In This Issue:
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ARE LOCAL SCHOOLS’ ARTS PROGRAMS MAKING THE GRADE? + smf’s 2¢ |
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ELECTRONICS AND KIDS' BRAINS DON'T MIX |
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Charter Wars: THE BILLIONAIRE vs. THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT |
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DO
WE REALLY WANT TEACH FOR AMERICA INTERNS TEACHING SPECIAL ED IN LAUSD? A
letter from a TFA Special Ed alum and a petition to sign if you choose |
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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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“I can no other answer make but thanks,
And thanks, and ever thanks”
– Twelfth Night, Act 3, Sc. 3 by Wm. Shakespeare
The holiday past, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, is
uniquely and secularly American. (Yes, Canadians have Thanksgiving as a
national holiday – but it’s the second Monday in October!)
American Thanksgiving comes wrapped in legends of Pilgrims and Indians
eating turkey (or venison or lobster or Boston Cream Pies) after the
Harvest of 1621. The extent of truth or falsehood or imaginary spin by
storytellers and textbook illustrators is dependent on one’s skepticism
about the European/Native American Experience. It is widely believed (or
wildly reported) that the native tribes helped the Pilgrims recover
from an extremely hard first winter by teaching them the native method
of maize cultivation, burying local fish (menhaden) in the soil to
fertilize crops.
At a remove of 384 years it’s easy be cynical about exactly what it was the parties at Plymouth Colony had to be thankful for:
• The Pilgrims were originally bound for Virginia …but landed in
Massachusetts because they ran low on shipboard supplies (including
beer!) “We could not now take time for further search or consideration;
our victuals being much spent, especially our beer.” - Mayflower diary
of Wm. Bradford, 1620
• And I’m sure the Wampanoag people – already nearly wiped out by
what-we-now believe-was -smallpox – would’ve been better-off without the
Pilgrims …and their not enough beer!
We Americans observe the holiday by traveling an average round-trip
holiday drive of 549 miles, saying a prayer, giving thanks, and
overindulging in food, football+beer commercials – pretty much denying
the self-denial+moderation-in-all-things-teachings of the Calvinist
Pilgrims. (I traveled 21.8 miles …but I'm pretty sure the Plymouth
Pilgrims and their Wampanoag guests didn't feast on Turducken and
Brussels' sprouts and roasted grapes!)
But let us look about and identify the things for which we can+should be truly thankful.
In my e-mail signature I include a quote by Garrison Keillor "Nothing
you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us,
hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we
do for them is never wasted." I am truly thankful for children even
though (or maybe because) they don’t give thanks. There is great honesty
(and no false sincerity) in thanks neither offered nor given!
I am thankful for a wonderful daughter who makes my heart+soul sing. I
am thankful for family and friends: threads in a glorious tapestry.
I am thankful for the health of others – and appreciate good health all
the more now that I don’t have it myself. I am ever thankful for the
help and care of those who help+support me in the fight.
When I struggle with the little things, the things that used to be easy -
putting out the trash and getting in+out of the car and just walking
down the street - I appreciate the friends+neighbors+strangers who try
to help – even as I reject the assistance. Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth
fears that the Thane is “too full o’ th’ Milk of Human Kindness”…I can’t
help but be thankful for the fount of it see every day.
I am thankful that well-meaning friends+acquaintances ignored my wishes
and started a GoFundMe Campaign to help me with my struggle. | http://bit.ly/1jqlzal
I am thankful for the good work of Ray Cortines in turning the District
around – and for all folks who struggled and struggle still to keep the
ship afloat and the morale up and the good work done day-in-and-day-out;
it was dark+strange there for awhile.
I am thankful that there are teachers and administrators and school
staff at all, doing their work with+for children in classrooms,
libraries, playgrounds, cafeterias, buses and offices.
I am thankful that there are school nurses and librarians and counselors
and arts+music teachers …I’m not sure if there ever were or will be
enough of you – but I promise there will be more of you!
I am thankful that there are parents who do the parent thing seemingly
effortlessly – and I am even more thankful there are parents who
struggle with the job and do the best they can.
I don’t know who Robert Brault is, but he said: “Enjoy the little
things, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big
things.”
Not because of victories
I sing,
having none,
but for the common sunshine,
the breeze,
the largess of the spring.
Not for victory
but for the day’s work done
as well as I was able;
not for a seat upon the dais
but at the common table.
- "Te Deum” by Charles Reznikoff’"
And let us all be thankful that the kids go back to school on Monday.
…and thank you, Gentle Reader, for considering these cranky periodic rants by an occasional madman.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
ARE LOCAL SCHOOLS’ ARTS PROGRAMS MAKING THE GRADE? + smf’s 2¢
by Erin Hickey, Los Feliz Ledger Contributing Writer | http://bit.ly/1Rf3tpJ
November 27, 2015 :: When it comes to arts education, Los Angeles
Unified School District (LAUSD) has a long way to go, according to a
November analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
Although California has one of the healthiest arts education policies in
the country, the Times’ analysis revealed many schools are falling far
short of state requirements.
The Times used data from surveys conducted by LAUSD to create an arts
education report card, assigning letter grades to more than 700 LAUSD
arts programs, only 35 of which received “A” grades.
Grades were based on an 83-point system, with points awarded based on
the number of art classes offered, percentage of students served and
availability of equipment, among other factors.
The Times’ analysis also revealed a negative correlation between
schools’ percentage of low-income students and the quality of their art
programming, a correlation which they attributed to the advantage that
schools in more affluent areas have when trying to obtain outside
funding.
Overall, elementary schools ranked higher than secondary schools, with
27 elementary schools receiving “A”s, compared with only eight middle or
high schools.
Los Feliz’s Franklin Avenue Elementary is one of those 27, ranking 11th
out of 507 elementary schools in the district. According to Times data,
they receive supplementary funding from parent groups.
Meanwhile, nearby Cheremoya Avenue Elementary earned a “B.”
Principal Stephen Salva said the school uses a combination of district
funding and supplementary funding from the Hollywood Arts Council—an
arts advocacy group—and their school parents group.
According to Salva, the district gives each school an allotment for
enrichment education based on enrollment, economic hardship of students
and other factors. Based on that funding, the district allows each
school to choose from a list of art subjects, for which the district
provides teachers.
Cheremoya is allotted three subjects through the district—visual arts,
dance and theater—and they use outside funding to enhance those classes,
rather than to add additional subjects, as some other schools have
done.
According to Salva, the school would like to add an instrumental music
class next year, but because the district limits them to three subjects,
they would have to temporarily replace one of the existing art options
to do so.
According to Salva, some parents have suggested bringing in a paid after
school music program, which he said the school will consider as a last
resort if they are unable to make music part of the official curriculum.
“Ultimately, our biggest goal is that we don’t want it to be a privilege. We want every kid to enjoy it,” said Salva.
Silver Lake’s John Marshall High School ranked 9th among all high
schools in the district with a “B.” They offer ceramics, visual arts,
dance and a comprehensive music program, which includes jazz, symphonic
orchestra, rock band and songwriting classes, as part of their
curriculum.
But, according to Brett Boyd, who teaches guitar and Theater Design at
Marshall, the program relies heavily on outside donations.
Boyd said he taught guitar for four years before the school had to
discontinue the class for lack of funding. However, thanks to a
fundraiser thrown by Los Angeles indie rock band Warpaint, Boyd was able
to resume teaching the class this year.
According to Boyd, songwriting teacher Mike Finn also had to secure his own funding through a foundation out of UCLA.
“I wouldn’t be available without [outside funding],” said Boyd. “Mike
Finn as well. We’re constantly struggling to get enough supplies and
resources.”
The Los Feliz Improvement Assoc. also contributes to Marshall’s arts programming fund, according to Boyd.
A few blocks away, Ivanhoe Elementary, who scored a “C,” also receives
supplementary arts funding, according to Principal Lynda Rescia.
According to Rescia, district funding allows Ivanhoe to offer two
semesters of vocal music for grades kindergarten through 2nd and one
semester of dance for grades kindergarten through 5th. The rest of their
programming—vocal music for the upper grades, visual arts, 12
additional weeks of dance for kindergarteners and 1st graders, ballroom
dancing for 5th graders and six weeks of international dance
instruction—is funded by the school’s parent group “Friends of Ivanhoe.”
Ivanhoe also offers choir, theater and ceramics as part of a fee-based
after school program, but scholarships for the extracurricular program
are available to students who need them, according to Rescia.
Atwater Elementary scored a “D,” ranking 494 out of 507 elementary
schools in LAUSD. According to Times data, Atwater offers only one arts
course, provides arts education to fewer than 25% of their student body
and receives no outside funding.
“The school district’s budget is just beginning to be restored to the
level it was at ten years ago,” said LAUSD Executive Director of Arts
Education Rory Pullens.
According to Pullens, it is the district’s hope to bring all schools up to standard within the next five years.
But, he said, the 2008 recession and the expiration of a 3-year
government grant hit LAUSD’s budget hard. And the arts are often the
first place budget cuts are made.
“There is a belief that arts are not considered core curriculum…they are
still considered by many to be an elective…that’s why they are
sometimes first on the chopping block,” said Pullens. “But the arts are
so important to development. They should never be considered for
reduction.”
Requests for comment from Atwater Elementary and Franklin Avenue Elementary were not returned on deadline.
●●smf’s 2¢: I am glad California has a healthy Arts Ed policy; I am hoping we also have an artful Health Education policy!
I am not a big fan of one paper’s re-reporting of another’s story,
especially when I’m not a fan of the original “grading-the-schools”
story. But here the Los Feliz Ledger drills down a little deeper and
gets closer to the real story in real schools.
I worry that parent+community involvement in arts education is
“checkbook participation”, limited to programs parents and the community
(or local indie rock band) are willing to pay for. How do we explain
that to communities who cannot afford to pay? How do we even explain
‘checkbooks’ to communities that don’t have them – ether because that
banking technology is a forgotten one …or because the community members
lack the wherewithal and/or documentation and/or access to banking to
qualify for them?
And I am hoping someone is misunderstanding policy and/or misquoting
someone with the quote attributed to Cheremoya Principal Steve Salva:
“the school would like to add an instrumental music class next year, but
because the district limits them to three subjects, they would have to
temporarily replace one of the existing art options to do so.” There
are FOUR disciplines in Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) Education:
THEATER, VISUAL ARTS, MUSIC and DANCE. Who the hell decided/where in
hell is it written that students are limited to only three?
ELECTRONICS AND KIDS' BRAINS DON'T MIX
THE TECH INDUSTRY HAS PROFITED FROM THE "EVERY CHILD
MUST HAVE A LAPTOP IN THE CLASSROOM" PUSH, BUT EDUCATION HASN'T
By Paula Poundstone | CBS Sunday Morning/CBS News | http://cbsn.ws/1Q6Cpbi
● Are we all spending too much time looking at screens? A question for CBS Sunday Morning contributor Paula Poundstone
November 29, 2015 :: Almost everyone in our country is addicted to electronics, and riddled with denial.
When I talk to people about it, they get defensive. They say it's not addiction, it's just something they enjoy.
I love to play ping-pong, I love to practice the drums, I love to tap
dance. But I have never, even once, tried to figure out how to do any
one of those things, while driving, in such a way that the cops couldn't
see. Because I am not addicted to those activities, I just enjoy them,
and there's a huge difference.
Screen devices wreak havoc with the brain's frontal lobe. Diagnosis of
ADHD in our children has taken a steep rise since the proliferation of
screen devices.
Yet, even when presented with that information, parents often won't hear
of protecting their kids from the harmful effects of screen devices.
"Kids love them!" they say. Yes, they do, and kids would love heroin if
we gave it to them. I'm told that after the initial vomiting stage it
can be a hoot!
We didn't know this when we first brought these shiny new toys into
homes. But, now, we do know. Still, adults aren't doing anything about
it. Why? Because we're addicted. Addiction hampers judgment.
You see it. Everywhere you look people are staring at their flat things.
We're terrified of being bored. No one drifts or wonders. If Robert
Frost had lived today he would have written, "Whose woods are these? I
think I'll Google it."
Screens are tearing away our real connections. Ads for "family cars"
show every family member on a different device. Applebees, Chili's,
Olive Garden and some IHOPs are putting tablets on their tables. These
restaurants claim they are providing tablets just to make ordering
easier. Well, gee, if saying, "May I please have chicken fingers?" is
too difficult for our young ones, wouldn't we want to work on that?
The tech industry has profited from the "Every child must have a laptop
in the classroom" push, but education hasn't. Research shows that the
brain retains information better read from paper than from a screen, and
students who take notes by hand are more successful on tests than those
who type their notes on a computer.
Yet, art, music, sports, play, healthy meals and green space -- things
we know help the developing brain -- are on the chopping block of school
districts' budgets annually.
Even knowing this, at the suggestion that we get screen devices out of
our classrooms and away from our children, people gasp, "But they'll
need them for the world of the future!"
Our children will need fully-functioning brains for the world of the future. Let's put that first.
Charter Wars: THE BILLIONAIRE vs. THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Written by Beth Cone Kramer | CityWatch | http://bit.ly/1Xj2s4M
20 Nov 2015 :: EDUCATION POLITICS :: As the country’s second largest
school district seeks a new superintendent, the LA Unified School Board
is exploring The Broad Foundation’s proposal to move half of the
district’s students into charter schools. LA Unified Board Member Mónica
Ratliff (photo), chair of the District’s Budget, Facilities and Audit
Committee, is exploring the possibility of converting all District
schools into charters, according to the agenda of the committee’s
November 17 meeting. This move would, in effect, dissolve LAUSD,
creating the country’s largest charter district.
The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation proposal aims to fast-track the
expansion of charter schools, which currently serve 16% of the
district’s students, channeling $490M into the proposal over the next
eight years. (An ambitious proposal presumably would require additional
funding so the proposal includes a list of potential sources that
includes names like Gates, Bloomberg, Annenberg, and Hewlett.)
If the Broad Foundation proposal seems formidable, the all or nothing
plan explored by Ratliff et al. is like fixing a small dent in the
bumper by buying a new Tesla. Establishing a charter district or even
moving half of its students into charter schools isn’t some magic
elixir.
Education has long been the path out of poverty. A college education is,
in most cases, a determinant in upward mobility. As cited in a New York
Times article by Eduardo Porter, male high school graduates who don’t
attend college earn a fifth less than they did 35 years ago. The gap
between college grads and those without degrees has widened.
When I taught in LAUSD, the motto was “From Kindergarten to College.” We
worked to get every student prepared to achieve a college degree.
Despite our efforts, a divide remains. Students with college-educated
parents are more than twice as likely to pursue higher education.
Children with parents who dropped out of high school are seven times
less likely attend college.
Certainly, there are exceptions. We shouldn’t give up on our efforts to
provide all students with a quality education, which also helps our
economy and society at large. However, educating a diverse, urban
student body requires addressing a broad range of challenges, not just
handing over the keys to a charter system. Instead of funneling over
$20M to address “legislative interference” and to convince parents to
apply to charter schools, why not address issues like teacher/student
ratio or provide teachers with better resources?
In the New Orleans Recovery School District, in which charter schools
serve over 90 percent of the city’s students, 79 percent of the charter
schools held a D or F rating by the Louisiana Department of Education
eight years after Katrina, according to The Investigative Fund, charter
schools, like traditional schools, well-run, successful schools, as well
as failing ones. However, transferring to a charter-only model
certainly does not remove the existence of underperforming schools.
California currently has eight all-charter districts, four of which only
have one school. The largest of these districts has seven schools,
serving 2,400 students. In comparison, LAUSD has 1,274 schools.
Expanding the number of charter schools would require substantial
funding. Just this year, the U.S. Department of Education announced
California will receive none of the $125 million allocated for the next
funding round. The state had received $250M in federal funds over the
past five years.
Converting LAUSD to a charter-only district would require a number of
conditions, including at least 50 percent approval of teachers, finding
teachers to employ during an existing teacher shortage, and securing
facilities.
If only half of LAUSD’s students were moved to charter schools, per the
Broad Foundation proposal, per pupil funding for the public schools left
holding the bag would be decimated.
According to the LA Times, the other dirty little secret of the Broad
proposal is the allocation of $43.1M for a “teacher pipeline” to recruit
young, inexperienced teachers from Teach for America. Research from UC
Berkeley and a 2015 analysis from the National Bureau of Economic
Research show that TFA participants tend to remain in the classroom for
shorter periods of time than traditionally credentialed teachers.
Should LA residents be wary of the Broad Foundation mission or transition to a charter district?
An aggressive undertaking to move a majority of LAUSD’s students to
charter schools would likely bring an educational landscape of
short-term inexperienced and overworked teachers, as well as fewer
resources for the remaining students.
• Beth Cone Kramer is a Los Angeles-based writer and CityWatch contributor. Prepped for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
DO WE REALLY WANT TEACH FOR AMERICA INTERNS TEACHING
SPECIAL ED IN LAUSD? A letter from a TFA Special Ed alum and a petition
to sign if you choose
smf writes:
This open letter to the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) from
a Teach For America alum was posted on the Cloaking Inequity website | http://bit.ly/1TdAWzT. The author was assigned to teach special education in California for 2014.
______________
Dear LAUSD Board,
As you move forward with your plan to hire more Teach For America
special Education corps members, I would like to urge you to think very
critically about the effects of putting these teachers in classrooms.
As a ’14 Special Education corps member, I am well aware of the
ineffective training that TFA and LMU provides, and how that deeply
affects our students in the classroom. I am ashamed of my naivety in
thinking that five weeks would be enough time to even remotely prepare
me for my position as a special educator.
I understand the need for teachers, especially special educators and
know that this is a nationwide crisis that needs to be addressed, but
Teach For America is not the answer. They are a Band-Aid fix that is
quick to fall off, leaving our young people even more vulnerable and
underserved. Teach For America places unprepared, untrained, and
overwhelmed teachers into special education classrooms and the only
thing it causes is more harm and a larger education gap.
The education we received during summer institute around actually
working with and providing services for diverse learners was sub-par at
best. We didn’t even see an IEP until the last week of institute, let
alone receive instruction on how to write these legal documents. In a
district where special education students are already underserved, what
does it look like to send someone with four to five weeks of teacher
“training” into the classroom? How can we truly believe that we are
providing adequate support for our special education students?
On my first day in the classroom I was provided with copies of all
30 (above the legal limit) of my students’ IEPs and was expected to
coordinate with their general education teaches how we would work
together to provide them with all of the services they had a legal right
to as per their IEPs. How was I to work on reading comprehension goals
with students when I hadn’t learned proper intervention strategies? How
was I to work on extensive social/emotional/behavioral goals when I had
no experience either learning about or working with students who
qualified for special education under Emotional Disturbance?
TFA corps members are notoriously underprepared, and most will
willingly admit this. It is no secret within my corps year, however,
that Special Education corps members were the least prepared. With
university courses that were irrelevant to our positions (elementary
reading lesson planning for teachers placed in high school resource
positions, etc.) and minimal support from TFA themselves (Special
Education leads who had only 2 years of experience, “cram sessions” that
completely disregarded our immediate needs in the classroom), we were
set up to fail.
What we need are quality teachers who understand the diverse needs
of our students. We need teachers who have been extensively trained, not
thrown into a five-week crash course of lesson planning and behavior
management. We need to think about how to retain current special
educators and how to develop real and effective teacher training
programs. We do not need TFA.
__________________
Teach For America has about 80 new TFA teachers in LAUSD.
They recently received mid-year LAUSD board approval for a 31% (25
position) increase in the size of their corps specifically to “teach”
special education. The Board of Ed approved the contract with TFA
without debate or discussion as an item on the Consent Agenda at the
November 10 board meeting, Report 101-15/16 of Contract #4400003941.
The Board Informative [bit.ly/1PUJcGC] is on Page 66 of the electronic
document/meeting materials (although it's labeled page 53) in a process
described by others as “…hidden in the consent calendar with attachments
of attachments buried deep”.
Colorful language for a bit of the old “ignore the man behind the curtain” monochromatic opaque transparency.
Similar efforts to place TFA corps members in Special Ed classrooms in
Chula Vista and Santa Ana Unified School Districts failed earlier this
year after public outcry. But those districts held actual public
discussions about the controversial contracts with TFA.
The question becomes: Do we really want well-meaning but undertrained
amateurs (being paid doesn’t make one qualified or a “professional”)
teaching our most vulnerable students?
If you think the answer is NO, maybe you want to sign the petition following.
The pro-charter/pro-®eform media (LA School Report) says: “A group of
anti-charter school activists is circulating an online petition that
calls for LA Unified to rescind a contract with Teach for America
(TFA)…”
Gentle readers, this has nothing whatsoever to do with charter schools. Nada, Zero, Zilch.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
PROJECT-BASED LEARNING ON THE RISE IN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
http://bit.ly/1NawaxV
Charter Wars: THE BILLIONAIRE vs. THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
http://bit.ly/1SmXD3V
THANK YOU! : http://bit.ly/1XtMHmh
Bureau of Indian Education schools: HOW WASHINGTON CREATED SOME OF THE WORST SCHOOLS IN AMERICA
http://bit.ly/1PaFqc5
YES, THERE IS A LIMIT TO HOW MUCH HOMEWORK YOUR CHILD SHOULD DO + various 2¢
http://bit.ly/1kTWUN5
A CENTURY AGO TODAY EINSTEIN’S THEORY OF RELATIVITY CHANGED EVERYTHING
http://bit.ly/1XrsTjF
Rethinking the Test: NY GOV CUOMO, IN SHIFT, IS SAID TO BACK REDUCING/ELIMINATING TEST SCORES IN TEACHER EVALUATIONS http://bit.ly/1OgQlQ2
The rhetoric of failure …or ‘How can we miss you if you won’t go away?’: ARNE DUNCAN PINPOINTS WHERE SCHOOLS FAIL
http://bit.ly/1Xrh8tv
DO WE WANT TFA INTERNS TEACHING SPECIAL ED IN LAUSD? A letter from a TFA Special Ed alum …and a petition to sign
http://bit.ly/1T23Kul
CLINTON, SANDERS & O’MALLEY: The Democratic candidates respond on Education Issues
http://bit.ly/1LwE57t
GROWING ANXIETY ON ‘LEFT OVER’ NCLB DEAL: “Significantly worse than No Child Left Behind?”
http://bit.ly/1SX851V
REPORT PRAISES LAUSD'S SPECIAL ED INTEGRATION, MISIS PROGRESS - LA School Report
http://bit.ly/1SSSxfD
COURT MONITOR ATTACKS LAUSD'S EFFORTS TO COMPLY WITH ADA - LA School Report
http://bit.ly/1P0RHzI
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
*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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