... what an abused spouse must feel...

4LAKids: Sunday 28•Sept•2014 In This Issue:  •  BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE DOES NOT APPROVE REQUEST FOR BOND FUNDS FOR MORE COMPUTERS FOR TESTING  •  STATE, LAUSD OFFICIALS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SPRING ASSESSMENTS + smf’s 2¢  •  “It isn’t how you play the game, it’s who keeps score that counts”: REPORT SHOWS VARIATION IN HOW STATES STACK UP AGAINST INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS  •  High Scores, Empty Stomachs: TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS CANNOT LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD IN A BROKEN DEMOCRACY  •  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. An anonymous elementary school principal wrote in the AALA Update on Thursday | http://bit.ly/1ooMT5y:       “As I sat at our Elementary Principals Organization meeting last Friday waiting for Dr. Deasy’s message, I wondered what words of inspiration he would impart that day. Say what you will but if there’s something Dr. Deasy knows how to do is deliver a motivational speech. His gift with words is so powerful that I sometimes walk into a meeting grumbling about some new District initiative but after hearing Dr. Deasy speak, I leave the meeting somehow still believing, still hoping. It’s strange but I’ve started comparing this to what an abused spouse must feel...hearing the promised words of change that lulls one into trusting that everything will be ok – only to repeat the cycle once more.       “After one of the most chaotic school openings ever, you could feel the utter exhaustion of the elementary principals in the room. However rather than hearing the anticipated message of encouragement, I was taken aback by Dr. Deasy’s comments…“Don’t think, just do.” The context of the message was in reference to a possible job action. I want to believe that Dr. Deasy’s words were intended to take one thing off of our very full plates. However, the message I received was far from inspiring. It was demoralizing. These lackluster words were followed by more encouraging words reminding us that our concern should primarily be about how to teach that third grade student how to read. This message was tantamount to someone telling me to “know my place and mind my own business.” How can a roomful of elementary principals who are charged with the task of creating the critical thinkers of the 21st Century be told not to think? There isn’t a day that goes by that we are not asked to make decisions in order to maintain a safe and positive learning environment for our students, staff and community.      “It could be that [the] message intended was not necessarily the message received because I’m overly sensitive or simply exhausted at this point. We’re only a month into the year but it feels as if we’re at the midyear point. While sage advice tells me that I should only be concerned with instruction, since August 12 my duties have included: technology (thanks to MiSiS which has helped school site staff become experts), facility issues (no a/c along with many other schools), staffing (unstaffed positions and employees who are already feeling the stress of the year), conflict mediation and more…all with a smile on my face because I am the school’s #1 cheerleader.       “If only our jobs were really just about instruction. But alas, I’ll just ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ and maybe for my sanity consider following Dr. Deasy’s advice, ‘Don’t think, just do.’ ” ______________________ smf: A 4LAKids reader wrote me last week with some new/some other horror ongoing in the District, trying to get me engaged …to see if we could get more folks motivated about whatever it was. I asked him to please stay focused on the challenge at hand: Superintendent Deasy. Dr. DZ. (I may not have actually said ‘Please’; part of the DZ contagion is that we forget to be polite/kind/patient/empathetic.) Being done with DZ won’t change everything – but it will reverse the overall direction. The downward spiral. The climate of fear+helplessness. It starts us on the path out of here and ends the speculation over How Will He Survive This One? …and the agonizing déjà vu /all over again: Isn’t this where we were …exactly a year ago? A year ago we didn’t know about the Apple-Pearson emails. A year ago we hadn’t had the MiSiS Experience. We didn’t know about the canceled-but-not-quite-really iPad procurement. A year ago we didn’t know the answer to the question: What Else Can Go Wrong? And if you are one of those driven by the fierce urgency of reform now you have witnessed the lassitude and inertia of the current situation: A standoff with neither retreat nor advance – just the knee-jerk reaction-of-the-week to the crisis-of-the-week. We measure progress where-we-find-it in minuscule increments – well within the rounding error. And the parents and the educators and the students are waiting. ON TUESDAY AT 4:01 PM THE BOARD OF ED MEETS IN CLOSED SESSION WITH THE SUPERINTENDENT’S ANNUAL REVIEW ON THE AGENDA. We are assured that they will not vote Tuesday, they won’t reach a conclusion – this is just a preliminary meeting to establish whatever it is that needs establishing. “The meeting was called to give the seven school board members a chance to discuss what criteria they would like to include in the superintendent’s upcoming annual performance review, scheduled for Oct. 21. “According to people familiar with the closed session agenda, board members will have the opportunity to discuss what they consider fair game for Deasy’s annual performance evaluation. Under no circumstances, said one of the sources, would a vote be held to determine Deasy’s employment. According to that source, Deasy has the right to attend, but because it is not his official performance review, he isn’t required to.” LA School Report. | http://bit.ly/1ss4mAV For the curious, this just gets curiouser. LA School Report is not a publication that parties opposed to the superintendent would normally leak to. The author of the scoop about the closed session meeting was neither a reporter nor an editor, but the very publisher herself. “Who would have her on their speed dial?” you might ask if you believed in Machiavellian machinations and man-behind-the-curtain intrigue. Who indeed? The Special Meeting schedule was posted dutifully on the Board of Ed website – with a promise that the agenda would follow that very day: [●Order of Business Available on 9/24/14] That didn’t happen for 48 hours – and when it did it was: a.) barren of information and b.) posted as District offices closed on Friday afternoon. If there is DZ Timing, this is it. And, speaking of timing, seeing as how the pot is simmering already, why not give it a stir? A story came out Friday – based on evidence previously undisclosed - that seemed intended to cast discredit on new Board member George McKenna: DOCUMENTS FILED IN MIRAMONTE LAWSUIT CLAIM SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER McKENNA KNEW OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CHILD PREDATOR | http://bit.ly/1xqmX1C . As a writer who has been known to write comedy I know how critical timing is. And how rarely accidental. There is intrigue enough here for a Raymond Chandler novel – I am waiting to see what the pseudonymous Martin Eden of “All The Superintendent’s Men” (that unwelcome contributor to LA School Report)– makes of it. Though I seriously doubt if LASR will publish it! STAY FOCUSED: There will be red herrings and false leads. MacGuffins, misdirection and sleight-of-hand. Don’t be distracted by Breakfast in the Classroom or even the UTLA Contract Negotiations. Don’t even be distracted by MiSiS – though that may take some effort! Miramonte was horrible, horrible! – but it is yesterday’s news resurrected to misdirect your attention from what is, and isn’t, going on at 333 South Beaudry. Remember that almost every school district in almost every state in the union will be taking Common Core Tests on computers this spring – and apparently only one of them (¿guess who?) is relying on School Construction Bond Funding to pay for the testing devices. And when you hear that John Deasy is The Indispensible Man listen to that warning voice that comes in the night And repeats- how it yells - in your ear: “There are no indispensible men.” There are no magic bullets. We are not waiting for Superman. Eli Broad and Bill Gates are not Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny in their spare time. Remember what our anonymous principal wrote: "...comparing this to what an abused spouse must feel...hearing the promised words of change that lulls one into trusting that everything will be ok – only to repeat the cycle once more." Remember what Churchill said about Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat? It’s like that. Let’s stop the bleeding and get on with the rest. ¡Onward/Adelante! - smf BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE DOES NOT APPROVE REQUEST FOR BOND FUNDS FOR MORE COMPUTERS FOR TESTING OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE PUTS BRAKES ON LA SCHOOL OFFICIALS’ REQUEST FOR MORE iPADS FOR TESTING Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1ojGGI1 2014-09-25 16:37:33 :: Members of a bond oversight committee denied a request by Los Angeles Unified school district officials to spend $16 million on 22,000 more iPads or Chromebooks for spring testing, disagreeing with administrators' calculation of need. The district's formula was based on students using devices two hours per day and did not take into account many computers already in schools. "We are asking for more realistic calculations,” said Quynh Nguyen, an member of the School Construction Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee. "Deep down, we don’t believe that’s what’s going on in the real world.” Gerardo Loera, director of curriculum and instruction for L.A. Unified, said the two-hour calculation was based on students' and schools' testing capacity. “Acknowledge the cognitive demands we are placing on our students in these tests,” Loera said, arguing if devices were rotated in the afternoon, the schedule would severely "limit a students' ability." Every student is required to be tested in math and English for most grade levels. Exams were administered digitally for the first time last year - but test scores were not public because it was a "field test" - a test of the test. Stephen English, chair of the oversight committee, asked Loera to come back with data to support his claim. “I think we have a better use of $16 million than to juice student test scores,” English said. The committee must issue recommendations on projects that use school bonds before the school board can consider them. Testing last spring was difficult. Internet connectivity was spotty and iPads were not fully configured or were freezing, among other issues. L.A. Unified tech support received an average of 800 calls per day. Data shows many student didn't finish their exams. High school testing rates were the lowest, with only 70 percent of students starting their tests - and 65 percent finishing. According to a district survey of school staff, only 30 percent of respondents said they would recommend testing on iPads. Forty-four percent said they would prefer desktops. Ron Chandler, chief information officer for the district, said he was suggesting only iPads and/or Chromebooks be purchased - in part because L.A. Unified already has contracts for both devices and would not have to put the purchase out to competitive bid. The oversight committee instead told officials to hold off on the purchase, reevaluate the testing schedule to reduce the number of devices needed, consider the number of devices already at site, consider the longer-term classroom use when selecting a device and consider using savings to add more support staff. Ron Miller, an oversight committee member, suggested it's outside their role to recommend policy changes. “We [don't] ask what kind of air-conditioners they are going to use," Miller said. But English said it's a matter of confidence, which he believes the district technology department hasn't established. “It seems natural to me that we would be asking more questions,” English said. The denial was the latest setback in the district's technology expansion, which includes providing a computer to all 650,000 students. Last month, Superintendent John Deasy canceled a $500 million contract with Apple and Pearson to provide tablets loaded with educational software. The decision came after KPCC published internal emails showing Deasy communicated with executives at Apple and publisher Pearson a year before the tablet project went to competitive bid. Specific offerings discussed in their emails later resembled requirements for bidding, calling into question whether the process was fair. Deasy insists it was fair and that those discussions and meetings referred to an abandoned pilot program. The district purchased about 75,000 iPads with bond funds last year – approximately 30,000 devices loaded with Pearson software plus 45,000 iPads for testing last spring. During testing last year, teachers complained small screens frustrated students. Wifi and technical issues sent students to more reliable desktops in existing computer labs. A recent report by contractors commissioned by the district to study the program found L.A. Unified teachers struggled to meaningfully integrate iPads into the classroom. L.A. UNIFIED OVERSIGHT PANEL REJECTS $42 MILLION FOR COMPUTERS + smf’s 2¢ • LAUSD SAYS IT NEEDS $25 MILLION IN COMPUTERS IMMEDIATELY TO BE READY FOR STATE TESTS • BOND OVERSIGHT PANEL SAYS LAUSD HASN'T PROVED URGENT NEED FOR COMPUTERS • BOND OVERSIGHT PANEL FAULTS LAUSD FOR NOT HAVING A COMPLETE INVENTORY OF COMPUTERS IT ALREADY OWNS By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/YgWCE8 Sept 25, 2014 | 9:55pm :: The Los Angeles school district's bond oversight panel rejected a move Thursday by officials to spend an additional $42 million on new computers, including purchases under a controversial — and recently suspended — technology contract. The district's proposal was discussed for the first time in a meeting of the independent School Construction Bond Citizens' Oversight Committee, which reviews the use of school construction money. The bond panel rejected the plan, saying that L.A. Unified had not proved that it urgently needed these devices. “You can't know what you need if you don't know what you have.” - Garrett Francis The purchase request is the latest development in a $1.3-billion project that was supposed to provide computers for every student, teacher and campus administrator in the nation's second-largest school system. In all, the Los Angeles Unified School District bought 109,000 iPads before schools Supt. John Deasy suspended further purchases Aug. 25. He said the district would begin a new bidding process because of the evolving market, advances in technology and "lessons learned" in the first phase of the effort. Mark Hovatter, head of the facilities division, said the district was looking for the best way to handle the need for computers. "We're just looking for devices," Hovatter said. "We're not tied to this contract. But it is an option that is available to us if it offers the best deal for the district. We didn't terminate the contract." Schools would be able to choose the iPads or different computers under other contracts, he said. L.A. Unified officials Bernadette Lucas and Ron Chandler told the bond panel that new, additional devices are needed urgently for students to take standardized tests this year. The district also wanted authorization to spend $16.5 million to buy computers for every middle and high school teacher as well as for office staff. The immediate purpose is to help teachers use a new online student data system that malfunctioned across L.A. Unified at the start of the school year. The computers can also be used for instruction. The oversight committee again was concerned about potential overspending. It approved only a third of the requested amount. The committee's actions are advisory and are not binding on the Board of Education, which is expected to make a decision at an upcoming meeting. Deasy suspended the contract for iPads days after the disclosure of emails showing that the superintendent and his former top deputy had a close relationship with Apple, maker of the iPad, and Pearson, which provided curriculum on the devices. Deasy, who has denied any impropriety, recused himself from involvement in the bidding because he owned Apple stock. New bidding has yet to begin, however, and the district said it needs $25 million more in computers right away to be ready for state tests. Those exams will expand to their full length this spring, requiring twice as long, about eight hours, to complete. A longer test means more computers will be needed at campuses where students are sharing the devices, said Gerardo Loera, who heads of the office of curriculum, instruction and school support. Especially at high schools, with students moving from period to period and having to fit in Advanced Placement exams and other tests, scheduling the state testing with limited computers is "like an engineering project to pull it all together," he said. But members of the oversight committee challenged a district option to limit testing to two hours a day, all in the morning. Committee Chairman Stephen English acknowledged that morning testing might result in somewhat better test scores, but said he was more interested in educational imperatives than purchases made to game the test. Members were also troubled by the lack of an inventory of devices the district already owns. "You can't know what you need if you don't know what you have," said Garrett Francis, the appointee of Associated General Contractors of California. Officials acknowledged the problem, adding that they lacked an accounting of older devices and products bought at schools, not with the central technology program. ●●smf’s 2¢: I do not know why The Times always puts pictures of Dr. Deasy on these articles about the Bond Committee and iPads, etc. – unless it’s to remind the committee what he looks like. While the $1.3 billion CCTP/1:1 computer initiative may be his signature program, he has not appeared before the committee since he first announced the program. STATE, LAUSD OFFICIALS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SPRING ASSESSMENTS + smf’s 2¢ By Louis Freedberg | ED SOURCE TODAY | | http://bit.ly/1sDrPz8 September 21, 2014 | Last spring more than 3 million students in California, the largest number ever to take an online test in the state, took field tests of new assessments aligned to the Common Core state standards without major technical breakdowns or system crashes, according to state officials. Just as California avoided the massive online breakdowns that occurred with the federal healthcare.gov website, education leaders here are now optimistic that when the full battery of tests are administered this spring for the first time that the process should go relatively smoothly. The field tests of the assessments produced by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium were intended to be a practice run for the full rollout this spring, when all of California’s 3rd- through 8th-grade students, along with 11th graders, will take the assessments in both English language arts and math for the first time. They will replace the multiple-choice, pencil-and-paper tests, known as the California Standards Tests, that students had taken each spring for 15 years until 2013. After the field tests were administered, some news reports documented a range of problems, including students struggling to master the technicalities of taking a test online instead of filling in bubbles with a pencil. But state and Smarter Balanced officials interviewed by EdSource believe that some of the problems that occurred last spring have been dealt with, or with additional preparation and planning can be averted by this spring. California Department of Education officials say their preliminary conclusions about the field test process are based on online surveys of school districts and eight focus groups of key education constituencies, including parents and students. Two of the groups focused on English learners and special education. The department will present an official report of its findings to the State Board of Education in time for its meeting in November. What is still not known is how well students will perform on the most important part of the new assessments – the academic content. No scores on the field tests in either math or English language arts last spring were published, and how well students do will only be known when their scores are published for the first time after the full assessments are administered next spring. Because California has by far the largest number of students of any state – more than 6 million – what happens here will have an impact on the overall implementation of the most prominent reform now underway in the nation’s schools. “People were very nervous to begin with, and through our partners with the Education Testing Service, county offices and everyone else involved, things went remarkably well,” said Sue Burr, a member of the State Board of Education, at its meeting in Sacramento on Sept. 3, in response to a presentation by California Department of Education officials. Even in Los Angeles Unified, which issued a detailed report documenting a range of problems at individual school sites, officials say the field tests went well for the nearly half million students who took them. “It was a major challenge, but it went better than expected,” said Cynthia Lim, executive director of the district’s Office of Data and Accountability. “A year ago, if you had told me that 450,000 students would take this test online, I wouldn’t have believed it, but it actually happened.” Leading up to the tests, districts were provided with detailed instructions about how to gain access to the online testing system. For months beforehand, districts could participate in workshops or webcasts on any number of issues related to the new tests. Unlike other states that administered the field tests to a sample of students, California chose to administer the field tests to all eligible students. Of 8.9 million test sessions – some students logged in for two or three sessions to finish the various parts of the new assessments – 97 percent of students completed them. At the local level, school districts are still working through a range of technical problems. In Los Angeles, principals and test coordinators have identified problems such as not having enough iPads, laptops or desktop computers at some schools for students to take the test in a timely manner. In some instances, Lim said, the field tests were spread out over a six-week period so students could take the tests on a staggered schedule. School personnel said that lengthy period of time was too disruptive of school routines, and that the testing period should be shorter. Officials also reported that students experienced “log-in issues” with Smarter Balanced software, and students “were regularly kicked off.” Diane Hernandez, director of the Assessment Development and Administration Division at the California Department of Education, said that the report to be presented to the State Board of Education in November will give a fuller picture of problems at the school site level. She said there were “some gaps” in broadband access at some schools, but mostly in small rural districts. To fill those gaps, the department last month announced a fund of $26.7 million, known as the Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant program. The state last week released a preliminary list of 300 schools – many in remote locations – that may be eligible to apply for the money. Hernandez said the biggest problem encountered by districts was resetting passwords they needed to gain access to the testing system, known as TIDES, now renamed TOMS (Test Operations Management System). But districts having difficulty were able to call the California Technical Assistance Center using an 800 number to get immediate help, Hernandez said. The state has contracted with the Education Testing Service to run the center. This year districts have received updated – and detailed – instructions for administering the tests in the spring. Those are posted online on a website dedicated to the new assessment system, known as the California Assessment System of Student Performance and Progress (CASSPP). GOING DEEPER Smarter Balanced officials also said they experienced few major problems with the field tests. “We did not have any interruption of service in 55 days of administering the field test,” Joe Willhoft, the executive director of the Smarter Balanced consortium, said in a webinar earlier this month. He said some students had difficulties logging in due to unclear instructions that were given by test administrators. Some also had difficulties with “text to speech,” zooming, audio and other technical features of the online assessments, but he said the Smarter Balanced help desk was able to respond to those concerns, and those technical issues have been fixed. Willhoft said there were disruptions due to inadequate bandwidth at some schools, but that in general the feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive.” Later this fall, districts will have another chance to prepare for the spring administration of the new assessments when the Smarter Balanced consortium provides them with “interim assessments” to gauge how students are doing. Along with other districts, Los Angeles Unified’s Lim said that the district learned a great deal from the field tests, including “how to respond quickly to schools” experiencing difficulties administering the test. The district is currently hosting focus groups of test coordinators to ensure that things go more smoothly in the spring. Last year, 95 percent of field test sessions that students started at LA Unified were completed, without students being bumped off due to password malfunctions, bandwidth problems or other technical glitches. This year, Lim said, the target is for all students to do so. She said some teachers and principals said that despite the new technical challenges of having to administer online assessments, they prefer them to the more cumbersome pencil-and-paper tests. The online tests have eliminated the need to collect test booklets, sort and bundle them, and then take them to a test center for the results to be collated. The district no longer needs a warehouse where for a full month prior to the annual testing period under the old system employees packaged and distributed test materials to the schools. “This is much more manageable,” Lim said. “It is the wave of the future.” For a detailed analysis by Cynthia Lim, executive director of the LAUSD Office of Data and Accountability, of the district’s experience with the Smarter Balanced field tests, go here: http://t.co/e2uhaaTjDc For a PowerPoint presentation of “lessons learned” by Ron Chandler, LAUSD chief information officer, go here: http://t.co/0phNwZbvmH - Louis Freedberg covers education policy reform and is Executive Director of EdSource. ●●smf's 2: In the interest of full disclosure: The optimism for spring success was expressed by the folks quoted BEFORE the Bond Oversight Committee withheld approval last Thursday for the large number of testing devices they desired . (see http://t.co/e2uhaaTjDc & http://t.co/0phNwZbvmH) ● In further disclosure: Ms. Lim’s detailed analysis and the “Lessons Learned” PowerPoint were not presented to the Bond Oversight Committee Thursday as parts of and/or as supporting materials accompanying Ms. Lim’s and Mr. Chandler’s presentations to the committee. “It isn’t how you play the game, it’s who keeps score that counts”: REPORT SHOWS VARIATION IN HOW STATES STACK UP AGAINST INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS By Caralee Adams in College Bound - Education Week | http://bit.ly/1rrgAY4 September 22, 2014 12:13 PM :: What states expect students to know varies widely and often falls short of international standards for learning, a new report from the American Institutes for Research shows. Gary Phillips, a vice president and fellow at the Washington-based institute, examined the share of students meeting proficiency standards in reading, mathematics, and science in every state. He used international benchmarks to grade states by statistically linking state tests to the state National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), then linking national NAEP to national Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) or Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) data. The results revealed large gaps. For instance, Georgia considered 87 percent of its 8th graders proficient in math in 2011, but international measures showed just 24 percent were proficient. On the other end of the spectrum, 35 percent of Tennessee's 8th graders met its state math standards, but only 21 were considered proficient by international measures. The problem stems from the patchwork of standards that emerged after the federal No Child Left Behind legislation gave states the flexibility to define proficiency with their own metrics—an approach that the report calls "fundamentally flawed and misleading." Phillips discovered that states reporting the highest percent of proficient students had set the bar the lowest. More than two-thirds of the difference in state success is related to how high or low the states set their performance standards, according to the report. The expectations gap is larger than twice the size of the national black-white achievement gap, the report said. The difference between the states with the highest and lowest standards represents a variation of three or four grade levels, according to Phillips. "It represents a big opportunity-to-learn problem in states that set low standards," said Phillips in a phone interview. Without high expectations, students aren't challenged with rigorous courses, he added. Phillips said he thinks the rollout soon of common standards in most states will help. "The Common Core will give some consistency to what students are expected to learn and a high level of expectations," he said. The current lack of transparency among state performance standards misleads the public because low standards can artificially inflate the numbers of students who are deemed to be proficient and deny them the opportunity to learn skills needed for college and career, the report concludes. AIR International Benchmarking State and National Ed Performance Standards High Scores, Empty Stomachs: TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS CANNOT LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD IN A BROKEN DEMOCRACY • HUNGER DOESN'T GO AWAY JUST BECAUSE YOU QUALIFIED FOR AP ENGLISH • SOLID TEST SCORES AREN'T A SIGN THAT POVERTY HAS BEEN CURED Op-Ed By Garret Keizer in the LA Times | http://lat.ms/1pkZhDJ 28 Sept 2014 :: In the fall of 2010, after a14-year hiatus from the classroom, I began a one-year job filling in for a teacher on leave from the same rural Vermont high school that I'd entered as a rookie 30 years before. Almost from my first day, I was moved by the sight of what had always been a good school straining to be a better one. Multiple tutoring centers did a brisk business at every period and not infrequently after the buses had gone for the day. Hardly a week went by when teachers were not summoned to an early-morning meeting to discuss an individual student's progress. Study halls no longer functioned as de facto prep periods for their faculty minders or as down-time for sleepy kids. Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the boy who woke at 2 in the morning to do his barn chores no longer had a place to lay his head. By all official measures, the school was succeeding. Ranked as the state's poorest on the basis of the number of its students eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunches, Lake Region Union High School was outperforming many of its more affluent competitors on standardized tests. The year before I returned, its writing scores were the highest in the state. The next year, the free-and-reduced-lunch students performed above the state average in reading, writing, math and science on the New England Common Assessment Program exams. I threw myself into the mission with as much gusto as a man can summon in late middle age. I did my best to coach for the NECAPs — yes, we took time away from our lesson plans to do some teaching to the test — and resolved to keep my skepticism about the ultimate value of the tests to myself. There were good reasons for doing so. I knew that voters in the community were likelier to approve the school budget if the tests results were good. I also knew that some of the kids I coached and cajoled would go on to surmount the social conditions that stood in their way. I knew this because a few of them always had. But I also knew the school's sincere efforts were in the service of a cynical agenda. The battle cry of the school reform movement, that “poverty should never be an excuse for poor academic achievement,” all too often masks the blithe conviction that good academic achievement can serve as an excuse for poverty. As long as the test scores are at par, you see, we need not be overly concerned if the pantries are bare, the parents jobless or jailed, and the gap between rich and poor more appalling than it's been since 1928. In the same county where Lake Region is achieving its impressive test results, an estimated 1 in 4 children is “food insecure.” It's a phrase that tries the imaginations of those who have the luxury of spicing their security with complaint. “What to cook for dinner, always such a dilemma.” Imagine waking up in a state of food insecurity and going to school to take a standardized test. Imagine how ashamed you'll feel if your school is judged to be failing because of you. Not to worry, though, because the hunger goes away just as soon as you've performed at grade level or are enrolled in an Advanced Placement course. And within a few short years, you'll be getting the math right when you divvy up your welfare check after your job at the furniture mill has been outsourced or the family farm auctioned off. In one of my classes was a girl who'd been rescued the previous winter from an unheated trailer behind her grandparents' house. She was a tough and determined kid, intelligent, ready to seek extra help, not afraid to speak out in class, almost never behind in her homework. I happen not to know her standardized test scores, but it's reasonable to assume that her better-than-average application resulted in a performance that was at least on a par with the better-than-average test scores of her school. It is far less reasonable to assume that those test scores significantly improved her lot. They certainly didn't improve her grandparents' lot. They did nothing to allay the economic conditions that made her every achievement in school outrageously more difficult for her than it had to be. No matter how dedicated, teachers alone cannot change conditions that will take nothing short of a revolution to change. I didn't have to teach for a year in a “high-performing” rural high school to recognize the obscenity of using “failing schools” to ignore the implications of a broken democracy. Or to recognize the moral futility of being charged with the task of creating “a level playing field” so that society can sort its winners and losers with a clearer conscience and a colder eye. Of course, I can bear witness to the impressive academic achievements of students from impoverished backgrounds. So can many other teachers, and they should. To withhold one's applause for the sake of advocating broader social progress is to insult those students and their struggles. It is also to forfeit what may be our best challenge to a society of mounting inequality. After all, if food-insecure 16-year-olds can master a prescribed curriculum, then what is the excuse of the richest nation in the world for failing to master the common core of a livable wage, a color-blind legal system and a society in which the word “class” refers to a course you take and not to chances you never had? • Garret Keizer is the author of "Getting Schooled: The Reeducation of an American Teacher." HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources GOV. BROWN SIGNS BILLS AIDING IMMIGRANT CHILDREN, TROUBLED STUDENTS; VETOES $100 MILLION FOR REPAIRS AT UC’s+CSU’s | http://bit.ly/1mDMIHP HOW TO SPOT A FAKE GRASSROOTS ED ®EFORM GROUP + HOW TO TELL IF YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT IS INFECTED BY THE BROAD VIRUS | http://bit.ly/1oopSQ7 FEDS VALIDATE THE CALIFORNIA SCHOOL CLIMATE, HEALTH & LEARNING SURVEY FOR ASSESSING SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT | http://bit.ly/1qHr68K STATE, LAUSD OFFICIALS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT SPRING ASSESSMENTS + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1yvbrDI DENVER AREA STUDENTS WALK OUT OVER ‘MORE PATRIOTIC’ HISTORY CURRICULUM | http://bit.ly/1vfCZsM DOCUMENTS FILED IN MIRAMONTE LAWSUIT CLAIM SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER McKENNA KNEW OF ALLEGATIONS AGAINST CHILD PREDATOR | http://bit.ly/1xqmX1C BEFORE+BEYOND MIRAMONTE: LAUSD sets new records at bad record keeping …and at keeping their story straight | http://bit.ly/YqRGMJ AGENDA/ORDER OF BUSINESS FOR SPECIAL MEETING OF THE LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION, 4:01 p.m. Tuesday, September. 30, 2014 http://bit.ly/1rrmIzQ REPORT SHOWS VARIATION IN HOW STATES STACK UP AGAINST INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS | http://bit.ly/1wO8zwQ PROPOSED FEDERAL LEGISLATION WOULD REDUCE TESTING REQUIREMENTS | http://bit.ly/1vo5Wlq CRENSHAW PRINCIPAL TESTIFIES THAT TEACHERS’ DISMISSALS NOT TIED TO UNION ACTIVITY | http://bit.ly/1qCj5le ¡Not Updated!: LAUSD BOARD CALLS SPECIAL CLOSED-DOOR MEETING TO DISCUSS DEASY | http://bit.ly/1ss4mAV L.A. UNIFIED OVERSIGHT PANEL REJECTS $42 MILLION FOR COMPUTERS | http://bit.ly/1BeCgI6 CLOSED LAUSD BOARD SESSION GREW OUT OF REQUEST BY RATLIFF | http://bit.ly/1ut6B73 OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE PUTS BRAKES ON LA SCHOOL OFFICIALS’ REQUEST FOR MORE iPADS FOR TESTING | http://bit.ly/1qAda0a Tweeting from the fault line: LA TIMES’ HOWARD BLUME FROM THURSDAY’S LAUSD BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE | http://bit.ly/1v6chTt Never again: NEWTOWN STILL STRUGGLING | http://bit.ly/ZeDmrW Letters to the editor: WHAT MAKES GOOD TEACHING IN THE 21st CENTURY? | http://bit.ly/1rm3vOz COLORADO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WALK OUT TO PROTEST PROPOSED CURRICULUM CHANGES ...over protest and civil disobedience |http://bit.ly/1n0BUUE REPORT CRITICAL OF CHARTER SCHOOL OVERSIGHT | http://bit.ly/1rlMF2e LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD TO MEET TUESDAY; LIKELY TO DISCUSS DEASY’S FUTURE | http://bit.ly/1yrPc1g LA SCHOOLS DATA SYSTEM CONCERNS AFTER PORT FIRE, TRANSCRIPT PROBLEMS | http://bit.ly/1wM2MYN DZ: Cool as a cucumber in all this heat pic.twitter.com/8yMBJziYZx Just in: LAUSD BOARD CALLS SPECIAL CLOSED-DOOR MEETING TO DISCUSS DEASY | ¿WAS WILMINGTON WHARF FIRE SCHOOL EVACUATION COMPLICATED BY MiSiS CRISIS? | http://bit.ly/ZdgQ2x Parent re: Wilmington Fire: "It just seems to me the superintendent doesn't care about the students." DELAYED EVACUATION OF SCHOOL NEAR PORT OF L.A. ANGERS PARENTS + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/ZdgQ2x TEACHING+LEARNING MUSIC :: Q&A: Why Teaching Music Matters + This Is Your Brain. This Is Your Brain Editorial: DEASY, LAUSD BOARD MUST DECIDE IF THEY CAN WORK TOGETHER | http://bit.ly/ZHqjPF Bad guys in White Hats?: CHARTER SCHOOLS IN COURT IN OHIO | http://bit.ly/1uiI30s Alex Caputo-Pearl: THE CENTRALITY OF ORGANIZING & CHALLENGING DEASY’S AUTOCRACY | http://bit.ly/1pbRV5s TITLE 1 + MiSiS: Only 40% of students at one school have renewed meal applications, down from 76% last year | http://bit.ly/1CbuAZK LAUSD TITLE 1 MONEY IN JEOPARDY OVER ENDURING MiSiS GLITCHES | http://bit.ly/1CbuAZK AMID iPAD, ATTENDANCE SYSTEM CONTROVERSIES, SCHOOL BOARD TO WEIGH SUPERINTENDENT’S PERFORMANCE + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1r4XKqP STUDENT PUT IN DETENTION FOR SHARING SCHOOL LUNCH | http://bit.ly/1B25xG3 Washington Post: STATE SAYS PRINCE GEORGE’S SCHOOLS CFO COMMITTED INSURANCE FRAUD, PLACED ON LEAVE | http://bit.ly/1tVSOo7 EVENTS: Coming up next week... Regular Board Meeting - September 30, 2014 - 4:00 p.m. - Williams Sufficiency Start: 09/30/2014 4:00 pm Special Board Meeting (Including Closed Session Items) September 30, 2014 - 4:01 p.m. Start: 09/30/2014 4:01 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 • 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 George.McKenna@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.

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4LAKids: Sunday 21•Sept•2014 In This Issue:  •  LAUSD HAS BECOME THE NATIONAL EXAMPLE OF HOW NOT TO PROVIDE TECHNOLOGY TO STUDENTS AND HOW NOT TO ACTIVATE A COMPREHENSIVE STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM  •  LAUSD’S STUDENTS NEED BETTER LIBRARIES, NOT iPADS + smf’s 2¢  •  MORE THAN 100,000 LA SCHOOL REPAIRS BACKLOGGED: Fire safety at risk in some schools  •  STATE NEEDS A 'GRAND BARGAIN' ON TEACHERS' EFFECTIVENESS, OBSTACLES INEFFECTIVENESS IN THE CLASSROOM OFTEN DOES NOT DERIVE FROM INCOMPETENCE  •  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. For the past three weeks there have been issues with delivery of this email newsletter to email addresses in the lausd.net domain. Last Sunday the servers blocked the issue and 4LAKids to all lausd.net addresses bounced. The first step in Denial is Denial: This can’t be happening! The second step is Paranoia. It’s all about ME! And of course: THEM! …then there was a little doubt. Maybe I forgot to edit out a naughty word? Or referred to the parts of poultry that email filters find inappropriate (…anything but drumsticks, wings or backs.) Then my outraged sense of social justice kicked in and I made sure my ACLU membership was paid up. The Founding Fathers had exactly this in mind when they contemplated the unspeakable atrocities an unfettered tyranny could impose! Then, before I could complain to the President of the Board of Education about the injustice of it all, he complained to me about not getting his issue of 4LAKids. I figured that the LAUSD IT folk were probably too busy with MiSiS… [Note to self: Never create a project acronym that rhymes with “crisis”, “disaster”…or lends itself to the suffix: “-gate”] …..to mess about blocking 4LAKids …even if tempted by tantalizing bonuses (“All the overtime in the world!”) or nerdy perks (“A new iPad 6+!”)from their corporate masters on the 24th floor who are tired of 4LAKids incessant muckraking, doubled metaphors, biting satire and obscure song lyrics. The truth, conspiracy theorists, is predictably mundane: The IT folk had innocently installed some new fangled Spam filter, and filters being filters, it filtered out 4LAKids. (You may either insert the entire Monty Python Spam Sketch [season 2, episode 12 | http://bit.ly/1uNNVOb] here ...or just the Spam Song as sung by the Vikings in the Spam Sketch). (If you didn’t get this issue, look in your spam folder.) So on Saturday I re-emailed last Sunday’s issue to everyone who had been bounced. The problem, 8.7% of you will be delighted to know, has been ever so slightly corrected: …only 91.3% of the resends bounced! Don’t worry; even if you got the resend and/or this issue - the other new LAUSD email software enhancement will automatically delete it from your mailbox after a year! ______ IT WAS HOT LAST WEEK. My air conditioner broke. Apparently air conditioners broke all over LAUSD and the A/C fixit troops are out there 24/7 working alongside the IT MiSiS fixit troops. The Times reported that students at Franklin High tweeted that they were walking out because of the broken A/C. ‘Shannon Haber, a Los Angeles Unified School District spokeswoman, denied that students were walking out of class but did say eight air-conditioning units were not functioning on campus. ‘But the heat misery was hardly isolated to Franklin High. ‘There were issues with air conditioning districtwide. Nearly 500 calls for service for older air-conditioning systems were reported as of Monday. ‘Some of the district's older systems, Haber said, failed because of the heat. "Safety is our first priority," she said. "These kids deserve air conditioning." The district was working to address the problem, Haber said. http://bit.ly/1pjSZmS …and Sinclair323 commented on the Times’ website: “Isn't this what our bond money was supposed to fix? Not iPads!” Let me, as a member of the LAUSD School Construction Bond Citizens’ Oversight Committee, address+answer Sinclair323’s question (above): Yes. The County Office of Education issued an Extreme Heat Health Advisory to all schools, public, private and parochial for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday – and LAUSD complied by issuing an outdoor activity restriction and banning all outdoor sports activity and competition. The sense of entitlement in athletic programs is palpable, some football programs in LA County practiced in the heat on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday. “The rules don’t apply to us; we’re (Insert School Name Here)”. The teams that practiced early in the week were punished by winning games played against competitors who didn’t. If you can practice when you’re not supposed to, who’s to say you can’t play through a concussion or coldcock your fiancé in an elevator? Taft High School had a water polo match with Birmingham Charter High School on Monday; they cancelled – and the Birmingham coach as much as called them a bunch of wimps for following the health directives of the County and District. Apparently charter schools have a waiver from all health+safety advisories along with all the other waivers they get. And their coaches can engage their mouths without putting their minds in gear.| http://t.co/KjtD2V2RnP and http://t.co/a3AuyIZyY7 WHILE I’M PICKING ON CHARTER SCHOOLS, Governor Brown vetoed SB1263, which closed the loophole allowing school districts to charter schools that are not operating within their boundaries. Apparently the Acton-Agua Dulce USD will issue a charter to anyone, especially if they don’t intend to operate in Acton or Agua Dulce. Get your charter in AADUSD, your SELPA in Eldorado County: That ain't workin' that's the way you do it Money for nothin' and charters for free. The California Charter School Association is ecstatic. Capitol Update http://bit.ly/1qknlG3 Though LACOE eventually approved LAUSD’s budget and LCAP, the US Department of Education wasn’t quite so generous in approving the LAUSD/CORE California NCLB waiver. Read: CORE CALIFORNIA WAIVER EXTENDED: Seven CORE districts – including LAUSD - placed on “High Risk Status” | http://bit.ly/XR2Ha2 LAUSD’s partners in CORE are not universally overjoyed – and districts outside the CORE umbrella – which see the waiver as a ‘get out of NCLB jail free card’ - aren’t all that delighted either. LAUSD’s OWN COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY PROJECT REPORT BY AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR WAS RELEASED. The evidence of how educationally ineffective all those iPads with their controversial Pearson content were screams from the page and the closets where the devices are apparently kept. Underutilized and, for the most part: Unused. Because teachers were un-or-undertrained. Because the District wouldn’t/didn’t invest in the training. We are an educational institution; how do we miss that? AND IF YOU CARE ABOUT TEST SCORES, the CAHSEE results are out. The superintendent says “We are making great progress… .” The results don’t show that. The National DEBATE OVER COMMON CORE State Standards bubbles-on in the background, covered with great superficiality by CBS News Sunday Morning. THE WEEK’S GOOD NEWS is the expansion of Medicaid coverage to include kids on the Autism spectrum. And Steve Lopez’ piece on Ginny Mancini’s support of the Community Music School is heartwarming. And scattered throughout last week’s news is all the speculation in the Fantasy-Superintendent’s-Derby-and-Succession-Parlor-Game: After Deasy… what? And when? And who? And 4LAKids splits the Quote o’ th’ Week three ways. ●On the Deasy Drama: "Deasy is an unnecessary distraction that is hindering the LAUSD. The honorable option is for him to resign. Otherwise, the Board of Education should decisively intervene and terminate his contract." http://bit.ly/1pi9z6I ●On School Libraries: “A good school library is not in conflict with technology; it can enhance our understanding and use of it.” http://bit.ly/1uEp1PV ●On Music Education: "Music is something that every child needs, nourishment just to be sure he succeeds. Music is magic wherever it leads, a hundred years from today." - Ginny Mancini http://bit.ly/1sq6yTC ...with extra credit to Ginny Mancini, who sang hers! ¡Onward/Adelante! - smf LAUSD HAS BECOME THE NATIONAL EXAMPLE OF HOW NOT TO PROVIDE TECHNOLOGY TO STUDENTS AND HOW NOT TO ACTIVATE A COMPREHENSIVE STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM Published in the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Update for the week of September 22 with the title of: KUDOS TO SCHOOL STAFFS FOR KEEPING IT TOGETHER! | http://bit.ly/JidN0H September 22, 2014 :: This school year’s opening has been one of the worst in history for school staffs. Not since the 1994 Northridge earthquake has the normal, day-to-day, operation of the school been so challenged. That natural disaster brought school closures, damaged buildings, power outages, loss of water, broken equipment, high student and staff absences and general turmoil throughout most of the LAUSD. But the MiSiS crisis has been far worse, in that it was not caused by forces beyond our control, like Mother Nature, but by our own District. With the unfortunate decision to move swiftly, caution was thrown to the wind and pleas by those in the field to delay implementation were ignored. Secondary students began school with their schedules in disarray and both elementary and secondary schools were unable to get required reports, teachers could not access student information for assignment purposes and enrollment had to be counted by hand. “This was one of the hardest school openings ever because of MiSiS!” Comments like this from administrators in e-mails and calls bombarded the AALA office during the first weeks of school. Nevertheless, staff members held their schools together by working long hours, evenings and weekends, and tenaciously made sure students were safe and campuses were orderly. AALA commends our members and other employees for working hard during this crisis. Students were eventually situated in the correct classes and the ITD team is working feverishly to get the system to accurately reflect information and provide administrators with the reports they need. While the media pummels the District about the escalating iPad scandal, administrators and other staff are losing confidence in its leadership. This entire opening fiasco could have been avoided if the District had not rushed to roll out MiSiS in July 2014, when it had originally been scheduled for 2015. AALA members tried for two years to work with senior leadership and share their concrete concerns about the start date and the enhancements that were needed prior to the roll out. To its credit, the ITD team did make fixes here and there, but just did not have enough time to work out all of the bugs that any new software will contain. Time and time again, we said MiSiS was not ready for prime time and asked for a delay in order for some of the key pieces needed at the schools to be included. Why did no one at Beaudry listen to those in the field? Was it hubris, job protection, public relations, politics? What caused this insensitivity and blatant disregard for the school site? LAUSD has now become the national example of how not to provide technology to students and how not to activate a comprehensive student information system. The Board and Superintendent are being attacked in the media. Senior staff is on the defensive and a cloud is hovering over Beaudry. Yet, school administrators and staff persevere. Teachers are teaching, campuses are safe, students are engaged, support staff is steadfast and administrators remain committed. AALA and all other school staff members should be acknowledged, applauded and appreciated for making it through this chaotic opening and providing stability for students. WE GET LETTERS AALA thanks the secondary administrator, who wishes to remain anonymous, for submitting this letter. The opinions expressed are those of the author. In reference to your 09/15/2014 article: WHO WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE? It is very convenient that Chief Information Officer Ronald Chandler and Chief Strategy Officer Matt Hill are willing to fall on their swords and take responsibility for the MiSiS CRiSiS. And very interesting that Superintendent John Deasy attempts to duck blame for the fiasco, stating “This is not my area of expertise.” News Flash: Superintendent Deasy came to LAUSD from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. News Flash: Microsoft is the vendor for MiSiS. News Flash: This is not the first instance of questionable financial shenanigans involving a proposed billion dollars being siphoned from the LAUSD treasury into the coffers of a major technology firm. FOR THE RECORD: • Student programming in ISIS was not implemented for years because of valid concerns around functionality requirements insisted upon by LAUSD veterans. But when it came to MiSiS, Deasy and his minions cared little about functionality requirements. We were told by the Beaudry Ivory Tower to just do it. • Superintendent Deasy has done his best to privatize education by supporting charter schools (as does the Gates Foundation). • Superintendent Deasy has worked hard at directing public funds to private industry, especially the • technology sector. • Superintendent Deasy will be well taken care of after he floats away from LAUSD with his golden parachute. The fact that MiSiS was such a mess is actually a plus for Deasy and his pro-private industry masters. After all, the glitches that need to be fixed will cost hundreds of thousands more dollars than the initial projected roll out costs of half a billion dollars. And Bill Gates does need another billion dollars. The sooner we jettison Deasy and company, the better. LAUSD’S STUDENTS NEED BETTER LIBRARIES, NOT iPADS + smf’s 2¢ A GOOD SCHOOL LIBRARY IS NOT IN CONFLICT WITH TECHNOLOGY; IT CAN ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING AND USE OF IT Op-Ed By Rebecca Constantino in the LA Times | http://lat.ms/1uEk1L7 Sept 15, 2014 :: Like Supt. John Deasy and others in the Los Angeles Unified School District, I am concerned about the educational civil rights of the district's students. While the iPad-for-every-student controversy has gotten much media coverage lately, a long-term problem has gotten very little attention: the lack of equal access to a quality school library. A 19-month investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights concluded in 2011 that thousands of LAUSD students were being denied equal educational opportunities, which included libraries with sufficient books and staffing. Although the research is inconclusive regarding the results of providing every child a laptop, it is overwhelmingly positive for providing students well-stocked, well-staffed school libraries. In fact, an internal LAUSD memo from June attests to "the correlation between student achievement and well-staffed and well-stocked school libraries. This correlation is documented in many longitudinal studies. Access to such libraries is a necessary tool for student achievement and the implementation of the Common Core." The state school library association recommends 28 library books per child. LAUSD falls far short of that goal. Some schools have as few as seven books per child. Older schools have outdated and uninteresting collections. The district has not provided significant funding for school libraries since 1997. The funding provided in the past was measly and later slashed. Although there are some well-stocked school libraries in the district, this is a result of parental support and fundraising. According to district records, LAUSD provides no funding to provide current and up-to-date print and electronic collections. There is no significant funding at the state or federal level. Students who have access to high-quality school libraries learn more, get better grades, score higher on standardized tests and enjoy reading more. - A great library includes not only a great collection but also a well-trained, enthusiastic staff. In the district, the ratio is one teacher-librarian to nearly 6,000 students. Elementary schools that have libraries that are open staff them with aides who work, on average, three hours a day and not every day in some schools. This leaves no time for real interaction with students, staff and the collection. For many people, the school library seems old-fashioned and even unnecessary in this electronic age. However, the research and kids don't support that notion. Across the United States, studies have shown that students who have access to high-quality school libraries learn more, get better grades, score higher on standardized tests and enjoy reading more. Many students tell me that a well-stocked library is the best thing about school. One fifth-grader said, "I never knew about so many great things until I got to find out about them in the library." Another called the library "magical." I've asked many students: If they had to choose, would it be a laptop or a library? Overwhelmingly, they choose the library. "Man, someone who wants to do that doesn't know about kids. We all want the library," said one. Many reported fatigue from reading on a tablet. They still want to hold a book, flip the pages. Two significant findings have resulted from studies comparing reading on a tablet versus reading a book: Adults and children skim more and comprehend less when they read on a tablet. Many of the students whose civil rights are being violated based on the quality of the school library have little, if any, access to print materials. They have few books at home, and for many, the public library is inaccessible. For some students, the bus trip to the library is long. Many students tell me they would love to go to the public library but the one near their home is "scary." "There are a lot of homeless people and I am really afraid. Plus, my parents won't let me go alone," a student in Hollywood told me. A school library is not in contradiction to technology but rather should enhance our use and understanding of it. Effective school libraries are more than books. They are hubs of learning with well-trained and well-supervised staff. The school library is one of the best options for addressing the civil rights of our students. ●Rebecca Constantino is the founder and executive director of Access Books, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of school libraries. ●●smf’s 2¢ :: I cannot and will not argue with anything Rebecca says above. But it is the unsaid and unwritten that must be addressed. The books-to-student ratio, the number of shelf-feet per library, the hours of access and the age and the relevancy of the collection, the inventory of fiction, non-fiction and reference books – the technology and the catalog and all the rest are meaningless without paid professional staff to operate the library. The library is the most important classroom in the school, but a library without a librarian is a book room. Up until recently LAUSD-under-Deasy has been unwilling to fund librarians. If a school wanted a librarian (called a library aide in elementary) they had to find the money somewhere to pay for one. Couch-cushion money, washing machine money, bake sale money. Spare change. Do you want a counselor? Do you want a nurse? Classroom aides, enough paper towels and toilet paper to last all year? like that. Now the District is out hiring lots of three hour a day library aides– with three (count ‘em) three hours of training – to staff libraries. Library aides are not security aides with an orange vest and a roll of stickers – they are paraprofessionals whose qualifications, duties and responsibilities are defined in the Ed Code. Three hour employees don’t get benefits yet they are responsible for a couple of hundred thousand dollar inventory of books – and they must do allthe wonderful things Rebecca outlines for not quite a living wage after three hours of training. That the District is funding the positions is good news, make no mistake. But it’s nowhere near good-enough news. MORE THAN 100,000 LA SCHOOL REPAIRS BACKLOGGED: Fire safety at risk in some schools By Annie Gilbertson and Claire Withycombe with Chris Keller | KPCC 89.3 | http://bit.ly/1AZHJCu September 18 2014 | This story has been updated. :: From burned out light bulbs and cracked concrete to compromised fire safety systems and exposed electrical wiring, Los Angeles Unified schools are waiting on 116,000 maintenance and safety problems reported since January, records show, and officials said they don't have the staff or money to fix them all. An analysis of 165,400 repair requests filed with the school district this year showed less than a third have been addressed. "We are very short staffed," said Roger Finstad, head of maintenance and operations at L.A. Unified. "We're operating at less than half the funding we had just about six years ago." L.A. Unified set aside about $100 million for repairs this year, but Finstad said it would cost about $400 million every year to get all the work done. The state used to require schools to reserve 3 percent of funds for upkeep. During the recession, that requirement was removed to give schools more flexibility. If the mandate was still in place, L.A. Unified would have to double funds for maintenance and repairs this year. Superintendent John Deasy is proposing hiring another 900 maintenance workers next school year for a total of about $80 million. "But even with that, it's still not going to be sufficient to do the full maintenance program our schools truly need," Finstad said. Alex Orozco, a social studies teacher at James Madison Middle School in North Hollywood, said without routine maintenance, basic, necessary systems are falling apart. "We have classrooms that are being flooded," Orozco said. "They aren’t ready for heavy rains when we do get them. Some classrooms have no air conditioning." Of the outstanding requests district-wide, the data shows about 1,400 relate to school fire safety systems: leaking ceiling sprinklers, rust-covered fire sprinkler pipes and fire alarms and extinguishers are past due for repairs. Rick Flores, an inspector for the Los Angeles County Fire Department, said out-of-date fire extinguishers are a serious problem. SAFETY HAZARDS "What happens is the powder starts to cake in the bottom," Flores said. "The danger is if you go to use it, it won't work." A year and a half ago, staff at Hamsaki Elementary school in East Los Angeles pleaded for upgrades to a 50-year-old fire sprinkler system, according to the most recent data provided by L.A. Unified in response to a public records request. An aging kitchen fire suppression system worried staff at Hope Street Elementary in Huntington Park. They put in a request in March. It still isn't done. Seven months ago, San Pedro Elementary reported every fire extinguisher was out of date. Officials said they replaced them a month later. At Cesar Chavez Learning Academies in San Fernando, which was built in 2011 with $147 million in bond funds, records show 205 repairs were requested since January, including five fire extinguishers housed in busted glass cases. Student Oscar Ruiz said it's the little things that get him. The bathroom mirrors at Cesar Chavez have been shattered as long as he's been going there. "It's hasn't been fixed since 9th grade - and I'm a senior," Ruiz said. "It's, like, come on." LA Unified schools with most pending work orders (as of Aug. 8, 2014) SCHOOL BONDS Between 1997 and 2005, voters approved $19.5 billion in school bonds to fix leaky roofs, upgrade deteriorating bathrooms and build new schools to alleviate overcrowding and end forced busing. Measure R, for instance, raised almost $4 billion, promising to upgrade “fire safety systems, improve plumbing and electrical systems, and upgrade restrooms.” School officials said bond money can only be used for capital improvements – like replacing a roof – not routine repairs like fixing a leak. The school district's legal counsel decides which projects are eligible for bond funds and which isn't. "You've got to draw a line between capital expenditures and regular expenditures and sometimes that's hard to do," said Stephen English, chair of the Citizens' Oversight Committee for L.A. Unified's bond program. Because the administration doesn't believe bonds can be used for a wide range of repairs, those are not submitted for approval, according to English. Even large repairs, such as new air-conditioning systems and roofs, are projected to run the district $13 billion over the next fifteen years, much more than what's left of the bond funds. Over 90 percent of Measure R had been spent as of July, according to Tom Rubin, a consultant for the bond oversight committee. What is left is already committed to future projects. Deasy plans to use $1.3 billion in bond funds to equip every student and teacher with a digital device loaded with learning software. Because many of the voter referendums also promised to upgrade technology, the school district's legal counsel has determined that is a legitimate use of bond funds. ANGRY TEACHERS Adult education teacher Julie Carson accuses the district of pulling a bait and switch. “The public isn’t going to vote for bonds any more because of this," said Carson, the co-founder of a Facebook group called Repairs Not iPads which posts pictures of broken water fountains and toilets and insect infestations. "Someone has to say 'no'!” And then there are the ones no reports to officials downtown. At Cesar Chavez, students said sewage smells seep up into classrooms near bathrooms at the 4-year-old school. Sophomore Alexiz Acosta attends one of the four "learning campuses" at the school - which is following a newer model of breaking up behemoth high schools into manageable sub-schools. Her building serves about 500 kids, but Acosta said only one of the bathrooms is usually open - and even then, it's not uncommon for toilets to be out of order. State law mandates schools provide at least one toilet for every thirty female students. During a recent visit, more than one toilet was available - but water was running in only one of the three sinks. Staff have been calling for plumbing repairs for at least three months, repair tickets show. Cesar Chavez's principal declined to comment on why bathrooms stay locked or sinks were not working. OVERSIGHT While state education officials and the Office of the State Architect have to sign off on new schools before they open to make sure they're safe and sturdy, they aren't involved in making sure they stay that way. City and county fire departments are charged with conducting annual inspections of schools. Flores, the L.A. County fire inspector, said when county fire officials find violations, they give the school a written warning and can impose fines. Officials at Los Angeles city and county fire departments said the number of warnings and fines issued to L.A. Unified campuses in the last year were not readily available. Peter Sanders, a spokesman for the city fire department, said his inspectors can only enforce the fire code, leaving a number of L.A. Unified fire repairs outside their oversight. "They may flag things on their own that may not be in violation of the fire code," Sanders said. The only apparent oversight of conditions on campus comes from the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Cal-OSHA received 49 complaints from L.A. Unified school staff over the past five years, records show, many after accidents. Last year, inspectors found bathrooms at Mulholland Middle School in Lake Balboa were unsanitary or inaccessible. OSHA found school staff either weren't routinely inspecting the bathrooms or hadn't for a long time. The agency issued only one fine since January. Even with the threat of a $5,000 fee, it took Cabrillo Elementary School three months to come into compliance, Cal-OSHA records show. Without more cash on hand, Finstad said it would be hard for his repair staff to abolish the backlog. "I don't see it in the very near term," Finstad said. STATE NEEDS A 'GRAND BARGAIN' ON TEACHERS' EFFECTIVENESS, OBSTACLES INEFFECTIVENESS IN THE CLASSROOM OFTEN DOES NOT DERIVE FROM INCOMPETENCE Op-Ed by Ken Futernick in the LA Times | http://lat.ms/1rbeOdw 20 Sept 2014 :: The Vergara ruling does not mean, as many believe, the end of bad teachers. Unless it's overturned on appeal, the Los Angeles Superior Court's June decision in Vergara vs. California making it much easier to fire teachers will hurt students if lawmakers, unions and other state education leaders don't move beyond its limited focus and address the many factors that adversely affect student learning and teacher performance. Stakeholders must come together around a “grand bargain” that would address not only teacher incompetence but all the obstacles educators face that, in the end, prevent many students from learning. The court's ruling, which Gov. Jerry Brown has appealed, found that several California employment statutes violate the state Constitution's guarantee of equal educational opportunity. Judge Rolf M. Treu wrote that evidence that a disproportionate number of poor and minority students are more likely to have ineffective teachers is “compelling,” adding that it “shocks the conscience.” Were Vergara to hold up, administrators would be able to fire teachers with little difficulty. That's what has generated all of the excitement, the belief that no student will ever again have to be subjected to a bad teacher. Or so the thinking goes. Unfortunately, the ruling misdiagnoses the problem of teacher ineffectiveness and gives false hope for the cure it prescribes. That's because ineffectiveness in the classroom often does not derive from incompetence. lRelated Making it easier to fire teachers won't get you better ones To be sure, many of those who teach in poor neighborhoods don't have the same effect on test scores as those who teach in wealthier schools. But most schools that serve poor and minority students — those with high concentrations of English learners, transient students, students with health problems and so on — have fewer resources to meet students' many needs, larger class sizes and inadequate materials and facilities. In addition, they are staffed with many beginning teachers who turn over at high rates. Not surprisingly, student achievement suffers. Also, schools that serve poor students routinely assign teachers to subjects in which they have no expertise. For instance, a 2008 study showed that 27% of math courses in schools serving poor students were taught by teachers who were not qualified to teach math. Why are schools that serve poor and minority students overstaffed with inexperienced and out-of-field teachers? Most teachers seek to make a difference and are eager to teach disadvantaged students. But many don't want to teach in such schools because most of them are extraordinarily difficult, dysfunctional places to work. The teachers there suffer from poor professional support, low morale, run-down facilities, a revolving door of principals and unrelenting accountability pressures. Ineffectiveness in the classroom often does not derive from incompetence. - Consequently, administrators in these schools can't attract and keep enough well-qualified, experienced teachers. That, in turn, highlights another critical flaw in the judge's decision — the assumption that these schools can find suitable replacements for fired teachers. Quite the contrary, and administrators' power to fire teachers without real due process will only exacerbate the teacher recruitment problem. At the Vergara trial, powerful evidence was aired about the devastating effects of poverty on student achievement and about the state's meager investment in its K-12 schools. California, whose child poverty rate is among the nation's highest, spends less per student than almost every other state. So, what's the best path forward? The case will probably linger in the courts on appeal for years while battles over tenure and other employment statutes intensify. None of that bodes well for students. We need a “grand bargain” — now — that addresses all of the conditions affecting educator effectiveness and gives students the kind of instruction they deserve. What would such a bargain include? For starters, the state should develop a new teacher dismissal process that is fair and efficient. It should not take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to fire an ineffective teacher if he or she has been given a reasonable chance to improve, has been carefully evaluated and hasn't done better. Brown signed legislation this year that provides a fair and efficient way to adjudicate cases of gross teacher misconduct. Education leaders should develop a similar way to handle cases of teacher incompetence. They also should develop solutions for the other statutes that the court struck down, such as the one that allowed teachers with more seniority to keep their jobs during layoffs. California could do what other states have done, recognize experience along with other factors in making layoff decisions. But California must have a solid due process system for teachers, and contrary to popular belief, that's all that tenure provides. Without a reliable way to determine whether a teacher is truly incompetent, the state will return to an era when employment decisions were fraught with abuse that included higher-salaried, experienced teachers replaced with less-expensive beginners and competent teachers fired because of their political or religious views. A grand bargain also would need to address other problems that cause teacher ineffectiveness and make some schools unattractive places to work. The good news is that many of the strategies needed exist in “Greatness by Design,” a recent report from a diverse group of California stakeholders (myself included) to boost educator effectiveness. Here are three recommendations from the report: The state must develop a robust teacher evaluation framework designed to help all teachers improve, not just to identify low performers. Such systems would ensure that principals and other evaluators have the time and training needed to conduct meaningful evaluations. The state should build on the successful peer assistance and review programs that exist in places such as Poway Unified and San Juan Unified. These programs provide high-quality support to struggling teachers. Most participating teachers improve; those who don't either leave voluntarily or are dismissed without grievances and expensive lawsuits. The state and school districts must improve the conditions in hard-to-staff schools to attract and retain the best teaching candidates and the strongest principals. Among other things, these schools need high-quality professional development, time for teachers to plan and collaborate, and the authority to make professional decisions. Through its new weighted student funding formula, California is wisely directing more resources to the schools that need them most. But we will never see real equity when it comes to teacher effectiveness until the state provides enough education funding to fully address the problem. Ken Futernick is a professor emeritus at Cal State Sacramento. He was an expert witness for the state of California in the Vergara trial. Email: ken.futernick@gmail.com. ●● Somebody else’s 2¢: Commenter Mayo Gubbins on the Times website at 10:44 AM on September 20, 2014: “Seems to me that inefficient teachers are probably a small problem in education, and the need to fire them is also a small problem. The major problem in CA education appears to be poverty, students who don't speak English as a first language, and lack of funding.” ●●smf's 2¢: It seems that way to me and many others too. I daresay most others. Unfortunately it does not seem that way to Eli Broad or Dick Riordan or Bill Gates or the Walton and Koch Families. Their opinions on public education count for more in the editorial boards and halls of power than ours. Dr. Deasy in LAUSD gives this argument lip service when he says his mission is to eliminate poverty – which he believes he can do more effectively if it is easier to fire teachers and distribute iPads. But the truth is that his mission - and that of all of our colleagues in education - is to educate children collaboratively, not competitively or as a business strategy to optimize performance or throughput. And it needs to be all of our mission, “We the People’s” mission, to eliminate poverty. Once and for all. One day/paycheck/opportunity/diploma/successful child at a time. HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources ►Letters to the editor of the LA Times Sunday AM: http://lat.ms/1v6ktRR ●BATTLING RACIAL BIAS WITH BETTER EDUCATION To the editor: Stanford psychology professor Jennifer Eberhardt's stunning findings on the effects that social biases regarding skin color have on basic perceptual processes is a marvelous example of creative thought and the importance of the behavioral sciences for society. ("Stanford's Jennifer Eberhardt wins MacArthur 'genius' grant," Sept. 16 | http://lat.ms/1mofsnY) Recent findings in neuroscience provide an underlying explanation of her discoveries. Traditional thought assumed that our experiences involve two stages of brain processing: The sensory systems first perform objective analysis of environmental stimuli and then pass on the results to "higher" regions of the cerebral cortex for interpretation. The belief in "pure objective sensory analysis" is now known to be wrong. There is no purely objective perceptual system in the brain. Rather, our basic sensory systems themselves actually give psychological meaning to sensory stimuli based on prior associations. That may explain why an association between crime and blacks enabled white subjects to perceive guns better in the presence of black faces. The good news is that associations can be changed or reversed. So education, by building new associations, is the remedy, and our brains will give perceptual advantages to them. Norman Weinberger, Irvine ●The writer, a research professor at UC Irvine, is a fellow at the university's Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory. .. ●To the editor: What a valuable and humbling article on Eberhardt and her research. Even the slightest conscience dictates that all of us raise our consciousness to the unintended biases we harbor. No other response would be just. Eileen Bigelow, Whittier ►MCCLATCHY HIGH WANTS STUDENTS BACK TO TEACH, BOLSTER MINORITY FACULTY -- At C.K. McClatchy High School [in Sacramento City Unified] an ad hoc colectiva is exploring ways to encourage minority students to return to teach – a grow-your-own approach to adding greater diversity to the faculty. Loretta Kalb and Phillip Reese in the Sacramento Bee$ -- 9/21/14 | http://bit.ly/GBpxtk ►Democrats divided: THE RACE FOR STATE SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT -- For an obscure elective office that is often ignored, unknown or regarded as superfluous in California’s convoluted education bureaucracy, the November election for state Superintendent of Public Instruction is shaping up as one of the most contentious — and costly — races among statewide candidates. Sigrid Bathen Capitol Weekly -- 9/21/14 http://bit.ly/GBpxtk _________ "¿Great progress?": LAUSD STUDENTS IMPROVE ON MATH AND ENGLISH EXIT EXAMS …BUT STILL LAG BEHIND STATE AND COUNTY | http://bit.ly/1qXba8r THE DEBATE OVER COMMON CORE | http://bit.ly/1p8tDt2 STATE NEEDS A 'GRAND BARGAIN' ON TEACHERS' EFFECTIVENESS, OBSTACLES | http://bit.ly/1AXWGVG LAUSD GETS APPROVAL FOR NEW MAYWOOD CAMPUS | http://bit.ly/1pmblUc CORE CALIFORNIA WAIVER EXTENDED: Seven CORE districts – including LAUSD - placed on “High Risk Status” | http://bit.ly/XR2Ha2 IS TURMOIL IN LOS ANGELES UNIFIED BECOMING TOO FAMILIAR? | http://bit.ly/1mlcdhk FEW LA STUDENTS USING PEARSON'S IPAD SOFTWARE, SURVEY SHOWS | http://bit.ly/1sfcYuG LAUSD PAYS $6 MILLION FOR ISIS (not the terrorists) TO GO AWAY, WILL PAY $9.2 MILLION FOR MORE iPAD TRAINING | http://bit.ly/1ww7Tfr LAUSD’S CAUTIOUS APPROACH TO HEAT CREATES ISSUES FOR FOOTBALL TEAMS | http://bit.ly/1saEv09 LETTERS: What's LAUSD doing with ex-military weapons? + The school board’s the boss, like it or not | http://bit.ly/1v06D3d LAUSD: POSTER CHILD FOR HOW NOT TO PROVIDE TECHNOLOGY TO STUDENTS AND HOW NOT TO DO A STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM | http://bit.ly/1mladpm Editorial: THE BAD OLD DAYS AT LAUSD …and 2¢ more or less http://bit.ly/1uWFkH3 WHAT’S NEXT *IF* DEASY IS OUT? Speculation abounds...and even the LA School Report is playing the parlor game! | http://bit.ly/1BNCo3t GINNY MANCINI GIVES BACK TO THE MUSIC THAT NURTURED HER "Music is something that every child needs, nourishment just to be sure he succeeds ... music is magic wherever it leads, a hundred years from today." - Ginny Mancini | http://bit.ly/1sq6yTC MORE THAN 100,000 LA SCHOOL REPAIRS BACKLOGGED: Fire safety at risk in some schools | http://bit.ly/1wWkP1o L.A. UNIFIED STUDENTS CLAIM WALKOUT OVER HEAT; DISTRICT REPAIRING A/C + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1pjSZmS SOME LA UNIFIED STUDENTS WILTING IN HEAT WAITING FOR AIR CONDITIONING REPAIRS | http://bit.ly/1tYXLxF WE CODDLE BAD COPS, VILIFY GOOD TEACHERS | We defer to cops even when they kill, and scapegoat schools for the ills America has given up on. This must change | http://bit.ly/1t7spmS EMAIL RETENTION ESSENTIAL FOR L.A. SCHOOL DISTRICT http://bit.ly/XcSNyM Letters to the editor: SUPT. DEASY IS A DISTRACTION FOR LAUSD | "Deasy is an unnecessary distraction that is hindering the LAUSD. The honorable option is for him to resign. Otherwise, the Board of Education should decisively intervene and terminate his contract." h http://bit.ly/1pi9z6I BICKERING BETWEEN L.A. UNIFIED LEADERS WON’T MAKE SCHOOLS BETTER | http://bit.ly/1uFoXj0 More Info on Medi-Cal for Kids with Autism: MEDI-CAL TO NOW PAY FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH TREATMENT FOR AUTISM http://bit.ly/1r29v0j LACOE ISSUES EXTREME HEAT WARNING THROUGH WED, LAUSD CANCELS ALL OUTDOOR SPORTS+ATHLETIC ACTIVITY THROUGH TUES. | http://bit.ly/1m7h2uw Webinar on College-and-Career-Ready Standards for Hispanics | Wednesday, September 17 at 2pm EDT/11am PDT http://bit.ly/XsLNhO CALIFORNIA BROADENS AUTISM COVERAGE FOR KIDS THROUGH MEDICAID | http://bit.ly/1m774JH LAUSD’S STUDENTS NEED BETTER LIBRARIES, NOT iPADS + smf’s 2¢ | A good school library is not in conflict with technology; it can enhance our understanding and use of it.(and I.T.!)|http://bit.ly/1uEp1PV EVENTS: Coming up next week... Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee - September 23, 2014 Start: 09/23/2014 4:00 pm BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Thursday Sept 25, 2014 Starts 10 AM *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. 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