In This Issue:
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LAUSD EXPANDS TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN DISTRICTWIDE while GOVERNOR’S BUDGET REVISE SEEKS TO MAKE TK OPTIONAL |
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UP TO 13 LAUSD CONTINUATION SCHOOLS MAY BE CLOSED AS PART OF COST-CUTTING MOVE + smf’s 2¢ |
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LAO’s
Office: THE 2012-13 BUDGET - OVERVIEW OF THE MAY REVISION + The Revise
itself,; CPB, Educated Guess, SIAA, UCLA-IDEA, AALA and Dr. Deasy all
we |
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HOPE IN A TIME OF CRISIS |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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This is a piece nobody in their right mind would
write. It is guaranteed to offend everyone; if you don’t take offense
you are either a sociopath or not paying attention. In it I will defend
an accused child molester against a respected educator who holds a
Doctorate of Philosophy in Education.
The following story is pretty basic police blotter reportage: Cut+dried, just the facts:
TEACHER'S AIDE ACCUSED OF COMMITTING LEWD ACTS ON KIDS, BUT VICTIMS MAY NOT BE FROM SCHOOL WHERE HE WORKED
By Lindsay William-Ross in LAist | http://bit.ly/KqST9M
May 17, 2012 4:30 PM :: A 25-year-old man who worked in a temporary
post as a teacher's aide at Gratts Elementary School in the Westlake
district was arrested this morning on suspicion of committing lewd acts
on children. The suspect, Jorge Dominguez, was subsequently terminated
by the Los Angeles Unified School District.
In a statement issued today, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy said the
allegations against the employee, who has worked at the school since
2004 and most recently as a temporary 6-hour-per-day worker, are
"horrifying and sickening."
The LAUSD clarifies, though, that at this time there are no known
victims at Gratts Elementary School, which is also known as Gratts
Learning Academy for Young Scholars.
Deasy adds that the LAUSD is co-operating with the Los Angeles Police Department in the investigation.
Per the new protocol, the school is notifying the parents and guardians
regarding the arrest and investigation, and the campus will offer crisis
counseling or any special assistance needed.
Dominguez was arrested by detectives from the LAPD's Juvenile Division
at around 5 a.m. Thursday, says City News Service. Jail records indicate
he was being held at the LAPD's downtown jail on $100,000 bail.
I’m not going to go any further than to deconstruct the 6 paragraphs
above – in which reporter William-Ross tells us that that Jorge
Dominguez was arrested and is suspected of committing lewd acts on
children. She also tells us that the victims were apparently not
students at the school.
Dr. Deasy in his identity as LAUSD spokesperson announces that Dominguez
has been fired …being summarily fired is the sanction employed for
temporary aides, substitute teachers and disloyal senior staff at LAUSD
who have incurred the superintendent’s displeasure. (If you look here [http://bit.ly/JpbF5K]
you will see that Dr. Deasy would like to have his Mitt Romney-ian
authority to fire at-will employees transposed to fire employees at will
…if only if it weren’t for those pesky union contracts, the ed code and
labor laws.
I am not going to make the argument here that folks are presumed
innocent until proven guilty – or that social justice is not a thing one
can adjust to one’s liking like the bathwater. And obviously Dr. Deasy
isn’t either.
Mr. Dominguez is in jail …so for right now kids are safe from his alleged depredations.
If he makes bail he won’t be returning to his job.
If he’s found not guilty he and his attorneys will never have to work another day in their lives.
But here’s my point: Neither “horrifying” nor “sickening” are criminal
acts or reasons for termination in themselves. They are adjectives. By
employing them publicly the superintendent prejudges the case in the
media and muddies the jury pool. Yes, I saw that the adjectives modify
the noun “allegations” – but when one assumes the dark blue velvet robe
and regalia of Doctor of Philosophy one takes up more than the funny
hat.
In almost all other cases LAUSD won’t discuss “personnel matters”
publicly; it’s been like pulling teeth to get the district and this
superintendent to speak with parents of potential abuse victims.
Miramonte? Telfair? Compare+contrast this story with the allegations of
teacher misconduct in Eagle Rock last week | http://bit.ly/MvxC3q
I’m afraid that Dr. Deasy has seized the moral high ground (“Child
Molesting is Bad!”) and wrestled it into the political quagmire of
blaming teachers, value-addled assessments, competition for adequate
funding and all the rest of Reform with an ®. As another blogger said
of other events this week : “The public needs information, not PR.”
PART OF THE SMOKE+MIRRORS/MAGICAL (LACK-OF) REALISM IN GOVERNOR BROWN’S
MAY REVISE BUDGET is a quiet transfer of the QEIA education reform from
outside the Prop 98 guarantee to inside Prop 98.
This sounds fair. QEIA (The Quality Education Investment Act) is a good
thing, an effective program reducing class sizes at challenged schools
and producing results – proving that class size matters. If you don’t
do better this year you don’t get the money next year – what a concept!
Except that QEIA isn’t a good idea dreamt up by educators working with
policy staff and implemented by legislators – it’s a court-imposed
settlement and payback to children from prior unconstitutional raids on
Prop 98 funding during the Schwarzenegger Administration.
And that wrongdoing wasn’t just by Arnold – it was by the legislature
controlled by the Democrats. QEIA is a past due debt owed to California
schoolchildren being paid back by court order from previous years –
and by including it in the current+ future funding guarantees it gets
subtracted from what today’s children have been guaranteed.
We are robbing today’s Peter to pay back yesterday’s Paula. And both
Peter and Paula are children. Six million of them in California’s
public schools.
This is like proposing that the victims and their siblings pay the penalty for the crime against them.
GOVERNOR BROWN ALSO PROPOSES TO ELIMINATE THE CALIFORNIA FITNESS TEST (CFT or FITNESSGRAM® [http://1.usa.gov/LnEmkT]
given to all students throughout the state in grades 5, 7 and 9 to save
the state money. The primary goal of the FITNESSGRAM® is to assist
students in establishing lifetime habits of regular physical activity.
• This may come as news, but California and the nation are in an
epidemic of obesity, poor physical fitness and obesity-related illnesses
– with Type II (“adult-onset”) Diabetes emerging as a childhood
disease. The data produced by the CA Fitnessgram helps indentify this
epidemic and the causes, victims and potential treatment, outcomes and
remedies. The data helps qualify prevention and education programs for
grants and funding from the feds and foundations. The test identifies
at-risk individuals. Of all the testing we do in CA schools this just
may be the most valuable in that it saves lives.
Additionally the following exists in the Ed Code:
• Under EC Section 51241(b)(1), governing boards of a local school
district or the office of the county superintendent of schools MAY grant
a student an exemption from courses of physical education for two years
any time during grades ten to twelve if the following criteria are met:
(1) the student consents to the exemption; and (2) the student has met
satisfactorily any five of six standards of the physical performance
test administered in grade nine pursuant to EC Section 60800 (the
FITNESSGRAM)
• If a student in grade nine does not satisfactorily meet five of the
six standards of the physical performance test, THE STUDENT IS NOT
ELIGIBLE FOR EXEMPTION from physical education courses under EC Section
51241(b)(1). | http://1.usa.gov/L3sXUc
I am not a fan of the Two-Year PE Exemption - but it is the only way
many school districts can address the fiscal, staffing and scheduling
challenges of students meeting heightened graduation and college
admission requirements. In LAUSD we have wrongly/or/rightly declared
these one and the same – and by not permitting 11th and 12th graders the
exemption many will not be able to graduate in four years.
The law is explicit: If the CFT is not given in 9th grade all students
will have to take four years of PE in high school. The unintended
consequential cost to districts in providing those classes and master
calendar flexibility will be far greater than the savings to the state
in not administering the Fitnessgram.
AND THEN THERE’S THE LEGISLATIVE ANALYST’S OFFICE (LAO) OVERVIEW OF THE
MAY REVISION: “While we find that the administration's economic and
revenue forecasts are reasonable, we are concerned that….” (following)
OUR CHILDREN/OUR FUTURE (aka the PTA/Munger Initiative) IS THE ONLY
INITIATIVE ON THE NOVEMBER BALLOT THAT SPECIFICALLY INCREASES
PRESCHOOL-12TH GRADE PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING. OCOF has an interesting
and hopefully convincing widget – an “App” [http://bit.ly/yIDEkD]
– that informs voters how much their local school and school district
will get when OCOF passes. Last week EdVoice rolled out a SIMILAR widget
that informs voters how much their local school and district HASN’T GOT
and is owed by Sacramento’s continuing deferrals of the Prop 98 School
funding guarantees. [http://bit.ly/K20Oww]
I urge you to visit both. Do the math. And then do the voting.
And – because saying so isn’t in their job description: On behalf of
nine million California youngsters – the six million in K-12 plus the
three million waiting in their strollers and car seats - thank you for
everything you do for them every day.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
LAUSD EXPANDS TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN DISTRICTWIDE
while GOVERNOR’S BUDGET REVISE SEEKS TO MAKE TK OPTIONAL
►LAUSD WILL EXPAND ITS TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM DISTRICTWIDE
By Barbara Jones Staff Writer, Daily News/Daily Breeze |http://bit.ly/JSpPcA
5/17/2012 07:03:50 PM PDT :: Despite a lack of financial and political
support from Gov. Jerry Brown, Los Angeles Unified will expand its
transitional kindergarten program this fall to all 400-plus elementary
schools in the district, officials said Thursday.
TK is a two-year program that lets youngsters progress at their own
pace, giving them extra time to master the academic, social and
developmental skills required of today's kindergartners.
Los Angeles Unified has been operating 109 TK classes under a pilot
program. While the district initially planned to add 100 more schools
each of the next three years, officials have decided instead to launch
TK everywhere this fall.
"With the success of our transitional kindergarten pilot program, we
have seen firsthand the impact of giving our students the gift of time,"
Superintendent John Deasy said in a statement.
"Our students are making strong gains, especially in early literacy and
math, and our English-language learners are making dramatic progress."
TK is the result of a 2010 law that gradually moves up the date that
kids are eligible to enroll in kindergarten. Under the new law, the
cutoff for standard kindergarten shifts this year from the long-standing
Dec. 2 deadline to Nov. 1, and to Oct. 1 in 2013 and Sept. 1 in 2014.
Youngsters whose birthdays fall between the cutoff date and the previous
threshold of Dec. 2 will be eligible for TK - an estimated 125,000
statewide by 2014.
There has been considerable uncertainty about the future of transitional kindergarten.
Because of the state's financial crisis, Brown said in January he wanted
to eliminate TK, a proposal that was eventually rejected by both the
state Senate and Assembly. When he released his revised budget proposal
on Monday, there was no money to fund TK programs.
But Nora Armenta, executive director of the Early Childhood Division for
Los Angeles Unified, said administrators so believe in the program they
figured out a way to expand TK using existing resources.
Essentially, TK students will be assigned to an existing kindergarten
class, with teachers given additional training for how to best work with
the younger kids.
"We're doing the work already, but this is just a different way of
organizing the children and having more skill in understanding their
needs," she said.
She estimated that 4,000 students will qualify for TK classes this year,
with a similar number signing up annually through 2014 as the new
cut-off date is implemented.
"This is putting 4,000 students back into the system," she said. "It's
saving jobs and helping parents who wouldn't have a place to put their
kids or would have to put them in a private preschool."
Los Angeles Unified is among the nearly 200 districts that are registering students for transitional kindergarten for next year.
►MAY BUDGET STILL SEEKS TO MAKE KINDERGARTEN-READINESS OPTIONAL
By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report.| http://bit.ly/K2ylH7
Thursday, May 17, 2012 :: Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest budget still seeks
to eliminate the legal requirement that schools, starting this fall,
must offer a new kindergarten-readiness program for 4-year-olds whose
birthdays occur after Nov. 1, the kindergarten age cutoff date.
The governor’s proposal would, instead, make transitional kindergarten
optional by giving districts authority – and average daily attendance
money – to offer those 4-year-olds an extra year of kindergarten,
effectively creating a two-year kindergarten program.
The proposal sends something of a mixed message to districts, many of
which have been planning new programs to comply with the Kindergarten
Readiness Act of 2010 – the law requiring transitional kindergarten.
Brown’s revised May budget, released Monday, does away with the term
transitional kindergarten and contains no funding for it. But the
governor’s Department of Finance staff has said districts still can, on a
case-by-case basis, offer to enroll certain 4-year-olds in regular
kindergarten classes and the state would pay for them just as it does
other students.
But many legislators who worked in support of the bill that created the
program already this year have shown a strong reluctance to follow the
governor’s lead and cut the program.
The issue is just one of many Brown and legislative leaders are focused
on as part of closing the state’s yawning $16 billion spending shortfall
this summer.
There is some sense among Capitol insiders that supporters of the program have gained the upper hand.
In January, when Brown first proposed eliminating transitional
kindergarten, the administration estimated the savings at $223.7
million.
But fiscal analysts subsequently have trimmed the expected savings to
$91.5 million as a result of what the administration calls the
“anticipated declining enrollment costs as well as an expected increase
in two-year kindergarten costs.”
As proposed in the revised budget, those savings would be used to
restore budget reductions to support and expand preschool programs.
The governor’s initial suggestion in January that transitional
kindergarten be de-funded left many districts in limbo, wondering
whether they should expend the energy and resources to plan and
implement the program.
Even now, with the governor standing by his proposal to cut the program,
state law still requires districts to prepare age-appropriate
curriculum this fall for 4-year-olds whose autumn birthdays occur after
Nov. 1, the cutoff date by which a child must turn 5 to enter
kindergarten in the 2012-13 school year.
For the 2013-14 school year, the deadline date becomes Oct. 1; and Sept.
1 is the cutoff date for the 2014-15 school year and each year
thereafter.
Some districts, like LA Unified, already offer a transitional
kindergarten program and plan to continue doing so. Others plan to begin
programs this fall while still others have said they have no intention
of trying to create something new given their fiscal positions.
Education consultants and advocates who closely monitor the
ever-shifting political landscape mostly are advising districts to
follow the law and to plan for some form of transitional kindergarten.
“We continue to advise districts that the legislature is unlikely to
implement the elimination of the transitional kindergarten requirement,”
said Barrett Snider, a legislative advocate and director of government
and public affairs at School Innovations & Advocacy (SI&A is
corporate host of the Cabinet Report). “The governor cannot “blue
pencil” transitional kindergarten funding. That money is based upon
average daily attendance and is provided as a continuous appropriation,
rather than as an appropriation in the budget act. Schools are virtually
certain to receive funding for transitional kindergarten attendance
going forward.”
•• smf’s 2¢: TK is supposed to be a stand alone program, not a
combination class with K – that was the intent of Senator Simitian and
SB1381. TK should not be a revenue generator for school districts, it
is supposed to be an opportunity for four and five year olds.
TK and K are both optional programs, neither is cumpulsory for parents and their kids.
There is pending legislation to make Kindergarten attendance compulsory [ AB 2203 | http://1.usa.gov/KC804z
]– (appx 10% of CA kids don’t go to K) - but not TK. The likelihood
that this will pass this year, or that the governor would sign it,
hovers closer to zilch than nada.
UP TO 13 LAUSD CONTINUATION SCHOOLS MAY BE CLOSED AS PART OF COST-CUTTING MOVE + smf’s 2¢
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Dialy News | http://bit.ly/M7ZW9r
5/20 :: More than one-fourth of Los Angeles Unified's continuation
high schools may be shuttered next year as a cost-cutting move,
shrinking a program seen as a last resort for students at risk of
dropping out.
Continuation schools on the campuses of North Hollywood High and Taft
High in Woodland Hills are among 13 that would be closed under a plan to
save the district $6.5 million.
Leonis Continuation High in Woodland Hills is also on the list, although
its anchor campus, El Camino Real Charter, has asked the school board
to let it incorporate the intervention program, which would save it from
elimination.
Officials say they can keep all of the continuation schools open if the
district's labor unions agree to double-digit furlough days or other
concessions, issues that are now the subject of nearly daily
negotiations.
In the meantime, students and administrators say the schools provide a
critical resource for students who are struggling or failing outright -
but who refuse to give up.
"This school has been here 40 years, and is a community institution,"
said John Berns, principal of Amelia Earhart Continuation School, the
North Hollywood campus on the chopping block. "Some of our students are
children of people who graduated from here.
"If we close, this would be a disservice to the most vulnerable students in our community."
Los Angeles Unified operates 40 continuation schools, which offer small
classes, flexible schedules and strong academic support. Students can
work at their own pace to make up failed classes and get back on the
path to graduation.
A year ago, Fatima Castro was finishing up her junior year at North
Hollywood High with F's in four of her six classes. Realizing that she'd
never graduate if she remained in the 3,000-student school, she
enrolled in Amelia Earhart, where five teachers work with about 120
kids.
"I'd taken math for four years, and just didn't get it," said Castro, 18.
Principal John Berns at Earhart Continuation High School in North Hollywood. (Hans Gutknecht / Staff Photographer)
"After I came to Amelia Earhart, I passed algebra in two months and now I can do geometry.
"I'm getting A's and B's in all of my classes - A's and B's! And next month, I'm going to graduate."
Classmate Bryan Solorio described the feeling of futility as he fell
farther and farther behind in his classes at NoHo High, with teachers
too overworked to help him grasp the basic skills he missed as he was
promoted from grade to grade.
On the verge of dropping out, he decided to give school one last shot.
He enrolled last fall at Amelia Earhart, where he caught the attention
of veteran teacher Norah Cunningham.
"Miss Norah asked me if I needed help, and I said `Yes.' She asked what I
needed help with, and I said, `Everything,"' Solorio recalled.
Cunningham sat with him for hours, tutoring Solorio in English and math
and instilling a sense of purpose in the soft-spoken young man.
"I was never proud of myself before, but now I'm achieving something in
life," said Solorio, who wants to attend community college after he
graduates in June. "Miss Norah helped me feel like I can do anything."
Administrators don't dispute the value of continuation schools,
especially as the district sharpens its focus on graduating 100 percent
of its students. They say, however, that they can't continue operating
the program at current levels because the state's financial crisis means
less money for public education.
For 2012-13, the district is facing a $390 million deficit, although
that could shrink or swell, depending on the state's revenues. That
shortfall has prompted officials to propose ending many popular programs
so they can divert funding to operate core K-12 schools instead.
Adult and early childhood education classes and regional occupation
centers are on the chopping block, although officials hope to salvage
most of those with financial concessions from employee unions.
That's also how the district would be able to restore some $15 million
trimmed from its Options program, which includes continuation schools,
and classes for dropouts, chronic truants, pregnant teens and
chronically ill youngsters.
Most of the Options cuts would be made by reducing counseling and other
support services for troubled students, said administrator Jan Davis,
who oversees the program. The continuation school closures would make up
the rest.
The original closure plan called for shuttering the schools with the
lowest enrollment. Because that would have unfairly impacted
neighborhoods in South and East LA, Davis crafted a new list that also
took geography into consideration.
She declined to identify the schools targeted for closure, but said they
are scattered throughout the 700-square-mile district. Other sources
said the schools include Amelia Earhart, Leonis and Thoreau Continuation
School on the Taft campus.
Davis said the 13 campuses serve about 1,100 students. If the schools
are closed, students could find another continuation school or Options
program, or return to a traditional high school setting.
Berns, the Amelia Earhart principal, worries that at-risk students will
simply walk away if forced to find an alternative to a school where
they've found success.
"It's not that the teachers at North Hollywood High don't care, but
they've got 200 students a day so they can't give any one kid much time.
Here, we relate to every student almost as family.
"For an assistant principal at a large school, it's very difficult to
have more than a one-minute conversation during the day. Here, you're
accountable to me," he said. "I'm not going to lose you in a crowd. I'm
not going to let you go."
••smf’s 2¢: Here’s what’s going to happen.
1. The closed classrooms will be given to charter operators under Prop 39.
2. The charters will not serve the continuation population, or special
ed or English Language Learners – they will compete for and draw general
ed students.
3. This will open up more space for charter expansion.
This is privatization and the corporatization of public education …and,
if you are upset by such things: union busting. The Bureau of the
Census, which is part of the Dept of Commerce – which should know – has
ruled that Charters are Private Schools that spend Public Money.
LAO’s Office: THE 2012-13 BUDGET - OVERVIEW OF THE
MAY REVISION + The Revise itself,; CPB, Educated Guess, SIAA,
UCLA-IDEA, AALA and Dr. Deasy all we
LAO’s Office: THE 2012-13 BUDGET - OVERVIEW OF THE MAY REVISION
California Legislative Analyst's Office http://1.usa.gov/KkZIuc
May 18, 2012 :: In the May Revision of his 2012-13 budget proposal,
the Governor identified a larger budget problem of $15.7 billion for
state leaders to address in the coming weeks. While we find that the
administration's economic and revenue forecasts are reasonable, we are
concerned that the amount of property tax revenues from former
redevelopment agencies (RDAs) may be substantially less than the May
Revision assumes in 2011-12 and 2012-13. If so, this could increase the
state's Proposition 98 school funding obligations and, therefore, the
size of the budget problem above administration estimates. Moreover, the
administration's $1.4 billion estimate for the amount of General Fund
benefit that may be achieved in 2012-13 from transferring former RDAs'
liquid cash assets to school districts is highly uncertain. We advise
the Legislature to focus on adopting realistic and ongoing budget
actions to continue the progress the state has made in reducing its
annual operating,
or structural, deficit. We describe and assess the administration's
major May Revision proposals. In some cases, we offer alternative ways
to achieve the savings targeted by the Governor. With regard to
Proposition 98, we offer alternatives to both the Governor's basic
budget plan and his trigger plan.
•FULL LAO REPORT ON MAY REVISE: http://scr.bi/Kl7wvU
•GOVERNOR’S MAY REVISE DOCUMENT: http://1.usa.gov/Kaor1Z
•CALIFORNIA BUDGET PROJECT ANALYSIS OF MAY REVISE: http://bit.ly/MvuGnH
•FENSTERWALD ON THE MAY REVISE: K-12 SCHOOLS SPARED, FOR NOW http://bit.ly/Kr4j0e
•SI&A ON THE MAY REVISE: Brown’s May Plan Offers More Money, But Defers Payments + Brown’s May Budget Ties School... http://bit.ly/KqZCDq
•UCLA IDEA ON THE MAY REVISE: Cuts are Spread Wide and Deep “…spared
K-12 schools but targeted programs and services that directly touch
California youth” | http://bit.ly/LhYaQ7
•AALA ON THE MAY BUDGET REVISION: NO GOOD NEWS: http://t.co/BrQz7wsf
•DR DEASY ON MAY REVISE: from Facebook | http://bit.ly/LLEdUC
HOPE IN A TIME OF CRISIS
By Stephanie Espinoza, New American Media EthnoBlog | http://bit.ly/JDxbUR
May 18, 2012 3:36 PM :: The EdSource 2012 symposium, in collaboration
with the California State PTA, brought together educators, parents,
policy makers, and researchers last week at the Anaheim Convention
Center to discuss the impact of California’s budget deficit on schools
and children. The discussion centered around the theme “Striving for
Success in a Time of Crisis.”
California Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor opened up the discussion with
an overview of the state's budget deficit: it’s bad, it’s going to get
worse, but there’s hope. According to Taylor, it usually takes two to
five years to recover from a recession. In this case, it will take
California more than five years to recover. Why? The answer lies in that
the state relies on temporary solutions that only prolong California’s
recovery. For the upcoming year, the projected budget deficit is
estimated at over $15 billion.
What does this mean for children’s success in school? Three panelists
addressed this question based on their studies. The research of Ashlyn
Nelson, Assistant Professor in the School of Public and Environmental
Affairs at Indiana University-Bloomington, shows that mobility caused by
the housing crisis has negative consequences for school children. Kids
going through foreclosure, for example, are more likely to be absent or
expelled from school.
Russell Rumberger, Professor of Education at UC Santa Barbara, added to
these findings. According to Rumberger, mobility is also a form of
instability for an entire community because when people are forced to
move, it creates overcrowding which leads to changes in school
boundaries.
John Rogers, Associate Professor at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education,
also added to the discussion. Roger’s research shows that the recession
has also created shrinking opportunities in California’s public
schools. Today, half as many schools are providing summer school.
Schools have also cut instructional time, which means less teacher time
and attention for kids, less time to improve instruction, and less time
to address growing social welfare needs.
The symposium ended with a panel of representatives from nonprofit
organizations and school districts that added their view to the current
school-community landscape and offered suggestions on what schools,
families, and communities can do to help one another. I had the
opportunity to represent my Central Valley community and be part of this
discussion as a panelist. I spoke about how the Arvin High School
guidance counseling program in the Central Valley has reorganized as a
group to help their large student population.
As a recent college graduate from a low income, minority, and first
generation student background, I was able to relate to the findings from
the researchers.
Growing up in Kern County, the importance of an education is not part of
the daily discourse. Kern County has some of the highest expulsion,
suspension, and dropout rates in the state. Unfortunately, the kids most
affected by the recession are low income and the crisis makes it even
more difficult to keep them in school.
When asked by Louis Freedberg, Executive Director for EdSource, on my
thoughts as the only youth sitting on the panel, I responded, “I do have
hope” for California despite the crisis we are facing. Especially when
there are many youth and community members that work toward making a big
difference in student’s lives. I know many college students that take
up part time jobs as tutors and advisors for students. I also know
community members that volunteer their time to mentor disadvantaged
youth. It is people like them who help counter the negative effects that
the crisis has created in our schools and children.
•Stephanie Espinoza is a fellow with New America Media's Youth Education
Fellowship. The fellowship is a six-month long program for youth
reporters aged 16-24 on education reporting. It is sponsored by the
California Education Policy Fund.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
CAN JORDAN HIGH’S EXPERIMENT WORK? Big changes at the
Watts campus aim to increase students' academic success. B... http://bit.ly/KonTrv
WESTSIDE CHARTER SCHOOL TEACHER GONE AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF CHEATING: Teacher at an Ocean Charter campus was found... http://bit.ly/JvgBWz
“I am more than a test score”: L.A. STUDENTS AND TEACHERS DISPLAY LEARNING BEYOND TESTS: by Howard Blume, LA Tim... http://bit.ly/L4qAAv
MAY BUDGET REVISION: NO GOOD NEWS: AALA Weekly Update: Week of May 21, 2012 | http://bit.ly/L4m8BX 18 May :: ... http://bit.ly/K2d28z
LAO’s Office: THE 2012-13 BUDGET: OVERVIEW OF THE MAY REVISION: California Legislative Analyst's Office http://1... http://bit.ly/M5mDuS
LAUSD WILL EXPAND ITS TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM DISTRICTWIDE: By Barbara Jones Staff Writer, Daily News/... http://bit.ly/JncwE3
HOW CALIFORNIA IS UNITING TO STOP THE SWINGING DOOR OF SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS: By Laura Faer Public Counsel |Califor... http://bit.ly/LYWHBl
FATE OF LAUSD'S ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM REMAINS UNCERTAIN: Adult education meeting will be May 18 at 6:30 p.m. a... http://bit.ly/KEs0SA
Analysis: BROWN’S SCHOOL FINANCE REFORMS OPENS RIFT AMONG DEMOCRATS, DISTRICTS: By Tom Chorneau | School Innovat... http://bit.ly/JjaSTM
FULL-SCALE ASSAULT ON TENURE, DISMISSAL LAWS: New nonprofit with big name attorneys files lawsuit: By John Fenst... http://bit.ly/JOmJWZ
SCAMING QEIA: By smf for 4LAKidsNews May 17, 2012 :: Part of the smoke+mirrors/magical (lack-of) realism) in Go... http://bit.ly/JOkNOc
A NEW WAVE OF CHARTERS SCHOOLS: What Does it Mean?: Tamar Galatzan of School Board, District 3, writes about cha... http://bit.ly/KeJRfT
Letters: TESTING A CHARTER: Letters to the Editor, LA Times | http://lat.ms/KYoE9Q Re "When a charter is failin... http://bit.ly/J93ni4
2 LA Times Editorials: On The May Revise – BROWN’S BLOODY BUDGET + On California’s NCLB Waiver – NO PROCRASTINA... http://bit.ly/LNwJ3u
Fensterwald on the May Revise: K-12 SCHOOLS SPARED, FOR NOW …but automatic $5.5 billion cuts if tax initiative f... http://bit.ly/Kr4j0e
SI&A on the May Revise: BROWN’S MAY PLAN OFFERS MORE MONEY, BUT DEFERS PAYMENTS + BROWN’S MAY BUDGET TIES SCHOOL... http://bit.ly/KqZCDq
DR DEASY ON MAY REVISE: from Facebook | http://on.fb.me/KI34cz “The Governor’s May Revise assumes that voters w... http://bit.ly/LLEdUC
MAY REVISE: GOVERNOR BROWN RELEASES REVISED STATE BUDGET plus budget summary: Protecting Education and Public Sa... http://bit.ly/JwJyPS
MAY REVISE: Brown’s revised budget - K-12 spared, others not so lucky: From Gov. Brown’s press office via San Fr... http://bit.ly/LK2dHH
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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