In This Issue:
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LAUSD RESCINDS FURLOUGHS, EXTENDS YEAR; REJECTS CHARTER MORATORIUM + OVERSIGHT; APPOINTS NEW FACILITIES + FOOD SERVICES EXECS |
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GATES FUNDED HARVARD STUDY EVALUATES TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS IN LAUSD AS MEASURED BY STUDENTS’ STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES IN MATH |
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TO PREVENT SEX ABUSE SCANDALS, EMPOWER WHISTLE-BLOWERS + smf’s 2¢ |
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Failing a test that really matters: ONLY 31% OF CALIFORNIA STUDENTS ARE PHYSICALLY FIT + smf’s 2¢: |
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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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ON TUESDAY the Board of Ed, flush with the voter’s
mandate+ cash from the passage of Prop 30 Rescinded the Furloughs and
Restored the School Year. For that which we are about to receive we are
truly thankful.
ON WEDNESDAY an interesting thing happened at the meeting of the LAUSD Bond Oversight Committee.
The superintendent presented the program previously called Tablets for
All (or iPads for All) and now is called the District’s Common Core
State Curriculum Technology Initiative – his signature plan to deliver a
digital device – a tablet, a laptop, a netbook, a smart phone or an
iPad – into the hand of every student in the District. Along with the
servers, wireless routers, digital backbone and requisite software,
firmware, hardware and apps needed to support the network.
A computer for every student. One-to-One. That’s 600,000+ digital devices …and a lot of other stuff.
The conversation was deep and through. The superintendent’s argument was
well made. BOC chair Steve English argued convincingly that portable
wireless computing platforms are the educational infrastructure of the
21st century.
Wednesday’s proposal was to do a pilot and program evaluation and I’m
convinced the pilot should be tried and evaluated. If not now, when?
(On Aug 9th it seemed like the superintendent and Dr. Aquino were headed
to the Apple Store with the Bond fund checkbook! - http://bit.ly/MGUKrO )
That the pilot program cost of $17.4 million was to be borrowed from
funds previously-borrowed-and-recently-paid-back – promised for Early
Childhood Ed facilities construction (NOT operation) is worrisome. All
presenters – from IT, Facilities and the supe's office – assured the BOC
that that loan would be repaid ASAP from future bond sales and/or state
funds already due the District. There are no ECED programs in the
construction pipeline and we know where the payback is coming from.
The reporting in the press that the devices to be purchased are to be
tablets or I-Pads oversimplifies the program – there would need to be a
public contract bidding process to select the platform(s) and vendor(s) –
and almost certainly the devices would be a mixture of portable
devices, including tablets and laptop computing platforms.
The LA Times: “The entire proposal is estimated to cost about $450
million for equipment and additional funding to set up wireless Internet
access at schools” grossly underestimates the total cost. The main goal
of the of the pilot program would be identify the full cost – but it is
pretty well established that the total program cost would be closer to a
billion dollars than half a billion – not counting debt service.
Other outstanding and as-yet-unanswered questions – questions that must
be addressed in the pilot – before any more funding goes ahead –
concern:
• Will students be able to take the devices home?
• Can vendors guarantee a ten year lifecycle of small computing devices in daily use by 600,000 young people?
• How the labor cost of technological maintenance over time at school
sites – which must be paid from the general fund and not bonds – will be
paid?
• …and what will be the effect on the school facilities
brick-and-mortar/building-improvement-and-modernization program of
reducing the Measure Q bond investment of $6 billion by $1 billion?
•• “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money.” – Attributed to Sen. .Everett Dirksen.
The Bond Oversight Committee meeting was not fully attended – four BOC
members were absent. When the superintendent’s plan was voted on it got
seven votes for, three against.
● from the BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE BYLAWS: Section 3. Voting:
Recommendations to the District to approve or disapprove a project must
be approved by a majority of the active members of the Citizens’
Oversight Committee.
There are 14 active members, it needed 8 votes. A yes vote by any of the absent four would have brought approval.
But that’s not the interesting thing – that’s only parliamentary
procedure. Next month the motion could be brought back and approval
almost certainly secured. (After all, Mayor Tony’s representative [and
the alternate] to the BOC was one of the ones absent – surely one of the
two could show up and vote Aye!)
THE INTERESTING THING IS THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT BLINKED. He immediately
announced that he was withdrawing the entire proposal: Pilot+Plan –
blaming the Oversight Committee | http://bit.ly/T8WAJ4.
Were the questions too probing? The answers potentially too
uncomfortable and/or unworkable? Would the Board of Ed balk? – or ask
more questions? Was the superintendent’s mind changed? Did the paradigm
shift?
And without the technology, how will the kids take the interactive
online Common Core State Standards tests?* What is CCSS about if not
those tests?
¡Onward/Adelante! – smf
* They are State (rather than Federal) Standards because the Gates
Foundation, not the US Dept of Ed came up with them – and ‘voluntarily
imposed’ them on the states. The word for this is “Voluntold”.
In my opinion there is a race
For a place at the bottom of the pile
Is neither completely conceived nor is it ill advised
It just simply satisfies a basic need
We are few, we are few, we are few
We are few, we are few, we are few
–“For Which We Are Truly Thankful”, Lambchop (Kurt Wagner)
LAUSD RESCINDS FURLOUGHS, EXTENDS YEAR; REJECTS
CHARTER MORATORIUM + OVERSIGHT; APPOINTS NEW FACILITIES + FOOD SERVICES
EXECS
►LAUSD RESCINDS FURLOUGHS; SCHOOL WILL END ON JUNE 7 THIS YEAR
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/UGqu3J
Posted: 11/13/2012 12:51:19 PM PST /Updated: 6:58:55 PM PST ::
Thanks to voter-approved Proposition 30, Los Angeles Unified students
will attend school for 180 days this year, the first time since the 2008
financial crisis that the district's academic calendar won't be
shortened by a lack of money.
The school board voted unanimously Tuesday to rescind 10 employee
furlough days, which included five instructional days for students.
School will end on June 7 rather than on May 31 as previously scheduled.
Teachers, administrators, school police, clerks and the employees who
make up the district's 60,000-member workforce will be reimbursed for
three furlough days taken so far this year, and additional days will be
canceled.
Schools will still be closed Thanksgiving week, but those lost days will be added on to the end of the school year.
Proposition 30, which was approved Nov. 6 by 54 percent of California's
voters, is expected to generate about $6 billion annually by raising the
sales tax by a quarter-percent for four years and the tax rate for
incomes of more than $250,000 for seven years.
The revenue will stabilize the budgets of districts statewide by
reimbursing them for payments that have been deferred since California
sank into recession in 2008. This year, for instance, LAUSD should have
received $6,718 per student, but got only $5,221.
►LAUSD REJECTS VOLUNTARY MORATORIUM ON NEW CHARTER SCHOOLS
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/T1aSuk
Posted: 11/13/2012 12:36:02 PM PST/Updated: 7:13:30 PM PST ::
Following a flood of protests from parents and charter supporters, the
Los Angeles Unified board on Tuesday soundly rejected a resolution
seeking a voluntary moratorium on new charter applications while a
strategic plan is developed to better govern their explosive growth.
Board member Steve Zimmer said he saw the need for an in-depth study of
the district's charter system, which now educates some 110,000 students
and has thousands more on waiting lists. He wanted to monitor how well
charter schools are educating students and ways to share methods for
closing the achievement gap and boosting parental involvement.
"The milestone of 100,000 is a moment in which we should step back and
reflect on what is working in our role as (charter) operator and what
isn't," he said. "We need to have a real strategy and a real plan."
But parents and charter supporters saw his resolution as a challenge to
their right to choose the appropriate school for their child, with
speakers sharing personal stories of how charters had changed their
lives.
"You shouldn't just vote against the resolution," said parent Katrina
George, whose handicapped son struggled at a traditional school but
thrived once he was enrolled in a charter. "You should do the opposite
and open more charters. At the end of the day, this should be about the
kids."
Zimmer's colleagues said they'd tried to talk him out of pursuing the
resolution, and Superintendent John Deasy said it was unnecessary.
"The work can be done without the resolution," Deasy said.
In the end, Zimmer and board member Bennett Kayser cast the only yes
votes for the resolution. Board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte had
left during the debate and was not present for the vote.
Zimmer's original resolution, introduced in September, called on the
board to postpone or refer new charter applications to the Los Angeles
County Office of Education. Critics noted that would be illegal, and he
revised the proposal to ask charter operators to voluntarily hold off on
submitting new applications until a timetable was in place for the
suggested reforms.
Parents signed petitions and as many as 2,000 demonstrators flooded the
street in front of LAUSD during a lunchtime protest. Most were gone by
the time the board got through a lengthy agenda.
"We're not the enemy," said charter pioneer Joe Lucente, repeating
comments he made during the demonstration. "Our very existence benefits
all students, whether in traditional or charter schools... Don't fear
us, embrace us."
The board also wrestled with arequest to renew the charter for Gabriella
Charter, which shares space with Logan Span School in Echo Park.
Parents from both schools - both of them thriving - said there just
wasn't room on the campus to meet the needs of the students.
The board OK'd the extension with the charter, which boasts an arts
education program and an API of 894, with the understanding that Deasy
will try to find additional space for Gabriella.
Zimmer said it was just this sort of situation - "a collision of
goodness" - he wanted to avoid when he introduced his resolution.
"The system has become about competition and not innovation," he said.
"I want to know what we can do best when we collaborate."
Board members Tamar Galatzan and Nury Martinez admonished Zimmer that he
could not work around Proposition 39, the voter-approved measure that
requires school districts to accommodate space requests from independent
charters.
"Ten years ago, voters approved Prop. 39," Martinez said. "To continue
to have these debates when you know what the law is polarizes hundreds
of thousands of parents ... Be done with it, Mr. Zimmer."
►LAUSD APPOINTS NEW HEADS OF FACILITIES AND FOOD SERVICES DIVISIONS
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/RTIcn8
Posted: 11/13/2012 04:35:03 PM PST :: The interim directors of
LAUSD's Facilities and Food Services divisions were appointed by the
school board Tuesday to the permanent posts.
Mark Hovatter, an engineer who has worked for Los Angeles Unified for
more than 25 years, will oversee the multi-billion dollar Facilities
Division, which is responsible for construction, maintenance and leasing
of the district's schools, offices and other properties. He will earn
$218,780 a year. He succeeds Kelly Schmader, who left in June to take
the top facilities job at UCLA.
David Binkle will be responsible for the division that serves up 650,000
meals daily at schools across the sprawling district. He will earn
$142,540 a year. He is a master chef who joined the district in 2007 as
the No. 2 to Dennis Barrett, who retired earlier this year.
GATES FUNDED HARVARD STUDY EVALUATES TEACHER
EFFECTIVENESS IN LAUSD AS MEASURED BY STUDENTS’ STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES
IN MATH
►NEW L.A. TEACHERS TOO OFTEN PLACED WITH NEEDIEST STUDENTS, STUDY FINDS
By Teresa Watanabe, LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/TWfwc3
November 16, 2012 | 5:38 pm :: A new study has found that
inexperienced teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are
disproportionately more likely to be assigned to lower-performing math
students, perpetuating the achievement gap.
The study also found that L.A. Unified teachers “vary substantially” in
their effectiveness, with top teachers able to give students the
equivalent of eight additional months of learning in a year compared
with weaker instructors.
Such findings raise “deep concerns,” said Drew Furedi, the district’s
executive director of talent management who oversees teacher training.
“For us, it’s a call to action.”
The study by the Strategic Data Project, which is affiliated with
Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research, analyzed the
performance of about 30% of L.A. Unified teachers based primarily on
their students’ standardized math test scores from 2005 through 2011 in
grades three through eight. The study stressed that test scores were
only one measure of teacher effectiveness.
The study also found that teacher performance after two years is a
fairly good predictor of future effectiveness. That finding could be
used to challenge growing moves to overturn laws that give tenure to
teachers after just a few years by those who argue administrators need
more time to make that decision.
“Two years gives you a substantial amount of information,” said Jon
Fullerton, the center’s executive director. [••smf: Before coming to
Harvard, Jon served as the Board of Education’s director of budget and
financial policy for the Los Angeles Unified School District.]
Fullerton said that L.A. Unified teachers varied more than those in
three other school districts studied in North Carolina and Georgia. More
so than in the other districts, Los Angeles schools also
disproportionately placed newer teachers with less-proficient students
–- who are an average six months behind peers assigned to more
experienced instructors.
The study did not explore the reason for those findings but was aimed at
providing “information and insight” to the district to craft responses,
Fullerton said.
In other findings, the performance of math teachers improved quickly in
the first five years, then leveled off. Those with advanced degrees are
no more effective than those without, although L.A. Unified pays more
to teachers pursuing them. And long-term substitute teachers, who have
been employed more frequently to fill in amid widespread layoffs, have
positive effects in teaching middle-school math but not in other
subjects.
No single finding can produce a strategy to erase the district’s
substantial achievement gap between white students and their black and
Latino classmates, the study said, noting that the difference in
performance on fifth-grade math tests is roughly equivalent to more than
one and half years of learning. Multiple strategies will be needed, the
study said.
Furedi said one key area of action would be the placement of effective
teachers with lower-performing students. L.A. Supt. John Deasy has made
it clear that principals should strive to “understand where teachers are
and place those with success in front of kids who need them most,"
Furedi said.
►ANALYSIS SHOWS DIFFERENCES IN TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS IN LAUSD
By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/QOwKe2
November 15th, 2012 :: In Los Angeles Unified, novice teachers tend to
be assigned students who are academically farther behind those assigned
to experienced teachers. Before they depart, usually after only two
years, Teach for America teachers have a bigger impact on students than
that of other new teachers. And National Board Certified teachers
significantly outperform other teachers in LAUSD.
These are among the findings of an extensive six-year study of about a
third of teachers in LAUSD by the Strategic Data Project, which is
affiliated with the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard
University. Researchers have conducted similar analyses of teacher
recruitment, development and retention patterns in three dozen school
districts and charter organizations nationwide, under work funded by the
Gates Foundation. LAUSD’s report, which was released Wednesday, could
become a key resource as the district and United Teachers Los Angeles
negotiate changes to teacher evaluations and other parts of the
teachers’ contract.
The finding with perhaps the biggest implication quantified significant
disparities in effectiveness among the district’s elementary and middle
school teachers, as measured by students’ standardized test scores.
Researchers found that the difference between a math teacher in the 75th
percentile – those whose students performed better than three quarters
of other students – and a teacher in the 25th percentile was the roughly
equivalent benefit to a student of having eight additional months of
instruction in a calendar year (technically one quarter of a standard
deviation). The differences were greater than the average of the other
districts studied nationwide, although similar to the differences found
in San Diego Unified. The study covered only 30 percent of teachers in
the district – those whose students take the California Standards Tests,
primarily elementary and middle school teachers. The differences
between teachers whose students take the English language arts tests
were less pronounced than with
math.
Researchers used a method similar to the district’s controversial
Academic Growth over Time, which factors in students’ past test scores
and socioeconomic background to determine their teachers’ impact. LAUSD
has used the method to rate individual teachers. Because ratings
fluctuate significantly year to year, the method has been criticized as a
tool for evaluating teachers. But Jon Fullerton, director of the Center
for Education Policy Research, said that the method is useful for
aggregate trends using group averages of teacher effectiveness –
comparing novice and experienced teachers, or measuring the
effectiveness of teachers with advanced academic degrees.
Drew Furedi, LAUSD’s executive director for talent management,
acknowledged in an interview that test scores are just one of the
multiple measures the district will use to measure effectiveness. But
the data in the report, he said, most immediately “will help our
understanding of placement strategies and distribution challenges in the
system.”
Among other findings:
Only about one out of six Teach for America teachers return to teach in
Los Angeles Unified after three years. Source: SDP Human Capital
Diagnostic in the Los Angeles Unified. (Click to enlarge.)
Only about one out of six Teach for America teachers return to teach in
Los Angeles Unified after three years. Source: SDP Human Capital
Diagnostic in the Los Angeles Unified. (Click to enlarge.)
New teachers hired through Teach for America and the district’s own
Career Ladder program, encouraging paraprofessionals to become teachers,
have a positive effect – equal to two months and one month extra of
instruction respectively in math – compared with other novice teachers.
However, about two-thirds of Teach for America teachers, recruited from
top colleges nationwide, leave the district after the program’s required
two years, while more Career Ladder teachers continue on – a factor
LAUSD will want to consider. Over the past several year, about one out
of eight teachers were hired through the two programs. Furedi said that
the district may do a similar analysis of other teacher preparation
programs.
Novice and early career elementary teachers disproportionately are
assigned struggling students – those entering the year an average of six
months behind their peers. Novices not only are disproportionately
assigned to schools with lower achieving students, but also are given
more struggling students than experienced teachers within schools. Since
experienced teachers on average are more effective, “this is a call to
action, for better strategic placement of teachers for student
outcomes,” Fullerton said Wednesday in a webinar announcing the results.
Math teachers in LAUSD improve substantially over time in the
classroom – roughly equal to an additional three months of instruction
by their fifth year. Improvement in English language arts is less
dramatic.
Of the teachers who were laid off, 45 percent were in the top two
quartiles of effective teachers in Los Angeles Unified. Source: SDP
Human Capital Diagnostic in the Los Angeles Unified. (Click to enlarge.)
Of the teachers who were laid off, 45 percent were in the top two
quartiles of effective teachers in Los Angeles Unified. Source: SDP
Human Capital Diagnostic in the Los Angeles Unified. (Click to enlarge.)
Even though they are automatically paid more under the current
salary system, LAUSD teachers with advanced academic degrees are no more
effective than those who lack them. However, teachers with a National
Board Certification outperform other teachers, by roughly two months of
additional math instruction and one month of additional ELA instruction
over a year. This could reflect the benefits of the program or the
quality of the teachers who pursue certification, the study said. Only
about 4 percent of LAUSD teachers have board certification, and most of
those teach in high-performing schools, indicating the district may want
to encourage placement in schools with greater needs.
In a finding with implications for a state law and district policy
requiring layoffs by seniority, the study found that teachers who were
laid off in LAUSD as a result of budget cuts were about as effective as
teachers who kept their jobs. Since most of the laid-off teachers were
less experienced, a slightly higher proportion – 55 percent – were in
the bottom two quartiles of performance. However, that also meant that
45 percent of those let go were in the top two quartiles of performers,
who, under a more rigorous evaluation system deemphasizing seniority,
might retain their jobs.
►From the Study: SUMMARY FINDINGS:
1. Teacher effects vary substantially in LAUSD, more than in many other
districts. The difference between a 25th and 75th percentile elementary
math teacher is over one-quarter of a standard deviation, which is
roughly equivalent to a student having eight additional months of
instruction in a calendar year.
2. Teach for America and Career Ladder teachers have higher math effects
on average than other novices in their first year by 0.05 and 0.03
standard deviations respectively, which is roughly equivalent to one to
two months of additional learning. These differences persist over time.
3. LAUSD has increased its reliance on extended substitutes in the last
several years. Relative to other new hires in middle school, extended
substitutes have large positive effects in math, though not in other
subjects.
4. First-year teachers are assigned to students who begin the year
academically behind students assigned to more experienced teachers.
5. Early-career elementary teachers change grade assignments at higher
rates than more experienced teachers. Teachers have slightly lower
effects after a change in grade assignment than those who do not change
grades.
6. LAUSD math teachers show substantial growth in effectiveness during
their first five years in the classroom with a 0.12 standard deviation
gain in their average teacher effect, which is roughly equivalent to
three additional months of instruction in a calendar year.
7. LAUSD teachers with advanced degrees do not have higher effects, on average, than their colleagues without such degrees.
8. On average, National Board Certified teachers outperform other
teachers with the same levels of experience by 0.07 and 0.03 standard
deviations in elementary math and English/language arts (ELA)
respectively, which is roughly equivalent to two months of additional
math instruction and one month of additional ELA instruction.
9. Performance in the first few years of teaching, as measured by
teacher effects, is predictive of later performance. In fact, in the
third year of teaching, teachers who previously had high teacher effects
for two years (the top 25 percent) outperform teachers who previously
demonstrated low teacher effects (the bottom 25 percent) by almost seven
months of instruction.
10. Teachers who were laid off in 2008-09 and 2009-10 had similar
average teacher effects as their colleagues who were not laid off.
••smf’s 2¢:
1. One must take into account the funder of the report. That said, just
because the Gates Foundation paid for it doesn’t mean it’s entirely
bogus!
2. There are no authors attached to this report, it is an anonymous work.
3. It is not peer reviewed
4. Compounding and publishing data for hire is not the same as scholarly research.
5. The report relies almost exclusively on Math standardized test score
results, The report itself says “other research suggest(s) that other
factors outside of the classroom have a larger influence on children’s
ELA performance (and) current research also suggests that ELA state
tests may also be less sensitive to instruction”. One must conclude that
“other factors outside the classroom” means poverty, the language
spoken in the home and parent’s education. In Los Angeles this means
where you live.
TO PREVENT SEX ABUSE SCANDALS, EMPOWER WHISTLE-BLOWERS + smf’s 2¢
by Alexandra Le Tellier | LA Times/Opinion LA | http://lat.ms/QesTqF
November 14, 2012, 3:02 p.m. :: It’s disappointing to see leaders,
public figures and CEOs undone by sex scandals. But it becomes a tragedy
when these cases are of an abusive nature. And worse yet, when they’re
kept quiet, leaving the victims even more powerless.
The Penn State case, in which Jerry Sandusky abused young boys while Joe
Paterno and administrators worried more about the institution than the
victims, was a harsh reminder that we can’t blindly trust people, even
respected members of our communities. Britons are going through a
similar shock after allegations surfaced that Jimmy Savile, the BBC’s
version of Mister Rogers, sexually assaulted young girls. And then
there’s the tragedy of the Boy Scouts, which kept its "perversion files"
from 1970 to 1991 under lock and key rather than report sexual abusers
to authorities.
Of course, children aren’t the only ones in powerless situations who’re
victimized. According to a former Waffle House employee, company
Chairman Joseph Rogers Jr. allegedly demanded sexual favors of her in
exchange for job security. Rogers says his relationship with the single
mother was consensual (and no charges have been filed). But consider
this: The woman who brought this situation to light resigned from the
company after her son was awarded a full college scholarship.
There’s no easy solution to preventing sexual abuse and harassment. But
there are ways to prevent those in power from preying on innocent
people. In Tuesday’s episode of “The Story,” Penn State ethics professor
Jonathan Marks offered a suggestion: Don’t discourage whistle-blowing.
He argued:
If we want to behave, and we want others to behave, in the ways we’d
like to imagine we would, we have to structure our institutions to
promote those behaviors. And that means, for example, creating not just
protections for whistle-blowers but incentives for whistle-blowers;
rewarding people for their sort of ethical dissent and helping them
realize that the expression of dissent is not disloyalty to an
institution. On the contrary, it’s actually a way of demonstrating
loyalty to an institution when you speak out against the leadership or
you speak out when you see something that is wrong.
••smf’s 2¢: This OpEd was buried in Opinion LA, Observations &
Provocations from the Times Opinion Staff – it’s the online burial
ground for editorials that didn’t make it into the print edition. If
the present issue of child sexual abuse was isolated to the BBC, Penn
State that may have been a good decision – but in Los Angeles we have
had Miramonte and Telfair and Stephen Rooney – and priestly pedophilia.
We need to get out in front of this – or more young people will be led
into the hell of abuse.
Last Thursday at the District 2 Candidate Forum in Pico-Union [http://t.co/SIbcNqcS]
the issue of Miramonte came up, framed as an issue of teachers denied
due process and condemned to rubber rooms. The candidates were outraged
(Monica Garcia was not there) and none forgave actual abuse – and I
described Supt Deasy’s mass removal+replacement of Miramonte staff as a
political gambit and institutional child abuse.
“Think like a second grader: You remove two teachers and say they were
bad people …and two weeks later ALL the teachers are gone? Replaced by
strangers? ‘For your own safety? ‘
What was the teachable moment? What do you take away from that as a seven-year-old?”
This was unapologetic rhetorical flourish on my part – but I continue to
believe that that action from the superintendent is unforgivable – and
coupled with his failure to report Miramonte and Telfair to Commission
on Teacher Credentialing (and parents) cause for his
removal+replacement.
In the trenches the role of Whistle Blowers is critical in this.
IN CALIFORNIA ALL CREDENTIALED EMPLOYEES AND MOST CERTIFICATED ONES ARE
MANDATORY REPORTERS OF CHILD ABUSE AND CHILD ENDANGERMENT: They are
supposed to have been issued their whistles and should have orders when
to use them.
Failure to report suspected abuse in a specified manner is
1. Cause for dismissal and
2. A criminal act.
Under Superintendent Brewer – reacting to the Rooney case – there was
mandatory training and an annual test for mandatory reporters and all
district employees –and training for parents in a child abuse awareness
program called “Darkness to Light.”
Under Supt. Cortines Darkness to Light was ended as being outside the District’s budget priorities. LAUSD couldn’t afford it.
As a result, all the LAUSD mandatory reporters at Miramonte failed to
report their suspicions and the concerns brought to them by parents.
The law is unequivocal: If you are aware of or concerned about potential
abuse – or concerns are brought to you – you pick up the phone and call
the police or Child Protective Services; which one is your only choice.
You don’t consult a colleague or the chapter chair or the principal.
You do not investigate. You do not delay. You pick up the phone – and
there is supposed to be a phone in every classroom – and drop a dime.
Mandatory Reporting eventually did work – the photo processor at
Walgreens – a mandatory reporter – called the police when he saw
suspicious photos and started to process at Miramonte.
If elected to the Board of Ed I will bring Darkness to Light or
something like it back because there is nothing more important than the
safety of children.
But the current board and my opponent shouldn’t wait.
Don’t wait to lead. Do it the first thing after Thanksgiving. Take the credit.
Failing a test that really matters: ONLY 31% OF
CALIFORNIA STUDENTS ARE PHYSICALLY FIT + smf’s 2¢:
-- Dalina Castellanos LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/U2DS5O
November 15, 2012 | 4:58 pm :: For the second year in a row,
California students have tested relatively low in a series of statewide
physical fitness tests, the state Department of Education announced
Thursday.
About 31% of students received healthy scores in all six of the tested
areas, State Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a
statement.
"When we can call fewer than one out of three of our kids physically
fit, we know we have a tremendous public health challenge on our hands,"
said Torlakson, a longtime cross-country coach. "It affects more than
their health — study after study has demonstrated the very clear link
between physical fitness and academic achievement."
The fitness score dropped to 31% last year, after years of steady
improvement, the study’s results showed. About 1.3 million fifth-,
seventh- and ninth-graders were tested. Of those, only 31% were able to
score in what state officials call a "healthy fitness zone."
"While I am glad their fitness levels improve as they make their way
through school, we owe it to California’s kids to give them more
opportunities for exercise, along with better access to healthy foods
and clean, fresh water," Torlakson said.
Torlakson’s office is continuing to push a year-old initiative to promote healthy choices in schools.
►FROM THE STATE REPORT (which mistakenly tries to put a positive spin on the slight downturn): http://bit.ly/TRMPwz
“When we can call fewer than one out of three of our kids physically
fit, we know we have a tremendous public health challenge on our hands,”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said. “It
affects more than their health—study after study has demonstrated the
very clear link between physical fitness and academic achievement. While
I am glad their fitness levels improve as they make their way through
school, we owe it to California’s kids to give them more opportunities
for exercise, along with better access to healthy foods and clean, fresh
water.”
••smf’s 2¢: OF ALL THE THINGS WE TEST, THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT – only
immediately less important than testing the fire alarms and quality of
drinking water …and we automatically close down schools that fail those
tests without consulting the Board of Ed or the superintendent!
The California Physical Fitness Test assesses the Health, Safety and
Wellbeing of Children; individual children and all children. And, I
might add, students need to pass the FitnessGram to be waived from
mandatory PhysEd in the 11th and 12th grade. I am opposed to that
waiver …but at least we are theoretically letting the kids who need it
least off the hook!
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
EDUCATION GOALS: : From Survival to Excellence and Equity: Themes in the News by UCLA IDEA Week of Nov. 13-16, ... http://bit.ly/1060YtG
UTLA Tuesday Talking Points: VICTORY FOR SCHOOLS: November 13, 2012 LATEST NEWS AND ISSUES | http://bit.ly/SCw1b ... http://bit.ly/ZPhhfc
Expand
TEACHERS’ OBSESSION WITH TECHNOLOGY SEE GADGETS WORTH MILLIONS SIT IN CUPBOARDS: ACROSS THE POND: Millions of po... http://bit.ly/U0SRLH
PROP 30 PASSES: Now what?: STATEMENT FROM SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER BENNETT KAYSER REGARDING BUDGET AFTER PASSAGE OF P... http://bit.ly/U0SSzd
NEW ASSEMBLY EDUCATION CHAIR SKEPTICAL OF PLAN FOR WEIGHTED FUNDING: By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http:... http://bit.ly/SxAZ96
YALE UNDERGRAD DATA GEEKS SET SIGHTS ON SCHOOL REFORM …using iPads + plain white paper: Online survey company Pa... http://bit.ly/SxwRGe
A TABLET IN EVERY BACKPACK?: Supt. Deasy wants to give each L.A. Unified student a high-tech device. But his pla... http://bit.ly/Wf8Fyy
Report from the second candidate forum in the second school board district: MONICA GARCIA STILL MISSING: by smf ... http://bit.ly/WeWCRX
Tonight in Pico-Union: LAUSD DISTRICT 2 CANDIDATE FORUM: 6pm 2845 West 7th St Will she be there this time? http://bit.ly/ZAqHLu
SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY'S $17.5M REQUEST FOR COMPUTER TABLET FUNDS NIXED: By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA D... http://bit.ly/W9VLBP
NEXT YEAR’S STATE BUDGET DEFICIT THAT COULD BE AS HIGH AS $16 BILLION LATEST THREAT TO SCHOOLS, EVEN WITH THE PR... http://bit.ly/ZxNBmP
LAUSD SUPT. DEASY DELAYS PLAN FOR TABLET COMPUTERS + smf’s 2¢: by Howard Blume LA Times/LA Now | http://... http://bit.ly/ZNHj1A
LAUSD RESTORES ACADEMIC YEAR AND FULL PAY: The actions were made possible by passage of Proposition 30.: Board a... http://bit.ly/W5mNdC
LAUSD RESCINDS FURLOUGHS, EXTENDS YEAR; REJECTS CHARTER MORITORIUM & OVERSIGHT; APPOINTS NEW FACILITIES + FOOD S... http://bit.ly/SnKmbf
MALDEF JOINS IN FILING DRAFT PLAN TO DESEGREGATE AND IMPROVE EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT FOR LATINO STUDENTS IN TUCS... http://bit.ly/SjQuRQ
Gloria Romero gets it wrong: HALF THE CALIFORNIA ELECTORATE DIDN’T VOTE: if we are to believe Romero’s fuzzy math... http://bit.ly/Zwhoez
TIME TO INVESTIGATE SCHOOL ‘CONSTRUCTION’ BONDS: Editorial from the San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board | http://bit.ly/ZvKWZS
“The money has already been spent”: PROPOSITION 30 WIN NO GUARANTEE OF FISCAL SAFETY FOR CALIFORNIA …or budget s... http://bit.ly/Zvx5m7
L.A. SCHOOLS SCIENCE CENTER STRUGGLES TO KEEP OPEN: The Christensen Math Science and Technology Center in San Pe... http://bit.ly/ZfPNzd
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
THIS COMING WEEK LAUSD IS PRETTY MUCH CLOSED. HAVE A
HAPPY AND THANKFUL THANKSGIVING. INGEST MASS QUANTITIES. GE GOOD TO EACH
OTHER. BE SAFE.
...AND THANK YOU! - smf
________________________________________
• 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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