a series of proposed tax increases this summer.
However, officials have also avoided taking a position on the governor's proposal, citing concerns about the vague language and whether it would actually result in increased funding for education.
The state Legislative Analyst's Office, for instance, wants to eliminate the CRAs, but use the money to decrease California's own deficit.
"The state has made promises to schools before and then when you look at the details, things are not quite as promised," said LAUSD spokeswoman Lydia Ramos.
Redevelopment a boon to some
Burbank Unified Superintendent Stan Carrizosa also said that districts like his own have benefited greatly from redevelopment projects. For example, Carrizosa said the long-awaited renovation of Burbank's Memorial Stadium by its CRA included upgrades to athletic facilities at two district campuses.
"If redevelopment is gone next year and we get more direct funding, we'd still be committed to working with our city as they have done with us," Carrizosa said.
Some districts are also trying to avoid conflict with their local elected officials, who have come out strongly against the governor's plan.
Among the most vocal has been Villaraigosa, who helped elect six of the seven current LAUSD board members.
The Los Angeles City Council has approved various redevelopment projects since Brown's proposal was announced, including a plan to spend up to $52 million on a plaza, sidewalks and parking garage for a downtown museum being constructed by billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad.
Today, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on a plan to transfer $930million of CRA/LA debt on existing projects to the city general fund as a way to ensure the programs continue uninterrupted.
NOT AN `EITHER/OR SITUATION'
City officials said this issue should not become a point of contention between the district and City Hall.
"This isn't an either/or situation, and we hope to work with the governor and Legislature to find a solution that continues to provide funding for education while maintaining the focus on job creation and getting Californians working again," said Villaraigosa spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton.
LAUSD school board member Steve Zimmer echoed similar concerns about pitting one agency against another.
"No doubt this would bring in good revenue to the school district ... but you never want to be fighting something that could potentially stimulate jobs," Zimmer said.
"You don't want to rob Peter to pay Paul."
Still, some experts questioned why school districts would fail to support a plan that could help stave off more layoffs and budget cuts.
"They are hesitant to take a position because they are worried that the mayor will slap them for it," said Mockler, who helped author Proposition 98, which guarantees funding for public schools.
Not supporting the plan though, Mockler said, could have serious consequences for cash-strapped districts.
"If they don't step up to the plate ... the naysayers will continue to steal the money to build parking lots for Eli Broad and downtown football stadiums. When your governor promises to give you $10,000 for every classroom in this district you kind of want say thank you ... if you care about education."
MASTER OF MYTH: WHAT ARNE DUNCAN SAYS AND DOES
"THE GREAT ENEMY OF TRUTH IS VERY OFTEN NOT THE LIE – DELIBERATE, CONTRIVED AND DISHONEST – BUT THE MYTH – PERSISTENT, PERSUASIVE, AND UNREALISTIC." — John F. Kennedy
by Yong Zhao | ZhaoLearning.com | http://bit.ly/dQliQ6
3 September 2010 | Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education has been called the most powerful education secretary in history. With billions of dollars of borrowed money, Duncan has achieved unprecedented changes to American education. “We’re getting more change in 18 months in education than in the previous decade,” said Duncan on a recent trip.
The changes he has been championing, mostly represented by the Race to the Top grant program, are controversial, to say the least. As a Christine Science Monitor article writes:
Ultimately, proponents from all across the political spectrum say, Duncan could help dramatically narrow achievement gaps and even bring the United States back to high standing internationally. Or, as critics such as the irked teachers’ unions see it, he’ll further devastate an already demoralized teaching profession and subject children to more of the high-stakes testing that’s been sucking the soul out of American schools.
But what is surprising is that he has not met many critics during his meetings with the people who should be most critical of him—teachers and students. Recently Duncan was on a bus tour of schools across the nation to “honor the nation’s teachers.” I had expected that many teachers would file complaints about the increasingly poisonous teaching environment imposed by the federal government. I also had expected students to question the excessive burden of testing. But according to a New York Times story: “Mr. Duncan heard little criticism in the Northeast states he visited.”
Did I miss something here? How is this possible? What happened to all the criticism?
I found the answer in yesterday’s Talk of the Nation hosted by Neal Conan on NPR.
During this one-hour call-in radio program, Duncan took questions from students and teachers in the Washington DC area in the studio and a few callers from around the country. Out of all the questions asked, only one gets close to criticism: “When are we going to start learning how to think and not just how to pass a standardized test?” To which Duncan answered: “It got to happen yesterday.”
That’s the moment of epiphany: Secretary Arne Duncan is a master and all criticism melts away before this great master, master of myth because all critics are told what they want to hear.
If “[I]it got to happen yesterday,” why is he working so hard to push using standardized test scores to evaluate teachers and schools, which has been shown to lead to teaching to the test and narrowing of curriculum?
Using a similar strategy, he “won over” a career and technical education teacher who complained the profession is undervalued, according to a Washington Post story. Duncan’s answer: “We have to think about how to reverse that.”
If he values and will truly think about career and technical education, why does he want to pay only math and science teachers more and why his Race to the Top program rewards only STEM and English language arts?
Duncan has been promoting the myth that he respects teachers, values a well-rounded education, and respects diversity and use the myth to hide the truth that all he promotes is more testing, more standards, narrower curriculum, and his lack of faith in public schools and educators.
More of examples of Duncan’s myth promotion record:
Duncan: And the biggest thing is, we have to give everyone of you a well rounded education. So reading and math, English and math are hugely important, but so is science, so is social studies, so is foreign languages, so is financial literacy, so is environmental literacy. We have to get back to a well rounded curriculum. (NPR Talk of the Nation)
Question: how much money has he and the federal government invested in subjects other than English and STEM?
Duncan: Today in our country, 99 percent of our teachers are above average. (New York Times story)
Question: If so, why do we need such drastic, expensive, and unproven measures such as tie teacher evaluation to student test scores to deal with the 1% of below-average teachers? I have to believe he does not believe his Lake Wobegon inspired statement himself.
Duncan: And one thing I’m always conscious of is that the best ideas in education are always going to come at the local level, never from me, never from Washington. (NPR Talk of the Nation)
Question: If the best ideas never come from him, never from Washington, why has he been dangling money to lure the states to change laws to allow more charter schools, accept national standards, develop common assessments, and base teacher evaluation to test scores?
Secretary Duncan has also been promoting the myth about how bad American education is.
Duncan: A quarter of our students never graduate high school. Many of those who do either don’t enroll in college or fail to earn a degree. (Duncan speech in Little Rock)
Question: Why does the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) say “the status dropout rate declined from 14 percent in 1980 to 8 percent in 2008?” “The status dropout rate represents the percentage of 16- through 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and have not earned a high school credential (either a diploma or an equivalency credential such as a General Educational Development [GED] certificate).”
Duncan: In just one generation we have fallen from first in the world to 12th in the percentage of young adults with college degrees. (Duncan speech in Little Rock)
Question: Where is the evidence? I gather Secretary Duncan was relying on a report by the College Board. According to the report, however, the U.S. ranked 4th, NOT first in the percentage of 55- to 64-Year-Olds with an Associate Degree or higher after Russia, Israel, and Canada and the percentage of 25- to 34-Year-Olds with an Associate degree or higher ranks 12th, but the 4 countries immediately above the U.S. (Israel, France, Belgium, and Canada) are about 1% better.
● Yong Zhao is currently Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education, College of Education at the University of Oregon, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE). He is a fellow of the International Academy for Education.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
REPORT EXPOSES FLAWED “VALUE-ADDED” EVALUATIONS: Themes in the News for the week of Feb. 7-11, 2011 by UCLA IDEA... http://bit.ly/fQtoUv2
Egypt and NYC http://t.co/nUd2TIx via @educationweek 24 minutes ago via Tweet Button
Closing Public Schools: A Truly Bad Idea http://t.co/5rNT0nt
Rhee's Record on D.C. Academic Gains Questioned http://t.co/OK8gGS2
e-Textbooks: CALIF. DISTRICT PUSHES DIGITAL-TEXT INITIATIVE FORWARD: Riverside Unified was the first district to... http://bit.ly/eqaeji
HOUSE GOP LOOKS TO SLASH EDUCATION SPENDING: By Alyson Klein | EdWeek | http://bit.ly/iczCgw February 12, 2011 ... http://bit.ly/dKGWCO
GRANADA HILLS WINS L.A. UNIFIED ACADEMIC DECATHLON: by Larry Gordon | LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/ej2OLO Fe... http://bit.ly/eMf7KL
LAUSD ANNOUNCES POTENTIAL LAYOFF PLANS: Jason Song in LA Times/LANow | http://lat.ms/fO95jL February 11, 2011 |... http://bit.ly/i9qRsz
4LAKids/YouTube Moments: A PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN NAPERVILLE + GETTING KIDS OUT OF THEIR SEATS: A physical educat... http://bit.ly/giXuL1
PSC 2.0: GROUPS TO REVEAL PLANS FOR HUNTINGTON PARK HIGH: By ARNOLD ADLER, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Wave | http... http://bit.ly/gOlP03
PSC 2.0: BURBANK MIDDLE SCHOOL FUTURE UNSETTLED - Local district superintendent says Pilot School plan is first ... http://bit.ly/eQtZDX
Live Streaming: US DEPT OF ED BUDGET BRIEFING FOR FY 2012 Monday Feb 14 @ 9:30 am PST: from the US Department of... http://bit.ly/gg3jCQ
ACTION ITEM: Don’t let Congress balance the budget on the backs of students!: e-mail from Joshua Rovner, NASBHC... http://bit.ly/hwXlsL
“PARENT TRIGGER”: State education board delays fate of law until March + State Board of Education puts the brake... http://bit.ly/g4CvlU
OAKLAND, L.A. SCHOOLS TO ADD HEALTH CENTERS: Louis Freedberg, California Watch | This article appeared on page C... http://bit.ly/e6ha2w
TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN GIVES KIDS A LEG UP: by Vivian Po, New America Media | http://bit.ly/gT80Le Tradu... http://bit.ly/hId5hE
SPECIAL US DEPT OF ED WEBCAST ON THE BUDGET + EVENTS: Coming up next week...
Live Streaming: US DEPT OF ED BUDGET BRIEFING FOR Fiscal Year 2012 Monday Feb 14 @ 9:30 am PST
from the US Department of Education Communications and Outreach Team
The U.S. Department of Education will hold a briefing on the President's Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Request Monday, February 14, starting at 12:30 p.m. (9:30 a.m. Pacific) in the Department Auditorium (400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC, 20202).
If you are unable to attend in person, we will, for the first time, be live streaming the briefing.
Beginning that morning, anyone wishing to listen to the briefing’s proceedings can go to http://www.ustream.tv/channel/education-department.
No registration is required, although an online RSVP is appreciated.
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: MEETS WED !^ FEB @ 10AM in the Board Room at LAUSD/Beaudry 333 S. Beaudry Ave.
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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