All our silliness, continued

4LAKids: Sunday 26•Jan•2014 In This Issue:  •  L.A. SCHOOLS' IPAD WATCHDOG COMMITTEE SET TO DISBAND + smf’s J’ACCUSE  •  AALA WEIGHS IN ON DISBANDING OF COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY/iPAD OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE & LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA ROLL OUT  •  VERGARA v. CALIFORNIA: Making the case for “Firing our way to Finland”  •  WorkKeys: CERTIFICATION TEST FOCUSES ON READYING STUDENTS FOR WORK, NOT COLLEGE  •  HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources  •  EVENTS: Coming up next week...  •  What can YOU do? Featured Links:  •  Give the gift of a 4LAKids Subscription to a friend or colleague!  •  Follow 4 LAKids on Twitter - or get instant updates via text message by texting "Follow 4LAKids" to 40404  •  4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved!  •  4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. One can make too much of almost everything that happens. 4LAKids often does. But inevitably almost every+anything eventually happens in LAUSD ….it’s what’s known in military parlance as a target rich environment. Take Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Board of Education. There were 2 count ‘em 2 items on the agenda. Item One and Item Two: The first reading of resolutions that weren’t up for consideration or debate or a vote – and a bunch of adminsitrivial closed session items about routine personnel matters and collective bargaining negotiations. There were more folks on the dais than in the audience. There were no iPads on the agenda, no budget items, no charters, no RIF’s, no mobilized stakeholders with similar colored t-shirts. What could possibly go wrong? One of the items was a previous issue that had failed in a three to three tie previously (with one abstention) …with the abstaining voter wishing to modify the language of the proposition so that he could support it. The give+take stuff of governance. (See: TWO MONTHS AFTER HE KILLED ONE PLAN, KAYSER HAS HIS OWN TITLE I IDEAS) The abstaining voter was Bennett Kayser; the original motion was made by Tamar Galatzan. The subject was changing the threshold to allow more schools to participate in Title I federal funding. (More schools is an overstatement – both Galatzan+Kayser’s motions would allow the same number of schools in LAUSD that have historically participated in Title I to continue.) Mr. Kayser’s resolution would actually allow Ms. Galatzan’s intent to prevail. (If you haven’t been following the internal politics you must understand that Ms Galatzan and Mr. Kayser frequently disagree – but here there was the appearance of a meeting of minds.) One would think. But Ms. Galatzan challenged Mr. Kayser on grounds of parliamentary procedure – Board Rule #73 had been violated because a substantially similar item had been introduced without the prerequisite six months wait. • Let me add here the Brigadier General Henry M. Roberts, USA (ret) who wrote the book on parliamentary procedure, established those rules to facilitate debate – not stifle it. ”This should be used solely for the purpose of suggesting ways to conduct fair and orderly meetings.” • “Substantially similar” is a semantic playground for lawyers to play in – and it took a certain amount of prodding Tuesday AM to legal counsel present to opine that the Kayser resolution “might be” substantially similar to Galatzan’s. • Board Rule #73 can be waived by a simple vote, but to have that vote Board Rule #72– which waives the 72 hour advance notice requirement be for a vote - must first be waived. • Hence a three way stand-off between Board Rules 73 and 72 and Joseph Heller’s Catch 22 – which trumps everything except Murphy’s Law (which is inviolate). Ms. Galatzan, the obvious deciding vote – and with schools in Her District (see http://bit.ly/L5zli2) having the most to gain – did not blink. (She did shove her microphone around irritably – but that would go without saying …except that I just did.) Ms. Garcia weighed in on the patent unfairness to the kids of Her District (ibid) of these flagrant violations of the sacred board rules, appealing to Dr. Vladovic that this would never have been allowed to happen during the golden age of her board presidency – and Dr. V agreed. How had that non-compliant resolution even appeared on the agenda? Those LAUSD Board Rules – which Moses had in his back pocket when he descended from Sinai - are best untampered with. The end result: Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Nada. An item not scheduled for debate was defeated without a vote. NOT EXACTLY NADA. Dr. V announced, almost in passing, that he was appointing Ms. Ratliff to chair the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee, a role formerly held by the late Ms. LaMotte. And he also announced he would be disbanding the Common Core Technology Project (iPad Oversight) Committee – thanking Ms Ratliff and the committee for their service. That news was not received well by some committee members, critics, observers and skeptics around the Apple/Pearson/LAUSD vortex of ®eform. (AALA WEIGHS IN ON ELIMINATION OF LAUSD COMMON CORE... + PARENTS AND TEACHERS PROTEST LAUSD’S ELIMINATION O...) GOVERNOR BROWN GAVE HIS STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS LAST WEEK. President Obama gives his State of the Nation next week. Dr. Deasy, who presides over the two bit circus at Beaudry, crossed over the freeway to City Hall in search of a less dysfunctional/more sympathetic governing body in the Education and Parks Committee of the City Council -- to deliver his annual State of the Schools address. (see: L.A. CITY HALL TAKES A FRESH LOOK AT LAUSD ) Whether he found sympathy or function is unclear. Previous States of The Schools have been delivered by previous superintendents to invited audiences but last years’ was poorly attended. This year it was the superintendent who was invited …to present a speech in search of an audience? City Council President Wesson appointed a commission to enumerate+elucidate upon what is wrong in LA. The commission – a compendium of City Hall cronies, insiders and friends of former Mayor Tony declared LAUSD the problem without interviewing anyone from the District. The Education and Parks Commission was shocked + apologetic over the commission’s lapse …though not excessively either. Dr. Deasy welcomed the council’s attention and partnership – although in what was unclear - and went on to declare that whether the iPads solve the achievement gap, improve test scores, provide a test platform, delver the Common Core Curriculum, replace textbooks, empower instruction, level the playing field or solve poverty (all have been offered as reasons at various times) - he doesn’t understand the controversy. (See; Twitterpated: SUPERINTENDENT DEASY CROSSES THE FREEWAY ) In Santa Barbara and Houston other school districts made other decisions supporting 1-to-1 computing in the classroom. (See SANTA BARBARA UNIFIED APPROVES $700,000 iPAD PURCHASE & HOUSTON LAUNCHES AMBITIOUS 1-to-1 COMPUTING INITIATIVE) Campus radicals gathered on the lawn north of school. Hey children, what’s that sound? And I went down to the demonstration To get my fair share of abuse Singing, "We're gonna vent our frustration If we don't we're gonna blow a 50-amp fuse." McGuinn and McGuire just a-gettin' higher in L.A., You know where that's at And no one's gettin' fat except…. ¡Onward/Adelante! - smf L.A. SCHOOLS' IPAD WATCHDOG COMMITTEE SET TO DISBAND + smf’s J’ACCUSE ► DECISION TO END SCHOOLS' IPAD PANEL RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT OVERSIGHT OF THE PROGRAM THAT HAS HAD A BUMPY ROLLOUT By Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1hyCIsp January 19, 2014, 4:57 p.m. :: The watchdog committee for the Los Angeles school district's $1-billion iPad program is scheduled to fold, raising questions about oversight of the ongoing effort to provide every student, teacher and administrator with a computer. The decision to disband the panel as of April was announced last week by Board of Education President Richard Vladovic. "I think there needs to be a conclusion of some sort," he said in an interview. He also insisted that all necessary oversight would continue. School board committees, the purview of the president, are intended to allow members to publicly ask in-depth questions and raise concerns about policies and proposals for which there isn't enough time during regular meetings. They also can be used to change recommendations before they reach the full board. Critics consider the panels redundant to the board's work, a prodigious waste of staff time. Previous board president Monica Garcia had dissolved them. Vladovic said he intended to strike a middle ground, making most committees temporary, with a defined, finite purpose. Even so, his announcement caught Monica Ratliff, who chairs the watchdog technology committee, by surprise. Ratliff's panel bears the cumbersome name of Common Core Technology Project Committee — Common Core refers to new state learning standards in math and English. The district intends to reach these academic goals through curriculum installed on the iPads, although that is not a state requirement. The iPads also will be used for new state tests, which eventually must be given by computer. The 12-member panel consists of appointees from the community and district-related organizations, including employee unions. Some have complained that the panel has impeded an innovative effort that would otherwise have progressed further and faster. The iPad program was envisioned as a national model, and senior officials, including Supt. John Deasy, defend the overall effort as superlative. Others credit Ratliff's group for slowing a project that was being carried out too hastily. "It's very clear that the rollout had some problems and the district has been well served by admitting there were problems and beginning to address them," said Ratliff. Also, "It was really important for the public to have their questions asked publicly and, to a degree, answered." The panel has raised or unearthed issues that senior administrators sometimes fumbled, providing incomplete, inaccurate and conflicting information. At one point, for example, they said the iPads didn't need keyboards, then later that they did, then that they knew all along that keyboards would be necessary. At another juncture, an administrator said the district owned the curriculum on the iPads; later, officials conceded that, in fact, the curriculum was licensed for three years. Just last week, Ratliff related the latest of her unsuccessful attempts to get access to the full curriculum, which was selected based on incomplete samples. The work of the committee also influenced changes to the project, such as the addition of a fuller evaluation and a trial of laptop computers for older students. Ratliff said that continued scrutiny remains necessary, but she did not criticize Vladovic's move. Vladovic wants her to take the helm of the curriculum and instruction committee, which was left without a leader when board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte died in December. Vladovic said the coming months will bring crucial decisions about instruction that will, at times, overlap with the computer issues Ratliff has been overseeing. Deasy said he had no comment about the evolving committees, calling it a board issue. But in the past he has expressed concerns that the panels consume too much staff time. Other elements of oversight remain in place. The school district's inspector general is examining the process that led to the computer contract, which was intended to supply more than 570,000 iPads at a cost of $768 apiece. The board also will commission an evaluation of the computers' effect on student achievement. Because the project is being paid for with voter-approved school-construction bonds, a separate committee, which oversees bond spending, also will continue with limited jurisdiction. For years, the bond oversight group habitually supported staff recommendations. For the computer effort, however, the panel balked when Deasy sought one-time blanket endorsement of the entire effort, even before vendors began bidding for the work. The bond panel insisted on a right to review each major expenditure of bond funds. The result is that it has examined the iPad project each time officials asked for substantial additional funding. Last week, for example, Chairman Stephen English challenged the district's analysis of how many iPads would be needed for upcoming state standardized tests. Decisions by the bond panel are not binding on the school board, but district officials have rarely departed from its recommendations. Last week, however, was different. Materials from the most recent meeting of the bond oversight panel were not included in the information packet prepared for the board and the public. These materials included support for the panel's analysis that fewer iPads were needed. Deasy stood by his own numbers, and, in the end, the board gave him the discretion to buy as many iPads as he felt would be necessary. Scott Folsom, a member of the bond committee, said he is concerned by Vladovic's move to disband Ratliff's panel. But he said he understands that it was not meant to be permanent. "If Ratliff produces a report and the committee is dissolved, that is that," he said. ______________________ ► J’ACCUSE: THE WIRELESS DISCONNECT IN LAUSD By smf for 4LAKidsNews 20 Jan 2014 :: Howard Blume writes in his article (above) on the ongoing iPad fiasco misadventure* in LAUSD: “Materials from the most recent meeting of the bond oversight panel were not included in the information packet prepared for the board and the public. These materials included support for the panel's analysis that fewer iPads were needed.” http://lat.ms/1hyCIsp I mentioned this oversight by the superintendent’s staff in my testimony to the board on Jan 14th – ‘oversight’ being the committee I serve on’s middle name. (I’m making light of this because if one doesn’t laugh one must get angry – and it’s a holiday weekend celebrating a prophet of nonviolence – which is anger management at the extreme.) The Bond Oversight Committee’s position was hardly secret. It had been reported in the news. It was posted on the BOC website. I posted the BOC resolution on my website. But the staff’s failure to include it in the Board Briefing Book was an egregious - and I suspect intentional - failure to communicate. The staff is an extension of the superintendent’s office. The responsibility for the failure - if not the decision - is entirely that of Superintendent Deasy. This is the information transmitted to the Board in the briefing book for the Meeting of Jan 14th|http://bit.ly/1f63abw| Item 1/pp 5 of 480: Issues and Analysis: This item was considered by the School Construction Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) at its meeting of November 20, 2013. The BOC’s adopted resolution, including the vote of the Committee, is included in the attachment. True on the face of it; nonetheless False in the extreme. Because the BOC also met and adopted a resolution on December 18th. It is this resolution that addresses the Board Report of Dec 10th; the Board Agenda Item #1 of Jan 14th. HERE IS THE BOC’s ACTUAL RESOLUTION of DECEMBER 18th – BOC Resolution 2013-36-A http://bit.ly/1bCTLcv – reached after lengthy and far deeper debate by the BOC then of that by the Board of Ed. The BOC position on numbers of devices needed for testing is totally in line with what Ms. Galatzan seems to believe is her original idea of “Not-to- Exceed permission”. It’s just that her permission is excessively permissive. On the Monday before the Jan 14th Board of Ed meeting the BOC delivered copies of the missing resolution to the board member ‘s offices – but there is no evidence that they were received by the actual board members, inserted into their briefing books – or even read by staff or the boardmembers. At the Board of Ed meeting Bond Oversight Committee Chair Stephen English addressed the Board and attempted correction of whatever misapprehension may have been created – but at this point I believe whatever damage was done was done. Bond Oversight Committee Chair English presented a PowerPoint in his presentation to the Board – which follows. He was also prepared to answer any questions from the Board with a continued presentation – which specifically identifies why the BOC believes that the 38,500 iPads for Testing the BOC approved was generous if not excessive. But the board asked no questions – essentially treating Mr. English like another public commenter who interrupts what even Ms. Garcia described at the meeting as “Our nonsense”. To cut the superintendent an inch of slack – it appears that he is going to initially order only the iPads in numbers recommended by the Bond Oversight Committee. I thank him for that – but I don’t trust any public official any more than I trust a contractor or motion picture propmaster or a middle-schooler-borrowing –a-credit-card to come in with a number much less than a “Do Not Exceed” maximum. Miracles happen …but not so one can depend on them! Quoting Michael Jackson: If this town Is just an apple Then let me take a bite [chorus] If they say - Why, why, Tell 'em that is Human Nature *A “fiasco” is one of those straw-wrapped bottles Chianti comes in. It’s gonna take a pitcher of Margaritas to get through this mess! • The first 6 pages of the following is BOC Chair English’s PowerPoint presented to the Board of Ed, • pp 7 is intentionally blank. • the next 10 pages were created to answer the unasked questions. THE COMPLETE POWERPOINT PRESENTATION TO THE BOARD ON JAN 14TH AALA WEIGHS IN ON DISBANDING OF COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY/iPAD OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE & LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA ROLL OUT Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update - Week of January 27, 2014 | http://bit.ly/1eY254Y ►COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY PROJECT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE IS DISBANDED! Jan 23, 2014 :: Board of Education President Dr. Richard Vladovic announced last week that he was disbanding the Common Core Technology Project (CCTP) Committee as of April. The committee has the responsibility to provide oversight of the LAUSD $1 billion project to provide iPads or laptops to every student, teacher and administrator in the District and is intended as a vehicle to allow the public to receive in-depth information that cannot be fully provided at a regular meeting of the Board due to time constraints. Dr. Vladovic was quoted in the Los Angeles Times (January 20, 2014) as saying, “I think there needs to be a conclusion of some sort.” While we understand that the establishment of LAUSD School Board Committees is under the purview of the president, one can only wonder why the oversight committee needs to come to a conclusion in the middle of the rollout. Why would it not conclude when every student has his or her iPad? What has necessitated this drastic move now? Even Board Member Mónica Ratliff, the chair of the committee, was surprised to learn that her committee was being eliminated as are we, at AALA, especially since some particularly pointed and relevant questions about the CCTP have been raised at recent meetings. Due to incomplete and often conflicting information being presented to the committee, the timeline of the CCTP has been appropriately slowed down. The committee’s work has also caused the inclusion of a more thorough evaluation of the project and a pilot of the use of laptop computers with older students. While the CCTP committee has received criticism that it has provided roadblocks for what Superintendent John Deasy calls a superlative effort of what could be a national model, it has also been commended for slowing the pace of a too hastily implemented initiative. And even as there are lingering unanswered questions about whether the use of construction bond money for iPads is a legitimate expense, the Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) will have some limited jurisdiction of the CCTP as part of its many responsibilities. However, we question its effectiveness or influence since the BOC recently made some well-documented recommendations to the Board for the appropriate use of the bond money that were summarily ignored. We doubt that the same level of inquiry and oversight that was yielded by the CCTP Committee, under the leadership of Ms. Ratliff, can continue with this change by Dr. Vladovic. Ms. Ratliff will become chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Committee that was formerly led by the late Ms. Marguerite LaMotte. While we are certain that Ms. Ratliff will do a commendable job in this role and know that her leadership is needed on this critical committee, we cannot help but wonder who will be overseeing the CCTPor is that something that Dr. Vladovic and Dr. Deasy no longer think is necessary? We are currently in the process of securing an opportunity to speak with Dr. Vladovic to better understand his vision for Board Committees and oversight of the CCTP. ►LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA (LCFF) As Governor Brown delivered his State-of-the-State speech on Wednesday, January 22, 2014, he expressed his vision for the Local Control Funding Formula. His comments included the following: …This was a major breakthrough in the way funds are allocated to California’s schools so that our laws explicitly recognize the difficult problems faced by low-income families and those whose first language is other than English. As a result, those with less are going to receive more and that is good for all of us. But something else is at work in this Local Control Funding Formula. Instead of prescriptive commands issued from headquarters here in Sacramento, more general goals have been established for each local school to attain, each in its own way. This puts the responsibility where it has to be: In the classroom and at the local district…Each local district now has to put into practice what the Local Control Funding Formula has made possible. That, together with new Common Core standards for math and English, will be a major challenge for teachers and local administrators. But they are the ones who can make it work and I have every confidence they will. There are multiple guidelines and regulations that come with the LCFF, many of which are still being developed and will definitely impact administrators throughout the District. The article below, from the Chief Operating Officer, is just an example of some of the additional work that must be done. We know that each school must develop an Accountability Plan that is due in June and are eagerly awaiting guidance for administrators from the central office and the ESCs. ►REQUIRED DATA COLLECTION FOR LCFF AALA thanks Enrique “Rick” Boull’t, Chief Operating Officer, for providing this information. As noted above, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) provides school districts with funds based on the needs of students, including English learners, foster youth and those who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. More money is sent to school districts that have higher percentages of these students. In order to access these resources, LAUSD is required to submit each student’s eligibility status for the USDA Free and Reduced Price Meal Program (FRPM). Although this information is already collected from many students throughout the District via the annual FRPM meal applications, there are approximately 138,000 students from 380 campuses for whom the District has no information. Last November, the District launched an initial collection process to collect this vital information from these students. Thanks to the leadership of our principals and school communities, the District now has 80% of the needed information. There remain, however, approximately 27,900 (20%) students from more than 350 school sites, representing millions of dollars, from whom the District still needs information. To capture the remaining information and maximize the District’s allocation of state funding, LAUSD has launched a second and final collection period, which will last for 6 weeks beginning January 17, 2014, and ending on February 28, 2014. Participating schools should have received materials by Friday, January 17, 2014. To support collection efforts, the District has developed a LCFF Resource Site that includes a Principal Toolkit with sample parent flyers, message points, FAQs, best practices and parent letter templates. The District has also established a LCFF Support Call Center to address any questions or concerns regarding the collection process, 213.241.4133. EVERY FORM COUNTS! Every missing form means fewer resources for our classrooms! VERGARA v. CALIFORNIA: Making the case for “Firing our way to Finland” By smf for 4LAKids Jan 26, 2014 :: Monday kicks off the court case of Vergara v. California, (If you’ve found this article by Googling ‘Vergara’- looking for gossip+photos of Latina bombshell Sofia Vergara - you are out of your depth: this content is far shallower.) This story is about getting the courts to get the ‘bad teachers’ out of our schools because the especially-interested billionaires, ®eformies, privatizers, Parent Revolutionaries, charter management organizations, Duncan+Deasy, Waltons, Gates and Broadies , etc., haventt been able to. Yet. The lawsuit should be styled SPECIAL INTEREST I (Corporate-model school ®eform, Inc,) v. SPECIAL INTEREST I (Teacher’s Unions) …and Solomon-in-judicial-robes is standing by, ready to cut the students – and public education – in half. The bankroller of Vergara [http://bit.ly/1bqx5Zh] is a charter proponent/venture capitalist whose résumé includes that he went to public school in Maryland. That would be before Michelle Rhee was a Teach for America teacher there – taping children’s mouths shut. In this courtroom drama nobody wins. The kids lose. Russian Comedy. (Narrator assumes bad Russian accent: “In Russian Tragedy, everybody dies. In Russian Comedy, everybody dies ….but they die happy!”) The time is right to get ‘bad teachers’ out of our vocabulary; bad teachers are not the problem. Poverty is the problem. As in lack of income, opportunity, access and equity. Apparently the Billionaire Boys Club has cornered the market on those. Read Steve Lopez’ column this AM about how Father Boyle can’t raise a dime for Homeboy Industries [http://lat.ms/1fnL0lM] –- but Silicon Valley billionaire/philanthropist/entrepreneurs can buy their day in court for circuses like this. ● Read further: LAWSUIT TAKES ON CALIFORNIA TEACHERS' JOB PROTECTIONS Los Angeles Times http://lat.ms/1fnLMyY A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge will hear arguments this week over the constitutionality of laws that govern California's teacher tenure rules, seniority policies and the dismissal process - an overhaul of which could upend controversial job . TEACHER JOB PROTECTIONS VS. STUDENTS' EDUCATION IN CALIF. NPR – Weekend/Sunday | http://n.pr/1ffSgBO January 26, 2014 8:00 AM :: A potentially landmark lawsuit goes to trial Monday in California. At issue: whether job protections for public school teachers undermine a student's constitutional right to an adequate education. The students and parents who filed the lawsuit see it as a potential model for challenging teacher protection laws in other states. Unions and state officials say the lawsuit demonizes teachers and has no merit. CALIFORNIA TEACHER TENURE, DISMISSAL CHALLENGED IN LAWSUIT Monterey County Herald - ‎ http://bit.ly/1jxVX9n The case, Vergara v. California, is filed on behalf of nine schoolchildren, including Daniella, Brandon Debose Jr. of Oakland and Kate Elliott of San Carlos. The lead plaintiff, Beatriz Vergara, and five others live in Southern California. "This is our chance for ... VERGARA TRIAL SET TO BEGIN: MAJOR TEST FOR CA TEACHERS LA School Report - ‎ http://bit.ly/1iAbg1h Teachers' Jobs vs Students' Rights - Vergara Trial A lawsuit that could dramatically change how California public schools deal with ineffective teachers gets underway Monday in a California Superior Court for Los Angeles County, where LA Unified ... LAWSUIT WRONGLY TARGETS TEACHERS: GUEST COMMENTARY Los Angeles Daily News - ‎ http://bit.ly/1jxWkAR‎ Wrongly arguing that such rights “deprive students of their fundamental right to education,” Vergara v. California attacks as unconstitutional current teacher dismissal statutes — statutes which grant teachers due process rights after a rigorous probationary ... LAWSUIT CHALLENGING TEACHER TENURE, SENIORITY PROTECTIONS GOES TO COURT NEXT WEEK EdSource Today - ‎ http://bit.ly/1e04u2S ‎ The trinity of teachers' rights in California – tenure, seniority and due process in dismissals – will be under attack next week in a trial in Los Angeles with statewide impact and national interest. In Vergara v. California, a nonprofit organization, Students Matter, ... MERCURY NEWS EDITORIAL: TEACHER TENURE, SENIORITY, DUE PROCESS RIGHTS WILL GET ... San Jose Mercury News - ‎ http://bit.ly/1ldrqPW Starting Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, a judge will hear Vergara v. California. The plaintiffs are nine children, including Daniella Martinez, a 12-year-old in San Jose's Alum Rock School District who says she couldn't read by the third grade because ... TRIAL TO CHALLENGE JOB PROTECTIONS FOR CALIFORNIA TEACHERS 89.3 KPCC (blog) - ‎ http://bit.ly/1eY6HrO The suit, Vergara v. State of California, was brought on behalf of teenager Beatriz Vergara and eight other named California public school students. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu will preside over testimony and render a verdict in the bench trial. WorkKeys: CERTIFICATION TEST FOCUSES ON READYING STUDENTS FOR WORK, NOT COLLEGE FOR AMERICAN INDUSTRY, FINDING EMPLOYEES WHO HAVE ALL THE REQUISITE SKILLS IS A BIG CHALLENGE, AND HIRING PEOPLE WHO DON'T STACK UP CAN COST BUSINESSES A GREAT DEAL OF MONEY. Special correspondent John Tulenko from Learning Matters reports on a certification test that aims to boost U.S. students' workforce readiness. PBS NewsHour/Learning Matters | | PBS http://to.pbs.org/1elauOs Airdate: Jan. 22, 2014 | Transcript: GWEN IFILL: Next: the challenge of getting students ready for the working world. While most high schools focus on preparing students for college, businesses in one community outside Chicago are rallying around a different approach, preparing students for work. Special correspondent John Tulenko from Learning Matters has our report. JOHN TULENKO: From the outside, Hoffer Plastics in Elgin, Illinois, looks about the same as it did when it was founded back in 1953. Inside, it's a different story. Bill Hoffer is the CEO. BILL HOFFER, Hoffer Plastics Corporation: We have got job after job that 20 years ago would be a full-time operator. Now it's a robot. JOHN TULENKO: There are fewer workers, but they're required to do more. BILL HOFFER: They need to be able to read blueprints. They need to follow procedures, document what they're doing. And that's all very important. JOHN TULENKO: Right now, finding employees who can do all that is a challenge for Hoffer Plastics and for 40 percent of U.S. companies. The result? A revolving door of workers that cost businesses billions. PAT HAYES, Fabric Images: Why do we keep spending money to solve the same problem over and over and over again? JOHN TULENKO: Pat Hayes is founder of another local company, Fabric Images, a textile printer. Filling 150 positions here the usual way, relying on diplomas and GPAs, left Hayes frustrated. PAT HAYES: What does an A mean to an employer today? I got an A in math. What does that mean? Nothing. Where did you go to school? What level of course? Was it accelerated? Was it a college prep course? I don't know. JOHN TULENKO: To get a better read on an applicant's skill level, both Fabric Images and Hoffer Plastics turned to a job-readiness test called WorkKeys. PAT HAYES: WorkKeys, it's an assessment, what you have accomplished in math, in reading and locating for information. Those three characteristics are in about, I don't know, 98 percent of the jobs at some level. JOHN TULENKO: More specifically, WorkKeys, developed by ACT, the nonprofit behind the college entrance exam, uses actual workplace scenarios to measure how well individuals can decipher charts, graphs and other visual information, convert ratios, measurements, and make calculations across a variety of situations, and effectively comprehend memos, instructions and other authentic workplace documents. There are also tests of visual observation and listening comprehension. PAT HAYES: In our company, we can profile every job that we have based on these core skills. For the first time, I saw a commonality of what an individual had and what I needed, and I could start putting the two things together. JOHN TULENKO: More than 1,000 companies use WorkKeys. Though it hasn't been evaluated by independent researches, company testimonials describe sharp declines in employee turnover and training costs. And businesses may not be the only winners. Recent high school graduate Sarah Rohrsen was accepted at a four-year college, but she found the tuition beyond her reach and decided instead to look for a job. SARAH ROHRSEN, recent high school graduate: It was kind of a disappointment. The only options really were was fast food or, if you're lucky, seasonal work. JOHN TULENKO: Sarah wound up behind the counter at a Wendy's restaurant and kept looking. Nine months later, she applied for a job at Hoffer Plastics, which requires applicants to take WorkKeys. Sarah's top-notch scores landed her a well-paying full-time job with benefits as an inspector. SARAH ROHRSEN: I wasn't happy working at Wendy's, and to come in here thanks to WorkKeys and to be able to know each week my paycheck is going to have 80 hours on it, since we're paid biweekly, it's pretty awesome. JOHN TULENKO: Conventional wisdom has held, the answer to closing the skills gap is to send more people to college. But Sarah Rohrsen's experience points to a different solution: expanding the talent pool to include some 36 million Americans who got into college, but never finished. PAT HAYES: Are they to be thrown away? Why can't we understand where they are? Why can't we get them to some level and utilize them? JOHN TULENKO: And how does WorkKeys help those folks? PAT HAYES: It defines where they are. I have something that says, I achieved this level. JOHN TULENKO: Based on their scores, test takers can earn a work force readiness certificate. In Elgin, more than 100 local businesses have gotten behind the certificate called an NCRC for short, putting signs like this one on their doors. And the businesses lobbied the schools, so high school students would have a chance to test for the certificate, too. JOSE TORRES, U-46 School District: The reason that we have WorkKeys is because I listened to the community, to the business community. JOHN TULENKO: In 2010, local school superintendent Jose Torres made earning NCRC certificates a crucial part of his five-year plan. JOSE TORRES: Our goal in our district is to have 75 percent of our kids about above a gold, which is almost the highest level. JOHN TULENKO: So we went to Elgin High School, a predominantly low-income school where administrators say half the students go directly into the work force, to see how they were doing. Raise your hand if you have heard of something called an NCRC certificate? No hands. OK. It was like this in virtually every classroom we visited, and this was four years after the district adopted the 75 percent goal. Where are you today? JOSE TORRES: We're at 22 percent. JOHN TULENKO: Why are so many students missing the mark for work force readiness? It comes down to priorities. LAURIE NEHF, Elgin High School: I'm not told to have them job-ready. I'm told to have them college-ready. JOHN TULENKO: Like math teachers everywhere, Laurie Nehf follows a curriculum designed to prepare students for college-level calculus. LAURIE NEHF: I'm focusing on linear functions, quadratic functions, polynomial functions, higher-level types of questions from WorkKeys. JOHN TULENKO: WorkKeys doesn't go there, because it's math most students are unlikely to use on the job. Surveys indicate 90 percent of all jobs, including many that pay well, do not require this kind of math. Advanced math is used in most science and technology jobs, but, even with expected growth, they will make up just 5 percent of the nation's work force. LAURIE NEHF: Is it important that they know that a negative under a square root creates an imaginary number? No, that's not really that important. JOHN TULENKO: The impact that math has on many students is important. How often is it that teachers will help you see how what you're learning in class is applicable outside of school? CURTIS MAJKA, student: I don't think very often. A lot of school subjects, like, you don't use, and a lot of people believe that. A lot of people don't try in math because they don't think they're ever going to use it. JOHN TULENKO: To others, that's a misunderstanding. JOSE TORRES: I'm no math expert, but, algebra, what it does, it helps you to think, think critically, think logically. And that is exactly what people need in the workplace. They need to be able to think critically and logically. JOHN TULENKO: Trouble is, those lessons aren't getting through. Across the country, 75 percent of 12th-graders scored below proficient in math. At Elgin High School, it's not much better. Last year in math, 60 percent of students missed the mark. A number of teachers here told us it's not uncommon they find students in their classes who have yet to learn the math taught in middle school. Regardless, these students are placed in algebra and geometry. LAURIE NEHF: They just shut down. They get very frustrated. We won't accept meeting kids where they're at and helping them where they're at. I would love to spend all my time working on percentages, fractions, all that stuff with number sense. That number sense skills is what matters in the real world. JOHN TULENKO: But, right now, providing alternatives to the traditional high school math could be risky. Historically, this math has been a gatekeeper. It's what's tested on college entrance exams, the SAT and, ironically, the ACT, made by the developers of WorkKeys. And unless that changes, there's little incentive for high schools to do more with the kind of math most of us will use on the job. ____________ ● ACT WorkKeys® | Home | ACT https://www.act.org/workkeys/‎ HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources TWEET: @NicholasFerroni retweeted by @rweingarten A simple analogy explaining what Ed ®eforms are asking educators to do. http://pic.twitter.com/YIhO3WuaO5 HOUSTON LAUNCHES AMBITIOUS 1-to-1 COMPUTING INITIATIVE: Houston's PowerUp initiative appears to be the polar o... http://bit.ly/1mTsAi0 CERTIFICATION TEST FOCUSES ON READYING STUDENTS FOR WORK, NOT COLLEGE: For American industry, finding employee... http://bit.ly/LT4qpv Vergara v. California: SHOW TRIAL TO CHALLENGE JOB PROTECTIONS FOR CALIFORNIA TEACHERS BEGINS MONDAY: Adolfo G... http://bit.ly/LQRnou AALA WEIGHS IN ON ELIMINATION OF LAUSD COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY (iPAD) OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE & LOCAL CONTROL FUNDI... http://bit.ly/1fi6kZN PARENTS AND TEACHERS PROTEST LAUSD’S ELIMINATION OF COMMITTEE INVESTIGATING CONTROVERSIAL iPAD PURCHASE: By sm... http://bit.ly/KScIO3 Gov. Brown: THE STATE OF THE STATE …OF PUBLIC EDUCATION + smf’s 2¢ on the Principle of Subsidiarity: A few wor... http://bit.ly/KPqEs2 ADVOCATES WANT TO LIMIT USES OF STUDENT DATA + smf’s 1¢: Annie Gilbertson| Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.... http://bit.ly/1ffvQ1K SB837: MORE PRESCHOOL THAN CALIFORNIA CAN AFFORD + smf’s 2¢: The 'transitional kindergarten' program champione... http://bit.ly/1cZRkwv RETWEET: Menlo Park district school board to APPOINT new member - http://goo.gl/alerts/xYTd - retweet @davidtokofsky Twitterpated: SUPERINTENDENT DEASY CROSSES THE FREEWAY AND TESTIFIES AT CITY HALL COMMITTEE MEETING + smf’s 2¢... http://bit.ly/1dW1JxY STAND BY ON PREVIOUS SAVE THE DATE FOR #LAUSD CCTP PROTEST TOMORROW: Things are in flux. Watch this Space! SaveTheDate-Tomorrow Thurs Jan 23 2PM: Photo Op/Press Event to Protest the Ending of the #LAUSD CCTP Committee. 3rd&Beaudry by the Fountain BROAD FOUNDATION GRANT TERMS: GOV. CHRISTIE MUST STAY IN OFFICE - NPQ - Nonprofit Quarterly http://bit.ly/1epMMRe … This AM’s School Board Meeting: TWO MONTHS AFTER HE KILLED ONE PLAN, KAYSER HAS HIS OWN TITLE I IDEAS: by Mic... http://bit.ly/KyhXCz ANNETTE BENING TO BECOME FACE OF ARTS ED FOR CALIFORNIA: Mary Plummer| Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bi... http://bit.ly/1ijngEf Tinkering w/LCFF: STATE LOOKS TO TRIM LIST OF SCHOOL PLANS REQUIRED:by Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report... http://bit.ly/1hdKKXH Another look: SIGNS OF BALKANIZATION IN L.A. UNIFIED: This editorial from The Times staff ran last November. W... http://bit.ly/Ky2qCD Ravitch: IN LOS ANGELES DEASY REFUSES TO RESTORE ARTS FUNDING: By dianeravitch from Diane Ravitch's blog http... http://bit.ly/1cNw4u3 J’accuse: THE WIRELESS DISCONNECT IN LAUSD: By smf for 4 LAKidsNews 20 Jan 2014 :: The L.A. Time’s Howard Blu... http://bit.ly/1bE5vLP iPADS IN LAUSD/WIRELESS DISCONNECTION: Materials from the most recent meeting of the bond oversight panel (cont) http://tl.gd/n_1rvvuab L.A. SCHOOLS’ iPAD WATCHDOG COMMITTEE SET TO DISBAND: Decision to end schools' iPad panel raises questions abo... http://bit.ly/LvslLf Several SantaBarbaraUSD schools have iPads connected 2 Apple TVs & when the wireless goes out so does the lesson plan.http://bit.ly/auDNT3 SANTA BARBARA UNIFIED APPROVES $700,000 iPAD PURCHASE: Offers parents lease-to-own option: Parents who wish to... http://bit.ly/1muM5Nw EVENTS: Coming up next week... • Tuesday's meeting of the CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE has been CANCELLED | http://laschoolboard.org/01-28-14CIA • The BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE meets on Thursday, Jan 30 at 10AM *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 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR 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!. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD and is Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represented PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee for ten years. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

Nothing like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah!”

4LAKids: Sunday 19•Jan•2014             King Holiday Weekend In This Issue:  •  LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD IGNORES BOND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS; GIVES SUPERINTENDENT ALL THE iPADS HE THINKS HE NEEDS WHENEVER HE THINKS HE NEEDS THEM  •  2 stories: CUTS TO ARTS+MUSIC ED PROGRAMS CONTINUE DESPITE LAUSD’s COMMITMENT TO ‘ARTS AT THE CORE’  •  REVIEW FINDS HUNDREDS OF LA SCHOOL LIBRARIES WITHOUT STAFF, SHUTTERED  •  IN AGE OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, LOCKDOWN IS THE NEW FIRE DRILL  •  HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources  •  EVENTS: Coming up next week...  •  What can YOU do? Featured Links:  •  Give the gift of a 4LAKids Subscription to a friend or colleague!  •  Follow 4 LAKids on Twitter - or get instant updates via text message by texting "Follow 4LAKids" to 40404  •  4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved!  •  4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. “The function of education,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told us, “is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” Monday is Dr. King's 85th birthday, though he only had 40 of them. (Actually it was last Wednesday …but take Monday off anyway!) MLK, Jr. was a complicated man in complicated times, a non-violent man in violent times. He preached the gospels of the risen Christ and the fallen Gandhi. He cited and lived the Exodus metaphor: “I have stood on the mountaintop and seen the Promised Land.” …“I may not get there with you…” He may have been a prophet; he was not a saint. He claimed to be a drum major. For Justice. And Peace. And Righteousness. Those things are Civil Rights he claimed for all people. They were and are and will forever be unalienable rights – not to be earned or bought or bargained for. Endowed to us by our Creator – every Man Jack and Woman Jill of us – Black and White and Brown, Jew and Gentile, Catholic and Protestant, gay or straight, believer or nonbeliever. Whether our Creator be YHWH or God the Father or Allah or pre-Olympian Titans or Vishnu’s Dream or a Spider weaving the Universe or a Cosmic Flash 13.798 ± 0.037 billion years ago. Whether we created God in our image or Him/Her us in Her/His. Dr. King had definite Baptist beliefs on this – but his belief in Justice and Peace and Righteousness stood alongside his faith – belief without those things was incomprehensible. Sometimes we wrap those words in other words. Freedom. Liberty. Equality. Brother/Sisterhood. Hope. We parse the words: Social Justice. Economic Justice. Freedom from Fear, or Want or Hunger. Of Religion or Belief. Freedom to Dream. King was resolute and righteous: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.” “No, no, we are not satisfied and will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.” _______________ "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. _________________ ON SATURDAY MORNING we met in the auditorium at Washington Preparatory High School – In what Dr. McKenna called the Cathedral of The Prep – to celebrate the life of Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte. Cathedral is an apt metaphor – it refers to the chair of a bishop. The chair was empty …but the house and our hearts were full. The tone was set early on. The fifth grader selected to recite the pledge of allegiance – the student body president of 54th Street Elementary – leaned forward at the podium before he begin and said: “I am one of Ms. LaMotte’s babies.” And so it was, rising and lifting, building higher and higher – soaring – a celebration by teachers and administrators and politicians and boardmembers and neighbors and strangers and students and principals and musicians and singers. A celebration of love in the communality of hope – celebrating a giant who was once amongst us and now resides in our hearts and in her heaven and is quietly, incessantly insisting that we ceaselessly ignore the baloney and do our best and what’s right for children. And that children, her babies/our babies, do their best, too. One of the speakers said that we are not likely to see the likes of Marguerite LaMotte again. I think that misses the point of her life. A Marguerite is a beautiful flower – and in her life she nurtured a great many seeds. Saturday morning we saw and heard from many of those progeny. Young and middle aged and some older that she touched in her long life. Marguerite was the change she wanted to see. I think we will see many like her – standing upright with deep roots. Memorably direct. Outspoken. And when necessary: Standing alone on the right side of things, resolute and strong. If you were there and weren’t moved by the words+music of love and promise Saturday morning you are beyond hope. If you weren’t touched by the Amazing Grace of the Foshay Music Ensemble or the Oh Happy Day! from the Dorsey Chorus or the Second-Line-Send-Off by the Washington Prep Alumni Chorus and Band -- if you weren’t in that number when the Saints Came Marching In …you missed what it is all about. In the end, as Marguerite would have it, we were dancing. 11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness. Psalm 30:11/KJV King James’ translators struggled with the Hebrew “simcha”, rendering it as “gladness”. Simcha is actually a commandment, a mitzvah, of joy. We will miss Ms. LaMotte – but we learned what she was here to teach us as we move out to our undiscovered ends. Our modern perspective on Hallelujah! is colored by Leonard Cohen’s dark ironic lyric. This is and was not that Hallelujah! This one comes from the Black Church and from the lived and experienced and questioned and taught and learned and shared experience of who we all are in this moment. Of simcha. David’s chord is not secret, it resonates still. And it pleases the Lord. Not a cold and broken, but a joyous Hallelujah! ¡Onward/Adelante! - smf LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD IGNORES BOND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS; GIVES SUPERINTENDENT ALL THE iPADS HE THINKS HE NEEDS WHENEVER HE THINKS HE NEEDS THEM 4 Stories + smf’s 2¢: BOARDMEMBERS GALATZAN AND ZIMMER WORK OUT AN AMENDMENT “…TO JUST LEAVE IT UP TO THE SUPERINTENDENT”. ►L.A. SCHOOL BOARD MOVES FORWARD WITH COMPUTER EFFORT THE BOARD VOTES TO DISTRIBUTE IPADS TO 38 MORE CAMPUSES, START PURCHASING LAPTOPS FOR SEVEN HIGH SCHOOLS AND BUY AS MANY TABLETS AS NEEDED FOR STATE TESTING. By Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1eDk94q 9:42 PM PST, January 14, 2014 :: Continuing its efforts to provide every student with a computer, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday agreed to distribute iPads to 38 more campuses, begin the process of purchasing laptops for seven high schools and buy as many tablets as needed for new state tests in the spring. In doing so, the board adopted the proposal of schools Supt. John Deasy rather than following the advice of an oversight panel that had recommended purchasing thousands fewer of the devices. The goal of the $1-billion effort is to provide a computer to every student, teacher and administrator in the nation's second-largest school system. Board members approved a $115-million proposal that removed entirely a cap on how many iPads the district could buy for standardized testing scheduled for the spring. But they insist the number will be well below the 67,500 tablets the district staff had recommended. The iPads used for testing will be shared by different classes during the six weeks of testing. The oversight committee, relying on a district analysis, had recommended purchasing about 38,500 tablets for testing. Senior L.A. Unified officials, however, decided that schools should have more tablets in the event of unexpected problems. A majority of the oversight panel decided there was no justification for the 30,000 additional tablets. Even the lower figure, 38,500, was likely to be much larger than needed, according to a review by a consultant for the oversight committee. (Continued: http://bit.ly/1aouIZO) ________________ ►LA UNIFIED BOARD OKS MORE IPADS, CARETAKER FOR VACANCY by Vanessa Romo, LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1drS3uE January 14, 2014 :: The LA Unified School Board made two major decisions today that will go a long way toward shaping the months ahead. The six members green-lighted Phase 2 of the iPad plan, ensuring enough tablets for standardized testing in the Spring, and they approved the appointment of a non-voting representative to serve District 1 until later in the year. In a unanimous vote on the iPads, the board put into action essentially the same plan that was before them two ago. This next phase will bring the tablets to 38 new campuses, provide high school students at seven schools with a laptop, acquire keyboards for Phase 1 and 2 schools and equip all schools with enough iPads for all students to take the Smarter Balanced field test in the spring. The cost is estimated to be $115 million. The decision went against the advice of the Bond Oversight Committee, which recommended that the board limit the number of devices it procures through the end of the year. (Continued: http://bit.ly/1aouIZO) ________________ ►LA SCHOOL BOARD GREEN LIGHTS UP TO 100,000 MORE IPADS Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1dQeCFS January 14th, 2014, 8:13pm :: The Los Angeles Unified School Board voted Tuesday to allow Superintendent John Deasy to decide how many iPads to purchase for students to take new digital state tests. The board also affirmed a decision to run a laptop pilot of 19,300 and buy 28,000 more iPads loaded with Pearson learning software. Deasy said giving students access to technology was "a civil rights issue" in addition to being vital to spring testing. The district estimates the deal will cost about $127 million dollars. (Continued: http://bit.ly/1aouIZO) ________________ ►LAUSD MOVES FORWARD WITH SECOND PHASE OF IPAD ROLLOUT By Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1gKhQhG 1/14/14, 8:37 PM PST | Updated 5AM 1/15/2014 :: Amid scrutiny over Los Angeles Unified School District’s $1 billion iPad program, board members moved Tuesday to put more devices into the hands of thousands of students. The board voted to approve the second phase of its iPad program, allowing 38 campuses to receive tablets. Supporters said that was needed so students can take required tests on the devices this spring. At Tuesday’s meeting, the six board members disagreed on how many tablets to purchase, and ultimately voted to buy as many devices as needed for students to test on. That number wasn’t defined by board members, leaving the final cost of this rollout uncertain. The iPad program has drawn heat amid reports of the costs of the program, and concerns about security after students bypassed restriction measures on the tablets. The selection of Upper Saddle River, New Jersey-based Pearson Education Inc. to provide the instructional software has also been criticized. But in a move that apparently helped sway the board, Superintendent John Deasy told members that he’d secured a deal with Apple to buy the tablets at the same price the district purchased its original devices. The school board paid about $768 per tablet in the first phase. Deasy backed the purchase of up to 67,500 tablets at Tuesday’s meeting, so students could use the devices through next year. But that figure drew concern from Stephen English, who chairs the committee that reviews plans for using construction bond revenue, and who suggested capping the number at around 38,000 tablets. “The losses on that could be substantial ... it impacts the integrity of the entire program,” English told the board members, urging them to buy a lower number. Board members Steve Zimmer and Monica Ratliff also questioned purchasing 67,000 tablets, leading the board to agree to only limit the number of tablets to those needed to test on this spring. (Continued: http://bit.ly/1aouIZO) ______________ ●●smf’s 2¢: 1. Apparently the District and Apple have agreed on a price for the testing iPads. 2. Apparently the District will not be ordering all the iPads auathorized but will begin by ordering only the numbers recommended by the oversight committee. 3. “Apparently” is no way to conduct oversight by the committee or the trusteeship of public funds by the Board of Education. 4. iPads are not a civil right; that claim cheapens real civil rights. 2 stories: CUTS TO ARTS+MUSIC ED PROGRAMS CONTINUE DESPITE LAUSD’s COMMITMENT TO ‘ARTS AT THE CORE’ ►FATE OF ARTS PROGRAMS REMAINS IN LIMBO: Local public schools are embracing a push to prepare students for work in creative fields, but LAUSD has yet to fund it By Gary Walker in The Argonaut Newspaper [Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Westchester, Venice and Santa Monica] http://bit.ly/1cGjDjD January 15, 2014 :: In 2012, the Los Angeles Unified School District board voted to make arts education a core subject in its curriculum. Four months ago, the board gave district officials a Dec. 3 deadline to produce a budget for the school district’s Arts Education and Creative Cultural Network Plan, which aims to prepare students for work in creative and technology-based fields by increasing arts-related course offerings and increased faculty support. That deadline, however, came and went without so much as a “the check’s in the mail”— leaving public school officials and parents to wonder whether music and arts funding is coming at all. “I see this as an absolute conflict between two opposing views on what public education should look like: Those who want to see arts as a core subject, and those who are only concerned about test scores and offering students a limited education,” said Karen Wolfe, a Venice Neighborhood Council Education Committee member whose daughter attends Marina Del Rey Middle School. Last year the school hired a ballet teacher and began requiring all of its students to take dance classes, said Marina Del Rey Middle School Performing Arts Coordinator Nancy Pierandozzi. Venice High School, Mark Twain Middle School and Grand View Boulevard and Broadway elementary schools have also begun integrating performing arts content into English/language arts classes. That combination has for some students resulted in a drastic turnaround in attendance and academic achievement, said LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer, whose district includes schools in Mar Vista, Westchester, Del Rey and Venice. Author of the September resolution calling for an arts budget, Zimmer has pledged to push Supt. John Deasy for answers when school is back in session later this month. Deasy could not be reached. After years of funding cuts that threatened arts programs, Gov. Jerry Brown’s local control funding formula is gradually rebuilding the school district’s budget with annual increases of up to $188 million per year, plus another $113 million over the next two years to implement new Common Core standards. But LAUSD, which recently spent $1 billion in school construction bond money to purchase Apple iPads for each of its 600,000-plus students, also has many needs for that cash — restoring teaching positions cut by layoffs and smaller class sizes among them. Zimmer has voiced support for adding more teachers and seeing teachers get raises eventually, but he said the immediate priority is making certain that LAUSD students have a well-rounded curriculum. “While they are all priorities, I would have to choose a long-term solution to a short-term investment,” Zimmer said. “It’s very hard to prioritize between a school library and the arts.” For Wolfe, arts education is essential to a robust curriculum. She contends that that reduced arts programming puts public schools at a competitive disadvantage against charters and other special magnet programs that compete for student enrollment, the largest factor in state funding for schools. “In order to be competitive with these specialty schools, you have to offer a well-rounded education,” Wolfe said. “You need more that just the [current core subjects].” Supporters of arts education say it helps kids learn the kinds of critical thinking skills that upcoming Common Core testing will measure. “The Common Core Standards bus is leaving the station and we need to be on that bus,” California Arts Council Director Craig Watson said. “Arts should be considered on equal footing on a school district’s priority list.” Watson pointed to a study by UCLA professor Dr. James Catteral that low-income students who were highly engaged in performing arts at their middle or high school did better in college, tended to be more satisfied with their chosen fields and participated more in the political process than the group that did not have a strong arts background. Pierandozzi also views music, dance and other art forms as not just a supplement to a student’s education, but a tool for engagement. “There’s a cultural component to art that appeals to kids,” she said. “There’s a magical, transformative quality to the arts. It really speaks to the soul.” Zimmer is calling for Deasy to produce a written report on budget priorities that includes plans for music and arts spending. “I don’t know where it will be [in that report],” Zimmer said of arts education plans, “but I expect it to be there.” _______________ ►WILSHIRE CREST AMONG 20 SCHOOLS THAT LOST ARTS+MUSIC TEACHERS DURING WINTER BREAK DESPITE LAUSD’s COMMITTMENT TO ‘GRADUALLY INCREASE’ ARTS ED Mary Plummer | kpcc 89.3 | http://bit.ly/1mbbXuZ January 17th, 2014, 6:01am :: The music program at his school Wilshire Crest Elementary was cut due to low enrollment numbers. His music teacher was transferred to Avalon Gardens Elementary School in South LA, which had increased enrollment. As the first day of spring semester kicked off Monday, Jocelyn Duarte, of mid-city Los Angeles, was back to the hustle of getting her kids out the door to Wilshire Crest Elementary School. She juggled backpacks, lunch pails and winter break homework assignments. The paint on her son Julian's diorama book project was still wet from the finishing touches he'd just added. But one thing was missing: Julian's snare drum. "What's going to be different is that we're going to go to school and we're not going to have our music program," Duarte said. Days before the kids went off on break in December, Duarte and other parents at the school found out they would lose their music teacher - who had been coming once a week since school started. Students had to hand their instruments back on Dec. 17. They'd been expecting to play all year. "Everything was so short notice," she said. Wilshire Crest is one of 20 schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District losing a day of arts instruction for second semester because student enrollment numbers dropped. Other schools in the district benefited from enrollment changes: 40 received an additional day of arts instruction for second semester, according to the district's arts branch. Four new arts teachers were hired to accommodate the change in student enrollment - two visual arts teachers, a dance teacher and a theater teacher, according to Steven McCarthy, the district's K-12 arts coordinator. The mid-year flip-flop is a symptom of the district's larger problem: it does not have enough arts teachers to go around. Thousands of students get no arts instruction at all. "I don't know what other kids were thinking, but I was pretty sad," said Julian Cea, Duarte's son, remembering the moment he learned he was losing his music teacher. "I think it's a bad thing." Traditionally, elementary orchestra programs like the one at Wilshire Crest have always been year long programs. Schools would have to commit to an entire year to participate. McCarthy said this was the first year his department had been asked to look at the "norm numbers" - a one-day enrollment picture all districts take about six weeks into the school year. Teachers are assigned to schools based on enrollment data. "This is essential to maintain equity across the district," McCarthy said. He said schools should expect the same process next year. The school district's arts efforts are coming back from years of harsh budget cuts - over the summer it released its new arts plan, which called for a "gradual increase" over the next four years of traveling art teachers. But many details of the plan's implementation still remain unclear. The district has yet to release a budget, which is more than six months overdue. McCarthy said he believed schools were notified of the mid-year arts changes in late November, and that art teachers were notified immediately thereafter. "There was ample time for planning," he said. "But of course it would be our wish that every school would get more arts so there'd be an increase across the board." Several teachers said they received notice during the second and third week of December - classes let out Dec. 20. Karen Einstein, a traveling visual arts teacher, said she was notified by the district Dec. 9 that two of her schools would be changing. She had to give up plans for a community art show, among other things. "I was just amazed," she said. "Emotionally it was really difficult. It felt so hard to see it severed like that." Einstein estimated that she's taught at more than 70 LA Unified schools since she was hired in 2003. She said a mid-year change makes it hard to build momentum and help students build sequential skills. Ginny Atherton, the former orchestra teacher at Wilshire Crest, said anything less than a full year of orchestra instruction for students is a fraud. "Even if you do a whole year it's only a taste," said Atherton, who's also a traveling teacher. "It's just devastating to everybody." Atherton started at her new school, Avalon Gardens Elementary School, in South Los Angeles, on Tuesday. She said everyone was warm and welcoming at the new school, but she can't stop thinking about the kids she left behind at Wilshire Crest. "In my heart, I still hope for a miracle," she said. Duarte, Julian's mother who is PTA president at Wilshire Crest, was so upset, she started a personal campaign to get music instruction back to the school. After dozens of calls, and help from the district's arts branch, she's made a connection with Adopt the Arts, a non-profit music program that partners with the school district. She's crossing her fingers that the group will fill the music void starting next month - but she has no guarantees. McCarthy said some nonprofits are using their own funding to help bring arts back to some of the schools that have lost teachers. ●●smf’s 2¢: LAUSD is spreading not-enough Arts+Music Education thinner and thinner. An arts education teacher has contacted 4LAKids to refute the numbers quoted by Arts Administrator McCarthy – which already puts the District’s commitment to Arts+Music Ed in a questionable light. The claim is that the “new” teachers hired replace other teachers lost through resignation, attrition and retirement. There is a great semantic disparity between “new” and “additional”. REVIEW FINDS HUNDREDS OF LA SCHOOL LIBRARIES WITHOUT STAFF, SHUTTERED Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1j1ZA4F January 16th, 2014, 6:02am :: Libraries across L.A. Unified are closing their doors. Figures out this week show only half of L.A. Unified school libraries have even part-time staff and far fewer have a credentialed librarian. In a district of 768 schools libraries, there are only 98 librarians to teach students how to find information, select a text or coordinate reading programs. Even adding library aides to the mix, 332 school libraries do not have staff. Without librarians or library aides, many principals have been forced to keep libraries locked or run them illegally with parent volunteers or other school site staff. California law does not allow fill-ins for trained library staff. School board member Monica Ratliff said she had heard from parents about closures at their schools, but it took her office months to get data showing the scope of library cuts. "Basically we just kept hounding and hounding the district staff until we got the information," she said. Now with data in hand, Ratliff and school board president Richard Vladovic want to create a "modern libraries task force" to not just outline the current state of libraries and funding sources - but also to explore potential collaborations with outside organizations – such as the city library - and alternative ways to get high-need students access to library books. "I want us to start addressing this publicly," Ratliff said. "Unfortunately, not much attention has been paid to these libraries and basically what's a lack of access to resources. These libraries already exist and they are filled with books that students can't access." Members of the task force would likely include both a librarian and library aide as well as people from the Los Angeles Public Library System, UCLA and literacy focused non-profits. The task force would submit recommendations to the school board before the creation of the 2014-2015 district budget. Earlier records provided by the district to KPCC showed fewer shuttered libraries. Those figures showed cuts hit middle schools the hardest — 83 percent of them are without a librarian. Several parent groups across the Los Angeles area are digging into their own pockets to bring back their children's libraries. A parent fundraiser for Wonderland Avenue Elementary, in Canyon Hills, raised $40,000 to bring in a library aide - a cheaper option than the fully certified librarian. IN AGE OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, LOCKDOWN IS THE NEW FIRE DRILL By JACK HEALY, New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1aA6ls6 JAN. 17, 2014 :: The bomb threat was just a hoax, but officials at Hebron High School near Dallas took no chances: School officials called the police and locked down the school this week. Separately, a middle school 2,000 miles away in Washington State went on lockdown after a student brought a toy gun to class. But the threat and the gun were real at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell, N.M., where a seventh grader with a sawed-off shotgun walked into the gymnasium and opened fire on his classmates on Tuesday, wounding two of them. School officials and teachers, who had long prepared for such a moment, locked down the school as police officers and parents rushed to the scene. For students across the country, lockdowns have become a fixture of the school day, the duck-and-cover drills for a generation growing up in the shadow of Columbine High School in Colorado and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Kindergartners learn to hide quietly behind bookshelves. Teachers warn high school students that the glow of their cellphones could make them targets. And parents get regular text messages from school officials alerting them to lockdowns. School administrators across the country have worked with police departments in recent years to create detailed plans to secure their schools, an effort that was redoubled after the December 2012 shootings in Newtown, Conn. At the whiff of a threat, teachers are now instructed to snap off the lights, lock their doors and usher their students into corners and closets. School officials call the police. Students huddle in their classrooms for minutes or hours, texting one another, playing cards and board games, or just waiting until they get the all clear. “They kept saying, ‘Lock your doors and keep everyone away from the windows,’ ” said Rebecca Grossman, a 10th grader at Watertown High School, outside Boston, where students have been forced to “shelter in place” three times this school year, a less serious version of a full lockdown. The lockdowns were more disruptive than scary, Rebecca said, like the time last month when a bullet was discovered in a classroom, and she and her classmates had to stay in place for four hours. She said the litany of false alarms was desensitizing students, who have come to see the responses as “just an annoyance.” The lockdowns are part of a constellation of new security measures deployed by schools over the last decade, a complement to closed-circuit cameras, doors that lock automatically and police officers in the building. Most states have passed laws requiring schools to devise safety plans, and several states, including Michigan, Kentucky and North Dakota, specifically require lockdown drills. Some drills are as simple as a principal making an announcement and students sitting quietly in a darkened classroom. At other schools, police officers and school officials playact a shooting, stalking through the halls like gunmen and testing whether doors have been locked. School officials and security experts say that the lockdowns are a modest and sensible effort to guard against the unthinkable, and that they have helped keep students safe, calm and organized during shootings and emergencies. And dozens of times every month, the drills become reality. Last month, when an 18-year-old student walked into his high school in suburban Denver and fatally shot a classmate in the head, students huddled in their classrooms behind locked doors as police commandos swept the building. They were evacuated classroom by classroom, hands over their heads, onto the snowy playing fields, all according to a plan school officials had put in place to prepare for just such an emergency. “The staff and students knew how to safely lock down and then evacuate the school,” Scott Murphy, the district schools superintendent, wrote to parents after the shooting at Arapahoe High School in Colorado, praising what he called a well-coordinated response. “They acted quickly, appropriately, and bravely.” Even without a direct threat, schools will default to a lockdown. A high school in the San Francisco Bay Area was locked down last week as the police in the area hunted for a carjacking suspect. Some parents wonder whether the trend has laid a backdrop of fear and paranoia across their children’s education. The North Carolina elementary school where Jackson Green, 5, counts to 100 and delights in celebrating classmates’ birthdays has gone into lockdown twice this school year, once for a drill and once for real, sending Jackson and his classmates to huddle quietly in a hidden corner of the classroom until their teacher says everything is O.K. On Oct. 11, the school was locked down for part of the morning after a fifth grader reported seeing an unfamiliar man in the school who turned out to be a parent. The school, which locks doors during the school day and has cameras at entrances, alerted parents and called the police “It speaks to the psychological conditions of these children, that they’re alert, they’re on the lookout, that this danger is always present for them,” Jackson’s mother, Sarah Green, said in an interview. “It’s constantly on their minds.” Though Jackson is still too young to understand the broader threats behind the drills, he has absorbed their lessons so well that he has started playing lockdown at home, Ms. Green said. “Attention everyone, this is a lockdown!” he announces in the playroom. “Turn off the lights!” “For Jackson, it’s just normal,” Ms. Green said in an email. “Quite frankly, it is horrifying that my son imposes lockdowns on his little brother in the same way that he pretends to announce the lunch menu.” In Louisville, Ky., the school where Rachel Hurd Anger’s daughter, Ella, attends second grade was locked down after a man with five BB guns walked onto the campus. A few days later, Ms. Hurd Anger said her daughter drew a red-and-yellow emergency button and taped it to her bedroom wall. When she presses it, she and her 4-year-old brother run to the basement to hide. “It’s kind of like a security blanket,” Ms. Hurd Anger said. “She doesn’t want to take it down.” Even the preparatory drills can leave an imprint on the youngest children. In Manhattan, Kan., Tina Steffensmeier said her first-grade son had to hide in his classroom cubby during a drill while police officers walked through the hallways and into classrooms, practicing how they would ensure that the children were tucked out of a gunman’s sight. That night, she said, he had a nightmare that a “bad guy” shot him at school. “He’s a sensitive kid, and it really affected him,” Ms. Steffensmeier said. “How sad it is that our kids have to deal with this.” HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources SPECIAL ELECTION COULD TIP BALANCE ON L.A. SCHOOL BOARD + smf’s 2¢: A vigorous and strategic successor to Marg... http://bit.ly/Kl8fDk HANDING OUT iPADS TO STUDENTS ISN’T ENOUGH: Schools need to focus on what makes computers work, not just on ho... http://bit.ly/Kl7Ws6 HUNDREDS HONOR LAUSD’s LAMOTTE FOR DEDICATION TO EDUCATION: By Susan Abram, Los Angeles Daily News | http://b... http://bit.ly/LpITEA STATE SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS AND THE MESSY BUSINESS OF POLITICS: How elections in 2014 could shape education p... http://bit.ly/1h2den3 DUNCAN: ●"Hurricane Katrina was the best thing that happened to the schools of New Orleans"; ●Opposition to Common Core comes from "white suburban mothers who discovered that their kids aren't that smart" & ●"most teachers come from the bottom of the academic barrel" http://bit.ly/1je1dPs IN AGE OF SCHOOL SHOOTINGS, LOCKDOWN IS THE NEW FIRE DRILL: By JACK HEALY, New York Times | http://nyti.ms/ ... http://bit.ly/1jflUbe RESEARCHERS QUESTION TEACH FOR AMERICA’S STANDING: by Tom Chorneau | SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/1eU ... http://bit.ly/1cGrwp4 A COOL MAP SHOWS SOME UGLY TRUTHS ABOUT CALIFORNIA EDUCATION: by LA School Report | http://bit.ly/19DiL4l ... http://bit.ly/1bhJJxk FATE OF ARTS PROGRAMS REMAINS IN LIMBO: Local public schools are embracing a push to prepare students for work... http://bit.ly/1mmLbTq WILSHIRE CREST AMONG 20 SCHOOLS THAT LOST ARTS+MUSIC TEACHERS DURING WINTER BREAK DESPITE LAUSD’s COMMITTMENT ... http://bit.ly/1j9sLTv 342 WORDS IN ONE MINUTE? transcript of Supt. Deasy’s remarks to State Bd of Ed re: LCFF/LCAP | http://bit.ly/1kGYrno UTLA ASKS FOR PAY RAISE, RETURN OF LOST JOBS: 2 stories L.A. teachers union calls for 17... http://bit.ly/1mh075k GOV. BROWN ADDRESSES STATE BOARD OF ED IN RARE APPEARANCE. All boardmembers are his direct appointees; they do... http://bit.ly/1mfTuQW Deasy: “Trust me” - AFTER HEARING 300+ SPEAKERS STATE BOARD OF ED APPROVES DRAFT TEMPORARY/EMERGENCY LCFF/LCAP... http://bit.ly/K9MaaI REVIEW FINDS HUNDREDS OF LA SCHOOL LIBRARIES WITHOUT STAFF, SHUTTERED: Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 ... http://bit.ly/1aQyc7T National Education Policy Center’s 8th ANNUAL BUNKUM AWARDS: Recognizing the Lowlights in Educational Research... http://bit.ly/1aLhAyq RETWEETED: Mónica Garcia [@Monica4LAUSD] was thrown off the LA County Democratic Central Committee yesterday for not showing up to the meetings. UNREPORTED IN LAUSD BOARD MTG COVERAGE: Apple DOES NOT permit Pearson to present iPad curriculum content to Bo... http://bit.ly/K2uuxK iPADS IN #LAUSD?: Boardmembers Galatzan+Zimmer work out an amendment “…to just leave it up to the superintendent” | http://bit.ly/1aouIZO LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD IGNORES BOND COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS; GIVES SUPERITENDENT ALL THE iPADS HE THINKS HE NEED... http://bit.ly/1gKlt7k L.A. UNIFIED NEEDS ENOUGH iPADS FOR THE TESTS: The school board should approve the purchase of more of the dev... http://bit.ly/L0Gjol L.A. UNIFIED SURVEYS PRICES OTHERS PAY FOR iPADS, SIMILAR DEVICES: By Howard Blume. Los Angeles Times | http:/... http://bit.ly/1dhvMja EVENTS: Coming up next week... REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 333 South Beaudry Avenue, Board Room 9:30 a.m., Tuesday, January 21, 2014 Public Comment Introduction of two Board Resolutions 1. Mr. Kayser - Creating Equitable Classrooms (For Action at the February 11, 2014 Regular Board Meeting) 2, Mr. Kayser - Extending Transparency to All Schools (For Action at the February 11, 2014 Regular Board Meeting) No Action Items Recess into Closed Session Agenda: http://bit.ly/1icBWF2 *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 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR 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!. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD and is Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represented PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee for ten years. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.