In This Issue:
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IN ANNUAL SPEECH, CORTINES OFFERS GOOD CHEER BUT (the LA School Report says) LEAVES OUT ANY VISION |
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CORTINES CALLS FOR UNITY IN ANNUAL L.A. SCHOOL DISTRICT ADDRESS |
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PUBLIC RELEASE OF CALIFORNIA STUDENTS’ COMPUTERIZED TEST SCORES POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT MONTH |
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GROUPS FILE FEDERAL COMPLAINT ALLEGING CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CALIFORNIA PHYSICAL EDUCATION |
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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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Ramon Cortines is careful to call the folks who are
entitled to the title “Doctor”. And yet insists on being called “Mr.
Cortines” – even though he has earned his Ed.D.
At Harvard the convention is to only call medical doctors “Doctor” – so a
first year intern is a “Doctor” – and a Nobel laureate physicist isn’t.
In the U.K. medical doctors who are members of the Royal College of
Surgeons – a great honour - revert to the title “Mister”. Go figure.
I say this because Ray Cortines is a gentleman in the best meaning of
the word. I have seen him angry and I understand he is not above making
a scene, I have heard he has bandied the well-deserved epithet about.
Those familiar with these pages know he is not without his faults.
Still, at 83 he has earned and merits respect. Cortines has
Been-There-and Done That; he has filled the unforgiving minute with
sixty seconds’ worth of distance run. At half his age I began to realize
my tolerance for fools+foolishness began to wane – and as
superintendent/chancellor of five school districts – and LAUSD thrice –
he has witnessed more than anyone’s share of both. The man has had Rudy
Giuliani tell him how to run schools!
There is an apocryphal story of School Board President Caprice Young
pleading on her knees for Cortines to stay-on when he left the first
time. I believe John Deasy and then Board President Monica Garcia threw
him under the bus when the “secret settlement” was disclosed after he
left the second thing – yet it was Garcia’s vote and Cortines’ acquiesce
(over Deasy’s figuratively dead body) that made the third tenure
possible.
Ray Cortines knows what he’s doing.
On Tuesday last he gave a well-delivered and well received Back to
School Address (school starts this coming Tuesday) to his administrators
– with just right tone of cheerleading and “Once more unto the breach,
dear friends, once more…”
The Los Angeles School ®eport lambasted the speech as short on policy
and goals – missing the intent+point entirely of the objective of a
motivational speech.
Shakespeare’s Henry V does not lay out policy+goals to his “Band of Brothers” at the morn of Agincourt. He motivates.
L.A. Times reporter Howard Blume captured the moment, comparing
Cortines’ speech to the remarks+theatrics of John Deasy in years past:
“(Cortines’) remarks — like the event itself — contrasted with the
eloquent, almost militaristic intensity that Deasy brought to the
podium.
(Militaristic intensity: One can almost visualize John L Deasy as George
C. Scott as Patton – with the chrome helmet and the ivory-handled
pistols; the flag as backdrop. Deasy’s first job in education was
teaching science at a military academy in Long Island.)
“Last year, Deasy ordered a sealed envelope taped to every seat. In it
was the name of a struggling student; each administrator was supposed to
mentor and assist that student. In the furor of Deasy’s last months,
this endeavor immediately dropped off. No mention of it was made this
year.
“In 2012, Deasy announced his plan to provide a tablet to every student,
which quickly evolved into the district’s now-abandoned $1.3-billion
iPads-for-all effort.”
The “sealed envelope” was a stunt. That “now abandoned” iPad plan – and
its companion MiSiS initiative – I remind us all, was certainly
ill-conceived, probably fraudulent and possibly felonious. I daresay the
only one in that audience Tuesday who missed John Deasy may have been
the LASR reporter.
Cortines told his audience: “We few, we happy few, we band of
brothers(+sisters): The iPad Fiasco and the nonexistent Pearson content
and the MiSiS Crisis and Blame-the-Teachers/#®eform@AllCosts are behind
us ….and the long+hard work of educating children is the agenda+policy
for the school year just beginning.”
Maybe that’s not what he said. Maybe it’s just what I heard.
I SPENT MUCH OF THE PAST WEEK in Sacramento at the Back-to-School convening of California State PTA leadership.
That meeting was exceptionally successful+rewarding …albeit a bit
challenging to my personal health. Watch this space and the news for
parent-centered/parent-driven school-site, school district and state
initiatives to promote true Parent, Family and Student Engagement –and
exciting new programs to train+empower parents. To goal is bring the
“Local Control” of our neighborhood schools home: To the school and to
the community-the-school-is-the-center-of.
• Part of school and family life for more than 115 years, PTA is the defining organization for family engagement.
• If your school has a PTA, please join it.
• If it doesn’t, ask why.
• If you want to start one, start here: http://bit.ly/StartPTA. Or send me an email.
As a result of my preoccupation elsewhere this is an abbreviated issue of 4LAKids, for which you may be truly thankful!
PLEASE BE CAREFUL OUT THERE NEXT WEEK AND IN THE MONTHS AHEAD. There
will be kids in-and-out of the crosswalks, in-and-out of the School
Zones, in-and-out of the passenger doors and the big yellow buses. They
will NOT be looking out for you!
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
IN ANNUAL SPEECH, CORTINES OFFERS GOOD CHEER BUT (the
LA School Report says) LEAVES OUT ANY VISION
by Mike Szymanski | LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1P5gfn3
Posted on August 11, 2015 3:34 pm :: In what is likely to be his final
major address as LA Unified superintendent, Ramon Cortines delivered a
jocular cheerleading speech today that was absent any bold vision of new
ideas or new directions for the district.
Focusing on “unity” and “family” for LAUSD, he made no mention of the
effort to find a new superintendent, how long he planned to stay in his
position, budget issues or any other major challenges facing the
district as schools get ready to open on Aug. 18.
Instead, he used the opportunity at Garfield High School to poke fun at
himself and others in an amiable light-on-policy speech that had the
effect of contrasting his approach and personality to the man he
bookended as superintendent, John Deasy.
“Be patient, I’m old,” he laughed when he dropped his papers during the
speech. Cortines turned 83 last month. “I’m doing it a little bit
different than I used to but you’re used to that.” And, at one point
when his microphone went out, he said, “I knew they’d cut me off.”
Cortines discussed some of the same issues he raised in a speech in
2000, such as poor graduation rates. He said he still believes that
decentralizing the district and giving more local control “offers the
best framework for success for this district.”
He teasingly threatened to read the entire 191-page decentralization
plan, but said, “I will summarize it in a short easy phrase: Invest in
LAUSD.” And to accentuate the point, he reminded the audience that the
letters of LAUSD should stand for: Language, Achieve, Unity, Schools and
Determination.
He also used his speech to describe his impressions of some of the
school board members sitting in the front row: “I remember going to
regular meetings at Dr. (Richard) Vladovic’s field office, a Starbucks
in San Pedro,” Cortines said. Then, he noted that Mónica Ratliff was
away in Europe and said he remembered her “asking just one more question
after we tirelessly answered 20 before.”
He kidded the new board president Steve Zimmer for “meticulously
answering every question in detail.” He cited George McKenna for always
“conveying his point with poetry and passion” and Mónica García for
shouting “Hello people!” when greeting an audience.
He introduced union leaders in the audience and chided the few who were
absent, including the UTLA’s president Alex Caputo-Pearl. “They will be
in detention in my office,” he said.
Cortines introduced about two dozen people who worked to fix the MiSiS
computer system when he took over the district last October with the
data system in disrepair. He repeated a line from a district press
release of last week, saying, “MiSiS is the heart of this district.
After months of tireless repairs, our heart has some new stents,
replaced valves, a pacemaker, and reduced cholesterol, and it is pumping
much stronger.”
He talked about dividing up the district into smaller districts, saying,
“I’ve reorganized the district, and that will be the last time for me.”
And he encouraged administrators and teachers to communicate
respectfully at all times, and “report improper conduct.”
“There is a handful, and only a handful, of staff who have acted
improperly and that simple mistake can take away public trust in the
district and cost us millions of dollars,” he said.
Cortines’s friendly manner was apparent before and after the speech, as
well, waving to people in the audience, greeting many of them
personally, even posing for pictures.
“I feel like a high school principal on the first day of school,” he said.
CORTINES CALLS FOR UNITY IN ANNUAL L.A. SCHOOL DISTRICT ADDRESS
By Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1WikmBH
12 Aug 2015 :: In an upbeat back-to-school speech, Los Angeles Unified
Supt. Ramon C. Cortines told administrators Tuesday that the key to
boosting student achievement is collaboration and unity among district
employees working with parents and students.
The annual address was probably Cortines' last as superintendent, but
also his first since the 83-year-old veteran schools chief returned from
retirement upon the forced resignation of John Deasy last October.
Cortines has said he hopes to leave by year’s end, provided that the
Board of Education has selected a successor.
Cortines, who seemed intent on rebuilding morale, said he was not
backing away from the urgency of helping struggling students, but he
rejected the rhetoric of district critics who refer to failing schools
and blame district employees for the system’s shortcomings.
“You are the heroes of this district,” he told a packed auditorium at
Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. “You are the ones that make
this district great.”
“Even a simple unexpected thank you is something all our people really
want to hear,” Cortines said, adding, “I am tired of hearing that some
of our schools are failing schools…. Some need support. Even on those
campuses, great things are happening every day.”
His remarks — like the event itself — contrasted with the eloquent,
almost militaristic intensity that Deasy brought to the podium.
Cortines introduced and commented on each of the seven school board
members and every union leader. “Collaboration is extremely important in
this district,” he said, “especially with our bargaining units. And
because of that, this district has been able to accomplish a lot in the
last seven months.”
He called particular attention to a student records system that caused
districtwide chaos last fall and that the district has been working hard
to salvage.
Cortines also announced a reorganization plan that divides L.A. Unified
into six regions, each under a local superintendent with broad autonomy
over schools in his or her area. It’s an idea Cortines has tried to make
stick each of three times he’s led L.A. Unified.
Newly elected board member Ref Rodriguez, a charter school founder, said
in a recent interview that he appreciates what Cortines wants to do.
“Decentralization and local control, pushing decisions down close to the
schools and the community — that actually is transformative,” Rodriguez
said. “This whole notion is radical for a district this size.”
The annual address is an anticipated event, used at times to launch
major initiatives, set out challenges and tout accomplishments.
Last year, Deasy ordered a sealed envelope taped to every seat. In it
was the name of a struggling student; each administrator was supposed to
mentor and assist that student. In the furor of Deasy’s last months,
this endeavor immediately dropped off. No mention of it was made this
year.
In 2012, Deasy announced his plan to provide a tablet to every student,
which quickly evolved into the district’s now-abandoned $1.3-billion
iPads-for-all effort.
This year, Cortines said, students would have individual computers at
more than 100 schools. The flip side is that students at close to 900
schools were likely to be sharing.
The superintendent also noted that the district has rushed to purchase
up-to-date math textbooks. Originally, math materials were to have been
provided on the iPads.
Cortines frequently served as humorist in chief. When the teachers union
leader was not present to be introduced, Cortines said he would be put
in detention.
When he asked board members to stand, he ad-libbed: “It’s wonderful to be able to give orders to a Board of Education.”
He also warned them away the next time they needed a superintendent: “I
want you to know I’ve changed my phone number. So don’t ever call
again.”
PUBLIC RELEASE OF CALIFORNIA STUDENTS’ COMPUTERIZED TEST SCORES POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT MONTH
Mary Plummer | kpcc 89.3 | http://bit.ly/1UBTavO
August 10, 2015 | 05:00 PM :: Those in the public hoping to see the
results of new online tests taken by California public school students
earlier this year will need to wait a bit longer.
A spokeswoman for the California Department of Education said Monday
that the date for a general release of the scores has been edged back to
the first of week September — at the earliest.
Department officials had previously said they expected to release results to the public in August.
Parents, however, are still scheduled to receive reports on their individual student's scores this month.
Department spokeswoman Pam Slater says the new public release is not so
much a delay as a change taken in an abundance of caution.
“It’s kind of a new era for us," Slater said. "We’re still collecting the data.”
In an email, she added:
The department wants to ensure as many scores as possible are
included in the public reporting of results. Additionally, the
department will be launching a new Web site to display the results and
needs sufficient time to test the new site.
This is the first time the state has tried to wrangle official statewide data for the computerized tests.
The exams were designed to measure how well students understand the new
Common Core learning standards for language arts and math. Problems were
devised to measure skills in critical thinking and problem-solving,
among other concepts.
Students who took the test, called the California Assessment of Student
Performance and Progress (CAASPP) or Smarter Balanced exams, attended
grades three to eight and grade 11. About 3 million students statewide
were assessed.
Mark Ellis, a professor of secondary education at Cal State Fullerton
who works with teachers in Orange County and focuses on math education,
said the previous testing system put incredible pressure on teachers.
Ellis said the new standards are changing things for the better. He thinks the shift is good for teachers.
"I see a lot of positive energy," he said. "I think there's a sense of
optimism about where things are headed in terms of the teaching and
learning of mathematics."
Educators will get an early look at the results; school districts will receive their scores this week, according to Slater.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson told KPCC in
July that he expected students will do well, but that performance will
be lower since students are learning a new curriculum and getting used
to testing on computers.
GROUPS FILE FEDERAL COMPLAINT ALLEGING CIVIL RIGHTS
VIOLATIONS IN CALIFORNIA PHYSICAL EDUCATION
By Jane Meredith Adams | EdSource | http://bit.ly/1J9PY2w
Aug 14, 2015 |In the latest salvo in a longstanding effort to enforce a
California education law that requires physical education classes for
all students, six health advocacy organizations filed a federal
complaint Thursday charging that California public schools discriminate
against Latino and African-American students by disproportionately
denying them access to the classes, in violation of federal civil rights
law.
The organizations asked for federal intervention to ensure that the
California Department of Education and school districts comply with “the
legal obligation to provide students with equal access to resources for
physical education and fitness without regard to race, color, or
national origin,” according to the complaint.
“Black and Hispanic students are systematically denied quality physical
education,” according to the complaint sent to Catherine Lhamon,
assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of
Education. The complaint was filed by the The City Project, the
California Center for Public Health Advocacy, the California Association
for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, the Prevention
Institute, the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California and the Anahuak
Youth Sports Association.
“Black and Hispanic students are systematically denied quality
physical education,” according to a federal complaint charging civil
rights violations in California physical education.
Robert Garcia, founding director of The City Project, a Los Angeles
civil rights advocacy group, said the complaint was filed as a federal
civil rights violation on the basis of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 and an October 2014 so-called “Dear Colleague” guidance letter
from Llahmon to educators across the country. That letter reminded
educators of their obligation to end “unlawful discrimination” caused by
inequities in educational resources.
“Lack of funds does not preclude the duty to act” to fulfill civil
rights obligations, Llahmon wrote in the letter, which was cited in the
complaint. The complaint expanded on the point by stating, “While sound
educational and budgetary judgments by state and local education
officials may lead school districts to prioritize certain resources,
such decisions cannot reflect unlawful race discrimination in purpose or
effect.”
A California Department of Education spokeswoman said Friday that the
department had not seen the complaint and was unable to provide comment.
Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public
Health Advocacy, said in a statement that educators have turned “a
blind eye” to the health consequences for children who are not provided
consistent, quality physical education instruction.
“Too often these ethnic and racial disparities have a devastating impact
on the long-term health and welfare of our children,” Goldstein said.
“Without adequate physical education, children are more likely to be
obese, develop type 2 diabetes or have a lifetime of costly chronic
disease.”
California Education Code requires public schools to provide a minimum
of 200 minutes of physical education every 10 days in elementary schools
and 400 minutes in middle and high schools. But several studies have
found significant non-compliance, including an audit by the California
Department of Education of 155 districts from 2004 to 2009 that reported
half were not meeting physical education requirements and a 2012 study
of 55 districts from 2004 to 2006 by San Francisco State University
researchers that found half of the districts were out of compliance.
In March, 37 school districts, including Los Angeles Unified, settled a
lawsuit alleging they failed to provide the minimum number of physical
education minutes in elementary schools. As a result, the districts are
required to publicly document the amount of physical education
instruction that elementary students receive, starting this fall and
continuing for two to three years, depending on the district.
According to the complaint filed Thursday, the 2012 study by San
Francisco State University researchers found that elementary school
students in districts that did not comply with physical education
minutes requirements “were more likely to be Hispanic or Black and less
likely to be white or Asian.”
The California Department of Education includes an evaluation of
physical education in its cycle of compliance monitoring of districts,
but according to a 2007 report “Physical Education Matters” by
researchers at San Diego State University, “There are no real
consequences for failure to comply.”
The complaint asked Llahmon of the U.S. Department of Education to send a
“Dear Colleague” guidance letter to California educators reminding them
of their obligation to ensure equal access to physical education, and
take other steps to ensure that physical education minutes are being
monitored and fulfilled. To that end, the organizations recommended the
use of a Model Action Plan for physical education and a compliance
checklist developed by the Los Angeles County Health Department and
several of the health organizations that filed the complaint.
Other health and civil rights advocacy groups praised the complaint.
Philip Tegeler, executive director of the Poverty & Race Research
Action Council, which co-authored an April report titled “Finishing
Last: Girls of Color and School Sports Opportunities,” said in a
statement,”Disparities in access to sports opportunities and physical
fitness programs are another unfortunate aspect of our separate and
unequal system of public education – with potential long term health
impacts for children of color.”
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
GROUPS FILE FEDERAL COMPLAINT ALLEGING CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN CALIFORNIA PHYSICAL EDUCATION
http://bit.ly/1Msd5un
LAPD INVESTIGATES ESQUITH, LAWYERS ‘DECLARE WAR’ ON LAUSD: “LAUSD is
acting as a criminal cartel that needs to be put out of business, and we
will put them out of business.”
http://bit.ly/1hGjG9b
CORTINES CALLS FOR UNITY IN ANNUAL L.A. SCHOOL DISTRICT ADDRESS
http://bit.ly/1hxAxLz
IN ANNUAL SPEECH, CORTINES OFFERS GOOD CHEER …but (the LA School Report says) leaves out any vision + smf's 2¢
http://bit.ly/1J2Yrsr
FIXING THE NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND LAW: How the House and Senate plans differ
http://bit.ly/1MiV69P
LAUSD STUDENTS GO BACK TO SCHOOL NEXT WEEK
http://bit.ly/1N1Lp11
THE THREE EDUCATION TRENDS PARENTS NEED TO KNOW THIS BACK-TO-SCHOOL SEASON
http://bit.ly/1EkE4BC
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
• TUESDAY AUGUST 18th IS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL AT TRADITIONAL CALENDAR LAUSD SCHOOLS
• THE LAUSD SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE meets at 10AM in the Beaudry Boardroom on Thursday Aug 20
*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:
Scott.Schmerelson@lausd.net • 213-241-8333
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Ref.Rodriguez@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, county supervisor, state
legislator, 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 at http://registertovote.ca.gov/
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. THEY DO!
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