In This Issue:
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MAURICE SENDAK AND THE WILDEST THINGS OF ALL |
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A-G REQUIREMENT: AN END WITH LIMITED MEANS |
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UPCOMING TAX BATTLE COULD BE A NASTY FEUD |
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SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON EDGE OF INSOLVENCY HIT RECORD HIGH |
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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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I made a number of speeches at the ribbon cuttings of
new schools in my role on the Bond Oversight Committee. The schools
were+are important; the building of schools it the best investment a
community makes in its own future -- not in bricks and mortar but in the
young people. New schools were named for judges and politicians and
labor leaders and educators. No school naming ever, ever seemed more
appropriate than that of Maurice Sendak Elementary in North Hollywood.
Sendak – a writer and illustrator of children’s books who never lost his
horror of adults died on Tuesday, leaving us Max and Where the Wild
Things Are and In the Night Kitchen and a shelf of artistry to fill
libraries and feed the imaginations of generations of wild things – and
to remind them (as did the Grimms and Dickens and Twain and Roald Dahl)
that adults are generally pretty dreadful.
My case in point:
The Central Valley Business Times [http://bit.ly/KzvaX8]
puts it pretty succinctly: “Gov. Jerry Brown is scheduled to release
the so-called “May revise” on Monday (morning at 10 AM), the traditional
reworking of the proposed budget that was first put forth in January.
The May revise takes into account real income and real spending.
And that could make for a gloomy day in the state Capitol.
Figures released Tuesday by state Controller John Chiang showed that the
state’s total revenues in April were $2.44 billion below the governor’s
projections.
Mr. Brown’s budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 included a
total of $10.3 billion in cuts and increased revenues. If the figures
were to come true, the budget would be balanced and the state would
enjoy a $1.1 billion reserve.
However, the real numbers tracked by Mr. Chiang tell a different story,
perhaps foreshadowing the rewrite to be revealed Monday. “
Today’s New York Times headlines: SHORTFALL IN CALIFORNIA'S BUDGET
SWELLS TO $16 BILLION, while the Sac Bee announced Friday: “Jerry Brown
said in a video release today that California's budget deficit has
mushroomed to $16 billion, nearly twice as high as the $9.2 billion he
estimated in January” | http://bit.ly/JuXEk9. The video is here: http://bit.ly/J96DnZ.
In it he says: “"This means that we will have to go much further, and
make cuts far greater than I asked for at the beginning of the year …
But we can't fill a hole of this magnitude with cuts alone without doing
severe damage to our schools."
In other words: Vote for my initiative.
It makes 4LAKids all warm and fuzzy that Superintendent Deasy threatens
to eliminate Adult Ed, Early Childhood Ed and Elementary Arts Ed on if
he doesn’t get his parcel tax in November …while the Governor threatens
severe damage to our schools if he doesn’t get his initiative in
November.
The schools ARE severely damaged. Katrina and the Joplin Tornado only
blew down buildings – what’s going on here is much more dangerous in
that it destroys the entire system of public education from preschool to
graduate school. We expect this from the Tea Partiers, not from folks
who espouse progressive values and quote Gandhi and MLK.
Molly Munger, addressing the state PTA at our convention this week
asked: “Why does Sacramento always put our schools last in its
priorities?
Munger: “A legislator told me recently that the Legislature takes money
from schools because it’s like the depression-era bank robber said: ‘I
rob banks because that’s where they money is.’
“To this man, school funding was a piggy bank to raid for other
purposes. He’s not a bad man – he’s a well-meaning man. But this is a
mindset that has settled down upon Sacramento, and this is why we are in
the fix we are in.
“Our children are not a bank to be robbed. We are one of only three
states to have cut our school funding by more than 20% in the past five
years.”
Molly went on to advocate for the Our Children, Our Future ballot
initiative she and PTA are supporting. Because it’s what our children
need and deserve. Against pressure from the governor and that same
Sacramento that has not done right by the children for years.
But, she said, it’s not about her personally, and it’s not about the
governor either, no matter what the press wants to make of it. It’s not
even about the people in Sacramento and their commitment to the tired
old ways of doing things.
It’s about our children and properly funding public schools. It’s about
taking a stand this year because we cannot wait any longer for someone
else to get the job done.
The PTA convention continued on that note: We heard from University of
California Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White who advocated for not
higher Ed or K-12, but for “‘P’ to ‘P’” – Preschool to Ph.D. – and laid
the blame at the feet of the tired old thinkers in Sacramento.
Choreographer/Director/Dancer Debbie Allen celebrated the arts and arts
education – and excoriated the powers that be who are fixed on the
bottom line and the test score – and challenged parents not just to be
involved or engaged – but to be the change. Because if not us, who? And
if not now, when? National Teacher of the year Rebecca Mieliwocki from
Burbank - whose elevation to the teacher-of -the year-hood is not
without controversy – inspired the convention with her commitment and
her message: “…in California, funding has been cut to such a degree it's
a real challenge to stay strong. That's what we need to work on."
4LAKids tries (not always successfully) not to report rumors afoot …but
surfs on wishful thinking. Talk is that LAUSD may postpone the parcel
tax until the March ’12 election. One hopes.
So tomorrow the governor announces his proposed revisions to the budget;
the second draft of a bad script of a sequel to a movie that wasn’t too
good in the first place. And then the politicians set to rewrite the
revision – and everyone looks to June 15 when the final budget is due.
And everyone looks to Nov 6 when the voters vote. And no matter how we
they vote the revisions begin again.
Either the way it’s always been. Or, just perhaps, on a whole new page. Please.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
MAURICE SENDAK AND THE WILDEST THINGS OF ALL
A TEACHER READS THE LATE AUTHOR'S FAMOUS KIDS' BOOK
TO A GROUP OF ABUSED TEENS, WHO LISTEN LIKE A ROOMFUL OF CHILDREN AT
STORY TIME.
Op-Ed in the LA Times b y Amy Goldman Koss | http://lat.ms/JSIqV3
May 13, 2012 :: Maurice Sendak's death was announced Tuesday just a
few minutes before I was due at the residential foster home and school
where I volunteer, teaching writing to abused teenagers.
Sendak, the author and illustrator of "In the Night Kitchen," "Where the
Wild Things Are"and other children's classics, once told NPR's Terry
Gross that as a kid he thought that "adults seemed mostly dreadful." I
suspect the kids who find themselves in our foster care system would
agree.
I got to the school library before the class arrived, so the librarian
and I had a moment to grieve about Sendak. She told me that she and her
husband had just been talking about his 1967 book, "Higglety Pigglety
Pop! or There Must Be More To Life." She said it was that book that
helped them throw over their old life and move to California years ago.
Our conversation was interrupted by a scream in the corridor. An
amazing, prolonged, nightmarish scream, produced by a child beyond the
brink. I've read about screams sounding inhuman, but this was the first
I'd ever heard.
There was no explanation.
When I first toured the school I was shown a few small, soundproofed
rooms, each with a narrow bench-bed inside. Details were few, but I was
told that the children could be volatile and self-destructive and
sometimes needed isolation. When the unearthly scream subsided, I
imagined the screamer being ushered into one of those freak-out chambers
to roar his terrible roars and gnash his terrible teeth.
Transitions from one class to another are delayed when there are
disruptions in the hall, so my kids were late trooping in. There were
two new faces. Other faces were missing, including some I'd become quite
fond of.
I'd been discouraged from asking questions about my students' lives, and
so I know very little about what situations land them here or take them
away.
I am endlessly curious, of course, about the big, burly, painfully
blushing shy boy who likes art books; the too-cool-to-smile but clearly
sweet boy always eager to read his writing out loud first; the chatty
ones; the pierced and tatted; the ones nodding on meds; the giggly; the
sullen; the pregnant. But when the librarian says, "Trust me, you don't
want to know their stories; it's best to just think of them as kids," I
try to do just that.
On Tuesday, I asked the class if they knew who Maurice Sendak was, and
none did. I asked if any of them knew the book "Where the Wild Things
Are," and a few said they'd seen the movie.
In 1993, Sendak told NPR, "Children surviving childhood is my obsessive
theme and my life's concern." In a 1986 interview with Gross, he said,
"Being a child was being a creature without power, without pocket money,
without escape routes of any kind."
Looking around at the captive young people in this class, his statements
seemed truer and far more relevant than in most classes I visit.
Sendak's own childhood, like the ones he portrayed in his books, was
fraught with peril, isolation and fear. It's appalling but not
surprising that many adults have found his vision of childhood alarming
and want to keep it from their innocent babes. Sendak's "In the Night
Kitchen" is 25th on the American Library Assn.'s list of most frequently
banned or challenged books.
When I told my class of wild things that I was going to read "Where the
Wild Things Are" to them, there was a little affronted snickering at the
idea of picture books for such big galoots.
I thought about telling them that Sendak had based the wild things on
his own Jewish Eastern European immigrant relatives. As he said in a
2004 interview with Bill Moyers, "These people didn't speak English. And
they were unkempt. Their teeth were horrifying. Hair ... unraveling out
of their noses. And they'd pick you up and hug you and kiss you,
'Aggghh! Oh I could eat you up!'"
But I didn't give any introduction, figuring Sendak would want these
kids to see the wild things as whatever demons of their own needed
taming. I started reading and the whole class was instantly silent and
still, like a room of children at story time, which is exactly what they
were. Listening to Sendak's words, watching his pictures expand to fill
the pages, and shrink back down again.
In "Where the Wild Things Are," Max, in his wolf suit, gets sent to bed
without supper. But after his great adventure out-wilding the wild
things, he returns to his room and finds his dinner waiting for him,
still hot.
Unlike Max, my students can't count on dinner to be waiting for them,
but they clearly understood Max, and heard Sendak as clearly as if he
were still alive, and would be forever.
● Amy Goldman Koss' latest novel for teens is "The Not-So-Great Depression."
A-G REQUIREMENT: AN END WITH LIMITED MEANS
from the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update | Week of May 14, 2012 | http://bit.ly/KzmMak
On Tuesday May 8, 2012, the Board of Education approved the
implementation of mandated A-G graduation requirements for the incoming
freshman class of 2012-2013. It also reduced the number of credits
needed for graduation and raised the passing grade to C (for the
freshman class of 2013-2014).
These changes are being touted by Superintendent Deasy as “a victory for all students,” and as “all about a kid’s civil rights.”
While these are great statements for public consumption and make great
sound bites and tweets, what exactly does this change in graduation
requirements actually do for our students and where is the meat in the
proposal? Although we are aware that a pending resolution for Board
action attempts to identify preliminary steps for the Superintendent,
we, at AALA, have been giving more substantive thought to those at the
school site who must implement this proposal. Has any consideration been
given to the processes, procedures and supports needed to ensure that
students meet these requirements?
During these days when we are faced with draconian budget cuts which
threaten the efficacy of the entire system, how are we going to prepare
teachers for the enhanced rigor, how are we going to increase our fine
arts electives, where are we going to find the additional foreign
language teachers, upgrade our laboratory science classrooms, increase
professional development opportunities that do not remove teachers from
the classroom, provide additional support for at-risk students, fully
integrate our English Learners into the core curriculum, fund enrichment
and credit recovery programs?
Yes, we want all students prepared for college or careers when they
graduate, but what is the substance of the plan? And where is the
budget? Aren’t our norms for high school administrators, teachers and
counselors at the highest levels in District history? Has any
consideration been given to the support needed by elementary and middle
schools to ensure that students are “high school ready”? What is the
point of increasing the passing grade to a C? How many students will we
lose in the meantime? How and when will we measure the success of this
plan? At what point do we stop and evaluate, look at statistics, revamp,
reconsider?
Before everyone jumps on this train, let us be sure that the tracks are
in good working condition and continually maintained, the dispatchers
are experts, the cars and engines are fully equipped, structurally
sound, appropriately staffed and have enough emergency exits.
UPCOMING TAX BATTLE COULD BE A NASTY FEUD
By Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee | http://bit.ly/M9EZ0x
Monday, May. 7, 2012 | Modified: Tuesday, May. 8, 2012 - 11:58 am :: Let's get ready to rumble.
In this corner is California Gov. Jerry Brown.
In that corner is Molly Munger, a very wealthy civil rights attorney.
Brown and his union allies want voters to raise their own sales taxes,
plus income taxes on the most affluent, to narrow a chronic budget gap.
Munger and the state PTA want to raise income taxes on all but the lowest-income Californians to provide more money to schools.
Brown, desperate to eliminate competition that might confuse voters,
merged his initial tax proposal into that of a rival group that wanted
to tax the rich even more. But his private and public efforts to push
Munger aside failed.
Munger dropped $6 million into collecting signatures for her measure and
assumedly is prepared to spend many millions more to pass it in
November. But she probably can't win because polls indicate that as
Californians still feel the effects of severe recession, they're
unwilling to pay more taxes themselves.
Indeed, the relatively small sales tax component of Brown's measure is a
turnoff for voters and is the major reason why polling shows his
overall approach enjoys less than overwhelming support. Were it just a
bite on the rich – as Brown's former rivals wanted – it would stand a
better chance.
That sets up a situation in which Munger could torpedo Brown's proposal
by indirectly joining forces with the anti-tax activists who want Brown
to lose but lack big money for an all-out assault.
She could do that by telling the truth. She could spend millions to
amplify the theme of her recent public utterances, which is that Brown
purports to help the schools with his measure, but really doesn't do
much of anything for them.
That's important, because education is the single most popular thing that California government does.
While Brown's plan would give a substantial chunk of the new tax money
to schools, it would merely repay money that the state already owes
them, not provide any new "programmatic funding," as Capitol budget
mavens call it.
It might relieve cash flow problems for the schools but would not
increase per-pupil spending and in some analyses would actually reduce
it a bit.
Were she to spend millions hammering Brown on schools, it might dissolve the already thin margin of support for his measure.
Would she do it?
It's evident that the Brown-Munger rivalry has become somewhat personal,
that she resents the governor's efforts to push her out of the way,
particularly her reportedly heated conversations with Brown's wife and
political counselor, Anne Gust Brown.
Munger also believes, it's said, that were she and Brown to both lose at
the polls this year, she could come back in 2014 with another school
finance measure.
Let's get ready to rumble.
SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON EDGE OF INSOLVENCY HIT RECORD HIGH
by Kimberly Beltran, School Innovations & Advocacy Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/KplwX8
Wednesday, May 09, 2012 :: The number of California school districts at
risk of failing to meet their near-term financial obligations has
reached an all-time high and is likely to increase between now and June,
the state’s watchdog on school finance reported Tuesday.
Of 967 districts required to file semiannual reports on their financial
status, 172 have classified themselves as having a “qualified”
certification – meaning they may not meet their financial obligations
this year or next two fiscal years, said Joel Montero, CEO of the Fiscal
Crisis Management Assistance Team, in testimony before the Assembly’s
budget subcommittee on school finance.
According to Montero, nine districts classified as having a “negative”
certification and are at risk of insolvency because, based on current
conditions, they won’t be able to meet financial commitments for the
rest of this year or next.
“These are districts in jeopardy of running out of cash, meaning they
wouldn’t be able to make payroll at some point,” Montero said.
The report comes as the state continues to struggle financially. This
year, California faces a $9.2 billion budget deficit that, according to
recent revenue projections, could grow by as much as $3 billion.
School district budgets, already feeling the sting of several years’
worth of funding reductions, also could be hit with additional mid-year
cuts totaling $4.8 billion if voters reject a November tax initiative
designed to restore some of their lost funding.
Montero’s report comes about a month before the official state release
of school budget certifications, and the numbers of districts listed as
qualified and negative are likely to increase, he said, because his
figures are based on districts’ self-reviews of their own budgets.
The official “second interim” report from the California Department of
Education, expected around June 1, is based on review and determination
by county offices of education, charged with fiscal oversight of the
districts within their jurisdiction.
The first interim report, released in late February, showed 840
districts with a positive certification, 120 deemed qualified and seven
listed as negative.
While the number of districts with a negative certification was up by
two over the February report, that figure is actually the lowest it has
been since the 2007-08 school year.
But the 171 districts self-certifying as qualified represents a
significant jump in that category, surpassing the previous high of 160
in the second half of the 2009-10 school year.
FCMAT works with county offices to help stabilize the finances of
districts struggling to meet their obligations, whether it is by
improving management practices, business policies and procedures or
organizational structure.
The goal is to help districts avoid having to take out an emergency
state loan, which also triggers a state takeover of the district
administration.
“The elephant in the room for school districts is what happens in
November and how do they both budget and plan for that eventuality,”
Montero said.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
A-G REQUIREMENT: AN END WITH LIMITED MEANS: from the
Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update | We... http://bit.ly/KdU7YI
RACHEL EHMKE, 13-YEAR-OLD MINNESOTA STUDENT, COMMITS SUICIDE AFTER MONTHS OF BULLYING: HUFFINGTON post | http://... http://bit.ly/IXcmCY
TEACHER'S CREATIVITY REFLECTED AT CLEVELAND HUMANITIES MAGNET IN RESEDA: By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Dail... http://bit.ly/KU1qqZ
UTLA NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE: A 4LAKids reader wrote on Friday afternoon: Hi Scott, I thought you might be in... http://bit.ly/KdF955
STATE EDUCATION BOARD WANTS TO AVOID NEW TEACHER EVALUATION PLAN: by Howard Blume LA Times/LA Now | ht... http://bit.ly/JjVHHU
WHEN A CHARTER SCHOOL IS FAILING: Academia Semillas del Pueblo is an ambitious charter school run by dedicate... http://bit.ly/JpSvI3
Ofsted v.2.0?: FIRST PASS AT SCHOOL INSPECTIONS - State Board considers some alternatives: By John Fensterwald -... http://bit.ly/LXlTKP
SCHOOL DISTRICTS ON EDGE OF INSOLVENCY HIT RECORD HIGH: By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit... http://bit.ly/LXiHik
STUDENTS PROTEST AT EAGLE ROCK HIGH IN SUPPORT OF FIRED COACH: A custodian is injured in Tuesday’s walkout—the l... http://bit.ly/LoldeQ
FUNDING CUTS FOR ARTS, CLASS SIZES UNDER FIRE AT PTA CONVENTION: CBS Los Angeles | http://cbsloc.al/Lo5gVW May... http://bit.ly/LX7luF
MICHAEL MURPHY OUT AS PRINCIPAL AS IVY ACADEMIA HIGH SCHOOL: L.A. Daily News | http://bit.ly/KSDFcy 09/2012 05:... http://bit.ly/Je7qYj
ARTS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WALK OUT TO PROTEST PROPOSED BUDGET CUTS: by H6ward Blume | la times | http://lat.... http://bit.ly/Jx0C98
COOL VIDEO -- STOP THE CIRCUS!: from Educate Our State http://bit.ly/LSRnlp
SPI Torlakson speaks to Ca PTA convention "In strong schools there is a PTA!"
ALL L.A. UNIFIED STUDENTS MUST PASS COLLEGE-PREP COURSES: Kinda …sorta …not really!: The Los Angeles Board of ... http://bit.ly/JUigPF
LA UNIFIED APPROVES COLLEGE PREP REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL STUDENTS: By Vanessa Romo | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://... http://bit.ly/L6HWvA
SCHOOLS UNDER HEAVY STRESS: Multiple shocks to system in largest districts: By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess... http://bit.ly/LJ85Dv
UTLA FILES MORE THAN 600 COMPLAINTS WITH LAUSD: By Tami Abdollah | KPCC Pass/Fail | http://bit.ly/w0MlFb Shir... http://bit.ly/LIZKQg
LAUSD BOARD REACHES COMPROMISE FOR COLLEGE-PREP GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS: Students will face tougher courses, but... http://bit.ly/L5lRh3
BROWN’S WEIGHTED FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS UP FOR REVIEW, REVISION: By Tom Chorneau | Cabinet Report Article http://bi... http://bit.ly/JPEW3p
UPDATE: Most of Miramonte Elementary's relocated teachers will have to find a new campus: By Tami Abdollah | KPC... http://bit.ly/IYGqfr
Teacher Appreciation Day: MIRAMONTES’S OTHER VICTIMS: Letters to the LA Times | http://lat.ms/Jb7ryW Re "Displa... http://bit.ly/KZ0XQC
A tweet from DrDeasyLAUSD: ACADEMIC DECATHLON SAVED?: 6am John Deasy @DrDeasyLAUSD I am committed t... http://bit.ly/KZ0oXa
FWD: @latams: Most of Miramonte Elementary's relocated teachers will have to find a new campus in the fall http://kp.cc/IQopBN #LAUSD # ...
Daily Breeze gets documents on 23 cases of teacher misconduct ...in South Bay school districts not LAUSD | http://bit.ly/KeSbi3
Stars Align to Save the Arts: SAVE THE ARTS/SAVE THE DATE - Saturday, June 2nd: from http://SaveTheArts.net STA... http://bit.ly/Jj5XAA
... or get instant updates via text message by texting "Follow 4LAKids" to 40404
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
Stars Align to Save the Arts: SAVE THE ARTS/SAVE THE DATE - Saturday, June 2nd: http://SaveTheArts.net http://bit.ly/Jj5XAA
*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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