In This Issue:
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CO-LO TURF WARS - FOUGHT ON THE CAMPUSES, IN THE DISTRICT BOARDROOM, AND IN THE COURTS + smf’s 2¢ |
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CALIFORNIA
STATE AUDITOR SAYS SCHOOLS SHOULD MEASURE IF ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAMS ARE
WORKING: Cites LAUSD as a district that doesn’t + smf’s 2¢ |
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BEST HOPE FOR COMMON CORE IMPLEMENTATION? TIME TO PLAN WITH COLLEAGUES |
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TO TEST OR NOT TO TEST?: Last-minute negotiations focus on bill to
replace STAR system By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report – http://bit.ly/17brjeE |
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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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Tuesday afternoon’s meeting of the Board of Education
of the City of Los Angeles, like most anticipated moments of high drama
and earth shaking magnitude, did not live up to its advance billing.
After seven weeks since the last one, was this really the best they
could do?
No problems solved. No furniture tossed, no fireworks, no ultimata – empty or otherwise.
In fairness or lack thereof, the two most potentially divisive issues –
The Common Core Budget Item and Supporting a Pathway to U.S. Citizenship
through Adult Education were pulled from the agenda, postponed to
another day. Dr. Aquino managed to start the debate on the first – but
had to leave to catch a plane. (He had to leave a meeting with a Bond
Oversight Committee special task force earlier to prepare for the board
meeting.)
• The Common Core Budget (and for that matter, The Local Control Funding
Formula) will be contests because the fight over not-enough money
continues (because there still isn’t enough) and every pot of it will be
contested! And because there are fundamental differences on policy,
priorities and pace between the board, the superintendent and UTLA.
Parents still haven’t been heard from …but more on that later.
• I would love to report that Dr. Deasy opposes Citizenship Ed for all
the Fox Newsy/Tea Party reasons – but that’s not it. Adult Ed is very
low on his priority list – and though citizenship classes will be a
growth industry he is not interested in putting his money in Adult Ed.
Oh, I’m sorry: Our money!
There was disagreement over timing and priorities and proactivity - with
Tamar Galatzan slamming the microphone about and suggesting the Board
wait until Sacramento tells the board how and when to spend the money.
Exactly what part of “local control” is that?
WIT IS INTERESTING that the press covering the meeting all found completely different stories.
The LA Times wrote: L.A. SCHOOL BOARD RATIFIES HIRING OF GARCETTI'S TOP EDUCATION AIDE | http://lat.ms/1dsHW8t – an item buried in the consent agenda and not mentioned at all.
The Daily News: LAUSD TAKES AIM AT REFORMING PROPOSITION 39 CHARTER LAW | http://bit.ly/183qCRq – a surprise item arising from something completely else! (see following)
KTLA/5 - PROTESTERS TARGETED THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT’S
FIRST BOARD MEETING of the new year to voice their anger over the
district’s plan to transfer special-education students to traditional
campuses. http://bit.ly/1c6Hqvh
KCBS/2 and KCAL/9 - Who knows? I live in Time-Warnerland.
Public Radio: MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS? LA UNIFIED WRESTLES WITH INFLUX OF CASH | http://bit.ly/12p1XYZ
…and the ®eform Blogosphere at LA School Report was abuzz with VLADOVIC ADDS COMMITTEES, DOLES OUT ASSIGNMENTS | http://bit.ly/1faLhqM , followed by: SCHOOL BOARD MEETING WRAP UP: MORE DISCUSSION THAN VOTES* | http://bit.ly/UXHVhZ
I took away four things:
• The Special Ed Parents who spoke about how poorly+shamelessly their
kids are being served or even accommodated did a great job of making
their case. Shame.
• Monica Garcia and Tamar Galatzan managed to leave before Public
Comment, missing Elementary Librarian Cathy E’s presentation identifying
issues and suggesting thoughtful solutions.
• The Board really needs an in-house Parliamentarian.
• Fire+Brimstone Preacher Guy wasn’t there. Had I known I could’ve run
the Virtual Apocalypse App on all those Common Core Technology iPads!
ELSEWHERE IN PUBLIC EDUCATION the State Auditor took LAUSD (but not just
LAUSD) to task for not being accountable in Bullying Prevention
Programs (…not to mention our Student Discipline Policy and our School
Safety Policy and our Parent Engagement Policy …but let’s take on these
issues one forgotten binder-on the-shelf at a time!) If you claim to be
data driven but never go anywhere you are stuck in “park”!
Former Green Dotter/former Mayor Tony Partner Marshall Tuck is going to
run for State Schools Superintendent and UTLA is charging LAUSD with
contract violations over teacher evaluations.
(Have you noticed that the Congress is in recess and they are getting
the exact same amount accomplished with less vitriol while on vacation?)
ACADEMIC STUDIES AND NATIONAL POLLS CAME OUT to prove just about
anything you’d like to prove. Parents and educators really don’t know
very much about the Common Core. The same goes for the Common Core State
Standards. Most parents like their kid’s schools and think their kid’s
teachers are doing a good job. Generally parents don’t think teachers
should be evaluated by test scores but The LA Times and Dr Deasy and
Arne Duncan think otherwise. The Great Recession is over ...but revenues
are below expectations. UTLA & LAUSD are at odds over Professional
Development, Teacher Evaluation and Common Core. Ed Reform, Charter
Schools, and Testing (especially by Pearson) are trending downward.
Vouchers are definitely bad and a school office clerk talked a gunman
out of shooting up a school.
ON SATURDAY MORNING The United Way of Greater Los Angeles convened a
small but mighty focus group of parents from across L.A. to discuss a
number of issues – but focused primarily on accountability (and true
local control) concerning the Local Control Funding Formula in LAUSD.
In addition to parents there were a couple of college students and a
smattering of student students. There was one babe in arms. We were
Brown and Black and White and Asian; Dreamers and working class and
middle class. There were self-described community activists and PTA
leaders and single issue advocates and Valley housewives and East LA
madrés y padrés and brand new kindergarten parents. It may just have
been the convening of Margaret Mead's Small Dedicated Few – the only
ones who ever change the world. And if not the world at least the Los
Angeles Unified School District.
Don’t stay tuned, get involved. "We need in every community a group of
angelic troublemakers. Our power is in our ability to make things
unworkable." -Bayard Rustin, the gay black pacifist at the heart of –
and the chief strategist for – The March on Washington for Jobs and
Freedom, 50 years ago Wednesday.
There are Opportunities for Local Action: WHAT CAN WE DO TO ENSURE OUR VOICE IS HEARD?
• Parents can voice their need to have input by engaging with the Board
of Education and their current resolutions. WE CAN BECOME THE UNITED
VOICE OF THOUSANDS …the voice for 640,000 - and the generation in the
wings.
• The LAUSD is still forming Parent Advisory Councils and needs our input. WE MUST BECOME INVOLVED AT OUR LOCAL SCHOOLS.
• The School Board is determining whether local schools or the District
will make decisions on spending. WE NEED TO SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE ABOUT
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY; we must define both “Local” and
“Control”.
• Only a broad citywide parent movement can inform all decision makers how parents feel about LCFF.
• WE MUST BECOME UNITED AS PARENTS. Not the United Way parents or the
PTA Parents or the Wonder Mountain Elementary School parents - but
United as Parents.
Because if not us, whom? If not now, when?
We touched on it in a breakout. The question was asked: How many
parents is the critical mass? In the end one is reminded of what Arlo
taught in Alice’s Restaurant, all those years ago:
“…if you’re in a situation like that there's only one thing you can do
and that's walk into The Shrink wherever you are , just walk in say:
"Shrink, you can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant." And walk out.
“You know, if One Person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and they won't take him.
“And if two people, two people do it, in harmony, they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
“And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking
in, singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out? They may think
it's an Organization.
“And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day, I said Fifty people a
day walking in singin' a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out?
“Friends they may thinks it's a movement. And that's what it is, the
Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and all you got to do to join
is sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar.
“You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.”
So sing it with me. With feeling.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
CO-LO TURF WARS - FOUGHT ON THE CAMPUSES, IN THE
DISTRICT BOARDROOM, AND IN THE COURTS + smf’s 2¢
SCHOOLS DIVIDED: CHARTERS AND LA UNIFIED FIGHTING OVER SPACE ON SHARED CAMPUSES
Annie Gilbertson, Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/16vaDKH
August 23rd, 2013, 7:00am :: The Los Angeles Unified School District
filed papers with the state Supreme Court this week opposing a claim by
charter schools that the district is hogging space on campuses, in
violation of a voter-approved initiative.
“Charter schools receive the poor facilities," said Richardo Soto, an
attorney with the California Charter Schools Association, which filed
the appeal. “They don’t get the cream of crop - to the extent that it
exists at the school district."
The case involves co-location – when a charter and traditional public
school share a school site. The situation was created by Proposition 39,
approved by California voters in 2000. It requires districts to allow
charters to operate on traditional school grounds. About 77 charters
currently share space with traditional L.A. Unified schools.
David Huff, an attorney representing L.A. Unified, said like with any roommate, co-habitation can be tough.
“And the reason it’s tough is because these public school campuses, when
they were built 40, 60, 80, 100 years ago, they weren’t designed to
accommodate two separately operating programs on one campus," said Huff.
There's only have one principal’s office, one kitchen, one library.
“I mean would they prefer not to have co-location?" said Huff. "I think
both schools – the charter school and the public school – would prefer
not to be co-located. But nevertheless they are able to operate.”
L.A. Unified gives charters a certain number of classrooms based on how many students they have.
The charters want to force the district to factor in specialized rooms,
too. If the traditional public school has a library, the charter should
also get an extra room.
L.A. Unified said that’s not necessary. Huff said those additional rooms
on campuses – computer labs and reading centers - are already being
shared.
The two sides have been fighting for years. The charters filed a lawsuit and won. The district appealed and won.
Now the charters have taken the case to the state Supreme Court. It is expected to hear arguments next year.
●● smf’s 2¢: Make no mistake, the court of appeal already ruled that
LAUSD is right and the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) is
wrong in their application of Prop 39 in the case referred to in the
opening of this article. The court filings this week [see: STATE
SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE CHARTER SCHOOL ACCESS TO LAUSD CAMPUSES http://bit.ly/18bRP4y]
are about charter school folks taking the case on appeal to the state
Supreme Court. That case was previously decided on fairly narrow grounds
– the appeals court ruling that LAUSD gets to use its own standards for
how many students can go in a classroom, not the charter school’s.
LAUSD doesn’t have to further overcrowd classes to accommodate the
charter schools wish for (for lack of a better word:) undercrowded
classrooms. It’s about fairness and equity and “reasonable equivalency”
…which seems like a legalistic tap-dance around ‘separate-but-equal’ to
me!
LAST TUESDAY’S LAUSD BOARD MEETING produced a lively debate on this
subject, with an obvious majority opinion in the audience – and an
emerging opinion on the board – for challenging ALL co-locations –
triggered by unpleasantness at Lorena Elementary over the co-location
of Extera Charter School on that campus.
Against the wishes of those who would prefer they be more cautious the Board of Ed stirred:
“After a lengthy, convoluted and emotional discussion, the board OK’d an
initial resolution drafted on the fly by member Steve Zimmer to lobby
lawmakers for changes that address LAUSD’s concerns. Zimmer’s plan also
would prohibit charter operators from recruiting students from
traditional schools while on the campus and to explore whether to file a
class-action lawsuit on behalf of children negatively affected by a
co-located charter.
“The formal resolution will be considered at the board’s Sept. 10 meeting.” LA Daily News - http://bit.ly/183qCRq
UNSPOKEN IN TUESDAY’S DEBATE was the fact that LAUSD
played-fast-and-loose its own rules+procedures – worked out in
negotiations with CCSA - in offering co-location space at Lorena
Elementary to Extera Charter.
Here’s a bit of history+process in the form of a timeline:
• Extera was offered co-location accommodations at Wadsworth Elementary
per the Board policy by Feb 1st – as the policy prescribes.
• On March 1st the Charters respond to the preliminary offers.
• On April 1st LAUSD makes its final offer
• And by May 1 the Charter must ACCEPT or REJECT the offer.
LAUSD POLICY BULLETIN 5532: “If the charter school does not notify the
District by this [May 1] deadline that it intends to occupy the offered
space, then the space shall remain available for District programs and
the charter school shall not be entitled to use District facilities in
the following fiscal year.” | http://bit.ly/14tpzgu
[NOTE the policy does not say: “shall not be entitled to use the offered space” – it says “District facilities”.]
Somehow Extera went around the process and apparently a school board
member in the midst of a reelection bid – and/or
party-or-parties-unknown – arranged for Lorena
• WHICH WAS NEVER ON THE LIST OF POTENTIAL PROP 39 CO-LOs IDENTIFIED ON FEB 1st –
• or the final list approved by the Board on April 16 (Board Report 233 12-13)
…to be offered-up as a co-location site LATER THAN THE LAST MINUTE and
AFTER ALL THE PUBLISHED DEADLINES …and without consultation with the
Lorena community.
The Board Report on this item (015-13/14) refers to a “Dispute
Resolution Process” between LAUSD and Extera – there is no provision for
dispute resolution in Policy Bulletin 5532...
There are a number of names for this sort of thing …but let’s just call it a “Done Deal” and leave it at that!
CALIFORNIA STATE AUDITOR SAYS SCHOOLS SHOULD MEASURE
IF ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAMS ARE WORKING: Cites LAUSD as a district that
doesn’t + smf’s 2¢
● REPORT: MOST LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES DO NOT
EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR SCHOOL SAFETY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION
PROGRAMS, AND THE STATE SHOULD EXERCISE STRONGER LEADERSHIP
By Loretta Kalb, Sacramento Bee | http://bit.ly/15aVVw2
Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013 - 12:00 am |Last Modified: Wednesday, Aug. 21,
2013 - 10:56 am :: California's state auditor, citing recent
high-profile tragedies tied to bullying, called on the Sacramento City
Unified School District as well as districts statewide to gauge whether
their anti-harassment programs are working.
The auditor found that a large majority of school districts and other
public education providers have established policies and complaint
processes to combat discrimination, harassment, intimidation and
bullying.
But most around the state, and none of three large districts that the
auditor studied, including Sacramento City Unified, adequately evaluated
the effectiveness of their programs. The auditor also closely examined
the Fresno and Los Angeles unified school districts.
For the review conducted at the state Legislature's request, auditors
visited two campuses in each district, including Sutter Middle School
and John F. Kennedy High School in Sacramento.
While all three districts have imposed policies to stop bullying, the
state auditor found none adequately communicated its expectations to
officials at individual schools. And all had weaknesses in resolving
complaints.
The state auditor also surveyed 1,394 respondent districts, county education offices and charter schools.
Gabe Ross, Sacramento City Unified spokesman, responded that the
district was one of the first in the area two years ago to put together a
comprehensive anti-bullying policy.
"It's important to note that our kids are safer today than they were two
years ago," Ross said. "As the audit points out, there are policies and
practices we can improve on. But it really doesn't talk about the big
picture."
The state laws and policies aimed at anti-bullying were costly
requirements, he said, "and, of course, (state leaders) didn't give us
any resources. We've tried to be creative in a challenging environment."
He said the district used grant funds to hire a full-time, anti-bullying specialist, for example.
He called the audit "a helpful cross-section of some of the challenges
and issues going on around the state. But it's hardly a scientific
study."
The state auditor added that while California law does not require
training in bullying prevention, the three districts had taken steps to
provide training.
Sacramento City Unified requires school administrators who regularly
interact with students to attend two hours of bullying prevention and
intervention training every two years. The district also requires
administrators to, in turn, provide the training to their respective
school staff within a year of their own training.
The auditors found that not all Kennedy High School staff had received
their initial training, but were scheduled to do so this month.
Sutter Middle School had trained most of its staff by February 2013.
►From the Report
• Los Angeles Unified’s training requirement differs from the other two
LEAs in that it does not require training specific to preventing and
addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and
bullying. Instead, it has an expectation that site administrators and
school site staff shall be knowledgeable on all of its policies.
• Los Angeles Unified offers training workshops in bullying prevention,
intervention, nondiscrimination, anti-bias, conflict resolution, and
other human relations topics to school sites on an as-needed basis.
• Los Angeles Unified stated that its more than 700 school sites have
differing budgets and needs, which precludes it from requiring that
school sites implement a single specific program on discrimination,
harassment, intimidation, and bullying. Instead, Los Angeles Unified
allows school sites to develop strategies that best fit their culture,
needs, and budget. It requires each site administrator to create a
school site environment that upholds the standards of respect and
civility and understands that bullying and hazing are inappropriate,
harmful, and unacceptable. However,
• Los Angeles Unified does not require each school site to identify any
programs or workshops they are implementing. Los Angeles Unified stated
that it does not require evaluations of the effectiveness of its school
sites’ prevention programs because school sites continually adjust their
practices according to changing trends in bullying prevention, which
makes a precise analysis difficult.
• Moreover, Los Angeles Unified indicated that it does not have the
research staff necessary to conduct district-wide evaluations; however,
it stated that research groups from several universities are conducting
studies on the prevention programs implemented at some of its schools.
• State regulations require LEAs to complete an investigation and send a
written decision to a complainant within 60 days of receiving a written
complaint alleging violation of a state or federal law.-
• Two of the three LEAs we visited—Los Angeles Unified and Sacramento
City Unified—did not always resolve complaints within required time
frames.
• Both Los Angeles Unified’s and Sacramento City Unified’s policies
reiterate the 60-day state-mandated time limit. The LEA may extend the
time limit if it is able to obtain written permission from the
complainant. Otherwise, complaints must be resolved within the 60-day
time limit even when an alternative method, such as an alternative
complaint process or mediation, is used.
• Los Angeles Unified failed to resolve and provide a written decision
within 60 days for 11 of the 20 UCP complaints we reviewed for the
2008–09 to 2012–13 school years. Of those 11 complaints, only two were
approved for an extension of time, and the remaining nine complaints
were between three and 62 days late.
• The UCP coordinator at Los Angeles Unified explained that his former
understanding was that the 60-day time limit did not include holidays,
weekends, vacation days, and mandated time off.
• Los Angeles Unified’s policy requires school sites to submit an
electronic incident report form for all sexual harassment incidents
involving students. However, of the 18 sexual harassment suspensions
occurring during the 2010–11 through 2012–13 school years at the two Los
Angeles Unified school sites we visited, only one incident was
documented in its electronic reporting system.
►AUDITOR'S RECOMMENDATION: To ensure that it is effectively preventing
and addressing incidents of discrimination, harassment, intimidation,
and bullying in its schools, Los Angeles Unified should do the
following:
• Monitor school sites to ensure that they implement school safety programs.
• Measure the effectiveness of its school safety programs at both the district and school site levels.
• Ensure that school sites evaluate the effectiveness of the programs they choose to implement.
• Resolve complaints within 60 calendar days regardless of the complaint process selected.
• Ensure that school sites follow the complaint procedures established in its policies.
►LAUSD’s response to these suggestions is on pp 83-85 of the full document. (link below)
►The State Auditor’s Response to the LAUSD response follows on pp 87-88 but is best encapsulated in the following paragraph:
“Although Los Angeles Unified describes various ways that it expects
school sites to measure the effectiveness of their programs to address
discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying, the methods it
describes do not provide a formal measurement of results against
expected outcomes.”
●● smf’s 2¢: If you have read thus far I STRONGLY ADVISE READING THE WHOLE WRETCHED REPORT!
An audit is never a happy thing, auditors are fault finders and they
find fault – that is their job. When they don’t find fault, they just
keep looking. They are relentless. Professionally they believe Inspector
Javert was the hero of Les Miserables.
The response to findings and the response to the response are
“he-said/she said” arguments. In this case I must say I agree with the
auditors’ general premise: LAUSD doesn’t have a very good way of
addressing this issue …and we are not doing it our way very well.
It’s probably time for a new page, to press Control-Alt-Delete and reboot. This is not a moment for a critique of the critique.
BEST HOPE FOR COMMON CORE IMPLEMENTATION? TIME TO PLAN WITH COLLEAGUES
UTLA SURVEY SHOWS THAT TEACHERS WANT THE CHANCE TO COLLABORATE.
From the UTLA United Teacher | http://bit.ly/18U65kH
Aug 23, 2013 :: UTLA’s online survey on Common Core preparation finds
most teachers do not feel prepared to teach Common Core State
Standards, and an overwhelming majority said more planning time and more
time to collaborate with colleagues would be the most useful for
helping prepare.
During the three days the survey was available online, 4,462 UTLA
members completed it. Only 1,000 of those 4,462 have received more than
three days of professional development on Common Core.
SURVEY GRAPHIC RESULTS: http://bit.ly/141EcE0
The survey found that after six days of professional development,
teachers feel much more prepared to serve English learners, students
with disabilities, low income students, and at-risk students.
Among other results of the survey: • In ranking what already has been
most useful in preparing for CCSS, teachers said the most useful
resource has been the teachers and administrators at their school. The
next highest in usefulness were materials produced by the State
Department of Education and professional associations.
• In rating how ready they are to teach CCSS to different student
populations, teachers feel most concerned about being prepared to teach
students with disabilities.
• Overall, teachers think their school has done more to prepare for Common Core than the District or the state.
LAUSD is getting $113 million over two years from the state to implement
Common Core. Superintendent John Deasy is calling for $44 million to be
used to create 200 out of- classroom positions to oversee
implementation.
(The positions come with those bureaucrat-speak names that LAUSD seems
to specialize in, such as an “Organization Change Management Position,”
which would be paid $160,000 a year.)
UTLA President Warren Fletcher presented the survey results to the
School Board at its August 20 meeting, urging the District to listen to
teachers when it comes to this challenging transition.
“Instead of hiring a new cadre of bureaucrats, the wiser course is to
provide paid training days at each teacher’s full rate for LAUSD
teachers to work together,” UTLA President Warren Fletcher says. “For
the first time in a long time, meaningful funds are coming to the
District for professional development, and we need to get this right.”
The Common Core funding can only be used on professional development,
materials, and technology (in other words, it can’t be used to lower
class size or raise employee pay). The funding lasts only two years,
which means that if Deasy is allowed to create a new Common Core
bureaucracy, funding for those positions would become a drain on the
general fund once the money dries up.
“When general classroom funds have to cover out of- classroom positions,
class sizes go up,” Fletcher says. “Deasy’s plan is a Trojan horse for
new class-size increases in 2015-16.”
The School Board will vote on the Common Core implementation budget at its next meeting.
The UTLA survey was not designed to measure dissatisfaction with larger
Common Core issues. As CCSS is being rushed into classrooms in nearly
every district in the country, teachers continue to air serious and
substantive concerns with what is being called the “next big thing” in
education reform.
“Professional educators know that the Common Core standards are not a
panacea,” Fletcher says. “But despite that, we will continue to advocate
for what we need to do best by our students.”
TO TEST OR NOT TO TEST?: Last-minute negotiations
focus on bill to replace STAR system By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet
Report – http://bit.ly/17brjeE
By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report – http://bit.ly/17brjeE
Friday, August 23, 2013 :: Three months ago, as the final details of
the 2013-14 state budget were being negotiated, consensus between Gov.
Jerry Brown and legislative leaders seemed to also coalesce around how
and when schools would move to a new student performance testing system
based on common national standards.
Today, key details over how California would terminate the Standardized
Testing and Reporting, or STAR, system and launch new computer-adaptive
assessments based on the Common Core appear to be under serious
discussion by the Brown administration, state schools chief Tom
Torlakson and legislative leaders.
AB 484, the legislative vehicle for implementing the transition, is
stalled in the Senate’s Appropriation Committee as amendments to the
bill are considered. Sources close to the conversation say the
administration is concerned about the scope of the bill and has
expressed interest in narrowing the number of changes it would execute.
There appears still to be strong support among stakeholders to follow
through with the biggest parts of the transition plan – that is, to
suspend the STAR program as of July of this year and to prepare for
administering the new assessments in the spring of 2015.
A plan to also suspend tests now given to newly-arrived
Spanish-speaking students appears to be one of the issues under review.
There’s also the question of how the state’s high school exit exam would
be integrated into the new program.
Cost is also a major issue in the talks. AB 484, by Assemblywoman Susan
Bonilla, D-Concord, would delegate authority to the California
Department of Education to enter into contracts for the new testing
system that is still under development. The final price of the program
would be set by members of the multi-state Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium.
An initial cost estimate released last month said that buying and
installing a new system of K-12 student assessments aligned to the new
standards will likely cost California $67 million.
For that price, the state would receive test developer Smarter
Balanced’s “complete system,” which includes several types of
assessments as well as a digital library – all of which is proposed in
key legislation that would authorize the transition to the new
assessments.
It is unclear if the conversations over amending the bill have developed
any serious complications – principals engaged in the talks have only
confirmed that negotiations are taking place.
Mike Kirst, one of the governor’s key education advisers and president
of the California State Board of Education, said only that “the
administration is still discussing options with the author, so it is not
appropriate to talk now.”
A spokeswoman for Bonilla also said their office is “working on the bill with the governor.”
It comes as something of a surprise that key components of the bill were
not worked out sooner. A comprehensive plan for transitioning to the
new Smarter Balanced testing was issued by Torlakson’s office in January
with parts of the plan incorporated into the Bonilla bill in the
spring.
Lawmakers in May set aside rival legislation that would have given schools at least until 2016 to make the transition.
Still, the stakes are enormous. This year’s budget set aside is $1.25
billion for Common Core expenses – including teacher training, new
instructional materials and technology needs.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
◄►1st look at next weeks’ 4LAKids: SEARCH ENGINES
FOR iPADS, SCHOOL+HOME COMPUTERS AND FACULTY/STUDENT RESEARCH: While
Microsoft‘s Bing and Graphite from Common Sense Media are making a lot
of noise about their porn+ad-free/instructionally appropriate/standards
aligned ”Trusted” search engines -- LAUSD already has a powerful and
publicly accessible application for general use and scholarly research
that incorporates the Standards, Curriculum, approved reading lists,
age-and-grade-level appropriate prescreened web content …and every book
in every LAUSD school library!
The Application is School Librarian Approved – so shhhh! with the
noise. Read about it here next week – or check it out now: Every school
in LAUSD has a front end at http://lausd.follettdestiny.com
____________________________
BEST HOPE FOR COMMON CORE IMPLEMENTATION? TIME TO PLAN WITH COLLEAGUES: UTLA survey shows that teachers want t... http://bit.ly/1aG0Ysu
Survey: MOST HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES NOT READY FOR COLLEGE: By Josh Dulaney, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/1 ... http://bit.ly/16v7NW5
Supplement or supplant?: FEDS CITE CA SCHOOLS OVER POSSIBLE MISUSE OF TITLE III/ELL PROGRAMS: Question also ar... http://bit.ly/1aD4Av8
TO TEST OR NOT TO TEST?: Last-minute negotiations focus on bill to replace STAR system: By Tom Chorneau, SI&A ... http://bit.ly/14PMZZE
LAUSD CHARGED WITH VIOLATING UNION CONTRACT IN TEACHER EVALUATION + smf’s 2¢: By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Da... http://bit.ly/16XctKo
Marshall Tuck in this week's EdWeek: "Turnarounds Take Leadership & Humility" http://bit.ly/19MEarx In other words: "Stay the Course"… then jumps ship+runs 4 SPI!
PUBLIC OPPOSES USE OF TEST SCORES IN TEACHER REVIEWS, POLL SHOWS: By Teresa Watanabe and Marina Villeneuve, L.... http://bit.ly/16gQCYh
CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS RISING FROM BUDGET DEPTHS, REPORT FINDS: By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://bit.l... http://bit.ly/1auwUjl
STATE SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE CHARTER SCHOOL ACCESS TO LAUSD CAMPUSES: By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily New... http://bit.ly/16PNIzU
CALIFORNIA STATE AUDITOR SAYS SCHOOLS SHOULD MEASURE IF ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAMS ARE WORKING: Cites LAUSD as a d... http://bit.ly/15bdyfd
L.A. UNIFIED UNION, DISTRICT AT ODDS OVER BEST WAY TO TRAIN TEACHERS FOR COMMON CORE: By John Fensterwald, EdS... http://bit.ly/1bUgheK
THOU SHALT HAVE HAVE NO GOD BUT COMMON CORE, AND PEARSON IS HIS PROFIT: “Oops!” in Virginia, Clueless in L.A.... http://bit.ly/16dZuxQ
THREE POLLS SHOW MIXED REPORT CARD FOR EDUCATION REFORMS: Surveys suggest Americans know little about Common C... http://bit.ly/14DAXTc
UPDATED-MARSHALL TUCK: Frmr Mayor Tony associate to challenge state Supt. Torlakson + e-mail from Marshall & smf’s 2¢ http://bit.ly/18KbQRR
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD RATFIIES HIRING OF GARCETTI’S TOP EDUCATION AIDE: By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.m... http://bit.ly/1arHtUd
School Board Meeting Wrap-up: MORE DISCUSSION THAN VOTES: by Hillel Aron in LA School Report | http://bi... http://bit.ly/16c0SB3
PROTESTERS TARGET LAUSD BOARD MEETING OVER PLAN FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS: by Anthony Kurzweil, KTLA-TV | ... http://bit.ly/16bWr9g
MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS? LA Unified wrestles with influx of cash: Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC... http://bit.ly/16LEFjh
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
Monica.Ratliff@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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