In This Issue:
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LAUSD
HAS BECOME THE NATIONAL EXAMPLE OF HOW NOT TO PROVIDE TECHNOLOGY TO
STUDENTS AND HOW NOT TO ACTIVATE A COMPREHENSIVE STUDENT INFORMATION
SYSTEM |
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LAUSD’S STUDENTS NEED BETTER LIBRARIES, NOT iPADS + smf’s 2¢ |
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MORE THAN 100,000 LA SCHOOL REPAIRS BACKLOGGED: Fire safety at risk in some schools |
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STATE
NEEDS A 'GRAND BARGAIN' ON TEACHERS' EFFECTIVENESS, OBSTACLES
INEFFECTIVENESS IN THE CLASSROOM OFTEN DOES NOT DERIVE FROM INCOMPETENCE |
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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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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
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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