In This Issue:  | | • | CALIFORNIA FACES $13.5 BILLION DEFICIT, FACES MIDYEAR CUTS | | | • | CHARTER SCHOOLS IMPRESS HALF OF CALIFORNIA VOTERS BUT 64% FAVOR MORE INVESTMENT IN TRADITIONAL SCHOOLS + Poll results + smf’s 2¢ | | | • | TEACHERS WHO JUST DON’T CARE | | | • | COMMUNITY CELEBRATES RIBBON-CUTTING AT SONIA SOTOMAYOR LEARNING ACADEMY | | | • | HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not neccessariily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources | | | • | EVENTS: Coming up next week... | | | • | What can YOU do? | |
Featured Links: | | | | Credit where credit's due: In an apocryphal tale told by my then writing partner, the Singing Cowboy actor Gene Autry had been drinking when he was informed that his equine co-star, "Champion, the Wonder Horse", had passed from this mortal coil.
(Tom, my writing partner, is an actor – his impersonation of Gene was cruel+callous …and very funny. The Autry estate/Autry Museum's subsequent rape of the Southwest Museum earns Gene no quarter here.)
Gene knew that Roy Rogers had had his late wonder horse, "Trigger, the Smartest Horse in the Movies", stuffed and mounted - a triumph of taxidermy if not good taste.
Gene was a much wealthier and more successful businessman than Roy, who was nonetheless the more famous - being King of the Cowboys and all. Not that this bothered Autry.
"How much would that cost …stuffin' old Champ?" Tom impersonated, slurring his words.
And when informed of the large expense, Gene/Tom barely missed a beat.
"Stuff that," he said. "Bury the %&#$er!"
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PUBLIC EDUCATION IS CURRENTLY THREATENED BY THREE BOTHERSOME TRIGGERS:
There is THE PARENT TRIGGER - the weapon of choice brandished by the ®eformers+®evolutionaries.
There is The DEFICIT REDUCTION TRIGGER - which the so-called Super Committee is struggling with in Washington. Mixing martially metaphorical: This trigger when pulled releases a Sword of Damocles - which severs Education, Medicaid, Defense and everything-everyone-holds dear (except the Bush tax cuts) on the allegorical chopping block - causing a bloodbath tsunami that will make the credit rating agencies blanch. (Apparently it's all about Moody's, Fitch & S+P.)
And finally there is the CALIFORNIA BUDGET TRIGGER, an elaborate mechanism of automatic/autopilot/pre-approved cuts built into the current state budget in the unlikely event projected revenues fall short – complete with a series 'what-if'/'if-then' midyear cuts to the "constitutional guarantee" of public education funding. .For those seeking classical references these particular cuts are not damoclesian but draconian.)
Needless to say, The Unlikely Event is upon us as inevitably as on the ingénue-in-panties from a B horror movie going into the basement to investigate the strange noise. | The 2012-2013 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook http://1.usa.gov/tZ29vb
Enough already with the triggers and references to weaponry. I'm having fun here – but maybe we should stuff it (…or bury it?) and declare a Demilitarized Zone …for the sake of the kids.
● FOR news on the impact of the Deficit Reduction Trigger see: http://bit.ly/uFBPkB
● FOR the California Budget Trigger see: CALIFORNIA FACES $13.5 BILLION DEFICIT, FACES MIDYEAR CUTS|http://t.co/Td5bgD48
● I can't see why anyone in their right mind would want to pull the Parent Trigger and convert to a charter school right now with the pending mid-year funding cuts. And I'm no judge - that "in their right mind" qualifier doesn't exclude all that many of us on either side of the fence.
FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POND: "It has given us the iced doughnut, the burger and the fattest people on Earth. But now America is outdoing even itself when it comes to unhealthy food, by trying to claim pizza is a vegetable. A school lunches Bill going before Congress aims to reclassify the junk food due to the tomato paste on the dough." | http://bit.ly/rHGWYT
I FOUND MYSELF ON THURSDAY IN A MEETING TRYING TO EXPLAIN THE WASSERMAN FOUNDATION GRANT and make it sound like a good idea; it wasn't easy. I had to try to do the same thing on Friday to District outsiders. $4 million over two years to a school district with 664,233 kids comes down to $3.01 per child a year. Never mind that it pits classroom against classroom and requires online-connected parents and/or Starbucks patrons to work. | http://t.co/k5DqGJW6
The Wasserman Foundation effort and the Fund for LA Schools – and tuition hikes and parcel taxes are well-meant band-aids and bake sales. California must come to terms with the fact that we don't need First Aid; we need Triage, Surgery, Treatment and Rehabilitation. (Our friends in ®eform have skipped directly to rehab.) Our education (and state government) revenue+funding system is totally broken and we are trying to repair it with duct tape. Yes - we have to do these quick fixes – but none addresses the Prop 13 meets Prop 98 meets the economic roller-coaster/boom+bust aspect of sales, income, property and business taxes+fees …as the ball of used duct tape grows and grows.
If it was otherwise The Lottery would have solved the problem.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
CALIFORNIA FACES $13.5 BILLION DEFICIT, FACES MIDYEAR CUTS
By JUDY LIN - The Associated Press from Business Week | http://buswk.co/tZdsPV
November 16, 2011, 5:23PM ET - SACRAMENTO, Calif. | California faces $2 billion in automatic spending cuts at the first of the year that will reduce funding for public schools, higher education and a range of state services, according to a nonpartisan fiscal analysis released Wednesday.
The bleak assessment by the state's Legislative Analyst's Office warns of declining tax revenue and a rocky statewide economic outlook that will lead to budget shortfalls for years to come.
Democratic lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown had hoped for a $4 billion increase in tax revenue through the current fiscal year when they passed the state budget last summer. The analysis released Wednesday said revenue from the three main sources -- income, sales and corporate taxes -- actually will run $3 billion lower than state expenses through the remainder of the fiscal year and is expected to be $10 billion less than the state needs in the fiscal year that will start July 1.
"Unfortunately, there are few easy options left for balancing California's budget," the legislative analyst wrote. "Difficult program reductions already have been passed, and significant one-time budget actions may be more elusive than in prior years."
California's general fund, its main checkbook for paying most state expenses, has dropped from $103 billion at the start of the recession in 2007 to $86 billion this year, a decline of more than 16 percent. Lawmakers have been making billions of dollars in cuts each year to cope with plunging tax revenue.
The coming year will provide more of the same, according to the analysis released Wednesday.
The current budget was based on a combination of spending cuts, fee hikes and projections of higher tax revenue in the months ahead. Republican lawmakers, who opposed tax increases, had warned that the revenue projections were overly optimistic.
"The Legislative Analyst's Office report indicates, as predicted, that the budget passed by Democrats with only a majority vote was overly optimistic and based on shaky assumptions," Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, vice chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said in a statement.
He also noted that state spending is projected to increase by 12 percent in the fiscal year that will start July 1.
"It indicates that a lot more needs to be done to get California's budget under control, and that does not happen through tax increases," he said.
The analyst's report was one of two revenue projections called for in the state budget. The next will be released Dec. 15 by the governor's Department of Finance. The automatic spending cuts -- referred to as "trigger cuts" in the Capitol -- will be based on whichever report contains the higher revenue projections.
The analyst projected that revenue in the current fiscal year will fall $3.7 billion below the $88.4 billion the governor and state lawmakers had desired. Provisions in the budget mean that shortfall will translate into $2 billion of automatic cuts in the weeks ahead.
The cuts to be implemented after the first of the year include $100 million each to the University of California, California State University, developmental services and in-home support for seniors and the disabled. Community college fees would increase $10 per unit, and reductions would be made for child care assistance, library grants and prisons, among other programs.
Because revenue is projected to fall short by more than $2 billion, the state would cut public school funding, an amount that will have to be determined by Brown's finance director. The state could allow school districts to reduce the school year by up to seven days, from 175 to 168. California had 180 school days before the recession hit.
The legislative analyst's report said the actual amount of spending to be cut because of the lower revenue projections will be determined by the Department of Finance. The report assumes that the automatic cuts will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
The trigger cuts do not require further action by the Legislature. But shortly after the report was issued, some Democratic lawmakers issued statements suggesting the trigger cuts were not inevitable, even though they are mandated by the state budget approved just months ago.
"Today's announcement by the LAO is indicative, but not determinative of the final decision on whether the budget triggers will be pulled next month and we must wait until the Department of Finance December forecast, which will have up to date information and certainly may alter the trigger calculation to lessen the level of trigger cuts," Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement.
State Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, said she was troubled by the prospect of more cuts to schools and colleges, and said the governor and Legislature should "do everything we can, to prevent mid-year cuts."
School and university officials have been paying especially close attention to monthly revenue projections because the trigger cuts will affect them and their students the most. About 40 percent of state funding goes to K-12 schools, and that funding has been cut each year since 2008. The loss of one-time federal stimulus money also resulted in thousands of additional layoffs this year.
The analyst's report noted that K-12 schools actually are due more money in the fiscal year that begins on July 1: Payments under Proposition 98, the state's minimum funding guarantee for schools, are supposed to rise by $6 billion; and the state must repay schools $2 billion that it took from local property taxes to balance the budget in 2009.
Cuts will have to be made elsewhere in the budget if the state makes good on those funding commitments for schools.
On Wednesday, California State University trustees voted to increase annual undergraduate tuition to 9 percent, $5,472 to $5,970. The system has more than 400,000 students.
If approved, the tuition hike would take effect if the CSU fails to get an additional $138 million it wants from the state.
Although the state has faced larger deficits in the past, the analyst cautioned that it will get harder for Brown and lawmakers to bridge budget gaps because many easy and one-time fixes have already been enacted. The analyst assumed no inflation increases for many state programs and put off dealing with long-term obligations such as retirement liabilities for public workers.
California and the nation are recovering from the longest and most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression. California's unemployment rate -- under 5 percent as recently as 2006 -- has remained above 11 percent for more than two years.
Although the legislative analyst said a double-dip recession was not likely, it did downgrade its forecast for employment growth and housing permits. It projects California's jobless rate will remain above 10 percent through the middle of 2014 and above 8 percent through 2017.
CHARTER SCHOOLS IMPRESS HALF OF CALIFORNIA VOTERS BUT 64% FAVOR MORE INVESTMENT IN TRADITIONAL SCHOOLS + Poll results + smf’s 2¢
___________________________
●● smf's 2¢ :
● Polls do not reveal the facts, the truth or reality – they reveal the polled population's perceptions of those things.
● Polling, even so-called Scientific Polling, is selective statistical analysis.
● Using enhanced interrogation techniques the data will admit anything.
● "Figures often beguile me," Mark Twain wrote in Chapters from my Autobiography (1904). "Particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: 'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics'." [As Disraeli said or wrote no such thing let’s attribute it to Twain]
I am not going to do the research now, but what exactly are the roles of the named entities in “a poll by USC Dornsife School of College and Letters, Arts and Sciences and The Los Angeles Times” and “a poll conducted Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a Democratic Firm, and American Viewpoint, a Republican firm”?
___________________________
► IN THE USC DORNSIFE/LOS ANGELES TIMES POLL, 52% OF RESPONDENTS HAD A FAVORABLE OPINION OF CHARTER SCHOOLS. BUT VOTERS OVERALL OPPOSED SUPPORTING CHARTERS AT THE EXPENSE OF RESOURCES FOR TRADITIONAL SCHOOLS.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/sxxxeb
November 18, 2011 - Charter schools have won over about half of California voters, but these independent, non-traditional public schools are not widely viewed as the solution to the state's education problems, according to a new poll.
Among those surveyed in the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll, 52% had a favorable opinion about charters; only 12% had an unfavorable impression.
Asked whether charter schools or traditional schools provided a better education, 48% gave superior marks to charters; 24% considered traditional schools more effective.
"As people learn more about what charter schools are, they tend to like the idea of choice," said USC professor Priscilla Wohlstetter, who directs the university's Center on Educational Governance.
The charter model appealed to Latino parents in particular. Overall, 52% of parents — those who have a child or grandchild age 18 or under living at home — said they would consider enrolling their children in a charter, compared to 38% who said they would not. Among Latino parents, 56% were in favor and 30% disinclined. More than half the state's public school students are Latino.
Christopher Gonzales, a construction worker in San Jose, has three nieces in charter schools and a relative who works for one.
"There's more room for innovation and attacking a problem and thinking about it differently by going outside the traditional established schools," Gonzales said. "Charter schools can be bad too, but I think they have more potential for a better education."
Charters serve about 6% of California students, and some respondents said they skipped the charter-school questions because their knowledge of them was limited.
California has more than 900 charters, the most of any state. They are free from many regulations governing traditional public schools and at most of them, teachers and administrators are not unionized, as they are in other public schools.
Many teacher union leaders and other critics have worried that charters siphon public funds, philanthropy and the better students from traditional public schools.
But those fears have not permeated popular opinion, the poll found, especially among many who are familiar with charter schools. They include Jepal Mangum, 40, a Riverside parent who sent two children to a charter.
"I was really happy with the school," said Mangum, an African American independent voter who said she leans Democratic and supports unions. She liked the small classes and the personal relationship with teachers, two instructors in particular who shaped her children's "study habits and their outlooks on life. I believe the school really worked."
Among the largest ethnic groups, African American respondents expressed the most support for charter schools. A number of charters have an overwhelmingly black enrollment, but some critics have expressed concern about charters leading to re-segregation.
Voters overall opposed supporting charters at the expense of resources for traditional schools, said Stanley B. Greenberg, chief executive of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a Democratic firm that co-directed the bipartisan poll.
Far more people favored increasing funding for traditional schools over the strategy of creating more charters, by a 64%-21% tally. Nor are voters inclined to hand over low-performing public schools to outside operators, including those that run charters.
Only 32% said schooling would improve if low-performing campuses were assigned to "qualified, licensed, for-profit companies." The number rises to 37% for nonprofits. Nearly all California charters are organized as nonprofits.
"Most nonprofit organizations that are running schools or have ever run schools have some end game in mind," said Betsy Hillig, 63, a registered Democrat who lives in Lakewood. "I have not met a nonprofit entity that just wants to teach kids."
For-profit corporations "are even more horrible. They're in it for the money," said Hillig, a retired teacher with two grandchildren in traditional public schools and one in a parochial school.
In California, as elsewhere, charters represented a compromise: Conservative Republicans and some public school critics had previously pushed to let students attend private schools with government-funded vouchers for tuition, but California voters rejected that approach. Charters offered a different kind of choice — namely, public schools that are not run by the local school district.
"There's acceptance for charter schools," said Linda DiVall, the chief executive of American Viewpoint, the Republican polling firm that co-directed the survey.
Bill Teller, an 80-year-old registered Republican from north of Lake Tahoe who is married to a retired teacher, offered general support for these schools.
"Charters are a step in the right direction," he said. But he would go further: "I would disband the current system entirely and put it all on a voucher system."
The survey, conducted for the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and The Los AngelesTimes, questioned 1,500 registered California voters Oct. 30 through Nov. 9. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.52 percentage points.
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► P O L L :: MAJORITY OF CA VOTERS FAVOR INCREASING TAXES TO FUND PUBLIC SCHOOLS: CALIFORNIANS GIVE LOW GRADES TO STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM, HIGH MARKS TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS.
USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Press Release http://bit.ly/sm4WQd
LOS ANGELES — November 19, 2011 — A large majority of California voters would support an increase in their own taxes in order to increase funding for public schools, according to the latest USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences/Los Angeles Times Poll.
The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll is the largest poll of registered voters in California. The latest poll was conducted Oct. 30 - Nov. 9, 2011, and surveyed 1,500 registered voters in California. The margin of error for the overall sample is +/- 2.52 percentage points.
California currently ranks 42 out of 50 states in funding per student. When provided with this information, 61 percent of voters said they’d favor increasing funding for California’s public schools — even if it means an increase in their own taxes — and 38 percent favored it strongly. Of all voters, 34 percent opposed increasing funding for public schools if it meant paying higher taxes.
But even when not told about California’s relatively low amount of per-student funding, Californian voters still support more money for public schools: overall, 64 percent of voters favor increasing funds for public schools despite the possibility of a tax increase, including 63 percent of White voters, 68 percent of Latino voters, 65 percent of Asian American voters and 72 percent of Black voters.
"These results reinforce what we've learned when local governments put tax or bond measures on the ballot," said Dan Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll and director of the Unruh Institute of Politics at USC. "Voters are willing to spend more money if they know that money is going to be used in their local schools or communities. They become more reluctant to vote for these measures when they think the money is going to Sacramento."
Registered Republican voters were the most split on whether to increase funding for public schools if it meant the possibility of higher taxes, and parents were most strongly in favor. Among Republican voters, 53 percent oppose increasing funding for public schools if it could mean paying higher taxes, and 44 percent of Republicans support it.
Overall, 32 percent of Californians oppose increasing public school funding if it meant personally paying more taxes. Among Democratic voters, 74 percent support school funding even in the face of higher taxes, and 20 percent are opposed. Among voters registered “Decline to State,” 71 percent of voters favor more money for schools even with possible tax increases, and 25 percent oppose it.
Among parents and grandparents with a child in the household under 18 years old, 74 percent favor more public school funding, even if it could mean personally paying more taxes, and 24 percent oppose.
[video] Public Schools: Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, and Michael Finnegan, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, discuss how Californians feel public schools.
CA VOTERS: PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM GETTING WORSE, BUT HIGH MARKS FOR LOCAL SCHOOLS
The wide support for increases in funding for public schools reflect voter sentiment that schools in California are in “bad shape” and “getting worse.” A majority of voters – 57 percent – say public schools are in bad shape, including 55 percent of parents or grandparents raising a child under 18. Thirty-three percent of all voters surveyed say public school are in good shape, according to the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll.
Overall, 53 percent of California voters say public schools are getting worse, compared to 37 percent who believe schools are improving.
Californians gave middling grades to public schools, with 41 percent giving public schools a “C.” Twenty-seven percent of voters gave public schools a grade of “A” or “B,” and 26 percent of voters gave schools a “D” or “F.”
Yet when asked about schools in their own neighborhood, voters were much more positive. Sixty-four percent of parents or grandparents raising a child under 18 said their child’s school was doing an excellent or good job preparing their child for college. Thirty-one percent said their child’s school was not doing a good job with college preparation.
Overall, 55 percent of voters gave public schools in their own neighborhood high marks with a grade of “A” or “B.” Twenty percent gave their neighborhood public school a “C,” and 10 percent gave local public schools a “D” or “F” grade.
“Everybody has a tendency to think schools are better in their own area. But what’s interesting to me is the large percentage that say we need to raise taxes to improve the quality of education . . . there’s a mythology of the public school system, that we have to improve the public school system,” said Linda DiVall, president of American Viewpoint, the Republican polling firm that conducted the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll in partnership with Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. “Given the state of the economy, I was pretty impressed with the strong desire to increase taxes to pay for better quality education.”
“Across party lines and ideologies in tough times to favor raising taxes on yourself is impressive, which is why I think “tipping point” might be the right characterization of [these results],” said Stanley Greenberg, president of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner. “These are not just poll numbers; we’re seeing this reflected in real life. Voters know their schools are in trouble, they know they’re getting worse, and parents know more so than the public overall.”
By the largest percentage, voters blamed lack of parental involvement for public school woes in California. About 86 percent said shortage of parental involvement has contributed to problems in public schools, compared to 62 percent who blamed teacher’s unions or 54 percent who blame for-profit corporations, including those that operate charter schools.
Seventy-five percent of voters said funding shortages for public schools deserve blame; 71 percent blamed social and economic differences that prevent students from many areas from having access to high-quality schools.
[video] Charter Schools: Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, and Howard Blume, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, discuss how Californians feel about charter schools.
Overall, a majority of parents had positive impressions of charter schools, saying they would consider enrolling their child in a charter school, with 52 percent of parents saying charter schools were an option, and 38 percent saying they would not consider charter schools for their child.
But voters thought funds should be directed at traditional public schools rather than creating new charter campuses, with 64 percent favoring investments in traditional public schools over charter schools. Twenty-one percent supported opening more charter schools instead of spending additional funds on public schools.
Forty-eight percent of voters said charter schools, which are independently run public schools, provide a higher-quality public education than traditional public schools, and 24 percent said traditional public schools provide a higher-quality public education than charter schools.
A majority of voters support a proposal mirroring the "Parent Trigger" law passed by the state Board of Education in July 2011. The proposal would allow a majority vote of parents at low-performing schools to petition for changes including closing the school, turning it into a charter, or new staff, programs and administration. Fifty-two percent of Californians overall support a "Parent Trigger"-like proposal and 35 percent opposed. Among parents, 59 percent of parents support the proposal, and 33 percent oppose it.
[video] Higher Education: Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, and Howard Blume, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, discuss how Californians feel about higher education.
VOTERS POLARIZED ON THE CA DREAM ACT
White voters and Latino voters in California were widely split on the California Dream Act, signed by Governor Jerry Brown into law in October 2011.
The California Dream Act allows non-legal residents who graduated from California high schools to be eligible for government financial aid at the state’s public universities.
By a double-digit margin, California voters oppose college financial aid for non-legal high school graduates, with 55 percent opposed and 40 percent support. Two out of three white voters (66 percent) oppose the California Dream Act, and 30 percent support it. In sharp contrast, among Latinos in California, 79 percent of voters support the Dream Act, and 16 percent oppose it.
"Californians have indicated their willingness to provide some government services to illegal immigrants in our past polls, but they are not yet convinced that government-funded financial aid for college students should be one of those services", said Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll. "Not surprisingly, this is the type of issue that splits Californians demographically. While there doesn't appear to be the same level of emotional intensity on this as we've seen on related matters in the past, the state's voters are still a long way from agreement in this debate."
California enrolls about 10 percent of the nation’s students attending public four-year colleges, and Californians are split about whether these public higher education institutions are affordable. Forty-one percent of voters say universities in the University of California system and the California State University system are affordable, and 49 percent say the universities are not affordable.
"On affordability, it looks to me like the widespread news about tuition and fee increases is really hitting home," said Dominic Brewer, Clifford H. and Betty C. Allen Professor in Urban Leadership and professor of education, economics and policy at the USC Rossier School of Education. "So while relative to other states, California's higher education institutions still have modest tuition levels, the steep increases recently have impacted perceptions of cost. Also, of course, affordability is relative to our own economic situation, and many families are hurting, making tuition expenses seem even more out of reach."
Among parents, a majority — 53 percent — say public universities are not affordable, and 39 percent say they are very or somewhat affordable.
The USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll was conducted Oct. 30 – Nov. 9, 2011, and surveyed 1,500 registered voters in California. The poll includes a significant oversample of Latino voters, interviewed in both Spanish and English. The margin of error for the overall sample is +/- 2.52 percentage points. For poll methodology visit http://gqrr.com/index.php?ID=2683.
More results from the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll, including findings about voter opinions on teacher pay, California public schools, and the CA Dream Act, will be made available in the coming days on the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll website, dornsife.usc.edu/poll, and in the Los Angeles Times.
TEACHERS WHO JUST DON’T CARE
by Karin Klein of the LA Times Editorial Board in the Opinion LA blog | http://bit.ly/urFmAx
November 18, 2011 | 9:53 am - We can talk all day about test scores and what they tell, do, or don't tell us about the worth of a teacher, but most parents know the good and bad teachers on campus from a mile away. I was reminded of that at Thursday night's meeting of the school board at the Santa Monica-Malibu School District, which was mostly about whether the donations of parents at the rich schools in Malibu should be put in a central pot for use by students at all the district schools -- more coming on that next week.
But one mother spoke on a very different topic. It seems her Santa Monica school had instituted a new system that informed parents about their children's ongoing grades as well as their homework and other assignments, but that some teachers weren't posting the assignments. This mom wanted to make sure her sons were doing their schoolwork.
When she contacted the teachers, most were great about adding the assignments, but about one-fifth told her that the union contract didn't require them to do that and so they weren't going to extend to her what they considered to be a "courtesy," not a necessity.
Of course, I don't know what the teacher contract says, and maybe these teachers didn't either. But there's no reason to doubt this frustrated woman's word.
Often, teachers write to The Times about reform by complaining that they are being held accountable for the failures of uninvolved parents. To some extent, that's true. But it's too easy for union supporters to avoid talking about truly awful teachers -- including the teachers who just don't care. Here's a woman who wants to be involved in a very direct way, helping the teachers by making sure her children do their part in the educational process.
The superintendent promised to look into it, and I'll be interested in hearing the results. If this mother's story is true, though, it's a perfect illustration of why the public is so fed up with teachers' unions and with uncaring teachers who go through the motions. For many parents, it's not all that important how much teachers improve their students' scores on a standardized test that the kids take once a year. What's most important is whether teachers care, whether they interpret information in ways that helped children learn and think, and in this case, whether they bother to do their jobs. From my perspective, any teacher who isn't willing to follow a school's policy by giving parents the information they need to do their job should be fired.
COMMUNITY CELEBRATES RIBBON-CUTTING AT SONIA SOTOMAYOR LEARNING ACADEMY
POLITICIANS AND EDUCATORS WERE ON HAND TO DEDICATED THE RECENTLY OPENED HIGH SCHOOL
By David Fonseca Echo Park Patch | http://bit.ly/rCYlsE
November 18, 2011 - Flanked by community members, students and politicians, local Board of Education member Bennett Kayser and former State Assembly, School Board and City Council Member Jackie Goldberg officially dedicated the recently opened Sonia Sotomayor Learning Academy in Cypress Park on Friday afternoon by cutting a big red ribbon.
Friday's ribbon-cutting ceremony was an affair worthy of the long battle fought by community members and politicians to build the state of the art campus on the former Taylor Yard grounds, complete with performances by the school's performance band and orchestra and the reading of a personal letter from the school's namesake to its students.
Parent Georgina Clink read the letter from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, which urged students to make the most of the opportunities available to them at the new campus.
"My accomplishments are a direct product of the extraordinary education I received," read the letter from the Bronx,NY, native, born to the Puerto Rican immigrants. "Reading opens the universe to you and learning expands your horizons beyond your imagination. For these reasons, having your campus named after me is deeply touching and moving."
State Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) told the students it was a great opportunity to go to a school named after the justice.
"You shouldn't take that lightly," he said. "This is a great facility, unlike any I've ever attended. But that's not what matters. What matters is what you can make happen in the classroom with the help of your extraordinary teachers."
Los Angeles City Council Member Ed Reyes also urged the students to thrive. He told the students that though they had the fortune to attend a brand new, state of the art high school, they would also face challenges.
"Teachers are not being paid what they deserve, schools' budgets are being cut back, all that's left is you--your heart, your soul and your commitment to what's right," Reyes told the students.
Many of the speakers on Friday told the students that the community effort it took to build the school should serve as a model of dedication to students.
"This area was a brownfield, and the community had few places to go to build new schools," Reyes said. "The state wanted to make this area into a Caltrans facility, but the community stood up and said 'no.'"
Reyes also called for a round of applause for Goldberg, who in her various elected roles urged the city to listen to the community's calls for a new school on the property.
Sotomayor--which comprises three pilot schools and two charter schools--will draw students from Benjamin Franklin High School, Eagle Rock High School and John Marshall High School, helping to alleviate overcrowding at all three schools.
Among the students to speak on Friday was junior Kimberly Campos, who transferred to Sotomayor from John Marshall.
A former captain of the Marshall swim team, Campos said making the switch to Sotomayor was difficult, at first. She feared she would miss her friends and the confidence she received from competing in athletics. However, when an opportunity to transfer back to Marshall arose, she declined.
"I wanted to stay and be among the students who would set standard at Sotomayor," she said.
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● text of smf’s remarks at the ribbon cutting:
The work we've done together on the Bond Oversight Committee has always been about protecting the voters and taxpayers – making sure what you voted for – what we voted for – and what we are paying for and will pay for for a long time to come - comes to pass.
The voters voted for neighborhood schools. They voted to end involuntary busing. They voted to end the year 'round calendar. They voted for full day kindergarten in elementary schools. These things have almost totally come to pass.
We voted for these things for our children, for our neighborhoods, for our community.
Never has a community been more involved and more engaged in the process than here at this campus. We were there when folks drew a large circle on a map and said we needed a new school here In the Northeast – to relieve overcrowding at Eagle Rock, Franklin and Marshall. Franklin and Marshall were Year 'Round; Eagle Rock was busing their young people away.
This community identified that the school should probably be here in Taylor Yard. And some of us met in the Denny's down the street with the owners of this property to begin the discussion. Did we overreach? Did we go too far? Were we being pushy?
Yes, Yes, and Yes.
"Never underestimate the power of a dedicated few to change the world," Margaret Mead said. "They are the only ones who ever do."
We took our discussion to the District and we began to make it happen. Did we get everything we wanted?
No.
Was it hard? Were there obstacles? Did we face opposition and intransigence and greed and resistance? Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes.
Some of the delay and opposition and angst was honest and well reasoned – some were not.
Did we win?
No. But we dared.
You won. Everybody won. The young people at this school today and generations to follow will win. They will connect with each other and with their potentials and they will overreach and go too far and push the edges of the envelope as far as it will stretch …and then a little father. They will dream the unimaginable and dare to make it happen.
When I started this journey I wanted my daughter at Mount Washington Elementary to attend this school. This June she graduates from college – because she wouldn't wait.
Don't be afraid to go too far and meet with those who stand in your way and bring them together with you to today. Dare to draw your designs on the placemat. You'll make friends along the way. You'll make a difference. And you'll change the world.
Change is not a spectator sport. It's a team sport, played with different levels of skill and involvement by all of us here – and by our friends and neighbors who aren’t here.
Change is not an outcome, it's a process.
Like life, it's an adventure.
We wanted a high school here. And we wanted a community college. One down and one to go.
So Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls: Dare to dream.
And thank you.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not neccessariily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
Briefly: EVERYONE AT THE TIMES JUMPS IN TO DECONSTRUCT EDUCATION POLL: the poll results + smf’s 2c: http://bit.ly/sMDtpL
PAYING FOR “FREE” PUBLIC EDUCATION: Charging the students + Charging the property owners: Two weeks of Themes in... http://bit.ly/tkW0iS
TRYING TO FIND THE ANSWERS TO AN ‘INEXPLICABLE’ ACT – a follow on to ‘Vigilance Is Powerful for Parents of Teenagers'... http://t.co/rG2ZojwR
No budget/No clue: The Return of ‘A State without a Budget, A government without a Clue’: BIG MIDYEAR HIT FOR PR... http://bit.ly/vpvtPq
HIGHLAND PARK PARENTS WEIGH-IN ON SCHOOL FOOD / PADRES DE HIGHLAND PARK DAN SU APROBACIÓN A LA COMIDA ESCOLAR: B... http://bit.ly/tGHy36
The Return of ‘A State without a Budget, A government without a Clue’: BIG MIDYEAR HIT FOR PROP 98 LIKELY + DEEP... http://bit.ly/tRDhwI
Anticipated $4 billion revenue ‘bump’ falls $3.7 billion short: LEGISLATIVE ANALYST FORECASTS “TRIGGER” CUTS FOR... http://bit.ly/t3ID17
CITY OF L.A. SETTLES LAWSUIT CLAIMING CONTAMINATION OF HIGH SCHOOL SITE: by David Zahniser LA Times/LA Now | htt... http://bit.ly/rGh46c
MICROSOFT IS TAKING OVER U.S. DEPT OF ED CAMPAIGN TO RECRUIT NEW TEACHERS INTO THE PROFESSION: Microsoft wins TE... http://bit.ly/s6sWXK
4LAKids TWEET O' TH' WEEK:
DrDeasyLAUSD
John Deasy: I think UTLA and LAUSD are on the verge of historic contract. Thanks UTLA for the amazing progress. Stay tuned and keep fingers crossed
$4 MILLION WASSERMAN FOUNDATION GRANT: “The catch is ….”: ●●smf's 2¢: Gift-card microphilanthropy. desperately n... http://bit.ly/sXyx2u
VIGILANCE IS POWERFUL FOR PARENTS OF TEENAGERS + ASNLYNN CONNER: A LESSON FROM CHICAGO: Vigilance is powerful fo... http://bit.ly/vB4aQT
WASHINGTON PREP & WOODCREST ELEMENTARY REMOVED FROM PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE 3.0: e-mail: On behalf of the Public Sc... http://bit.ly/u4caQG
COMPARE+CONTRAST/CONNECT THE DOTS: Walton+KIPP • • • WalMart+MALDEF: Walton Family Foundation Invests $25m in KI... http://bit.ly/vTxi6s
An old story/Another billionaire for the Boys Club: RUPERT MURDOCH HECKLED AT CALIF. EDUCATION FORUM: The Associ... http://bit.ly/rBdE83
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:
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Bennett.Kayser@lausd.net • 213-241-5555
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 Brown: 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. THEY DO!.
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