Sunday, June 28, 2015

’Tis grace hath brought us safe thus far, and grace will lead us home.



4LAKids: Sunday 28•June•2015
In This Issue:
 •  WHO WILL BE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED'S NEXT SUPERINTENDENT?
 •  ARNE DUNCAN ATTENDS PTA MEETING, ANNOUNCES FREE PRESCHOOL + AFFORDABLE COLLEGE DEGREES ARE “FAMILY+PARENT RIGHTS” + ISSUES PRESS RELEASE
 •  IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST? Are minority students overrepresented or underrepresented in Special Ed?
 •  TREATING KIDS LIKE HAMBURGERS, PEARSON EXEC ‘FESSES UP’
 •  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?


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 •  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.
Dylann Roof, driven to racism+insanity by the sight of the Confederate stars-and-bars flying on the statehouse lawn packed up his Glock 41 and headed to Mother Emanuel Church to start his race war.

That isn’t how it happened.

First: the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia is not the ‘stars-and-bars’. Indeed that flag was never the national flag of the Confederacy …and it had little-to-nothing to do with the Civil War fought in South Carolina.

Second: Roof came to his racism the same way every bigot ever has: He was taught it.

These pages rarely quote show tunes – but Rogers+Hammerstein said it true in South Pacific:
“You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

“You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

“You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!”


Roof came to his racism the way impressionable young Muslims come to the Islamic State or naïve teenagers from Minnesota enter the sex trade: He was lured+self-radicalized on the internet – seduced by big-lie techniques – and Nutella and kittens. http://wapo.st/1LuWCp3 | http://nyti.ms/1NnassE

That flag is a symbol. It may be a symbol of racism – or of a glorious lost (and wrong) cause …or just a sticker on the roof of a ’69 Dodge Charger Hot Wheels Car. It is only as important as we allow it to become. If we take it down and some belittle the symbolic political correctness of the taking-down-of-it, we all lose.

[See Carl Jung or Rene Magritte on symbols.] I am conflicted here; as a compulsive mixer of simile+metaphor I am a lover of verbal symbolism. It’s a lifelong infatuation – but wordplay ain’t the real thing! Racism is Ignorance – and those two impostors together are the warp+woof of the fabric of evil. We are educators+lifelong-learners; if we are not agreed that ignorance is the enemy we are wasting our time and these children’s lives.


• Dylann Roof is a high school dropout.
• You must be a high school graduate to take up arms and join the armed services.
• Using the “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state…” constitutional language maybe one should need to be have a diploma to possess a gun? It’s a thought.


THE GRACE the president preached and sang about Friday came to the author of that hymn slowly+late in a wretched life. John Newton was a slave ship captain who sailed the middle passage and saw The Light - and over time became an Anglican cleric and ardent abolitionist – living to see abolition in the British Empire. He wrote his epitaph: “Once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the Faith he had long laboured to destroy”.

Newton surely delivered Africans into slavery in Charleston in what the president called this nation’s Original Sin; recent events possess a exquisite irony the most secular agnostic can call Grace.

We have been living on hope in this country long enough; we can use some grace. And as the president said: “To settle for symbolic gestures without following up with the hard work of more lasting change – that’s how we lose our way again.”


THE MOST MOVING MOMENT AT TUESDAY’S BOARD MEETING wasn’t the genuine outpouring of respect for Bennett Kayser (and certainly not the quoting of this page’s earlier Bennett tribute http://bit.ly/1NnaWz9). It was not the fact the superintendent was visibly moved-to-tears in his presentation of his budget plan …along with his stated intent to leave after another six months. It wasn’t that brief mistaken moment when we thought all the RIFs were rescinded. No, the most moving moment came when the small coterie of about a dozen-or-so Hearing Impaired Adult English Language Learners (easily the smallest special interest group heard from in a $7.8 billion budget plan) were informed that their program was being saved. Supported by sign language interpreters they are not a vocally demonstrative group; but their joy and their smiles were overflowing and infectious. Superintendent Cortines wept that there would be no more gifts under the Christmas tree – but for them June 23rd was the first+best day of Christmas ever – and the joy+promise of learning, though mute, filled the room.

The second-best-moment came after a RIFed teacher announced he was taking his daughter on a planned European trip this summer even though he didn’t know if he’d have a job to come back to …because they both needed the vacation and it was the right – if impractical – thing to do. Someone pressed $200 into his hand to help with the trip. Such is grace in small places. Bon voyage, père et fille.


THE REST OF THE NEWS IS THE REST OF THE NEWS. Obamacare is saved. Gay folk can marry nomatterwheretheylive. Mr. Justice Scalia thinks Californians are granola: the ones that aren’t fruits are nuts and flakes. The state has a budget. MediCal will treat undocumented kids. If the governor signs it everyone who can be vaccinated shall be vaccinated. Adult Ed and Voc Ed have not been saved. SLRDP has not been saved. 328 teachers’ jobs have not been saved. Arne Duncan (whom we love to disagree with) says Free Preschool is a Parent’s Right; Governor Brown (with whom like to agree) is improbably with Scalia that this too is extra-constitutional jiggery-pokery! And Rafe Esquith is still in teacher jail.


THIS IS THE LAST ISSUE OF 4LAKids for the 2014-15 fiscal and school years. I know 2015-16 Summer School has already begun – and thanks for not waiting! The new year offers new opportunity with a new budget and new board members and new local supes; new classrooms with different teachers; new curriculum with new opportunities, new friends met and old friends down the hall. Change can all be good if that’s what we choose to make of it.

And everyone can now start playing Fantasy Superintendent Search!

¡Onward/Adelante! - smf


WHO WILL BE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED'S NEXT SUPERINTENDENT?
By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1IhZEMq

Posted: 06/24/15, 5:44 PM PDT | Updated: 6/26/15 :: While the Los Angeles Unified school board has yet to take steps to find a replacement for Superintendent Ramon Cortines, there’s no shortage of possible candidates.

In an unexpected announcement, Cortines told board members at Tuesday’s meeting he would leave the district in six months — midway through the upcoming school year and six months before his contract is set to end.

The time frame only leaves board members next week’s meeting to talk about finding his replacement, before they recess for seven weeks over the summer.

Board member Monica Ratliff criticized the school board for not making the search a priority sooner and called for “transparency” in the process that picks Cortines’ successor.

“I admire his announcement, because it makes it very clear that the board cannot continue to put off its duty of finding his successor,” Ratliff said in a written statement.

Board President Richard Vladovic’s office did not return calls and emails seeking comment.

It took more than seven months from the time the school board started a national search for superintendent in February 2006 until it picked former Superintendent James Brewer in October of that year.

But in more recent years, the school board has decided to pick familiar faces.

Cortines, who twice before held the district’s top spot, was secretly picked to lead the school district in October. His appointment and former Superintendent John Deasy’s resignation were both sought behind closed doors and without public knowledge.

When Deasy was tapped in 2011, the school board skipped a formal vetting process. Deasy was then working as a deputy superintendent, a job he took after holding the top spot at the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and Prince George’s County Schools in Maryland.

Cortines’ current second-in-command, Deputy Superintendent Michelle King, volunteered to serve as interim superintendent when news of Deasy’s departure broke in October. Ruth Perez, LAUSD’s head of instruction, is another high-ranking administrator with experience. She worked as superintendent of neighboring Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District before being hired by LAUSD in August.

Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana is second-in-command of LAUSD’s after-school program. She formerly headed Pomona Unified and one of the state’s larger school systems, Santa Ana Unified in Orange County. Additionally Melendez served as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education from 2009 to 2011.

Even within the school board, two members have worked as top staffers. George McKenna served as superintendent of Inglewood Unified, while Vladovic headed West Covina Unified in the San Gabriel Valley.

Outside the district and within California there may also be options. The second-in-command of California’s sixth-largest school system was looking to change jobs earlier this year. But Guadalupe Guerrero still works for San Francisco Unified after losing his bid for superintendent of Boston’s public schools.


THE NEXT LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT? What about the next Board President?



ARNE DUNCAN ATTENDS PTA MEETING, ANNOUNCES FREE PRESCHOOL + AFFORDABLE COLLEGE DEGREES ARE “FAMILY+PARENT RIGHTS” + ISSUES PRESS RELEASE
●●smf: . . . but hey, it’s a slow news cycle (ACA+Same Sex Marriage Decisions /Charleston Memorial/CA Vaccination Law) …and rights are established in photo ops and press releases by cabinet secretaries, aren't they?

from Politico Morning Education | http://politi.co/1QXmpuU:
26 June 2015 :: Speaking of Duncan, he's headed to the National Parent Teacher Association Convention and Expo in Charlotte, N.C., this morning where he'll make an announcement "about the importance of parent, family and community engagement," the Education Department said in a release. Duncan will "emphasize the importance of meaningful involvement in a child's education - from federal, state and local policymakers, to parents, families, teachers and school leaders." It's a familiar subject for Duncan, who attends all parent-teacher conferences for his children and is in regular contact with their teachers, a department official said.

__________________
U.S. Department of Education http://1.usa.gov/1LKbDBr
U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY ARNE DUNCAN ANNOUNCES A SET OF RIGHTS TO HELP PARENTS SEEK HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN

June 26, 2015

Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today released a set of rights that outlines what families should be able to expect for their children's education.

"I want to describe educational rights that I firmly believe must belong to every family in America — and I hope you'll demand that your leaders in elected or appointed offices deliver on them," Duncan said during a speech to the 2015 National Parent Teacher Association Convention and Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina. "They come together as a set of rights that students must have at three pivotal stages of their life, to prepare them for success in college and careers and as engaged, productive citizens."

To help prepare every student for success in life, families have the right to:

Free, quality preschool;
High, challenging standards and engaging teaching and leadership in a safe, supportive, well-resourced school; and
An affordable, quality college degree.

The announcement complements work by the Education Department to reach out to parents—from the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships, to tools that can help families and students select the best colleges for their needs, to support of Parent Training and Information Centers and Resource Centers.

Parents are critical assets in education. Beginning in 1990, Dr. Tony Bryk and his team conducted a 15-year study across hundreds of elementary schools in Chicago where he discovered five features of a school that determine whether or not learning can thrive: a clear vision for instruction; a staff with the capacity to see that vision through; a student-centered learning environment; skilled leadership; and active and engaged parents. Schools that contained all five features at once were 10 times more likely to improve than schools that didn't. Dr. Bryk also identified a "special sauce" that emerged whenever you mixed all five features together thoroughly: a deep wellspring of trust between parents and educators.

When it comes to making the set of rights announced today a reality for every child, few voices will be as powerful as those of parents. Often parents want to be involved in their child's education, but they aren't sure of the best ways to support their child, or the right questions to ask to ensure their child is getting the education she deserves. The set of rights is meant to help empower parents to demand a world-class education for their children.

Free quality preschool

All children need access to high-quality preschool to prepare them for kindergarten and to close opportunity and achievement gaps. According to the Department's recent report, A Matter of Equity: Preschool in America, of the approximately 4 million 4-year olds in the United States, about 60 percent — or nearly 2.5 million — are not enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs, including state preschool programs, Head Start, and programs serving children with disabilities. Even fewer are enrolled in the highest-quality programs. The Obama Administration has made significant investments in early learning through the Early Learning Challenge and the Preschool Development Grants programs. The grants lay the groundwork for states to be prepared for the proposed Preschool for All program. The Administration has asked Congress for an increase of $500 million for Preschool Development Grants as part of the President's FY16 budget request to expand this program to serve more children.

High standards, engaging teaching and leadership in a safe, supportive, well-resourced school

Every child deserves to attend a school that will prepare them for success in college and careers. That means parents have the right to know whether their child is on track to success, with an accurate measuring stick, and assurance that their child is held to the same, high-expectations regardless of where they live in the state. In elementary and secondary school, our nation's students also have a right to high standards and engaging teaching and leadership in a safe, supportive, well-resourced school. And, across the country, we're making important progress. This year, more than 40 states are moving forward with high academic standards and next-generation assessments that can better help teachers and parents understand what students are learning. Graduation rates are at an all-time high. Parents can play a critical role in ensuring that we continue on a path to increase access to an excellent education for every student. Every parent wants to ensure that their child is engaged in learning and supported, and that means teachers and principals need ongoing feedback and support. States have developed unique plans to ensure that their schools improve the quality of instruction, increase equity, and close achievement gaps. Duncan has called on Congress to replace the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, with a strong, bipartisan law that delivers on the promise of equity and real opportunity for every child.

Affordable, quality college degree

As they prepare to graduate from high school, students need access to affordable, quality post-secondary education or training. Creating a clear path to the middle class and ensuring our nation's economic prosperity means opening the doors of higher education to more Americans. Today, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations require education and training beyond a high school diploma. A generation ago, America led the world in college attainment of young adults; now, we rank twelfth. The Obama administration is committed to restoring our world leadership in college completion and ensuring that every student has access to an affordable and high-quality postsecondary education.


IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST? Are minority students overrepresented or underrepresented in Special Ed?

● FROM THE AUTHORS: “Our findings indicate that federal legislation and policies currently designed to reduce minority over-representation in special education may be misdirected.”

● FROM THE STUDY: “Minority children were consistently less likely than otherwise similar White, English-speaking children to be identified as disabled and so to receive special education services. From kindergarten entry to the end of middle school, racial- and ethnic-minority children were less likely to be identified as having (a) learning disabilities, (b) speech or language impairments, (c) intellectual disabilities, (d) health impairments, or (e) emotional disturbances. Language-minority children were less likely to be identified as having (a) learning disabilities or (b) speech or language impairments.”

▲ IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST?

Op-Ed in the New York Times By PAUL L. MORGAN and GEORGE FARKAS | http://nyti.ms/1GOr9el

JUNE 24, 2015 :: MORE than six million children in the United States receive special-education services for their disabilities. Of those age 6 and older, nearly 20 percent are black.

Critics claim that this high number — blacks are 1.4 times more likely to be placed in special education than other races and ethnicities combined — shows that black children are put into special education because schools are racially biased.

But our new research suggests just the opposite. The real problem is that black children are underrepresented in special-education classes when compared with white children with similar levels of academic achievement, behavior and family economic resources.

The belief that black children are overrepresented in special education is driving some misguided attempts at policy changes. To flag supposed racial bias in special-education placement, the United States Department of Education is thinking of adopting a single standard for all states of what is an allowable amount of overrepresentation of minority children.

If well-intentioned but misguided advocates succeed in arbitrarily limiting placement in special education based on racial demographics, even more black children with disabilities will miss out on beneficial services.

Black children face double jeopardy when it comes to succeeding in school. They are far more likely to be exposed to the gestational, environmental and economic risk factors that often result in disabilities. Yet black children are less likely to be told they have disabilities, and to be treated for them, than otherwise similar white children.

About 65 percent of black children, compared with about 30 percent of white children, live in families with incomes below 200 percent of the poverty line. From 1985 to 2000 about 80 percent of black children grew up in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by widespread unemployment, racial segregation, poverty, single-parent households and welfare.

Thirty-six percent of inner-city black children have elevated levels of lead in their blood. The figure for suburban white children is only 4 percent. Black children are about twice as likely to be born prematurely and three times more likely to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome.

In a study published today, we report that the under-diagnosis of black children occurs across five disability conditions for which special services are commonly provided — learning disabilities, speech or language impairments, intellectual disabilities, health impairments and emotional disturbances. From the beginning of kindergarten to the end of eighth grade, black children are less, not more, likely than white children with similar levels of academic performance and behaviors to be identified as having each of these disabilities.

In fact, our study statistically controlled for many possible factors that might explain these disparities. Examples included differences in children’s academic achievement, behavior, gender and age, birth weight, the mother’s marital status and the family’s income and education levels. In contrast, many previous studies reporting overrepresentation have not adjusted for these factors. Instead, these prior studies have relied on school- or district-level data that did not adequately control for differences in risk factor exposure between black and white children.

It may be that black children are less likely to be identified and treated for disabilities because of a greater responsiveness by education professionals to white parents. Low expectations regarding black children’s abilities may also lead some professionals to ignore the neurological basis of low academic achievement and “problem” behavior. Even those black children who do receive a diagnosis are less likely to receive help. For example, despite being more likely to experience symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, black children are less likely than white children to be given a diagnosis of A.D.H.D. And even among those who are given an A.D.H.D. diagnosis, black children are less likely than white children to receive medication to treat the condition.

The last thing we need is to compound these widespread disparities in disability diagnosis and treatment by making school officials reluctant to refer black children for special-education eligibility evaluations out of fear of being labeled racially biased.

Pamphlets describing a school district’s disability eligibility procedures are often written in dense legalese that may be hard for many parents to understand. Revising them might make it easier for parents to advocate for their children during the eligibility evaluation process. Community outreach programs can also help overcome cultural barriers to identifying children with disabilities.

Such programs have already been shown to reduce racial disparities in children’s health and health care access. We should be trying to identify children with disabilities and to provide them with an education adapted to their individual academic, physical or behavioral needs.

● Paul L. Morgan is an associate professor of education at Pennsylvania State University.
● George Farkas is a professor of education at the University of California, Irvine.


____________________________
NEW STUDY CHALLENGES PREVIOUS RESEARCH ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC 89.3 | http://bit.ly/1GxHqC5

26June2015 5:30AM/updated 8:48AM:: A national study by Southern California and Pennsylvania researchers is raising questions about previous reports that identify which students end up in special education.

Earlier research that looked at students nationwide suggest minorities are more likely to be placed in special ed programs compared to white students.

George Farkas, an education researcher at the University of California, Irvine, said that's not the case, at least not nationally. Countrywide, minority groups are less likely to be placed in special ed and less likely to be diagnosed with a disability than otherwise identical white students, he said.

The findings were published in the current issue of Educational Researcher.

California differs from what researchers found nationally. In this state, the numbers match the common view, and prior studies, that minorities make up the majority of special ed students.

The largest group students served by California special education programs are those in the “specific learning disability” category, which includes students with problems speaking, reading, writing or doing math, state data shows. Hispanic students make up 65 percent of students in this category while African-American students make up 10 percent of the group.

Both Hispanic and African-American children are overrepresented in comparison to their numbers in the general student population — and that could pose a problem for the state.

Overrepresentation of minority groups is a concern of many, from policymakers in Washington, D.C., to local school principals. They question if minority students are too often labeled as needing special education, which could take them out of mainstream classes and deny them a normal track through school and onto college.

But the study by Farkas and his colleagues challenges whether there is indeed minority overrepresentation in special education nationally.

“African-American kids, and in fact other minority groups, are less likely to be placed in special education and less likely to be diagnosed with a disability than otherwise identical white students,” he said. “Otherwise identical” is the key.

For example, a white student would typically be enrolled in a higher performing school. So if he is performing in the lowest third of the class, that would trigger special ed services.

A black or Latino student, Farkas said, would typically be enrolled in a lower-performing school where scoring in the lowest third on test scores may be more of the norm. Those students wouldn’t stand out for special education services as readily. The result: more white students than minority students receiving special ed services.

“I think this is ground-breaking research,” said Carl Cohn, former Long Beach Unified superintendent who chairs the Statewide Special Education Task Force. If minority students are underrepresented in special education as the study suggests, Cohn said it would compel school administrators to shift their thinking and more readily give those students special education services.

The study comes as the federal government is considering a limit on the number of minority students in special ed classes when they are overrepresented compared to the general student population.

“Our findings indicate that federal legislation and policies currently designed to reduce minority over-representation in special education may be misdirected,” said study co-author Paul Morgan of Pennsylvania State University in a news release.

“These well-intentioned policies instead may be exacerbating the nation’s education inequities by limiting minority children’s access to potentially beneficial special education and related services to which they may be legally entitled.”

For California and other states, such limits could have serious impact if they lead to fewer minority students receiving special education services that they need.

____________________________
Abstract: MINORITIES ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY UNDERREPRESENTED IN SPECIAL EDUCATION
LONGITUDINAL EVIDENCE ACROSS FIVE DISABILITY CONDITIONS


Paul L. Morgan1
George Farkas2
Marianne M. Hillemeier1
Richard Mattison3
Steve Maczuga1
Hui Li1
Michael Cook1

1Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
2University of California, Irvine, CA
3Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA

Abstract

We investigated whether minority children attending U.S. elementary and middle schools are disproportionately represented in special education. We did so using hazard modeling of multiyear longitudinal data and extensive covariate adjustment for potential child-, family-, and state-level confounds. Minority children were consistently less likely than otherwise similar White, English-speaking children to be identified as disabled and so to receive special education services. From kindergarten entry to the end of middle school, racial- and ethnic-minority children were less likely to be identified as having (a) learning disabilities, (b) speech or language impairments, (c) intellectual disabilities, (d) health impairments, or (e) emotional disturbances. Language-minority children were less likely to be identified as having (a) learning disabilities or (b) speech or language impairments.


TREATING KIDS LIKE HAMBURGERS, PEARSON EXEC ‘FESSES UP’


by Alan Singer, Social studies educator, Hofstra University/Huffington Post Contributor | http://huff.to/1KiVKog

6/25/2015 2:56 pm EDT :: You can't make this stuff up.

On June 23, 2015 the New York Times reported on Pearson mass Common Core grading centers where a college degree but no special knowledge is required to grade tests and temporary employees make between $12 and $14 an hour plus small bonuses if they "hit daily quality and volume targets." [4LAKidsNews:Grading the Common Core: NO TEACHING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED http://bit.ly/1KaaC8l ]

According to the article, Pearson insists "strict training and scoring protocols are intended to ensure consistency, no matter who is marking the tests."

Pearson advertised for people to grade the Common Core aligned tests on Craigslist and Facebook and hired about 14,500 temporary employees. To ensure "quality," already grading exams were sorted in with new exams to see if the graders come up with the same score. It is not clear what happens if they don't.

Bob Sanders, vice president of content and scoring management at Pearson North America compared the scoring of high-stakes standardized Common Core-aligned exams to making hamburgers at McDonald's. "McDonald's has a process in place to make sure they put two patties on that Big Mac. We do that exact same thing. We have processes to oversee our processes, and to make sure they are being followed." Mr. Sanders, of course, has a degree from the University of Iowa in business and has never been a teacher. According to his Linkedin page, he cares about children and considers himself a "A respected dynamic leader, strategic thinker, and creative problem solver within technology, retail, and the educational assessment industries."

Comparing Common Core grading with McDonald's is certainly a great analogy. A Big Mac combo meal (Big Mac, large fries, and 32 oz. Coke) has a total of 1,330 fatting calories, about 65% of a recommended daily calorie intact, with almost no nutritional value. You also get 54 grams of fat, 83% of the recommended daily intake, and 1,320 mg of sodium, more than half of the normal daily allowance, and 85 grams of sugar, double the recommended daily dosage.

This year about 12 million children in grades three through twelve took Common Core aligned tests and were processed like hamburgers at McDonald's.

Thank you Mr. Sanders and Pearson for so aptly describing the value of the Common Core diet.


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
Editorial: DITCH THE SCHOOL RESERVE CAP http://bit.ly/1BZfcE3

FEDERAL ED UPDATE: New Federal Grant Regs, Ed Funding Bills OKed, Senate to Debate ESEA/NCLB, 8 NCLB Waivers OKed http://bit.ly/1ea4bnX

WESTCHESTER CHARTER v. LAUSD: Court of Appeal Affirms District's Discretion to Locate Charter Schools Under Prop 39
http://bit.ly/1JddGxt

TREATING KIDS LIKE HAMBURGERS, PEARSON EXEC ‘FESSES UP’
http://bit.ly/1Iix1yO

IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST? Are minority students overrepresented or underrepresented in Special Ed?
http://bit.ly/1Ii5Wfa

THE NEXT LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT? What about the next Board President?
http://bit.ly/1GOn0Hi

LAUSD BOARD PRESIDENT EXPECTS LENGTHY AND TRANSPARENT SEARCH FOR NEXT SUPERINTENDENT
http://bit.ly/1GOhc0v

CALIFORNIA VACCINATION BILL CLEARS ASSEMBLY: What’s next?
http://bit.ly/1Hkn8Sq

ARNE DUNCAN ATTENDS PTA MEETING, ANNOUNCES FREE PRESCHOOL + AFFORDABLE COLLEGE ARE “FAMILY+PARENT RIGHTS”
http://bit.ly/1HkPPMY

Poll: WHAT DO YOU WANT MOST IN THE NEXT LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT?
http://bit.ly/1KeHHAa

SOME CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS FIND WAYS TO SUPPORT LOW-INCOME INFANTS AND TODDLERS
http://bit.ly/1eJ20sy

3 stories: THE LONG GOODBYE, THE NO GOODBYE, THE BUDGET, THE LAYOFFS + THE TEARS
http://bit.ly/1LCUl9i

AB277: YOUNG LEUKEMIA SURVIVOR WHO SUPPORTS VACCINES DELIVERS PETITION WITH 32,000 SIGNATURES TO GOVERNOR BROWN
http://bit.ly/1fCI7n4

2 stories: JERRY BROWN SIGNS $167.6 BILLION STATE BUDGET
http://bit.ly/1fCkuep

District Attorney: BURBANK SCHOOL BOARD VIOLATED BROWN ACT DURING SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH
http://bit.ly/1CtK1v4

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCKY: A profile of Oakland Unified Superintendent Antwan Wilson
http://bit.ly/1CtGAEK

LA TIMES’ HOWARD BLUME: Cortines is leaving LAUSD in six months …in 140 characters or less
http://bit.ly/1BB9KXx

LAUSD Headlines: $7.8 BILLION BUDGET RAISES SALARIES, LAYS-OFF 328 TEACHERS, CORTINES TO LEAVE IN 6 MONTHS
http://bit.ly/1CsJPMH

Not exactly a "Broadie": CAMI ANDERSON IS OUT AS NEWARK SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT
http://bit.ly/1GmKJMt

Grading the Common Core: NO TEACHING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
http://bit.ly/1KaaC8l

The Esquith Saga continues: TEACHER FILES CLAIM AGAINST L.A. UNIFIED, BLAMES CONTROVERSY ON JOKE http://bit.ly/1SGZMZ1

LCFF ACCOUNTABILITY: State board gets extra year to create measures of school progress + smf’s 2¢ http://bit.ly/1TLoDfN
0 retweets 0 favorites
Scott Folsom ‏@4LAKids Jun 22

GATES’ $223M SPENT ON COMMON CORE:
CCSS works.
We just know it does.
And teachers want it.
We just know they do.

The day that Gates gets tired of CCSS and decides that it is no longer a funding priority for his foundation will be an interesting day. But for now, CCSS appears to be Bill’s favorite educational toy.
http://bit.ly/1Cp7iyj

Video: SCHEDULE SLIPS ON ESEA/NCLB REWRITE; News on Federal Ed Spending http://bit.ly/1J0EIbm

Opinion: CALIFORNIA VOCATIONAL ED IN DANGER. Schwarzenegger pulled it back from the brink; Jerry Brown …not so much

NEARLY 14% OF LAUSD STUDENTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS http://bit.ly/1GvKJc3

FIRST TEST SCORES... NOW GRADES? Atlanta Schools launch review of grade changes over last three years
http://on-ajc.com/1eEoL0y


EVENTS: Coming up next week...
WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2015 :: ANNUAL BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
OATH OF OFFICE CEREMONY will commence at 10:00 a.m. at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center.
THE MEETING ORDER OF business will reconvene following the ceremony, at 1:00 p.m. at the LAUSD Headquarters.

Order of Business:
• Election of Board President
• Appointment of Vice President
• Adoption of Board Meetings Schedule
• Election of Board Member Representative to the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association
• Election of Board Member Representative to Vote in Electing Members to the County Committee on School District Organization (Education Code 35023)
• Election of Board Member Representative to the California School Boards Association
• Appointment of Board Representative to the Council of Great City Schools
• Appointment of Board Representative to the National School Boards Association
• Public Comment on Items to be Discussed at this Meeting
The public can address the Board prior to action on any item that will be approved by the Board at this meeting.

*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 was Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and has represented PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee for over 12 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 "WHO" Gold Award and the ACSA Regional Ferd Kiesel Memorial Distinguished Service Award - honors 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. 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.
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Sunday, June 21, 2015

Unfinished business



4LAKids: Sun 21•Jun•'15 Dads Day/Summer Solstice
In This Issue:
 •  BUDGET DEAL CONFIRMS RECORD K-12 SPENDING
 •  Study: LA UNIFIED FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE DOLLARS TO THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR + smf’s 2¢
 •  MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS SO TAXING, SO CRITICAL TO FUTURE SUCCESS + CRAZY LOVE Teaching in the Middle
 •  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.


Dan Walters: SCHOOL RESERVES LAW ENTANGLED IN CALIFORNIA POLITICS -- Sir Walter Scott’s famous aphorism, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive,” is particularly applicable to one bill now pending in the state Senate. Assembly Bill 531 would not formally repeal an odd and indefensible decree by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature, but would render it functionally moot by making the law even more obtuse and complex – tangled, if you will. | http://bit.ly/1QKvabv
June 17th.

Bunker Hill Day. The 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill was actually fought one-hill-over on Breed’s Hill …and the British won.

And Wednesday was the 43rd anniversary of The Greatest Day Ever in Rent-A-Cop History when a security guard at the Watergate Office Complex in ’72 noticed a door taped open and started events that ultimately brought down of the President of the United States.

It’s too late for dinner Wednesday night, but a table of us LAUSDcentric types linger past closing at a neighborhood restaurant, eating and sharing a glass of wine/water/iced tea and discussing+dissecting our common interest.

One after another our cell phones beep+vibrate: Something’s happening out there in the twitterverse.

There’s a shooting. In Charleston. In a church. The unfiltered details filter in. In a Black church. The shooter is a white man.

The conversation shifts to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in ‘63. Medgar Evers. Columbine and Newtown and thousand other shootings: The nations’ unfinished business. An earlier strand of conversation about Donald Trump misusing a Neil Young song in his campaign kickoff returns Neil and Kent State to the conversation: “What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground, how can you run when you know?”

The details and the heartbreak and déjà vu comes in 140-characters-or-less-as the mainstream media makes breathless newsbytes out of cellphone video and paragraphs of terse sentences and none of it makes any sense at all. Mother Emanuel Church. Emanuel: Hebrew for “God is with us”. We learn of the pastor and the the track coach and the librarian and the sad pathetic shooter. Of an aborted slave revolt planned at that church for June 17, 1822 - 193 years before. There are offers of forgiveness and demands for the death penalty. There are murmurings of gun control and discussions about race and terrorism and the stars+bars-in-front-of-the-statehouse and mental illness. Photo ops abound.

There are nine dead. The librarian, Cynthia Hurd, was someone you+I all knew. Helpful. Generous. Selfless. Beloved. A mother. A ferocious volunteer. Four days from retirement. They’ll name a library after her and she will be a granite marker in a cemetery and a memory in many lives. We knew her and she’s dead on that holy ground in that sanctuary.

How can we run when we know?


BUT WHY BOTHER? A BBC story says we are in the beginning of the Next Great Extinction: http://bbc.in/1fo8oVY. We make plans and movies (“Armageddon”) about how we are now prepared to solve the problem of the Last Great Extinction: Hurtling asteroids. The cause for this one, the sixth in a series. was identified by Walt Kelley back in ’53: “There is no need to sally forth, for it remains true that those things which make us human are, curiously enough, always close at hand. Resolve then, that on this very ground, with small flags waving and tinny blast on tiny trumpets, we shall meet the enemy, and not only may he be ours, he may be us.”

The Pope has written an encyclical. Singer-songwriters from the ’60 can always be relied upon to put it all in perspective+pentameter:

“Monopoly is so much fun,
I’d hate to spoil the game.
And I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybody
Outside of a small circle of friends.”


THE STATE LEGISLATURE AND THE BOARD OF ED debated their respective budgets on Monday and Tuesday – the board invested far more time in theirs than did the lege.
● The board heard from 75 public speakers and two parent committees and asked no questions of any of them. Thankyouverymuch …next! (The LAUSD budget is scheduled for a vote next Tuesday, the drop-deadline is June 30.)
● The lege passed their budget with less than two hours of debate (they don’t get paid if they don’t make the June 15th deadline) and sent the whole affair to The Big Three (The governor/the assembly speaker and the senate president-pro-tempore) …and they came up with a compromise (the “real budget’) in less than a day behind closed doors!

Headlines crowed “Good News Budget Deal Has Everyone Happy”. ‘Everyone’ being relative.

The Big Three Budget rejected the Legislature's higher revenue estimates and stripped nearly a quarter of a billion dollars for legislative priorities from the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1 …and within a day or two the wonderfulness came into clearer perspective: Republicans lamented the lack of funding for Californians with developmental disabilities or who are elderly, blind and disabled.

Sen. Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles, was disgusted by the elimination of extra funding for CalWORKS -- the state's welfare-to-work program for low-income mothers and their children –and refused to cast a vote on the budget.

Brown claims he’s being fiscally conservative because he doesn't want to see the state restore funding now only to cut it the next time revenue drops.

"We continue to say, 'Next year, next year’.” Mitchell said. “But I'm not sure when next year will come." Senator Mitchell and the Chicago Cubs fan base.


I AM GOING TO TRY TO AVOID WADING DEEPER INTO THE CONTROVERSY over the “teacher jailing” of Rafe Esquith:

● NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TEACHER TO TEACHER JAIL AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT: Reading ‘Huck Finn’ + smf+other’s 2¢
● RAFE ESQUITH, CALLED 'THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS TEACHER' BY THE WASHINGTON POST, IN LAUSD TEACHER JAIL (7 stories) http://bit.ly/1Bsvp46
● LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT SAYS INVESTIGATION OF POPULAR TEACHER WILL NOT BE RUSHED - LA Times http://lat.ms/1Buzm8h
● THE OUTRAGEOUS TREATMENT OF ONE OF THE NATION’S MOST OUTSTANDING TEACHERS - The Washington Post http://wapo.st/1FtHIYQ


The District has allowed itself to look additionally ridiculous. I’m pretty sure this has little/nothing to do with the reading of Huck Finn to middle scholars – or a not well thought-out joke about having students perform naked. I should know better than to read between the lines – but this looks like a case about a student field trip to attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival which had not been authorized or sponsored by the district “…via the proper channels for field trip authorization.” A la Iris Stevenson | http://bit.ly/1K3hToY.

The parents in Rafe’s school+classroom are entitled to have their students kept safe. They are entitled to have their kids benefit from Rafe’s skill+calling as an educator. They are entitled to straight answers to difficult questions.

Beaudry bureaucrats are entitled to their administrival paperwork and adherence to Bulletin 5525-2 …if that is the issue.

Rafe is entitled to equal protection, due process and a fair hearing. To be confronted by his accuser and to a speedy resolution. To return to last week’s history lesson: In English law, the right to a speedy trial was developed by the Assize of Clarendon in 1166 (a judge would be summoned if one was not immediately available) and Magna Carta in 1215 ("To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay, right or justice") …and the Sixth Amendment.

All of us: You and I and the general public and the administration and students and parents and Rafe Esquith are entitled to the facts.

If Rafe’s accuser is The District, then the investigation needs to be done by someone else. Otherwise this becomes a Star Chamber trial. Or a Guantanamo proceeding. Or something from the Spanish Inquisition.

ENTER Cardinal Ximinez, with Cardinal Biggles and Cardinal Fang: “NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition! Amongst our weaponry are such diverse elements as: fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the Pope, and nice red uniforms.” – Python, Monty (1970)

Happy First Day of Summer/Happy Father’s Day!

FYI: It isn’t our generation that saves the world like in “Armageddon”; it’s the next one. It’s always been that way.

¡Onward/Adelante! - smf


BUDGET DEAL CONFIRMS RECORD K-12 SPENDING
By John Fensterwald and Susan Frey, EdSource | http://bit.ly/1Frm73n

Jun 16, 2015 :: Gov. Jerry Brown got the bottom line he wanted faster than expected.

Brown and legislative leaders announced a budget deal Tuesday, one day after state lawmakers approved spending $2 billion beyond what the governor said he’d accept. The final agreement will not alter the record education spending that Brown proposed through Proposition 98, the voter-approved formula that determines revenue for some preschool programs, K-12 schools and community colleges.

Lawmakers did obtain some concessions within the $115.4 billion spending plan Brown presented last month: 7,000 additional full-day preschool slots and 6,800 more childcare vouchers that parents can use to pay daycare providers; and 10,000 additional students at the California State University and 5,000 more students at the University of California, if UC meets conditions that Brown is requiring. Senate President pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, called this extra money for the “book ends” of students’ education critical to providing children “a fair shot” at success.

After years of cuts in education funding following the recession, the $68.4 billion for Prop. 98 in the coming year is a remarkable turnaround. The 12.3 percent increase is $7.5 billion more than the $60.9 billion last year.

Proposition 98 funding for K-12 schools and community colleges has recovered dramatically since the low of $47 billion in 2011-12 to what would be a high of $68.4 billion next year. The black bar represents revised estimates of Prop. 98 revenue for three years in Gov. Brown's May budget proposal, which the Legislature agreed to.

Proposition 98 funding for K-12 schools and community colleges has recovered dramatically since the low of $47 billion in 2011-12 to what would be a high of $68.4 billion next year. The black bar represents revised estimates of Prop. 98 revenue for three years in Gov. Brown’s May budget proposal, which the Legislature agreed to.

One-time and ongoing appropriations for K-12 schools and community colleges will total $14 billion next year. This includes revised revenue estimates for the current year, after school districts’ budgets were already set. A third of the money will go to pay off debts to schools built up during the recession.

Highlights of spending next year for education include:

●$6.1 billion added to the $47 billion appropriated last year – a 13.2 percent increase – for schools to spend through the Local Control Funding Formula, the new finance system providing general funding. That’s an average of $1,088 more per student for an average district, in which 63 percent of English learners and low-income children receive extra money under the formula.
●$500 million in one-time spending for teacher development. That’s part of the final agreement Brown made with de León and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego. It will reduce the $3.5 billion that Brown had proposed in repayments to districts for past mandated expenses. Districts will receive the money on a per-teacher and per-administrator basis. They can use the funding over three years to provide training in the Common Core and other new academic standards, to support new teachers and principals or struggling teachers identified through Peer Assistance and Review programs, and to train mentor principals and teachers.
●More than $1 billion over three years for new career and technical education initiatives, including $400 million next year for a new proposal, the Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program. It will promote regional partnerships to meet emerging workforce needs.
●$60 million in new funding to expand interventions for special-needs children ages birth to 2, an additional 2,500 part-day preschool slots and an expansion of schoolwide behavioral supports – all recommended by the Statewide Special Education Task Force, which issued its report in March.
●A $10 million increase in Foster Youth Services, which now receives $15 million from the state. The increase plus a change in the law will allow foster youth who live with relatives to receive counseling and tutoring.
●$4 billion in debt repayment. This includes $3 billion for unpaid state mandates and $1 billion in the final repayment for deferrals – late payments that required schools to borrow money.
●$7.9 billion for community colleges, up about $700 million from a year ago. The Legislative Analyst’s Office calculated that funding per full-time equivalent student would be $6,764 in the coming year, $724 per student above – 12 percent– the pre-recession level.

Responding to a strong push from business and community groups, early education advocates and legislators, Brown agreed to allocate $265 million for early education that included an increase in reimbursement rates by 5 percent to preschool and childcare providers, and by 4.5 percent to providers paid by vouchers.

“If you look at it from what the kids need, we have a long ways to go,” said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, an advocacy group based in Oakland that got 350 organizations to sign a letter to the governor on behalf of early education. “But if you look at it from what we were expecting, it’s strong. The Legislature threw together a really strong package, and the bulk of the package is in there and that’s great.”

The 7,000 new slots — plus the 2,500 part-day preschool slots for children with exceptional needs — are a step toward a goal of 31,500 slots needed to provide preschool for every 4-year-old from a low-income family.

The number of childcare vouchers needed is not clear, said Giannina Perez, director of early learning and development policy for Children Now. In June 2011, the state disbanded its waiting list for low-income families who needed help with childcare costs, Perez said. At the time, that list had 200,000 eligible families, she said.

Of the $265 million total, $100 million will now be part of the Prop. 98 guarantee, something the early education advocates had wanted because of the recent huge influx of funds into Prop. 98 compared with the rest of the state budget. Education groups, such as the California Teachers Association and the California School Boards Association, had opposed adding more preschool funding into the guarantee for K-12 schools and community colleges.

Brown did not allocate an additional $25 million for the state’s $550 million fund for after-school programs as legislators had proposed. The program has not seen an increase since it was first implemented in 2006.

The fat budget years for education are expected to level off with the expiration of temporary taxes under Proposition 30. Surging revenues have enabled the state to pay back most of the more than $10 billion in Prop. 98 allocations owed to districts in past years, called the maintenance factor. But districts are still owed $700 million, and that amount is expected to grow post-Prop. 30.

Because the Local Control Funding Formula steers additional money to districts based on their enrollments of “high-needs” children – low-income students, English learners and foster youth – some have caught up to or surpassed pre-recession spending levels, adjusted for inflation, but others still have not.


Study: LA UNIFIED FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE DOLLARS TO THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR + smf’s 2¢
▲Previous reporting in 4LAKids/6.14 : LCFF Report: LAUSD’S SHORT-CHANGED DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS+STUDENTS/LAUSD FALLS SHORT OF GOALS + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1LbqmoG

▼L.A. UNIFIED FUNDING FOR HIGH-NEED STUDENTS OFF TARGET, STUDY SAYS


By Teresa Watanabe | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1FiSO2Q

6.15.2015 :: In the first full year of a significant state funding boost, Los Angeles Unified administrators failed to consistently funnel the dollars to the high-need students they were meant for, a new study found.

The report by UC Berkeley found that L.A. Unified officials spent more than half of the $820 million received for the 2014-15 school year on special education, library aides and assistant principals – although the money was specifically meant for students who are low-income, learning English and in foster care, under the state’s new school funding system.

In addition, the report found that school administrators lack a “coherent strategy” for linking their funding choices to specific improvements for those particular students, said Bruce Fuller, a UC Berkeley education professor and the study’s lead author.

The report, conducted on behalf of United Way of Greater Los Angeles and funded by the California Endowment, is scheduled to be released Monday as the L.A. Board of Education prepares to debate on the 2015-16 budget this week.

“They’ve funded a smattering of new positions and they’re sprinkling new dollars on the schools, but there’s been no conversation with principals about how the various threads of new funding can be woven together into a school-wide reform strategy to lift low-achieving kids,” Fuller said.

Edgar Zazueta, L.A. Unified’s chief lobbyist and point person on the new funding system (●●smf: ?!), said the district’s efforts were “still very much a work in progress” and started at a time that state rules on using the dollars had not yet been finalized. But he defended the spending choices as an appropriate use of the money.

Among other things, he said, the money has paid for new instructional aides for students learning English, counselors for foster youth and coordinators to shift school discipline practices from punitive to more therapeutic approaches, known as restorative justice.

Zazueta said that about 86% of L.A. Unified students are low-income, learning English or in foster care, so state rules allow the use of funds targeted for them for district-wide programs, such as the restoration of library aides and assistant principals at most elementary schools.

Officials made those spending choices in a deliberate effort to offset some of the massive cuts at the district’s hardest-hit campuses – cuts that totaled about $2.7 billion between 2009 and 2013, the report noted.

“We would argue we did have a strategic vision: Let’s restore funding to schools hit hardest by the economic recession,” Zazueta said.

He added that the district stood by its decision to spend $400 million of the funds on special-education students, 80% of whom fall into the state’s targeted categories.

Maria Brenes, executive director of InnerCity Struggle, an East L.A. advocacy organization, praised district investments for foster youth, students learning English and more effective discipline practices. But she and Fuller said they were disappointed that L.A. Unified officials had not fully followed the school board’s 2014 directive to allocate dollars to schools with the highest needs based on the number of targeted students and other factors, such as suspensions, dropout rates and neighborhood violence.

The district appears to have fully applied that needs test only to high schools, Brenes and Fuller said.

All sides agreed that a key priority was to train principals and staff on how to effectively use the state dollars to boost achievement for their neediest students. The report found “confusion and dismay” among many principals, who said they received little if any district guidance on how to achieve those goals.

Fuller said, however, that district officials had been exceedingly cooperative and open in supplying data and engaging in conversations about the process. “There is abundant goodwill,” he said.

For his part, Zazueta said district officials would “take very much to heart” the feedback as they move forward to finalize the 2015-16 budget, which includes $1.1 billion in targeted funding for needy students.


●●smf’s 2¢: In reading the Times story above and the Daily News one following I note that Pedro Salcido and Edgar Zazueta are the named frontmen in LAUSD’s Local Control Funding Formula/Local Control Accountability Plan efforts.

Nothing personal; they are hard working and good at what they do, but both are from the LAUSD Office of Government Relations; they are lobbyists.

That makes Wonderlandian sense if the 24th floor of Beaudry is the definition of “local” …rather than the LCFF Parent Advisory Committee and the individual school site councils – which 4LAKids believes was the legislative+gubernatorial intent (…and the specific intent of LAUSD Bulletin 6332.0 [http://bit.ly/1MWzbDY] which established the Parent Advisory Committee [PAC] as the District-wide committee to advise on the LCFF Local Control and Accountability Plan [LCAP]) …and what seems to be happening elsewhere in California.

The underlying complaint of the study seems to be that the United Way of Greater Los Angeles and CLASS (of which Inner City Struggle is a component) were not engaged – I’m pretty sure that was not what the lege and gov had in mind!


►Report: THE LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA: Steps Taken by LAUSD in Year Two, 2014-15



MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS SO TAXING, SO CRITICAL TO FUTURE SUCCESS + CRAZY LOVE Teaching in the Middle
MIDDLE SCHOOL, TIME OF HORMONAL TURMOIL AND SWITCHING CLASSES
JUNIOR HIGH IS WHEN MOST FUTURE DROPOUTS FALL OFF THE TRACK


By Nan Austin in The Modesto Bee | http://bit.ly/1fmArFm

6.16.2015 :: The tween time, that pull-parents-close-just-to-push-them-away age, confounds us all. But research shows those tumultuous years are the pivot point for young lives. The slide toward dropping out in high school most often begins right here, in the middle school years.

Those who work every day with the most at-risk junior high students, however, have hope.

“In those three or four years, the world and everything in it changes. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but having a front-row seat is a special treat for those of us who don’t mind the human drama,” writes middle school teacher Beth Morrow on www.middleweb.com in an article titled “Crazy Love: Six Reasons Why I Teach in the Middle.” (follows)

Morrow talks about the lurching progress toward maturity, often tactless honesty and the hopefulness of watching them struggle past obstacles despite it all.

“The egocentric middle school mind is hardwired for the biological fear that they are the only person in the history of the universe to fall down at lunch – wear non-matching socks – fail a test – have a cowlick on picture day,” she notes.

Parents should know that middle school isn’t so easy: Girl, 13, aspiring doctor, at Creekside Middle School career day

Students polled at career fairs in Patterson’s Creekside Middle School and Blaker-Kinser Junior High in Ceres overwhelmingly said parents did not understand how hard they worked and did not give them time to recover after a stressful school day.

“We actually do get a lot of work,” said one Ceres eighth-grader. “When we get a break, we need that break,” he said.

“I have to do chores right when I walk through the door. Let me rest!” said an eighth-grade girl at Blaker-Kinser.

“They don’t notice the good grades. They just see the bad,” said her classmate.

Her comments were echoed by mentors hired through a United Way program finishing its second year at three high-needs middle schools.

Parents should know that some people change in middle school. There is pointless drama: Girl, 13, aspiring psychologist, at Creekside Middle School career day

“Celebrating all successes is really important. They work really hard, and if nobody notices, they just say, ‘Why bother,’” said Alicia Sequeira, graduation coach at Hanshaw Middle School in south Modesto.

“Sometimes it’s just study habits, school habits. If that’s not doing their homework, not showing up on time, that’s going to go with them to high school. If we get them early, we can change those habits, get them going,” said Luis Tinajero, graduation coach at Creekside Middle School in Patterson.

“(Problems in) discipline, attendance, grades – they’re all symptoms of something else going on,” said Sandra Chavarna, graduation coach at Prescott Junior High in north Modesto.

“It’s hard to be faced with your failures day in and day out. ‘Hey – you’re failing!’ ‘You’re failing.’ ‘You’re failing!’ I think it helps to have a graduation coach who says, ‘You’re failing today. But maybe you won’t fail tomorrow.’”

Parents should know that middle school is the time that will effect your kids, good or bad, for the rest of their life: Girl, 13, aspiring police officer, at Creekside Middle School career day

The three coaches have worked since October 2013 in a prevention program run by the nonprofit Center for Human Services and funded by the United Way, Stanislaus County. President Francine DiCiano said her research showed middle school was where a small program could have the greatest impact. Each year, the team picks 40 incoming seventh-graders to mentor at each school, based on recommendations from their sixth-grade year.

While not every kid turned around completely, Tinajero said, “they all progressed.” That means better attendance, fewer discipline problems and higher grades.

Grades are a sore point, however, because bringing up an average takes consistency. The semester average has to top 60 percent to erase an F, the first thing parents see.

“I’ve had kids with grades in the 20 percents bring their work up and start getting 60s and 70s. That’s huge progress. But if we’re just looking at that letter, it’s still an F,” he said.

Family issues add to the load for many of their kids. Homelessness, responsibility for getting younger siblings up and off to school, squeezing in homework while juggling other duties – all can take a toll on grades and attendance. The mentors check in with families, check in with the kids about once a week, confer with teachers and get calls from the vice principal when one of their caseloads has a setback.

I know some kids who are like, ‘How much can I do till you give up on me?’ They test you: Luis cq Tinajero, graduation coach at Creekside Middle School in Patterson

That community feel took time to build. Chavarna describes her first efforts to contact parents as “feeling like a stalker.” When a call from the school always means something’s wrong, she said, “here some stranger says they’re going to help your child. When negative calls are the expectation, it takes a while to get used to this person who is always saying nice things about them. It takes a while to adjust to the idea.”

Teachers, too, were skeptical at first. Seeing better behavior from their most challenging students helped, as did seeing the kids buckle down and work during after-school time with the coach.

“We all stay after school for help – if not help, just attention,” Tinajero said.

“A lot of times, there’s no quiet, comfortable place at home where they can work,” Chavarna said – someplace without siblings grabbing their papers or grown-ups yelling.

At Hanshaw, former students now going to Downey High come back to tutor, Sequeira said. “Sometimes the kids don’t need the help, they just want to be there. So I have the Downey kids bring their own homework, model that behavior.”

Kids know their academic performance labels them, Chavarna said. “They’re being judged on their grades. We tell them, ‘We see your grades. We still want you to try.’ Even if they didn’t get it right away, it will stick with them. There were folks that cared along the way.”

_____________
COPING SKILLS:
Advice gleaned from teacher Patti Grayson after a year in “the land of the gland” in an article on www.middleweb.com, and tips for parents of teen girls from The Camping and Education Foundation.

Notice and comment. Praise goes a long way in those years when self-confidence is so scarce. Tweens crave attention and yet assume everyone’s watching, translating silence to mean you did not like it.
Be there. Sharing time doing a chore or project gives a chance to interact without the focus being on them – until they want it to be about them. But even just everyday positive constants give reassuring structure.
Add positive activities. Volunteering gives a sense of being needed; tutoring or babysitting makes them a role model. Both solidify that shaky self-confidence and sense of having grown, says the foundation.
“Snip the snark,” as Grayson puts it, adding that tween egos are fragile. “They’ll laugh it off now, and then dwell on it for weeks. Weigh your words carefully,” she advises.
Give them time. These are the inconsistent, distracted, disorganized years. Take time to laugh and have fun with them, Grayson says, “Be the oasis.”
_________________


▼ CRAZY LOVE: 6 REASONS WHY I TEACH IN THE MIDDLE


by Beth Morrow MiddleWeb ·| http://bit.ly/1I3e2bu

02/08/2015 :: If you’re nodding your head at the suitability of my title, you’re either one of us, or you think we must be… well, crazy.

Middle school students, that group of energetic, misunderstood and sometimes misguided kids between the ages of roughly eleven and fifteen, bring a unique perspective (which often changes by the day) to the classroom that their primary and secondary counterparts do not.

If you read the title and felt a warm glow of validation, you know just how wonderful middle school students can be. There’s a resiliency, a curiosity, an awakening that takes place over the middle years that slowly transforms the naive elementary student into a semi-worldly adolescent.

In those three or four years, the world and everything in it changes. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but having a front-row seat is a special treat for those of us who don’t mind the human drama.

Consider this my valentine to those volatile adolescents and the educators who cherish them: my six reasons why middle schoolers are such a pleasure to teach.

1. THEY REMIND US THAT NO ONE IS PERFECT: that’s perfectly okay. For every positive characteristic each student possesses, they’re working to hide multiple struggles. Each day is a literal hard reset in terms of making choices that will move students forward toward maturity or keep them in a holding pattern of emotional reaction. What’s wonderful is when students’ metacognitive growth converts these moments into concrete opportunities for choice, and they have the chance to begin taking ownership of their own lives.

2. OH, THE BRUTAL HONESTY: Middle school kids evince a certain flair for giving an honest opinion, whether or not it’s what the receiver wants to hear. Generally, the tact filter in students doesn’t develop until the early high school years. In the meantime, if you’re seeking feedback on your hairstyle, wardrobe, musical preference or anything that involves sharing opinions, you can bet that a middle schooler will offer the unvarnished truth.

3. WE CAN GIVE THEM HOPE FOR THE FUTURE: As a writer and voracious reader, I believe in the power of story. The power of stories shared from generation to generation remind us all, in some way, of our humanity. The egocentric middle school mind is hardwired for the biological fear that they are the only person in the history of the universe to fall down at lunch – wear non-matching socks – fail a test – have a cowlick on picture day.

Since my family is tired of my own awkward adolescent stories, sharing them with a new, rapt audience each year is my way of giving students some sense that they aren’t uniquely geeky and that they might survive the next several years on their way to becoming that elusive man or woman of mystery: the high schooler.

4. WE CAN GAIN HOPE IN THE PRESENT: As painted by daily news reports, the world can be a depressing place. Although a cloud of anxiety and angst is common during the middle school years, watching these young folks first-hand overcome their personal struggles on their way to building the foundation for their future dreams brings a refreshing, uplifting quality to the classroom that, when properly highlighted, can be positively contagious.

5. WE GET TO WATCH CURIOSITY BLOSSOM: Primary students usually just ‘do’ things without much personal investment. High schoolers often ignore their own interests to maintain the social status quo. But middle schoolers, when their interests are tapped, become singularly focused and intensively determined to find out everything they can on a topic.

I’ve seen struggling readers devour thick fantasy trilogies, apathetic learners become technology experts capable of teaching staff and students, and disruptive students create social service projects that fill their need for connection, build their self-confidence, and make a real difference to someone in the world.

6. WE GET FREE DAILY HUGS: Around the fourth week of school, one of my students, a petite seventh grader who wears a smile 24/7, walked into my room during the last period of the day as though she belonged there. She came to my desk, threw her arms around me and told me to have a good afternoon before disappearing into the hallway.

This continued almost daily until Winter Break when I happened to remember to ask her last period teacher about the behavior. “I have that group for two periods in a row,” she informed me. “I allow each of them one restroom pass a day whenever they want to take it. She told me a while ago she didn’t want to use it for the restroom but to come give you a hug every day.”

What did I do to earn this hug? How did I come to trump a restroom pass? If you’re fortunate enough to teach middle school, neither the circumstances nor the answers will surprise you. With this age group, every day is an adventure and every adventure is guaranteed to reveal another facet of the wonderfully rough and resilient gems that are middle school students.

● Beth Morrow is a veteran middle school ESL/LA/reading educator, freelancer and columnist.


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
 

Dan Walters: SCHOOL RESERVES LAW ENTANGLED IN CALIFORNIA POLITICS -- Sir Walter Scott’s famous aphorism, “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive,” is particularly applicable to one bill now pending in the state Senate. Assembly Bill 531 would not formally repeal an odd and indefensible decree by Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature, but would render it functionally moot by making the law even more obtuse and complex – tangled, if you will. | http://bit.ly/1QKvabv
 
[There'll always be a] Texas: DEEP FRYERS, ONCE BANNED BY STATE, ARE ALLOWED TO RETURN TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By The Associated Press/New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1GdMivU
Sid Miller, the state’s new agriculture commissioner, says government mandates have failed to make children healthier in Texas, where roughly two-thirds of residents are considered overweight or obese.

RAISING GRADUATION RATES WITH QUESTIONABLE QUICK FIXES
NPR Ed | http://n.pr/1Kq2bog
June 10, 2015 • The nation's high school graduation rate is at a record-high 81 percent. Why? Because states are doing good things ... or using some sleight of hand.


US SUPREME COURT BACKS PROSECUTION'S USE OF CHILD'S STATEMENT IN ABUSE CASE
http://bit.ly/1LaZlUw

This time for real: LEGISLATURE PASSES (ANOTHER) BUDGET
http://bit.ly/1I75LTP

Donald Trump: “People are tired … of spending more money on education than any nation in the world per capita.” | http://bit.ly/1IRPn85

RETIRING FROM AALA, PRESIDENT PEREZ REFLECTS ON 46 YEARS WITH LAUSD
http://bit.ly/1H62d5i

#CATEACHERSSUMMIT: Free 1 day extravaganza July 31st @ 33different venues! Sponsored by New Teachers Center(Jaime Aquino)+@GatesEd & (did I mention?) IT'S FREE! …what could possibly go wrong?

MIDDLE SCHOOL YEARS: So Taxing, So Critical + CRAZY LOVE: Teaching in the Middle
http://bit.ly/1Rhn596

GOOD NEWS BUDGET DEAL HAS EVERYONE HAPPY – if ‘everyone’ is limited to the Governor, Speaker & President pro tempore | http://bit.ly/1Nas8aU

GLUED TO THE SCREEN: A third grade class where kids spend 75% of the day on iPads - The Hechinger Report | http://bit.ly/1FrQ1of

THE CHARTER MOMENT: What's Working – + What's Not with Charter Schools by charter advocate Andy Rotherham | USN&WR | http://bit.ly/1BAZApW

AALA Update: LAUSD IS EXPANDING TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN PROGRAM + BUDGET UPDATE + smf’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1d6jk9d

EdSource: LAUSD plan saves preschool slots with new TK program?| http://bit.ly/1LjUnGf
...or do they cut seats?: http://bit.ly/1J81Nf8

CA BUDGET DEAL CONFIRMS RECORD K-12 SPENDING | http://bit.ly/1Frm73n

Forbes: DO iPADS BELONG IN SCHOOLS? | http://onforb.es/1K1NaIW

RAFE ESQUITH, CALLED 'THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS TEACHER' BY THE WASHINGTON POST, IN LAUSD TEACHER JAIL (7 stories) | http://bit.ly/1Bsvp46

LAUSD PLANS TO LENGTHEN PRESCHOOL DAY, CUTTING THOUSANDS OF SEATS: School board takes up a budget plan Tuesday | http://bit.ly/1J81Nf8

Dorothea Lasky's ROME | The Iowa Review by Alana Folsom. Marshall HS '08, BA Bates College '12, MFA candidate OSU :: http://iowareview.org/blog/dorothea-laskys-rome

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED TEACHER TO TEACHER JAIL AFTER ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT: Reading ‘Huck Finn’ + smf+other’s 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1N6kIFC

LAST YEAR'S BUDGET DEAL HANDCUFFED SCHOOLS, LIMITING RESERVES TO 6 TO 9 DAYS OF PAYROLL FOR AVERAGE DISTRICTS | http://bit.ly/1R5HMVA

Be still Arne's heart: NCLB MAY GET TO THE SENATE FLOOR AS EARLY AS THE END OF THE WEEK | http://bit.ly/1el6ohb

Don't put a fork in it!: THE DEADLINE IS MET, BUT THE STATE BUDGET ISN'T DONE AND THE DEBATE ISN'T OVER (7 stories) http://bit.ly/1FkUWXU

LAUSD SUMMER SCHOOL ENROLLMENT JUMPS 20% AS GRAD REQUIREMENTS GET TOUGHER
...more summer school seats help too! | http://bit.ly/1cYIlTx

TUESDAY’S LAUSD BOARD MTG|Budget+LCAP 6/16 2:30pm
steaming: http://bit.ly/1GnZwJI
75 Speakers@2:00
Agenda+Materials: http://bit.ly/1QBmSCI

Senate passes #cabudget 26-13 in 1 hr+/Assembly votes 52-28 in 25 min. Both along party lines. Now to @JerryBrownGov, has 12days 2 sign or veto.

Associated Press: DISTRACTED GOP LAWMAKER ACCIDENTALLY OKs CALIFORNIA BUDGET
http://bit.ly/1IgTN5C

More LCFF Study: AT-RISK LOS ANGELES KIDS SHORT-CHANGED IN SPENDING http://bit.ly/1BiNiSG

OPT OUT IN OREGON ...NOW WHAT? +smf's 2¢ on Parents' Right to Choose | http://bit.ly/1R23byN

TORLAKSON GREEN-LIGHTS TEACHER PAY RAISES IF THEY FURTHER LCFF GOALS http://bit.ly/1MFD8wi

Update: LAUSD FAILED TO FUNNEL STATE DOLLARS TO THE HIGH-NEED STUDENTS THEY WERE MEANT FOR - 3 stories & smf’s 2¢x2 | http://bit.ly/1IfHTZY


EVENTS: Coming up next week...
TUESDAY, 23 JUNE 2015:
● 9:00 a.m. REGULAR BOARD MEETING (CLOSED SESSION ITEMS)

● 1:00 p.m. REGULAR BOARD MEETING - BUDGET ADOPTION
Agenda, Meeting materials and Link to live stream video: http://bit.ly/1H2IVf9

● CANCELLED - Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Committee – (3:30 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 was Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and has represented PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee for over 12 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 "WHO" Gold Award and the ACSA Regional Ferd Kiesel Memorial Distinguished Service Award - honors 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.
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