In This Issue:
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A-through-G: BOARD OF EDUCATION DELAYS ACTION ON COLLEGE PREP REQUIREMENTS SET TO TAKE EFFECT WITH THE CLASS OF 2017 |
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The May Revise: CALIFORNIA EDUCATORS HAIL BUDGET BOOST BUT SAY SCHOOLS ARE STILL STRUGGLING |
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BIG PICTURE MAKES BIG PITCH TO STAY OPEN, LAUSD BOARD LISTENS |
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Election 2015: TEACHERS CENTRAL TO DEBATE AS VOTERS HEAD TO LAUSD POLLS |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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The Board of Ed met on Tuesday and did the
predictable: THEY RATIFIED THE PENDING CONTRACT WITH UTLA, a vote they
had actually taken previously to approve the contract language before it
was sent for approval to the rank+file. But they voted again to approve
it in the interest of validating the obvious and to keep up the
appearances of “We are the Board of Education; we are the Deciders”
process. They put their toes on the tape marks and said their lines into
the camera, just like in the rehearsal.
Then they had to wait on pins and needles ‘til Thursday morning when the
governor announced his MAY REVISE BUDGET. $300-400 million more for
LAUSD – so whattayaknow: the money is there for the salary increase and
it’s hard to imagine the legislature changing much …or the governor
changing much with his blue veto pencil.
• OK, I was a screenwriter, I can imagine those things – but only in a movie with a Zombie Apocalypse in the second act.
• And both sides will change-a-lot-of-it-a-little; re-read my earlier rant on the “We are the Deciders” process.
The board fearlessly suggested that someone else should do the brave
thing and change Prop 13 …but most of the meeting was spent dodging hard
questions and potential controversy by postponing votes on things like
approving contracts for the Inspector General and Board Secretary [both
happen to be the board’s actual employees] …or (¡Heaven forfend!)
confronting the damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don’t reality of the
A-through-G Graduation Requirements!
Less than 10% of the electorate in 3/7ths of the District will vote next
Tuesday – but with so few people making the decisions (< 4.28% of
the constituency motivated by > $4.6 million dollars spent on the
campaigns ≥$1 million per percentage-point-of-voters) …it’s best not to
offend anyone!
A case in point: THE BIG PICTURE CHARTER SCHOOL (read below). A tiny
school with less than 100 students. A program that cannot possibly
sustain itself according to its own business plan. A school so small
that Green Dot kicked them out. BPCS serves a very challenged student
body; it’s a good idea – but as the GE commercial [http://bit.ly/1IInss5] reminds us: “Ideas are scary, messy, and fragile…”
Vanessa Romo writes in LASR - (also quoted below; “the truth shall set
you free” …and the repeated truth will set you freer repeatedly): “A
common complaint by the general public about the school board is that
the seven representatives walk into meetings with their minds made up on
most issues. While members may have heard from parents, students and
teachers on any given issue, the impression at scheduled meetings is
that many agenda items are voted on with little discussion. That is
especially true on items passed by a single “consent” vote.
“And it’s not uncommon for public speakers to halt their remarks or even
interrupt their allotted three minutes to address the board to
reprimand board members for behaving like bad students: failing to make
eye contact, fiddling with their phones, chatting with a colleague or
giving the general appearance of not listening.”
But Tuesday there was an outbreak of humanity …or was it magical
reality? And it is reported the board and superintendent (I wasn’t
there, I can’t verify it) actually listened to the Big Picture
presenters. They listened and they may have done the right thing. Even
if doing the right thing is postponing doing the wrong thing.
THERE’S PLENTY TO KEEP YOUR HOPES UP about the State and LAUSD Budget in
the news feeds. The California Senate passed the Vaccination Bill and
sent it to the Assembly. Notwithstanding the “R.I.P. NCLB” article below
(“The body is cold, the obituary written. All that’s left for the
federal No Child Left Behind Law is to pull the plug — and, crucially,
for the U.S. Congress to agree on what comes next”) - nothing
perceptible happened in DC on education policy. The 1% continue to try
and buy LAUSD Board Seats like they are seats on the New York Stock
Exchange. Except the NYSE stopped selling seats back in 2005. I suppose
the Waltons and Gates and Broads and Bloombergs of this world have to
sit somewhere.
TUESDAY IS ELECTION DAY: If you are one of the 3/7ths of the LAUSD
residents who get to vote – and if you haven’t voted yet – please do it,
BECAUSE OUR < 4.8% TRUMPS THE 1% ONLY IF WE VOTE.
Jackie Goldberg pointed out that L.A. has never had an election on May
19th before. With the new election schedule approved in March through
Charter Amendments 1+2 we will never vote on May 19th again. This is
truly history!
It you are a teacher or school staff member or parent or student at a
school in Board District 3, 5 or 7 – or if you live in 3, 5 or 7 - go
vote. It’s too late to vote by mail, but if you have a mail in-ballot
vote it and take it and five friends with you to the polls. If you teach
at a Board District 3, 5 or 7 school even if you don’t live in the area
tell five people who do to vote.
Ask them to vote for SCHMERELSON, KAYSER & VLADOVIC because things
are getting better in LAUSD; they’re getting better all the time …and we
still have a long, long way to go.
If you are a UTLA member wear UTLA red on Election Day, it’s a Tuesday
after all. That t-shirt will be perfectly accessorized with an “I VOTED”
sticker.
On Tuesday We Are The Deciders. Vote like the future depends on your vote …because they do!
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
___________
☻ SCHMERELSON :: http://www.scott4lausd.com
☻ KAYSER :: http://bennett2015.com
☻ VLADOVIC :: http://www.vladovic4schoolboard.com
A-through-G: BOARD OF EDUCATION DELAYS ACTION ON
COLLEGE PREP REQUIREMENTS SET TO TAKE EFFECT WITH THE CLASS OF 2017
►NBC4: DEBATE OVER LAUSD GRAD STANDARDS POSTPONED
By Conan Nolan for the NBC4 News | http://bit.ly/1Eay8JM
[Video: http://bit.ly/1Eayiku]
6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 12, 2015. Updated at 8:41 PM PDT :: Protesters
swarmed a Los Angeles School Board meeting Tuesday, calling for a new
approach to college prep classes.
They claim that not all students are getting what they need to make the grade in college.
It was 10 years ago that the LAUSD made national news with a commitment to prepare every student for college.
Tuesday's vote was to be a restatement of that commitment, but it was pulled from the agenda.
"We think it's shameful that the board delayed the motion today," said Elmer Roldan, of the United Way.
At issue is the so-called "A-through-G" curriculum. Established in 2005
and rolled out over 12 years, it requires all high school students go
through a series of core classes — four years of English and three years
of math, including geometry and algebra — in order to make each student
eligible for admission to the University of California and the
California State University.
But the rigorous academic standards have come under fire as has the "c" average for graduation to be implemented in 2017.
Under the provision, nearly three quarters of students would fail to graduate.
"We have to deal with a crisis, because we've got a crisis," said Richard Vladovic, the LAUSD board president.
Supporters of the curriculum wanted the board to recommit to the more
rigorous graduation standards and dedicate more money for counselors and
summer school to help low-income and minority students who need help.
At the last minute the board of education pulled the item, some fearing
because a majority wanted to wait until after next month's school board
election where the teachers union, the United Teachers Los Angeles is
heavily involved.
UTLA is not supporting the "A-through-G" curriculum.
"Justice delayed is justice denied and it bothers me," Monica Garcia, an LAUSD board member.
The graduation standards will be taken up again next month. The new board will be sworn in in July.
______________________
►LA Times: DEBATE OVER L.A. UNIFIED GRADUATION STANDARDS IS POSTPONED
By Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1B3PIPy
May 13, 2015 :: The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday
postponed action on new college prep requirements that could deny
diplomas to thousands of students.
The graduation requirements are scheduled to take effect for the Class
of 2017. But as many as three-quarters of these current sophomores are
not on track for meeting the new goals, according to district data
compiled in March. L.A. Unified School District officials presented an
improved but still foreboding estimate Tuesday, forecasting that 37% of
students were likely to clear the hurdles.
Even so, a coalition of community groups has pressed the board to
maintain the rigorous college-prep requirements. They argue that
students have been well served by the higher standards: More students
are meeting the requirements even as overall graduation rates continue
to rise.
The groups organized a rally for Tuesday outside district headquarters
that they predicted would draw at least 500 participants. The rally was
to be held in conjunction with board action on a resolution sponsored by
board members Monica Garcia and Steve Zimmer.
The board was scheduled to vote on a proposal calling on Supt. Ramon C.
Cortines to develop a plan to ensure students meet the new standards. In
an interview last week, Cortines had said that students should not be
penalized for failing to meet college-prep requirements if they were
otherwise qualified to graduate. The standards are required for students
to apply to the University of California and Cal State systems.
Cortines' concerns and those of others prompted Garcia and Zimmer to
suggest changes that would allow students to graduate without being
eligible to apply to state college. Instead of requiring a C in these
courses, students would be permitted to get a passing grade of a D,
Garcia said in an email to the Los Angeles Times. The state college
systems requires a grade of C or better in each of these classes.
The proposal also included offering a different diploma to students who met the higher standard, known as the A-G series.
Even meeting the lower standard could be a challenge: 52% of the class
of 2014 hit the mark of earning a D or better in these classes.
The board voted 4-3 to delay action on the matter. School board members
Richard Vladovic and Bennett Kayser argued that they needed to see the
revised state budget to understand what resources could be available to
help students. Both are running for reelection and could face criticism
regardless of how they decided the issue.
Board member George McKenna said he needed time to consider the
implications of the new proposal. But McKenna also said he favored using
a grade of D as the graduation standard. Monica Ratliff was the fourth
vote to postpone.
Tamar Galatzan also is running for reelection, but she was willing to
take up the issue Tuesday. Garcia and Zimmer also wanted to move
forward.
Garcia said she was especially disappointed that students and other
speakers who came to the board meeting would not see the topic
addressed.
“There are times when we are bold and courageous,” she said. And
“sometimes political consequences cause delays.” Educating children “has
not always been the core of what we do.”
▲Also see:
• LA Times Editorial: L.A. UNIFIED NEEDS TO DO ITS HOMEWORK ON A-G COLLEGE-PREP STANDARDS | http://lat.ms/1Qymi5f
• 89.3 KPCC: LAUSD BOARD WEIGHS OPTIONS AS A-G COLLEGE PREP POLICY THREATENS GRADUATIONS | http://bit.ly/1Io55Kx
• SUPT. CORTINES SUGGESTS RECONSIDERING A-THRU-G GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS | http://bit.ly/1JQ8jXE
• A thru G: LAUSD COLLEGE PREP GRADUATION REQUIREMENT PUTS NEARLY 75% OF TENTH GRADERS’ DIPLOMAS AT RISK | http://bit.ly/1JQ8jXE
• Commentary: LA UNIFIED MUST RECOMMIT TO THE GOAL OF COLLEGE FOR ALL http://bit.ly/1F4fiez
The May Revise: CALIFORNIA EDUCATORS HAIL BUDGET
BOOST BUT SAY SCHOOLS ARE STILL STRUGGLING
By Teresa Watanabe | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1FfJekM
16 May 2015 :: California educators hailed the $6-billion windfall in
funding for elementary, secondary and community college students
announced Thursday by Gov. Jerry Brown -- but cautioned that it would
not make up for devastating cuts over the past several years.
The budget largesse will boost per-pupil spending by $3,000 next year
over 2011-12, a 45% increase. It will also provide more money for
training in new state academic standards, adult and career technical
education and support for students who are low income, in foster care,
challenged by limited English or special needs.
But schools are still struggling to recover from $20 billion in budget
cuts and the layoffs of 30,000 teachers since the 2007 recession.
"Critical student programs are beginning to be restored, but our class
sizes remain the largest in the country, we rank 46th in per-student
funding, and dead last in the number of school counselors and
librarians," California Teachers Assn. President Dean E. Vogel said in a
statement.
In Los Angeles Unified, officials expect an additional $300 million to
$400 million, which they say will help close a $160-million deficit
projected for next year. But it will not address potential gaps in the
following two years, they say.
Other districts that may not meet their financial obligations over the
next three years are Glendale Unified, Inglewood Unified and Castaic
Union school districts, according to the Los Angeles County Office of
Education.
L.A. schools Supt. Ramon Cortines said the additional dollars would
particularly benefit the district’s many disadvantaged students. The
district enrolls 200,000 students who are homeless, in foster care, have
special needs or limited English skills; 80% of the 600,000 students
are eligible for free and reduced-price lunches, a poverty indicator.
“We have a moral responsibility to provide these impacted students with
the tools they need to succeed in life,” Cortines said in a statement.
“The governor’s increased investment in schools will greatly benefit
these students.”
Los Angeles Board of Education President Richard Vladovic, along with
member Steve Zimmer, said that balancing the budget would be the top
priority for the new funds. The district has issued 609 layoff notices
to teachers, counselors and social workers; it was unclear how many will
be rescinded due to the new funding.
Vladovic and Zimmer also said another priority would be greater support
for the 63% of tenth-graders who may be deprived of diplomas because
they are not on track to complete the district’s college-prep curriculum
now required for high school graduation. Vladovic said that such
programs as full-time summer school should be considered.
Zimmer called the funding boost “critical and game-changing good news"
but cautioned that Californians needed to find a "more systematically
viable way to restore long-term investments in public education.”
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted to support
efforts to close loopholes in reassessments of large commercial
properties, which advocates say could raise billions more for education.
Long Beach Unified expects to gain an additional $120 million, with a
third of that going toward needy students and another third for one-time
funding of books, technology and staff training. But district spokesman
Chris Eftychiou also expressed caution not to overly celebrate.
“While the latest proposal is a significant increase, we caution against
characterizing it as a windfall, in light of the decade of repeated and
unprecedented cuts that California's public schools faced not too long
ago,” he said in a statement. “We are beginning to heal from those deep,
painful cuts.”
Some educators were not fully satisfied by the governor's proposed
budget. The Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based advocacy nonprofit,
said Brown’s decision to allow school districts to use $2.4 billion in
additional discretionary funding for either Common Core training or
payment for previous unreimbursed mandates would deprive needy children
of a guaranteed investment in better academic instruction.
“California runs the risk of exacerbating the achievement gap, since
some students will be left with teachers who are unprepared, materials
that are inadequate, and classrooms without 21st century technology,”
the organization said in a statement.
___________
• May Revise: $6 BILLION MORE FOR K-14/$300-400 MILLION MORE TO LAUSD - ED COMES OUT ON TOP IN NEW BUDGET | 3stories+2¢| http://bit.ly/1A4TRYR
• The May Revise: Funding for early education considered minimal by advocates | EdSource | http://bit.ly/1JPWe1D
• 1989 law sends schools more than 80¢ on every new dollar: PROP 98 MAKES SCHOOLS BUDGET WINNER, BUT IS IT STILL FAIR? http://bit.ly/1e7xFTV
• May Revise: EDUCATION GROUPS ARE HAPPY WITH BROWN’S BUDGET, OTHERS …NOT SO MUCH | http://bit.ly/1KSbNG3
BIG PICTURE MAKES BIG PITCH TO STAY OPEN, LAUSD BOARD LISTENS
by Vanessa Romo on LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1QSuUnk
May 14, 2015 9:49 am :: It wasn’t the first time children wept in
front of the LA Unified school board or told horrifying tales of being
bullied in school or recalled that spark of hope ignited by a remarkable
teacher.
But something in the way students from Los Angeles Big Picture High
School on Tuesday pleaded to save their school struck a nerve with the
board, which must approve a charter renewal for the school to remain
open.
Big Picture is a downtown high school that attracts students with
difficult family and social situations and tailors instruction to
accommodate their psychological and emotional needs within the
curricula. One student told the board she had lived in 14 different
foster homes. Another said home life was so chaotic that school was the
lone stabilizing force in his life.
After hearing these and other stories from a dozen of the charter
school’s students and educators, the board voted to delay action on a
recommendation by the Charter Schools Division to close down the school
in June. Putting it off gives Big Picture leaders and district officials
a three-week window to devise a strategy for keeping the tiny downtown
LA school open.
“I was not expecting them to be so open minded and open hearted to
really hearing our students’ and parents’ stories and the extreme
passion they have for this school,” Nicole Nicodemus, principal of Big
Picture, told LA School Report.
A district review of the charter’s operations concluded that the school
not only failed to meet enrollment targets but is also losing students
at an alarming rate. It currently serves only 87 ninth through 12th
grade students when the charter had stipulated that more than 500 would
be attending by this point.
Further, the district determined that its growth plan is not viable and,
at the time of the audit, the school was financially insolvent.
Superintendent Ramon Cortines made no effort to sugar coat the grounds
on which the district should deny the charter renewal application.
“There are major financial problems with your school, and we need to
deal with it,” he told school officials who had lobbied to keep the
school open in its current format.
“A school that is under 100 cannot have the kind of money that they need
to sustain itself,” he added. “We’re at this point today because of
some of the financial issues and because of the turnover of students.”
His most stinging remark came after several audience members shook their
heads in disagreement. In an apparent reference to a teacher who had
told the board that schools elsewhere in California were so impressed
with Big Picture’s approach to helping troubled students that they
invited her speak, he said, “You should be preaching to students in this
district, not all over California because your program is one of kind.”
“But,” he said in a quick u-turn, “if you want to compromise to work
with us, we will try to find a place for you on a regular campus. I will
work with you.”
A common complaint by the general public about the school board is that
the seven representatives walk into meetings with their minds made up on
most issues. While members may have heard from parents, students and
teachers on any given issue, the impression at scheduled meetings is
that many agenda items are voted on with little discussion. That is
especially true on items passed by a single “consent” vote.
And it’s not uncommon for public speakers to halt their remarks or even
interrupt their allotted three minutes to address the board to reprimand
board members for behaving like bad students: failing to make eye
contact, fiddling with their phones, chatting with a colleague or giving
the general appearance of not listening.
But the olive branch extended by Cortines and the board reflected a
willingness to “to do everything in the district’s power to welcome a
charter back into the fold,” as board member Steve Zimmer told LA School
Report. That’s true especially, he said, for a school offering an
innovative program to serve a high-needs population despite the
organizational flaws.
Perhaps that is due to Cortines’s personal connection to the school,
which initially launched during his second of three tours of duty at the
helm of the district.
“I was at your school when I was superintendent the second time,” he
told Nicodemus, adding that he admired the instructional model for its
approach to helping students who struggled to integrate into the
traditional public school model.
“This is a good program, a one-of-a-kind program,” Cortines said. “I
support one-of-a-kind programs that rescue students. We are more than
willing to work with you but it cannot be a one-way compromise. If you
work with us, the district will work with you.”
Big Picture was founded as part of the small learning community school
movement that was supposed to help the district turn around failing
schools. Later it became a Green Dot charter school until 2010, when it
struck out on its own as an independent charter.
But after five years, Big Picture administrators now have three weeks to
come up with a new plan, one that will require more outside-the-box
thinking and significant compromise. And if the school’s leaders reach a
compromise with LA Unified, the school will have gone full circle.
“We don’t care what kind of label or type of school are,” Nicodemus told
LA School Report. “Whether we ultimately end up as an independent
charter or an affiliated charter or go back to being a district school,
that’s not what is important. It’s about being able to provide the
components of the Big Picture model which relies heavily on
internships.”
Election 2015: TEACHERS CENTRAL TO DEBATE AS VOTERS HEAD TO LAUSD POLLS
By Annie Gilbertson | KPCC 89.3 | http://bit.ly/1FkByPo
Audio from this story: [4:02] - http://bit.ly/1KVm2JM
May 15, 05:30 AM :: Teachers aren't just major political players in
this Tuesday's Los Angeles Unified school board election: Their
profession is central in the debate over the district's future.
Long the indisputable power block represented on the school board, the
teachers saw their influence eclipsed during the administration of
former Superintendent John Deasy. Deasy pushed for changes to the
district that alienated the school establishment, including teachers.
With Deasy's resignation under fire last October and the appointment of
his successor Ramon Cortines, LAUSD saw the return of leadership more
sympathetic to the district's 27,000 teachers.
Several of Deasy's initiatives opposed by teachers have been rolled
back. Teacher evaluations tied to test scores are shelved, and the
California Public Employees Relations Board ruled teachers must be given
more say in how they are assessed.
There's been more good news for teachers of late: A hefty contract
negotiated by Cortines calls for a 10 percent raise over two years, and a
$1 billion-a-year health care package covering district employees adds
to the evidence that things have swung back to the teachers' favor.
But come Tuesday, that could all change.
Teachers are at risk of losing their closest ally on the board: Bennett
Kayser, representing District 5, covering East Los Angeles. He is up
against a well-funded challenger, charter school administrator Ref
Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said he supports teacher job protections, just not in their
current form. His supporters go further, charging in political attack
ads that teacher tenure is keeping child abusers in classrooms and
painting teachers as uncaring with suspicious intentions.
Michael Jones teaches government at Marshall High School in Los Feliz
and said it’s easy for candidates to say they are the ones who put
student first.
“It’s a thread on a sweater,” Jones said. “When you start pulling at it —
who isn’t for the kids? If you are for the kids, than you are in the
classroom.”
After a day of teaching, Jones joined a fundraiser for Kayser in the
backyard of a Marshall colleague, Mike Finn. Each teacher, and several
of their students’ parents, donated $50 to the campaign.
“If anybody felt like chipping in more, I would really appreciate that,
because we are trying to save public schools,” Finn shouted as guests
milled around his deck overlooking the Silver Lake hills.
Allies and adversaries
If Kayser is teachers’ ally, Deasy was their adversary.
While leading the largest school district in the state, Deasy’s helped
challenge teacher job protections in the landmark Vergara v. California
lawsuit that claims students' rights are violated when teachers deemed
ineffective are protected from firings. A judge's ruling in favor of the
students bringing the suit is under appeal.
At a recent education reform panel at the Milken Institute in Santa
Monica, Deasy criticized the use of seniority in staffing decisions.
"If we want to go down that road, I think it is so much easier to just
line the teachers up and just fire the short ones," he said, the other
panelists chuckling on stage. "Height is completely objective and as
completely ridiculous as you would use anything else."
When Deasy took steps to implement changes to tenure, his relationship
with his own teachers and board members grew more strained. Together
with the dysfunctional rollout of the iPad program, troubles with the
student data system known as MiSiS, and Deasy's sometimes abrasive
manner, the support on the board for the former superintendent
eventually unraveled.
Martha Atwell, an English teacher, said Deasy's actions made teachers feel they were under attack.
“This fight is endemic of what’s going on in the whole country,” she
said, a reference to the spreading division between teachers and their
union on one side and, on the other, self-described reformers, like
Deasy, many of whom support the expansion of charter schools.
Atwell supports Kayser, because, she said, he recognizes teachers as an asset.
“He is not on the agenda to attack our benefits or to attack our tenure
rights. He’s not interested in de-professionalizing teaching,” she said.
There's another battlefront in the campaign for the school board:
teachers are also fighting to elect Scott Schmerelson to west San
Fernando Valley's District 3. He is looking to unseat incumbent Tamar
Galatzan, who was one of Deasy's chief supporters.
REFORMS UNDER SIEGE?
Deasy worries the teachers union and their board allies are waging a war
against many of the reforms he put in place during his administration.
“Are they all still working? No,” Deasy said during the Milken panel. “A
number of them have been rolled back. A number of them have been
ended.”
Most California voters believe teachers receive tenure too quickly,
according to a poll by University of Southern California and the Los
Angeles Times. Voters also don’t think time in the classroom should be
the sole factor in determining whether teachers keep their jobs during
periods of staff cuts.
"No disrespect to Bennett Kayser, but LAUSD needs to change," said
Maggie Darett-Quiroz, a Glassell Heights parent supporting Ref
Rodriguez.
Darrett-Quiroz believes Los Angeles schools are putting teachers before students. “It's pretty sad,” she said.
Darett-Quiroz moved through a long list of voters with Spanish surnames
during an afternoon manning a phone bank at Rodriguez's Highland Park
campaign headquarters. A stack of $5 Little Caesars pizzas grew hard as
they cooled by the door.
She hit a lot of voicemails before someone picks up a call and she can
ask them to “votar por Dr. Ref Rodriguez.” Other recipients hang up
before she can finish her first sentence.
She picks up the phone and dials again.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
R.I.P. NCLB? | http://bit.ly/1EQtK4i
HOW TO GET DOLLARS TO THE SCHOOLS THAT NEED THEM | http://bit.ly/1d7QrKC
Compare+Contrast:
●CAL TRAILS TEXAS IN LATINO HIGH SCHOOL GRAD RATES | http://bit.ly/1IIzd1S
●TEXAS TO EASE UP ON GRAD REQUIREMENTS | http://bit.ly/1Josk6p
The May Revise: FUNDING FOR EARLY EDUCATION CONSIDERED MINIMAL BY ADVOCATES | EdSource | http://bit.ly/1JPWe1D
EDUCATION DOESN’T NEED COMMON CORE REFORM, TEACHERS NEED THE TIME AND
RESOURCES TO BUILD GREAT SCHOOLS /or/ ¿Now that every state has
modified the Common Core and cherry picked their tests, are the
standards “common"? | http://bit.ly/1d7S0Z5
CALIFORNIA'S MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR ONLINE EDUCATION FLOP IS ANOTHER BLOW FOR MOOCS - The Hechinger Report | http://bit.ly/1B45WID
1989 law sends schools more than 80¢ on every new dollar: PROP 98 MAKES SCHOOLS BUDGET WINNER, BUT IS IT STILL FAIR? http://bit.ly/1e7xFTV
CALIFORNIA EDUCATORS HAIL BUDGET BOOST BUT SAY SCHOOLS ARE STILL STRUGGLING | http://bit.ly/1bWYQix
L.A. Times Editorial: TIME FOR CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS TO REPEAL CAP ON SCHOOL RESERVES + smf’s vainglorious 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1PoGKIy
GODSPEED B.B. KING: The thrill goes on forever | http://bit.ly/1d828B6
New Report: The Tip of the Iceberg - CHARTER SCHOOL VULNERABILITIES TO WASTE, FRAUD & ABUSE | http://bit.ly/1ID19ph
Inside Philanthropy: “WHAT'S UP WITH THAT BIG GRANT TO THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY FROM THE WALTON FAMILY FOUNDATION?” | http://bit.ly/1H7h9Ky
SPENDING IN RACE FOR THREE LAUSD BOARD SEATS REACHES NEARLY $4.6 MILLION | http://bit.ly/1FiKSmY
May Revise: EDUCATION GROUPS ARE HAPPY WITH BROWN’S BUDGET, OTHERS …NOT SO MUCH | http://bit.ly/1KSbNG3
LAUSD Race: GALATZAN GRASPING AT STRAWS, SCHMERERSON DESERVES YOUR VOTE | http://bit.ly/1KS3eLr
AGE-APPROPRIATE/MEDICALLY-ACCURATE SEX ED FOR STUDENTS IS A PUBLIC RIGHT, JUDGE IN CALIFORNIA RULES + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1ELou10
MAY REVISE: $6 billion more for K-14/$3-400 million more to LAUSD - Ed comes out on top in new budget | 3stories+2¢| http://bit.ly/1A4TRYR
City Ethics Commission: INDEPENDENT CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE IN LAUSD RACES GOES FROM $250K to $2.5 MILLION IN ONE MONTH http://bit.ly/1H5DmZo
Red Queen in (West) LA: RAISING PITCHFORKS AGAINST OUR OWN BEST INTEREST A perfect study of how optics trumps reality http://bit.ly/1FgGZyP
DEASY GIVES $500 EACH TO GALATZAN & RODRIGUEZ CAMPAIGNS | http://tl.gd/n_1sm71bc ...what else do you need to know?
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
Tuesday 3/19/2015 | ELECTION DAY in BOARD DISTRICTS 3, 7 & 7 & LA City Council District 4 | http://lavote.net/locator for polling place info/hours/etc.
Thursday 5/21/2015 3:30 pm | CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE MEETING - Rescheduled from May 26
*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
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!
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