In This Issue:
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RATLIFF IS NOT THE PROBLEM/RATLIFF IS THE PROBLEM |
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A FOCUS ON FOSTER YOUTH IN CALIFORNIA & LAUSD THROUGH THE LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA |
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OF WINDMILLS ...AND THE FULL FUNDING OF IDEA |
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DO I REALLY HAVE TO BUY KLEENEX SO MY KID CAN GET A BETTER GRADE? |
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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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The discussion and debate at Fat Tuesday’s Board of
Ed meeting started big+generous enough (They gave Dr. Deasy a $30,000+
raise! …and dedicated over half an hour to promoting a movie about
United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez). Library Week was celebrated.
But the meeting and the board itself descended towards the end into a
pettiness+meanness that makes kindergarten play yard politics look like
international relations. In Crimea. Last week.
NOTE: I am a fan of Cesar Chavez. I saw+heard him speak /I boycotted
grapes. This movie is not a documentary; it’s a runaway-production
bio-pic – your Hollywood “based on a true story” – reducing a life and
La Causa to 101 minutes. If this movie gets young people interested in
Chavez and social justice and La Huelga that’s a good thing. I’m just
not sure a meeting of the Board of Education is the right venue for show
biz publicists and the dream making machine. Hollywood doesn’t sell
the truth, it sells seats. And popcorn.
At points in the meeting the Board recognized the Armenian Genocide and
then went directly to debating the Turkish -connected Magnolia Charter
Schools reboot – and voted to send March 15th ‘pink slips’ to every
administrator in the District. (see below) Towards the end of the
meeting the Board voted against social justice twice – against
resolutions to
1) promote Sign Up for Covered California Month and to
2) promote water conservation during the worst draught in California
History. (Apparently it rained at Tamar Galatzan’s house last week!)
And the reason for this petty arbitrary lack of social conscience?
Was it a tempest of Tea Partiers …or a plentitude of Libertarians?
No. It was a disagreement over process. Parliamentary ‘I’s weren’t
dotted; adminsitrivial ‘T’s weren’t crossed. Board rule #72 was
violated. Board Rule #73 was desecrated. So - with our
knickers-in-a-twist – and even as California officials recruited UFW
co-founder Dolores Huerta to urge Latinos to get health insurance, the
March deadline to sign up health insurance will be missed in LAUSD. And
hoses across the District will run into the gutters.
At the bitter end of a short (for LAUSD) board meeting angry parents and
students commented upon the eminent transfer of the
academically-successful/enrollment-challenged Roosevelt High School ESP
Academy to Lincoln High School – and both Roosevelt and Lincoln speakers
were opposed. (Moving a school from Boyle Heights to Lincoln Heights
flies in the face of sending students to schools in their own
neighborhood – the promise of $20+ billion in bonds!) Board President
Dr. V dispatched speakers to the back of the room to discuss the
situation with Ms. Muncey …where Ms. Muncey politely told them the
Superintendent (who had left the room) had already made up his mind.
WEDNESDAY EVENING THE COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE held what was
billed as their last meeting – although another ‘last meeting’ was
scheduled almost from the get go. As usual he CCTP project (iPads)
rollout generated more questions than were answered, and representatives
of the curriculm+instruction end left early. Maybe for the next ‘last
meeting’ folks from IT and C+I and Legal and the supe’s office could
attend+remain?
There were two very unsettling developments:
1. A large number of school sites were identified by name where everyday
computer use from libraries, classrooms and the front office causes the
servers to overload – a situation that central office IT staff claimed
they are unaware of. This bandwidth bottleneck is before the
system+servers are challenged by the Smarter Balanced Field Test – which
is just weeks away. It seems that site administrators and staff are
loath to report the trouble for fear of making waves or stepping on
toes. 4LAKids fears a tsunami of system failure and stepped-upon toes
when the testing begins!
2. Boardmember Ratliff alluded to a number of calls and emails she has
been getting accusing her of being the sole reason that the CCTP iPads
are not going home. This is borne out by a smear campaign of
semi-official website postings and robo-call announcements by local
administrators calling her out. See: Ratliff is not the Problem/Ratliff
is the Problem
While Ms. Ratliff and her committee have posed genuine concerns about
sending the iPads home there are two very real reasons the iPads are not
going home at this time …and neither have anything to do with Ms.
Ratliff:
A. There has been no definitive legal determination from Bond Counsel
(The lawyers for the investment bankers who underwrite the bond program)
that the investment in personal computing devices that go home is a
lawful use of bond funds.
B. The testing window is about to open. 100% of the devices will be
needed for testing in classrooms – not forgotten at home, left on the
bus or the backseat of the car or sitting uncharged in a locker or
backpack.
MINIMALISM: a chiefly American movement in the visual arts and music
originating in New York City in the late 1960s and characterized by
extreme simplicity of form and a literal, objective approach.
[Encyclopedia Britannica] :: Dr. Deasy released his elementary arts
education plan …and a PowerPoint about a budget Friday.
PINK SLIPS:
SOOTHSAYER: Beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: What man is that?
BRUTUS: A soothsayer bids you beware the ides of March.
CAESAR: Set him before me; let me see his face.
CASSIUS: Fellow, come from the throng; look upon Caesar.
CAESAR: What say'st thou to me now? Speak once again.
SOOTHSAYER: Beware the ides of March.
MEMO FROM THE DISTRICT: “The Human Resources Division would like to
inform all certificated administrators, that as we approach the
Education Code 44951 mandated March 15 designated timeline, they will be
receiving a March 15 letter as approved by the Board.
“This action must be taken in order to meet legal requirements in the
event that any release and/or reassignment become necessary for the
2014-2015 school year. Alternatives to a release may include,
reassignment or changes in assignment basis, duties or location. Under
California law, certificated employees who hold a position requiring an
administrative or supervisory credential must be notified if they are
not going to continue in their positions for the succeeding school year.
This notice must be given prior to the specified date.
“This notification of possible release/reassignment is sent so that any
reassignments that must be made effective July 1, 2014, can be legally
implemented. The notice, while meeting legal technicalities, does not
mean a change must occur, or that it will occur; it merely preserves
that option.”
“The Human Resources Division would LIKE to inform all….” ¿Really?
The Board of Ed voted to do this with much handwringing and woebegonian
apologia on Tuesday – forced by Ed Code, CYA reality and
the-way-we-always-do-things to send pink slips to every school site
principal and assistant principal – to everyone in a management position
in the District. Somewhere a printer is generating and mailing a notice
to John E. Deasy, Ph.D.
A March 15th letter puts one on notice that one may be laid off or reassigned next year.
”In celebration of the California Week of the School Administrator
March 3-7, LAUSD would like to thank all of our school administrators
for their hard work and dedication.” ‘Like’ again.
Nothing improves administrator morale like the old March 15th letter.
Nothing makes one’s future look brighter or improves one’s credit rating
like knowing one is subject to the option of release or reassignment.
In the unlikely event of water landing your seat cushion can be used for
a golden parachute. All that Bad Teacher/®efomy talk about ‘tenure’
meaning guaranteed employment for life? This is what so-called tenure
really like!
March 15th Letters are an absurdist concept, right out of Lewis Carroll.
One pictures the Walrus and the Carpenter weeping weepy tears as they
trundle the crates of March 15th letters to the post office in the off
chance they might need to get rid of someone-or-other-(or-all) to make
the budget numbers or master calendar work …but also being sure to have
the bread and butter and pepper and vinegar on hand.
‘I weep for you,' the Walrus said:
I deeply sympathize.'
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.
Meanwhile at the Superior Court, in Vergara v. California, a judge
ponders whether to give Walrus and Carpenter even more bread and butter…
.
A loaf of bread,' the Walrus said,
Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed —
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.'
But not on us!' the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!'
The night is fine,' the Walrus said.
Do you admire the view?
...and concurrently with the pink slippage the Administrators are
negotiating with W&C to increase their numbers next year …they are
so few and far between…
‘O Oysters,' said the Carpenter,
You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none —
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one."
See also: Young teachers have become far more scarce in California
classrooms after school districts slashed their budgets to survive the
recession http://bit.ly/1npS45X
¡Onward/Adelante! – smf
_______
PS: It is considered bad form in the show biz – from whence I came – to
“count the house”. However this week the subscriber base for 4LAKids
surpassed 5000. 5,358 thank you’s to all you wonderful people out there
in the dark!
Note to the Grammar Police: Some authorities say it is acceptable to use
an apostrophe with an unfamiliar plural ending in a vowel: Thank you’s
(and for plurals of letters of the alphabet).
RATLIFF IS NOT THE PROBLEM/RATLIFF IS THE PROBLEM
►Ratliff is Not the Problem
Written by Sara Roos, LA CityWatch | http://bit.ly/1cMl4y2
7 Mar 2014 - EDUCATION POLITICS :: The new LAUSD District 6 School
Board (BOE) member, Monica Ratliff, is being blamed – personally and
explicitly and completely unfairly – for at least one school’s
pedagogy-free “deployment” of iPads.
Following problems earlier this year, iPads were “grounded” at the
school site, although the reasons for this decision were never
clarified. Several complete and sufficient explanations for this
repercussion seem possible.
For example, liability and responsibility of families and the District
have yet to be worked out explicitly and in contingency-free writing
(“willful” damage is the responsibility of families, but who decides
what is ‘willful or deliberate’? How many times?).
Another example might be the controversy around originally justifying
long-term construction bond money to fund these ephemeral purchases. As
“part of the infrastructure”, the iPads could be justified as
electronics upgrades. But as soon as the iPads go home they become more
like textbooks than like onsite hardware, invalidating the bond funding
justification.
Yet for iPads to remain at school they must be secured and tracked.
There must be a system to check them in and out daily. And there must
be a place to store and charge a vast volume of electronics in even more
massive (and expensive) carts within already-overcrowded classrooms
overstuffed with 50 pupils and more.
The logistics are mind-bogglingly cumbersome; costly in terms of
equipment, time and the actual purpose of our children at school:
education.
Some of the 47 schools in the initial Phase I “rollout” of the iPads
have yet to “deploy” any devices for reasons that remain unclear but
presumably relate to onsite infrastructure wiring.
So now, deploying the devices so late in the school year, under such
restricted circumstances, requires such painful school-site juggling
that the entire utility of the devices is negated. Entire pedagogical
utility that is.
Because the logistics are so cumbersome these devices cannot be used by
teachers in the classroom, or pupils at home, for the purpose of any
actual learning. Instead, the utility of these already-dated devices
has contracted to gratifying the testing needs of a gigantic, national
testing consortium, "Smarter Balanced", and the meshuggeneh federal
Department of Education's misnamed stepchild "Common Core State
Standards" (the federal government cannot by law have anything to do
with state curriculum and instruction, but they have manipulated its
acceptance in the background all the same). Which is from the district's
point of view, apparently just fine as that is all they really wanted
the iPads for anyway: testing.
Responsibility for this travesty of technology implementation should lie
at the feet of the managers tasked with it. Not either watchdog
committee properly monitoring the country’s largest technology purchase
ever, or more inaptly still, with either committee’s chairs.
Neither the citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee chair Stephen English,
nor the BOE’s Common Core Technology Program committee chair, Monica
Ratliff is responsible for turning Los Angeles’ 1:1 iPad program into a
national disgrace. It may be the collective responsibility of the
school’s board of directors, but they are tasked with trusting and
nominally agreeing with the recommendations of their staff in the
program’s implementation.
Fault should lie with the BOE decision, perhaps, to continue and even
augment the employment of their superintendent at whose desk this buck
should stop. But no individual board member, in a proper, duly elected
and appointed effort to scrutinize a troubled and troubling initiative,
should shoulder the blame for kindly and responsibly drawing attention
to legitimate questions of safety, responsibility, implementation, value
and utility surrounding LAUSD’s iPad program.
Indeed, there could be no better justification for urging continuation
of the CCTP committee’s mandate. Dr. Vladovic take note: Reinstate the
vital voice of Monica Ratliff’s CCTP committee please!!
(Sara Roos is a politically active resident of Mar Vista, a
biostatistician, the parent of two teenaged LAUSD students and a
CityWatch contributor, who blogs at redqueeninla.com)
________________
►RATLIFF IS THE PROBLEM: CCTP iPads not released to go home, distribution again delayed
by Ben Gertner from the official Roosevelt Senior High School website | http://bit.ly/1lkf6tu
Monday, 24 February 2014 :: We just received notice on Friday that we
will be unable to distribute iPads to our students to take home. In a
conference call, District officials informed the schools in Phase 1 of
the Common Core Technology Project that the LAUSD School Board is
blocking the School District from moving forward with sending the iPads
home.
They said that specifically Monica Ratliff, who is the head of the Board
Technology Committee, has concerns about security and accountability in
the case of theft, loss or damage.
Because it is so late in the school year, it seems very unlikely that
there will be a change in position in time for us to send the iPads home
with students this semester. On behalf of the school administration, I
want to apologize for once again getting people’s hopes up and then
having to disappoint you, but I assure you that we had been told up
until Friday that the distribution to students was moving forward.
We are still scheduled to use our iPads for the administration of the
Smarter Balanced Field Test, so all of the carts need to be configured.
We are pushing for this to happen soon so teachers can at least use the
classroom sets that are in their rooms.
We were told that one thing we can do is encourage concerned school
community members to write letters and emails to the school board,
specifically our school board representative, Monica Garcia, and the
chair of the technology committee, Monica Ratliff.
The focus of the letter should be on the potential instructional value of students having access to the iPads outside of school.
Here are some talking points that you might consider including in your correspondence:
• Students will have access to e-books, textbooks and other assignments that teachers give them at home.
• Teachers are moving to a paperless classroom, sharing assignments with
students using tools like Engrade, Edmodo and iTunes U. In order for
this to work, students need to be able to use iPads after school.
• Many Roosevelt students are enrolled in APEX credit recovery and can
catch up with credits much more quickly if they can work on their
courses outside of school on their iPads.
• Students can conduct research, create media and use their iPads for other extracurricular activities like music.
• Students can create flashcards and other study materials and study for quizzes and tests outside of school.
• Parents can also use the technology and become more familiar with what students are doing in school.
• Students can research colleges and universities, complete applications and apply for financial aid outside of school.
• Students can write essays, complete lab reports and other larger projects that they need to complete beyond the school day.
• Students can work on group projects outside of school by communicating electronically.
• Students can seek online support from their teachers, the library and other resources while at home.
If you agree that there is a potential loss of instructional and
learning value for students when iPads can only remain on a school
campus and not go home, then please utilize the contact information for
Mónica García and Monica Ratliff:
Monica Ratliff
Board Member, Board District 6
LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION
333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
monica.ratliff@lausd.net
213-241-6388
Mónica García
Board Member, Board District 2
LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION
333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90017
monica.garcia@lausd.net
213-241-6180
(Ben Gertner is an assistant principal at Roosevelt. Areas of
responsibility: English & World Languages Departments, Discipline
and Supervision, Attendance, Technology and Family and Community
Engagement)
________________
iPAD ROBO CALL TRANSCRIPTION FROM WEDNESDAY MARCH 5th
forwarded to 4LAKids from a concerned parent:
BEGIN TRANSCRIBED CONNECT ED MESSAGE
"Good Evening Parents And Guardians:
This message is sent out on behalf of [Name Withheld ] the
principal of [A CCTP Phase 1 School]
I am calling to inform you
that the ipads will not be going home with
students on Thursday, March 6, as previously
scheduled. I repeat: ipads originally
scheduled to go home with students, will not go
home. Mónica Radcliff [sic] of the LAUSD board
of education put a halt to students taking ipads
off campus. Therefore they will be used in
classrooms until I receive further instructions.
Thank you for your understanding. "
END TRANSCRIBED CONNECT ED MESSAGE
The parent who sent this to 4LAKids continues:
OK, this is really weird ... whoever made this recording does not know Mónica Ratliff's name.
I have listened a half dozen times and what I hear is "Mónica Radcliff"... it's possible I am hearing this wrong however.
But odder still is that the message contains misinformation. The ipads
at our school are not to be used in classrooms and this has been known
since at least last Monday night.
This recording went out Wednesday night. [March 5th]
In point of fact the ipads are stored in homerooms and will be used only
for test days and 4 specially scheduled practice test days. The
implication of the message is that further instructions will impact this
classroom use, but the decision about how and where to use the ipads
within campus walls is the principal's to make, not another's who will
be conveying further instructions.
Very odd.
It's almost as if this message was not recorded by someone at the school.
A FOCUS ON FOSTER YOUTH IN CALIFORNIA & LAUSD
THROUGH THE LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA
From the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update for the Week of March 10th | http://bit.ly/1g71cu7
March 6, 2014 :: Removed from their families because they have
experienced abuse or neglect, foster youth are owed a special legal and
moral obligation by the state. Yet their educational outcomes are
heartbreakingly poor, significantly worse than even other at-risk
student subgroups. Studies show that 75 percent of foster youth perform
below grade level, 80 percent have repeated a grade by third grade, half
don't obtain high school diplomas or the equivalent and more than 97
percent fail to go on to college. The Invisible Achievement Gap [http://bit.ly/1iisufQ] a recent groundbreaking study produced by WestEd, found that California foster youth:
• Were significantly more likely to change schools.
• Were significantly more likely to be enrolled in the lowest-performing schools.
• Tested below basic and far below basic at twice the rate of students statewide.
• Were significantly more likely to drop out than any other at-risk student group.
• Had a 58 percent grade 12 graduation rate, the lowest rate among
at-risk student groups, as compared to a grade 12 graduation rate of 84
percent for students statewide.
Without educational success, foster youth are ill-equipped to thrive
beyond school or support themselves. The cost to these children and
society is extraordinary. Studies have found that over 25% of former
foster children experience homelessness; approximately 25% spend time
incarcerated; about 33% receive public assistance; and their
unemployment rates exceed 50%.
Recognizing this reality, California’s new Local Control Funding Formula
(LCFF) contains a number of provisions aimed at improving the
educational outcomes of foster children:
• Foster youth were added to California’s API such that schools and
school districts with 15 or more foster youth will for the first time
track and be held accountable for their academic improvement.
• Foster youth generate additional “supplemental funding” under LCFF to address their needs.
• Local Education Agencies (LEAs) are required to develop Local Control
and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) specifying how the LEA will improve the
educational outcomes of foster youth.
• The California Department of Education must inform school districts
which of their students are in foster care on a weekly basis.
California is unique in that the LCFF makes it the first state to track
the academic progress of students in foster care. Whether the LCFF
provisions noted above help close the foster youth achievement gap will
depend on the LCAPs developed and implemented by school districts.
Equally important, school leadership will then face the challenging work
of making the new revenue and programmatic investment meaningful for
foster youth.
LAUSD has the largest population of foster youth in the state more than
8,000 students out of a total of more than 43,000 (ages 5 – 17) at any
given time. Fresno Unified, with almost 1,000, has the second highest
count. Two-thirds of the foster children in the state are enrolled in 10
percent of the state’s school districts. Because children enter and
exit the foster care system every day, the count is always fluid.
However, a snapshot of LAUSD this month shows that there are nearly 200
in the Division of Special Education’s early education and
infant/preschool programs. In elementary schools, the number of foster
youth varies from a low of 1 to a high of 35; the middle school with the
highest number had 39 students; and the largest enrollment in a high
school was 50. Foster children are spread throughout the District with
specific geographical concentrations in each ESC. Sixty-three percent
are Hispanic; twenty-nine percent are black; six percent are white; and
American
Indians, Asians and Pacific Islanders constitute the remaining two
percent. African-American students are clearly disproportionally
represented, both in the District and in the state.
To implement the LCFF and improve the educational outcomes of students
in foster care, the California Foster Youth Education Task Force
recommends that school districts do the following:
1. Form multidisciplinary teams responsible for developing goals, specific actions and the associated budget requirements.
2. Work closely with the county welfare agency, county office of education and other agencies to coordinate services.
3. Research and make available to foster youth an array of proven programmatic supports.
4. Ensure services are tailored to the educational strengths and needs of each individual foster student.
AALA thanks Jesse Hahnel, Director, FosterEd, National Center for Youth
Law, and Kim Pattillo Brownson, Director of Educational Equity,
Advancement Project, for contributing to this article.
OF WINDMILLS ...AND THE FULL FUNDING OF IDEA
by Lee Funk, SI&A Cabinet Report :: http://bit.ly/1hUDvWx
“What giants?” asked Sancho Panza.
“The ones you can see over there,” answered his master, “with the
huge arms, some of which are very nearly two leagues long.”
“Now look, your grace,” said Sancho, “what you see over there aren't
giants, but windmills, and what seems to be arms are just their sails,
that go around in the wind and turn the millstone.”
“Obviously,” replied Don Quijote, “you don't know much about adventures.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
March 7, 2014 :: Demonstrating that the spirit of Cervantes lives on,
the National Council on Disability and a bipartisan group of 130 members
of Congress urged support for full federal funding of special education
in advance of the administration’s release of the proposed 2015 budget
earlier this week.
Once again it seems, the windmill won – neither the 2014 budget nor
President Barack Obama’s spending plan for the succeeding year moved the
dial.
When Congress passed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act in
1975 (which upon renewal in the 1990s became the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act) legislators made a commitment to pick up 40
percent of the excess cost for special education. That percentage –
commonly referred to as “full funding” for special education was to be
phased in over five years to become a reality in 1981.
But to date, the federal government has never picked up more than 18.5
percent of the tab. Almost 40 years after the fact, neither successive
congressional bodies nor administrations have fulfilled the original
promise – not even half way.
The 2014 federal budget deal signed in December, fell short of meeting
that long standing goal. Even with an increase of $500 million over the
2013allocation, because sequestration was in effect that year, current
funding is below the amount allocated in 2012. So there is the
appearance of forward motion when, in fact, there is actual slippage.
Obama’s newest budget proposal doesn’t improve on it much – adding $100
million to this year’s allocation. But, on a per student basis, that’s
just $17 more. In fact the plan places the federal share at 16 percent,
still two points below the peak.
This week, a bipartisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives –
which includes Jared Huffman, D-CA, and Chris Gibson, R-N.Y. – proposed
boosting federal spending on IDEA over time to meet the 40 percent
benchmark. While laudable, given the political landscape, this bill,
too, is reminiscent of a man from La Mancha.
What’s necessary is sustained pressure. This effort will require more
than letters, or congressional testimony, or speeches. It will require
full-scale political action involving electioneering, lobbying,
petitions, even law suits.
IDEA is sound in principle, fostering the highest educational ideals of a
democratic country, and despite its cost, Congress needs to honor its
commitment.
Based on a study by the Center for Special Education Finance, adjusting
for inflation, the comparative cost for educating a student with
disabilities today is over two and one-half times the expense of a pupil
in the standard program.
The shortfall on the part of the federal government is over $13 billion.
That’s money that could be used to decrease class size, refurbish
failing infrastructures, or provide intervening services that would
broaden access to the core curriculum to keep students off the
separatist path of special education in the first place.
To paraphrase the captain in Cool Hand Luke, “What we got here is an unfunded mandate.”
For decades there was a similar problem in California. The state
legislature required additional services on the part of local districts
without allocating the funds to cover the costs. Then in 1979 the voters
passed a proposition amending the California Constitution to the
subvention of funds to reimburse cities, counties, and school districts
for additional costs required by new legislation.
That change came about because municipalities and educational agencies
formed a coalition with citizen groups to substantially reform the
funding sources associated with centralized mandates.
A grass roots movement of the same sort may be necessary to get the
attention of Congress when it comes to fully funding IDEA. The same
advocacy organizations that long ago spearheaded the omnibus special
education bill forever changing the way services are delivered for
students with disabilities needs to unite with school board members,
administrators, and state educational agencies to change IDEA from
authorizing funding at 40 percent to requiring funding at that level.
It is time that advocates and school officials stop squabbling among
themselves for the crumbs tossed about by Washington as an afterthought
following a failed promise and marshal their efforts to prompt lawmakers
to abide by their original pledge.
To allude to another movie, it is time to force, not ask, Congress and the President to “do the right thing.”
DO I REALLY HAVE TO BUY KLEENEX SO MY KID CAN GET A BETTER GRADE?
“THEY HAVE CHANGED THE WAY SCHOOLS ORDER FROM THE DISTRICT WAREHOUSE,
AND OUR COMPUTERS DON'T SUPPORT THE ORDERING SOFTWARE.” ¿What about the
Smarter Balanced test?
L.J. Williamson | Off-Ramp | kpcc 89.3 | http://is.gd/TC0hio
February 28th, 2014, 3:24pm :: Off-Ramp commentator L.J. Williamson's
son, a student in the Los Angeles Unified School District, came home
with an unusual homework assignment from his history class: Bring in
five boxes of facial tissues. This assignment would be worth 100 points
in extra credit.
“The soft kind, not the cheap kind, ” his teacher said.
A hundred points is equivalent to a full week’s worth of homework. So I
wondered: if five boxes of tissues meant 100 points, would 100 boxes of
tissues buy us out of homework for a full semester? Imagine the family
time we could have! But I knew my son would complain about stuffing a
hundred boxes of Kleenex into his backpack, so I started thinking about
alternatives.
Then I did the math. Assuming 30 students per class, five classes per
day, five boxes per student, after this my kid’s teacher would be
sitting on a mother lode of 750 tissue boxes — a virtual tissue gold
mine.
Of course, that assumes every single parent has the time and money to go
out and buy the five boxes of tissues. But what about the ones who
can’t? When I thought about their plight, I got angry.
I wrote the school counselor. “The tissue was for extra credit, not for a
grade,” she explained. “If a student chooses not to bring in tissue,
there is no penalty.” She added the teacher "would NEVER tie an
assignment of bringing in tissue to a grade. I'm sorry that your son did
not relay the correct message to you."
But when I pressed, she admitted, "Yes, any extra credit WILL help a
student's grade. The teacher asked students to help out because we can't
order tissues from LAUSD at the moment."
Why can't they order tissues? “They have changed the way schools order
from the District warehouse, and our computers don't support the
ordering software.” She guessed that many schools with old computers
were having the same problems.
So a software “upgrade” left a number of campuses unable to order
supplies … like tissues. In the middle of cold and flu season. So
teachers began bribing students’ families into buying supplies
themselves.
I wrote one last email, explaining that I harbored serious philosophical
objections to letting donations impact student grades. It was immoral.
It was unethical. And any history teacher should know that trading
Kleenex for grades is no better than trading arms for hostages.
Then I went to the store and bought five boxes of tissues. In the end, 100 points is nothing to sneeze at.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
RATLIFF IS NOT THE PROBLEM/RATLIFF IS THE PROBLEM:
Ratliff is Not the Problem Written by Sara Roos, LA CityWa... http://bit.ly/1lluB4n
UNION ELECTION IN LOS ANGELES: Meet Candidate Ortega | http://bit.ly/Ph7xtz
DISTRICT 1 SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES DEBATE, HUDLEY-HAYES ACCUSED OF RESUME PADDING: School board candidates mee... http://bit.ly/NO0TtU
ARTS AT THE CORE: Dr. Deasy’s elementary arts plan …and a PowerPoint about the budget: from LAUSD, presented w... http://bit.ly/1nwtjVH
KEEP FOX NEWS OUT OF THE CLASSROOM!: Rupert Murdoch, Common Core and the dangerous rise of for-profit public e... http://bit.ly/1ntz6Ly
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: Jaime Aquino: By smf for 4LAKidsNews Saturday, March 8, 2014 :: Former LAUSD Deputy Sup... http://bit.ly/1fbRDKv
KANSAS SUPREME COURT FINDS STATE SCHOOL FUNDING UNCONSTITUTIONAL: 2 stories +smf’s 2¢: Court Orders Kansas Leg... http://bit.ly/O6rq5l
Arne blinks! FEDERAL OFFICIALS END STAND OFF, GREEN-LIGHT CALIFORNIA TESTING PLAN: A... http://bit.ly/O4QA4k
Young teachers scarce in California classrooms after school districts slashed their budgets to survive the recession http://bit.ly/1npS45X
SKUNK AT CA CAPITOL ON FRIDAY MAKES NEWS. (They are usually back in their districts that day.) http://bit.ly/PafkcK pic.twitter.com/coxXMxMCYw
#LAUSD Board Member responds to H2O cooler rumor of Maria Casillas
returning as @DrDeasyLAUSD's #2 in Curriculum+Instruction: "No Way!"
RE: CCSS TEXTS+CONTENT: "Don't spend your money until [instructional materials] arrive that actually fully line up" | http://bit.ly/auDNT3
A “sham” perpetrated by “snake oil salesmen”: RESEARCH QUESTIONS COMMON-CORE CLAIMS BY PUBLISHERS: By Benjamin... http://bit.ly/1ldcpKo
SB 1174 - CALIFORNIA BILL WOULD REPEAL BILINGUAL EDUCATION RESTRICTIONS: Issue could surface on 2016 state bal... http://bit.ly/1npa28F
Co-location: NYC MAYOR ENDS SPACE SHARING FOR SOME CHARTER SCHOOLS: News in Brief By Katie Ash, Education Week... http://bit.ly/1chHXyA
OF WINDMILLS ...AND THE FULL FUNDING OF IDEA: by Lee Funk, SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for ... http://bit.ly/1np1LBz
SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS A DO-OVER, STATE PANEL TOLD - “Our kids aren’t disabled, our system is.”: By Jane Mere... http://bit.ly/1hUABB1
DO I REALLY HAVE TO BUY KLEENEX SO MY KID CAN GET A BETTER GRADE?: “They have changed the way schools order fr... http://bit.ly/1qfUWVl
FORMER SUPERINTENDENT BACKS TENURE, LAYOFF LAWS AS DEFENSE OPENS IN ‘VERGARA’ LAWSUIT: By John Fensterwald | E... http://bit.ly/1qd06RP
SEVERELY DISABLED STUDENTS FACE DOUBLE TESTING MANDATE THIS SPRING: by Tom Chorneau | SI&A Cabinet Report :... http://bit.ly/1cejEkY
POLICE END INGLEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL WALKOUT OVER SPENDING: Students are upset over a report of a costly retreat f... http://bit.ly/1f3si5B
L.A. COUNTY SUPERVISORS APPROVE DEPLOYING CROSSING GUARDS AT CERTAIN MIDDLE SCHOOLS AFTER MOTHER KILLED WALKIN... http://bit.ly/NC9ZtD
High School Grades show how a student did over four years in school.
#SAT & #ACT Scores show how well they did one day in a test room.
SAT change: "...good moves, but they don't answer the fundamental question of whether the standardized test (cont) http://tl.gd/n_1s0r3el
CollegeBoard Pres. admits high school grades are a better predictor of college success than standardized test scores. http://bit.ly/P5scRc
3 stories+an editorial: THE NEW SAT ...from the same wonderful purveyors of ®eform who brought you the Common ... http://bit.ly/1l7wqSv
LA UNIFIED BOARD VOTES TO PAY DEASY UP TO $30,000 FOR UNUSED VACATION: …plus he gets to keep the contribution ... http://bit.ly/1i9tLpw
L.A. Times Reporter Tweets from the UTLA Candidates Forum Last Night:: @HowardBlume tweets: ... http://bit.ly/1l19R1T
VERGARA v. CALIFORNIA TRIAL TO CONTINUE: By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/MNvF4W Student Bea... http://bit.ly/P0wfhP
CALIFORNIA, U.S. NEEDS TO ADD TO STUDENT ONLINE PRIVACY RULES: SB 1177, The Student Online Personal Informatio... http://bit.ly/1q6nLUe
#LAUSD H2O COOLER RUMOR: Maria Casillas, a disaster as parent czar,
returns as Dr.D's #2 in Curriculum+Instruction.
pic.twitter.com/mlh3hiNQyC
Quoting Maria Casillas:“del dicho al hecho, hay grande trecho” :: there is a gap from what one says and what one does http://bit.ly/1ncsUrn
@howardblume: Trial to overturn key teacher job protections will
continue in L.A. Judge denies motion to dismiss by state and teacher un
...
IN SURVEY, UTLA PRESIDENT VOWS TO FILE COMPLAINTS OVER ‘TEACHER JAILS’: By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | h... http://bit.ly/NQFG24
READ ACROSS AMERICA DAY: "You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to
pick up a book and read with a child." pic.twitter.com/xbdaByMoX4
VERGARA LITIGANTS AWAIT JUDGE’S DECISION AS TO WHETHER THE CASE WILL PROCEED: by Mark Harris, LA SCHOOL REPORT... http://bit.ly/1hZVxVp
ZIMMER INTRODUCING PLAN TO GIVE STUDENTS A ROLE WITH LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD: by Michael Janofsky LA School report ... http://bit.ly/1pWzmVD
@CashingInOnKids Product Placement pic.twitter.com/ECoE7pJnfw
Meet the ®eformers: ELI BROAD APPOINTS BRUCE REED AS HEAD OF BROAD FOUNDATION EDUCATION EFFORT: ... http://bit.ly/1eNbNu6
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD TO CONSIDER EXPANSION OF COMPUTER SCIENCE OFFERINGS: Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 K... http://bit.ly/NobN9l
TIME RUNNING OUT FOR BOYLE HEIGHTS HIGH SCHOOL / SE TERMINA EL TIEMPO PAPRA UNA PREPARATORIA DE BOYLE HEIGHTS:... http://bit.ly/1n2NJW5
BOYLE HEIGHTS SCHOOL PROTESTS DISTRICT’S DECISION TO MOVE CAMPUS + smf’s 2¢: With fewer than 300 students enro... http://bit.ly/1kODK5g
Meet the ®eformers: TED MITCHELL + DAVID WELCH: THE EDUCATION OF TED MITCHELL | Written by Gary Cohn/CAPITAL &... http://bit.ly/1hWvuyy
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
Start: 03/11/2014 4:00 pm
*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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