Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Seven Billion Dollar Bond


4LAKids: Sunday, July 27, 2008
In This Issue:
A MESSAGE FROM THE STATE PTA PRESIDENT RE: THE STATE BUDGET
DOCUMENTARY TRACKS SUCCESS OF SOUTH L.A.'S FOSHAY CHOIR
MATH SCORES FOR GIRLS AND BOYS NO DIFFERENT, STUDY FINDS
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
What can YOU do?


Featured Links:
FLUNK THE BUDGET, NOT OUR CHILDREN Website
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website
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.
The Board of Education is poised to vote next Thursday to place a new $7 Billion Facilities Bond on the November Ballot.

• Many will say AGAIN?
• Some will ask "Aren't you already overbuilding?"
• …Overspending? …Overtaxing?
• Didn't Roy Romer promise that the last bond was 'The Last Bond'?
• "Good grief …you haven't even spent all the money you got last time!"
• And enrollment is declining!

• LAUSD IS NOT OVERBUILDING. When all the money is spent on the current program and all that building done two hundred thousand students will still be attending class in temporary portable bungalows parked on playgrounds, fields and parking lots. Those bungalows are the equivalent of FEMA trailers; they are called 'temporary" for a reason. - yet some have WPA plaques and date from before WW2.

• LAUSD IS NOT OVERSPENDING. Building Schools (and hospitals) in California is the most expensive kind of construction. Some projects have proved more expensive due to challenges of cost escalation of construction materials. The Belmont/Vista Hermosa/Roybal project is thankfully complete - but not one dollar of bond money was spent on that project! You don't read in the paper or see on Eyewitness News when a school is delivered on time and on budget. Yet seventy-two new schools have been delivered, six new ones open in September. And the truth is almost all of this new bond will be for fixing and modernizing existing schools — LAUSD has a documented $40 Billion need to bring facilities up to par.

• LAUSD IS NOT OVERTAXING. There are limits as to how much property tax can be levied; the previous bonds and this new bond will not exceed those limits; annual property taxes will not increase with the passage of this bond - though the will continue longer.

• ROY ROMER MISSPOKE. Or maybe he meant "the last bond while I'm superintendent". The reality is LAUSD will need money to fix and repair schools until we run out of students to educate. If LAUSD goes away whoever runs the schools - whether smaller districts or charter schools or the Education Bunny - will need money to fix and repair schools.

• ALL THE MONEY HASN'T BEEN SPENT — and won't be until 2012 …four years from now. But there the current plan ends and there is no plan in place for students now in the 9th grade and below. To plan for the future the District needs to guarantee a cash flow; LAUSD will not begin to sell these bonds (and tax property owners) for a few years. But with this bond long range planning to modernize our schools [for the buzzword deprived in an election year: "creating schools for the 21st century"] can be undertaken.

• ENROLLMENT WILL NOT DECLINE FOREVER. An interesting article in today's LATimes posits that LA's growth has nearly stopped growing (see 'FOR L.A., DOES SIZE MATTER?' below) - but LAUSD's student population will expand. The dropout rate IS dropping /the graduation rate IS increasing. Those kids who do not drop out and/or go to private schools will need classrooms.

Here is the argument from District Staff - including an explanation as to why the previous figure of a Three-point-two Billion Dollar Bond has become a Seven Billion Dollar Bond:

"The biggest change to the proposal is the amount of the bond, which is now $7 billion. Even at this amount our financial team assures us that the expected combined maximum tax rate will not increase. This proposed bond measure is targeted at transforming the District over a 10-year period. The allocation of funds for specific priorities (School Repair, Early Ed, ITD, etc…) is consistent with the prior allocation recommended under the $3.2 billion scenario. The additional $3+ billion has been allocated to broad priorities:

• Repair aging schools and improve student safety
• Upgrade schools to modernize technology and educational needs
• Create capacity to attract, retain and graduate more students through a comprehensive portfolio of high quality pre-k through adult small schools
• Promote a healthier environment through green technology
• Ensure transparency and accountability.

All the arguments made above a good ones and I agree with them.


...BUT THE QUESTION IS: WHY NOW? Is this the right time to ask the voters and taxpayers for more money? …and the bond markets for more credit?

There is no state school construction bond on the ballot that requires a local match.

The current crisis in international finance, brought on by the sub-prime mortgage fiasco but rolling like a tsunami though the international finance markets affects the economies of the state, city, county and school district - and the homeowner/voter/taxpayer. The pebble was the sub prime bubble, but that crisis of liquidity has rippled into a crisis of solvency; credit is scarce, banks are failing, foreclosures abound, home values and the dollar plummets as food and fuel prices climb.

A New Yorker article on the economy this week states that "in political systems as Balkanized as ours it is only in moments of genuine danger that meaningful reforms get enacted". This is the moment of crisis in Education, in the state Budget and in the Global Markets. Maybe Election Day 2008 is like Election Day 1932. Maybe this Is THE MOMENT.

But to be brave one needs to also recognize the danger; otherwise one is just foolhardy.

The November ballot will be loaded with tax measures. An anti-gang parcel tax from the City of LA.. A transit sales tax from LA County.. When the state ever gets a budget we will know how many tax and bond measures they will place on the ballot. (State bonds are not property levies, they borrow from general revenue.) The more tax measures on a ballot the more resonant a "Vote NO On Everything Campaign" becomes …especially in uncertain times.

The Feldman Group poll from The Mayor's Committee for Governmental Excellence and Accountability – along with the charter school community the driving force behind the escalation from $3.2 Billion to $7 Billion – claims popular support for small schools and charter schools. But a closer reading of the data shows that other issues: Fire+Earthquake Safety, Security, Greening, Repair and Internet Access all outpoll Small Schools and Charters. And while the Mayor's poll tested a $3.2 Billion, a $6 Billion and a $10 Billion Bond - they did not test a $7 Billion Bond. And the original LAUSD $3.2 Billion proposal and language tested highest. Safest. Most popular.

As currently written the $7 Billion Dollar Bond generally allocates the $3.2 Billion as previously talked about — but then allocates an additional $3.2 Billion to unspecified "Future Priorities" in Repair and Safety ($1.325B), Modernization, Repair and Technology ($1.2B), Educational Transformation in Partners+Charters ($540M) and Green Technology ($220M) — with an additional $300 million set aside as a "Reserve for Charter School Construction" against a guarantee of 32,000 seats made available by 2018. (I continue to abhor "seats" as a measure; we educate students …not furniture!)

I understand a reluctance to lock-in funds for the next decade - needs change with time - but absent a specific strategic plan of goals with benchmarks and priorities that’s $3.2 Billion that will seem awfully attractive to the specially interested. With $40 Billion needed wouldn't setting priorities make sense? $300 million for charter schools - which claim exemption from the state's Field Act regulating earthquake safety and the District's Project Stabilization Agreement (requiring payment of prevailing wage to construction workers) — and the charter community's desired exemption from the Bond Oversight Committee oversight - are worrisome. Magnet schools outperform Charter Schools significantly - yet no money is specifically earmarked to increase that program.

Sat tuned or weigh in. The Oversight Committee debate on the bond is at 9AM on Thursday Jul 31; the Board of Ed has their debate at 2:30PM — both at LAUSD Beaudry.

¡Onward/Hasta adelante! —smf




Population Trends: FOR L.A., DOES SIZE MATTER?



A MESSAGE FROM THE STATE PTA PRESIDENT RE: THE STATE BUDGET
from Pam Brady, President of the California State PTA

Thursday, 24 July, 2008

Word is out in Sacramento that there may be a vote on the state budget next Tuesday, July 29th.

As you know, legislative leaders and the governor have been meeting to try to work out a budget solution. A legislative conference committee (made up of Assembly and Senate representatives) released a budget proposal recently. This proposal takes a more balanced approach and includes significant new revenues to help prevent against any deeper cuts to education and children’s services. At the state Education Coalition meeting Tuesday, it was determined that, given the current economic and political climate, this conference committee budget represents the best proposal on the table for new revenues to prevent even deeper cuts to education and some other social services.
The conference committee bill is a better budget solution than was proposed by the governor in January or at the May Revise. We will, of course, be watching carefully to make sure that the revenue components are included in the "trailer bills" as part of any budget deal.

We must urge all of our members, fellow parents and colleagues in the education community to contact their state legislators right away with this message:

Support the Legislative Conference Committee Budget to Avoid Deeper Cuts to Education and Other Children’s Services. The final adopted package must include revenue enhancements.

Attached is a set of updated key messages from the Coalition related to the latest budget proposal. We are also providing a link to the California Budget Project’s side-by-side comparison of the governor’s and legislative budget plans, as well as a summary of the conference committee proposal as prepared by our Legislation Team for the Sacramento Update.

California Budget Project: http://www.cbp.org/

►CONFERENCE COMMITTEE FINISHES WORK ON 2008-09 STATE BUDGET

(from the California State PTA Sacramento Update)

July 12 — Tuesday night the Budget Conference Committee finished reconciling differences between versions of the 2008-09 state fiscal plan drafted by the Assembly and Senate. The plan, adopted along party lines on a 4-2 vote, rejects deep cuts in education and health care and includes $9.7 billion in new revenue, which is $1.8 billion lower than what the Senate recommended and $2.7 billion more in new revenue than what the Governor proposed. A counter proposal to close the budget gap will be offered by the Republican members of the Legislature.

The Conference Committee budget is a balanced approach. It closes tax loopholes and rolls back tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Californians and restores money to education, health care and public safety.

On the expenditure side, the committee’s plan:

* Provides $2.3 billion more for K-12 education than proposed by the Governor.
* Restores $1.5 billion in cuts to health and human services. This includes restoring nearly $200 million in health care services to some of the state’s most vulnerable residents, the reimbursement rate for Medi-Cal providers and federal pass-through funds for the aged, blind and disabled.
* Reduces corrections spending by $300 million with a reform package that helps lower the prison population.
* Restores drastic cuts to home care services.
* Restores funds for at-risk kids.
* Restores $57 million in financial assistance for college students.

On the revenue side, the committee’s plan:

* Reinstates the tax brackets on the wealthiest Californians by reinstating the 10% and 11% tax brackets. Revenue generated: $5.6 billion.
* Closes a corporate tax loophole for large corporations. Revenue generated: $1.1 billion.
* Suspends a tax adjustment for upper-income Californians. Revenue generated: $815 million.
* Rolls back a tax loophole for upper-income Californians. Revenue generated: $215 million.
* Restores the franchise tax. Revenue generated: $470 million.
* Steps up tax enforcement. Revenue generated: $1.5 billion. This is one-time revenue.


►STATE BUDGET KEY MESSAGES FROM THE EDUCATION COALITION - July 24, 2008

THE EDUCATION COALITION represents more than 1.7 million parents, teachers, school board members, school employees and administrators, represented by:, The Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).The California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO), The California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESSA), The California. Federation of Teachers (CFT-AFL-CIO), The California School Boards Association (CSBA). The California School Employees Association (CSEA). The California State PTA. The California Teachers Association (CTA) and The Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

• Support the Legislative Conference Committee Budget to Avoid Deeper Cuts to Education and Other Children’s Services. The final adopted package must include revenue enhancements.

• Time is running out for our students and schools. With the new school year approaching, our students and their education can’t afford to wait any longer. In order to open the door to learning, schools need the funding and resources to start the school year. It’s time for lawmakers to put partisan politics aside and support a budget plan that closes tax loopholes and increases revenues to protect public education and other vital services.

• In the midst of California’s $15.2 billion budget deficit, the Education Coalition supports a balanced approach to solving our state’s budget problems in order to protect our schools and safeguard our students’ futures.

• With the revenues generated in the Legislature’s Conference Committee budget plan, $2.4 billion of the Governor’s proposed $4.3 billion in cuts would be restored. This plan reinstates funding for important student programs such as Class Size Reduction and provides a partial cost-of-living-increase to help attract and retain quality teachers and offset rising gasoline and transportation costs.

• The Conference Committee budget plan closes tax loopholes for large corporations and provides new and steady sources of revenue to help protect our public schools and community colleges from deeper cuts and further deterioration.

• Our public schools have already experienced more than $500 million in unexpected budget cuts this year—forcing many schools to lay off teachers and education support professionals as well eliminating art, music, and vocational education programs that help students learn and succeed. These cuts come at a time when California already ranks 46th in per-pupil spending, and dead last in the number of counselors, librarians and school nurses per student. The simple fact is California’s schools need additional revenues to provide our students with the education they deserve.

• The recent “Getting Down to Facts” studies from Stanford University show that California seriously underfunds its public schools and would need to spend 40 percent more to ensure that all students meet the state’s rigorous academic standards. The studies also show that other states like New York spend 75 percent more on students than California.

• Our students and schools need real state budget solutions, not gridlock. Our students didn’t create this budget crisis and their futures shouldn’t be sacrificed to solve it. It’s time to take a balanced approach of cuts and revenue increases in order to solve the state’s budget crisis!


CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATOR



DOCUMENTARY TRACKS SUCCESS OF SOUTH L.A.'S FOSHAY CHOIR
• WITH THE HELP OF MUSIC EXECUTIVE TOM STURGES, 30 STUDENTS FROM AN INNER-CITY SCHOOL PERFORMED FOR LARGE -- SOMETIMES FAMOUS -- AUDIENCES. ALMOST ALL WENT ON TO GRADUATE FROM FOUR-YEAR COLLEGES.

by Mary Engel, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 27, 2008 - It all started 10 years ago when middle school student Helen Camarillo walked up to music executive Tom Sturges at a Christmas party for youths and adults interested in mentoring. She told him that she planned to be president of the United States one day.
As an ice breaker, it worked.

Sturges, a son of legendary screenwriter and director Preston Sturges, asked Helen where she went to school. Foshay Learning Center, she told him, naming a school in a crime-ridden neighborhood in South Los Angeles. Would he like to come to her class for career day?

"That," said Sturges, "was the beginning of something really amazing."

For the next six years Sturges worked with the Foshay Learning Center Choir as members wrote and performed songs before ever-growing audiences. The choir's journey was featured in a documentary that premiered Saturday in West Hollywood as part of the Dances With Films independent film festival. The audience included 150 Foshay students and Sturges, who is now working with a new group of choir members.

Directed by Reginald D. Brown, "Witness to a Dream" chronicles the success of not only the choir but also of the students. In a school district known for high dropout rates, Helen and 30 other sixth-grade choir students graduated from high school in 2003, and 97% were accepted to four-year colleges. Of those, 92% are now college graduates.

Sturges, now vice president of creative affairs at Universal Music Publishing Group, was then the general manager of TWISM Records, Shaquille O'Neal's label. (The audience erupted in cheers during one scene when a young choir member held up a prized souvenir -- a shoe of O'Neal's that was almost as big as the student was.)

When Sturges began to work with the choir, some of the students were skeptical that he would stick around. In the documentary, they recalled how he'd arrived in a car that cost more than many of their parents made in a year.

When he suggested writing a song together, they laughed. He persisted, engaging them in a brainstorming session to come up with a theme.

Sturges recounted the scene in the documentary.

"Love," he said one student shouted.

"What about love?" he responded.

"Love is everywhere," shouted another.

The song by that title later won a contest to become the theme song of a mentoring program sponsored by Disneyland.

Neither the documentary nor Sturges portrays the choir's story as outsider-saves-inner-city-school.

When Sturges first visited Foshay in February 1998, the kindergarten through 12th-grade school was already undergoing a transformation. Ten years earlier, it had been an unruly, low-performing campus under threat of state takeover. After 12 years under venerated former principal Howard Lappin, it was designated a California Distinguished School. A longtime partnership with USC provides an enrichment academy and college scholarships.

Also key to the choir's success were Assistant Principal Regina Boutte -- who is still at Foshay and received as many cheers as O'Neal's shoe -- and music teacher Vince Womack.

But the stars were the students -- African American, Latino and Vietnamese -- who where shown during their six years in the choir and in the present, looking back.

Choir members describe their jittery nerves and sweating palms when the curtain opened on the Disneyland competition, with then-Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-Gov. Pete Wilson in the audience.

"I never thought that I would sing for the governor," one student said. "You don't think like that living in the community we live in."


Listen to Forshay's "Love is Everywhere"



MATH SCORES FOR GIRLS AND BOYS NO DIFFERENT, STUDY FINDS
• THE ANALYSIS OF STANDARDIZED TEST RESULTS FOR MORE THAN 7.2 MILLION STUDENTS IN GRADES 2 THROUGH 11 CONTRADICTS A PERVASIVE GENDER STEREOTYPE.

by Wendy Hansen | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 25, 2008 —The notion that boys are better than girls at math simply doesn't add up, according to a study published today in the journal Science.

An analysis of standardized test scores from more than 7.2 million students in grades 2 through 11 found no difference in math scores for girls and boys, contradicting the pervasive belief that most women aren't hard-wired for careers in science and technology.

The study also undermined the assumption -- infamously espoused by former Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers in 2005 -- that boys are more likely than girls to be math geniuses. Girls scored in the top 5% almost as often as boys, the data showed.

"Both parents and teachers continue to hold the stereotype that boys are better than girls" at math, said psychologist Janet Hyde of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, who led the study. "That's just not accurate."

Hyde and her colleagues examined detailed data from math tests administered between 2005 and 2007 as part of the No Child Left Behind initiative.

Comparing the average scores of girls and boys in California and nine other states, the researchers found that neither gender consistently outpaced the other in any state or at any grade level.

Even on test questions from the National Assessment of Education Progress that were designed to measure complex reasoning skills, the gender differences were minuscule, according to the study.

"There's nothing in any of these data that would suggest that girls can't do math or aren't doing well in math," said Diane Halpern, a professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College who was not involved in the study.

However, she noted that girls generally scored better on tests closely aligned with the classroom curriculum, including the standardized tests used for No Child Left Behind.

Boys typically score higher than girls on the math portion of the SAT, a fact often cited as evidence of greater math ability.

But since more girls than boys take the college entrance exam, the results aren't comparable, Hyde said.

Studies in the 1990s found that boys and girls in elementary school scored equally well on math tests but that by the time students reached high school, boys outscored girls on tests involving complex problem-solving.

Hyde said that pressure to get into selective colleges has prompted girls to take more advanced math classes, including calculus, and she said that may explain the improvement in test scores.

Hyde said it might take time for the new data to dispel lingering stereotypes, and she remained worried that girls would continue to be steered "away from careers that require a lot of math, like engineering."

Cathy Kessel, president of the Assn. for Women in Mathematics, said that even nonacademic issues like child care could dissuade young women from entering math-oriented fields.

"There may not be any one factor," said Kessel, a consultant in math education in Berkeley. "It's probably more complicated."


GENDER SIMILARITIES CHARACTERIZE MATH PERFORMANCE: Hyde, Lindberg, Linn, Ellis & Williams - Supporting Online Material



HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
► NEW DOWNTOWN PARK IS A TRIUMPH
Finally, wonderfully, they got it right.
The new Vista Hermosa Natural Park in City West is a triumph, a resource for a community that for too long has been shortchanged in facilities that other neighborhoods take for granted. With its winding trails, ample flora, emerald soccer field and more, it is proof that, with creative thinking, leadership and funds, even the biggest debacles can be righted.

► Mayor's Poll: BOND BACKED, NOT LAUSD
Los Angeles voters support another school bond, but don't trust Los Angeles Unified School District leadership, according to a limited poll conducted for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The survey of likely voters found that 60 percent to more than 70 percent of respondents were willing to support bonds in amounts of $3.2 billion, $6 billion or $10 billion.

► STUDY - KID'S SHARE 2008: How Children Fare in the Federal Budget
Kids' Share 2008, a second annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that historically children have not been a budget priority. In 2007, this trend continued, as children's spending did not keep pace with GDP growth. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

► The editorial drumbeat: GIVE CHARTERS THEIR DUE + LAUSD MUST DO RIGHT FOR AREA CHILDREN

▲ GIVE CHARTERS THEIR DUE: If the LAUSD wants a $3.2-billion bond measure, it must fairly fund these independent schools.
LA TIMES EDITORIAL: For years, the Los Angeles Unified School District has been shorting charter schools on space to house their students, and a new $3.2-billion bond measure doesn't go nearly far enough to make up for it. Without a full $300 million earmarked for charters, a seat for them on the bond oversight committee and more authority over how to spend the money, the new bond will be difficult for this page and the voters to accept.

▲ LAUSD MUST DO RIGHT FOR AREA CHILDREN
LA Daily News Op-Ed by Caprice Young - Last week the Los Angeles public school system was rocked with sobering news: According to the state, one in three Los Angeles Unified students is dropping out. But buried deep within the data was a sign of encouragement - charter high schools are showing strong signs of reducing this trend. In fact, every charter high school in Los Angeles Unified last year reported a dropout rate significantly lower than not only the school district's average, but the state's as well.

► Pay2Play: LAUSD PAY-TO-PLAY CARRIES DEEP SOCIAL COSTS
When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa introduced his $1 million Summer Night Lights program a few weeks back, he was injecting a good dose of common sense into the city's anti-gang efforts.
After all, the program is designed to provide L.A. youngsters with evening events, so as to keep them out of trouble. And everyone knows that giving kids organized and constructive activities is a great way to keep them out of trouble.
Everyone, that is, except for officials in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

► WATT'S LOCKE HIGH IS GETTING WHIPPED INTO SHAPE: Control, discipline and high expectations emerge
Steve Lopez: It's almost 8 a.m. on 111th Street in Watts, and here's a scene that could make a cynic faint:
A teenage boy is hustling across the street toward Locke High School while tucking a white shirt into his khaki uniform pants. He wants to pass inspection at the gate.
I'm visiting what might as well be called Dropout High to see if things have changed in the early going since Green Dot Public Schools took it over from Los Angeles Unified. Too soon to tell, for sure. We're only into the third week of summer school, which tends to be mellower than the regular school year and serves only 700 kids instead of the usual 3,000.

► A LESSON FROM D.C. SCHOOLS
By Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman -Michelle Rhee should be commended for her determination to implement courageous and innovative educational reforms in the District of Columbia, and Congress should take note as it considers reshaping the No Child Left Behind Act.

When Mayor Adrian Fenty appointed Rhee chancellor of D.C. public schools in June 2007, she inherited a system that was near the top nationally in per-pupil spending but ranked among the nation's worst in the percentage of its students who were proficient in reading and math as measured on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Clearly, taxpayer money was not being put to good use. Nor were students being well served.

► PAY2PLAY AFFECTING PARTICIPATION IN YOUTH SPORTS GROUPS
Just four months after Los Angeles Unified began charging for after-hours use of its fields and facilities, one of the San Fernando Valley's biggest youth sports groups is seeing a dramatic drop in some of its club memberships.

► Inside LAUSD: MAYOR PUSHES BIGGER BOND
As reported in The Times, L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has joined the push for a new local school bond -- and wants $300 million of it for charter schools. That level of charter funding has resulted in resistance from some school board members and senior district staff, including L.A. Unified Supt. David L. Brewer.

To smooth the path for the bond, Villaraigosa began suggesting a bond larger than the proposed $3.2 billion measure. That way, charters could receive $300 million without cutting into funds for other purposes.

► WHY DO ASIAN STUDENTS GENERALLY GET HIGHER MARKS THAN LATINOS? Trying to bridge the grade divide in L.A. schools: Lincoln High students have candid ideas.
The eight students walked into a room at Lincoln High School prepared to discuss an issue many people, including some of their teachers, considered taboo.

They were blunt. Carlos Garcia, 17, an A student with a knack for math, said, "My friends, most of them say, 'You're more Asian than Hispanic.' "

"I think Carlos is Asian at heart," said Julie Loc, 17, causing Carlos to laugh good-naturedly. Asian students who get middling grades often get another response, she said.

"They say, 'Are you really Asian?' " Julie said.

"It's sad but true," said Eliseo Garcia, a 17-year-old with long rocker hair, an easy manner and good grades. "I had an Asian friend, but he didn't necessarily get that great a grades. We used to say, 'He's Mexican at heart.' "
What accounts for such self-deprecating humor? Or the uneven academic performance that prompts it?

The state's top education official, Supt. Jack O'Connell, called for that kind of discussion last fall when he decried the "racial achievement gap" separating Asian and non-Latino white students from Latinos and blacks.


GO TO: The News that Didn't Fit from July 27th



EVENTS: Coming up next week...
$1.50 CHEESECAKE FOR NATIONAL CHEESECAKE DAY

4LAKids spies report that on Wednesday, July 30, 2008, the Cheesecake Factory Chain of restaurants will be offering every delicious slice of their more than 30 varieties of cheesecake for the amazing price of $1.50 per slice - almost a third of the regular price. This announcement is presented as a public service to 4LAKids readers and no endorsement is made or implied. Cheesecake is allegedly not good for you, containing trace amounts of the controlled substances cheese and cake. Cheesecake is inappropriate for kindergarten and pre-school birthday parties.

• Monday Jul 28, 2008
SOUTH REGION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #5: Presentation of Design Development Drawings
6:00 p.m.
Miles Avenue Elementary School
Auditorium
6720 Miles Ave.
Huntington Park, CA 90255

• Tuesday Jul 29, 2008
SOUTH REGION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #10: CEQA Scoping Meeting
6:00 p.m.
West Vernon Elementary School
Auditorium
4312 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90037

• Tuesday Jul 29, 2008
SOUTH REGION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #6: DTSC Remedial Action Plan Open House
The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is holding an Open House to provide the community with an update on the site investigation that is currently underway for this project.
6:00 p.m.
66th Street Elementary School
6600 S. San Pedro St.
Los Angeles, CA 90003

• Wednesday Jul 30, 2008
SOUTH REGION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ADDITION #1: Site Selection Kick-Off Meeting
6:00 p.m.
92nd Street Elementary School - Auditorium
9211 Grape St
Los Angeles, CA 90002

• Thursday Jul 31, 2008
SOUTH REGION HIGH SCHOOL #7: Project Update Community Meeting
6:00 p.m.
Gage Middle School - Multipurpose Room
2880 E. Gage Ave.
Huntington Park, CA 90255


*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: 213-893-6800


• LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR



What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Marlene.Canter@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Julie.Korenstein@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385

...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • 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 Schwarzenegger: 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.
• Register.
• Vote.


Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them?




Scott Folsom is a parent and parent leader in LAUSD. He is immediate past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA as Vice-chair on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is a Community Concerns Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on various school district advisory and policy committees and is a PTA officer and/or governance council member at three LAUSD schools.
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Sunday, July 20, 2008

Special interests are, by definition, special.


4LAKids: Sunday, July 20, 2008
In This Issue:
1 in 4 CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DROP OUT, STATE SAYS
MAYOR SAYS DROPOUT REPORT IS WRONG
MAYOR, CHARTER SCHOOLS FAVOR NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND AIMED AT HELPING CHARTERS + VILLARAIGOSA PUSHES SCHOOL BONDS
Hollywood Happy Ending for Dropouts: STUDENTS AT L.A. ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL TELL SUCCESS STORIES IN THEIR OWN WORDS
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
What can YOU do?


Featured Links:
FLUNK THE BUDGET, NOT OUR CHILDREN Website
PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website
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.
ON FRIDAY MORNING Senior Deputy Superintendent Ray Cortines presented his Operational Plan of Action for this school year (link below) to the assembled parent leadership of the District; his presentation put some flesh on the bones of the parent engagement and community involvement part. Oddly for a meeting advertising a revised plan, Cortines distributed the June 9th version of his plan rather than the June 30th revision - but perhaps one tries to read too much into the tealeaves of circumstance.

The plan was generally well received - though many parents used the rare opportunity to interact with senior administration to revisit and rehash old issues and personal complaints.

But before we go too far here let me rehash an issue of my own. The meeting was called for 9:30 AM and the room was fairly well occupied at that hour - but a series of announcements followed incrementally delaying the start of the festivities - culminating with Assistant Superintendent Caldera's rather lame "We always planned to start at 10AM - we just set the start of the meeting at 9:30 to allow you to be late". In the sprit of Thumper's father's most excellent advice I apologize for saying the excuse was 'lame' - but that justification is insulting to all parents and especially to the ones who had to wait for the 10:05 start. If our children show up thirty-five minutes late for class they are swept up in the tardy sweep, no quarter given. If they are late three times in a semester they are chronic truants - it's in the Ed Code. Until LAUSD stops treating parents as if we are habitually naughty problem children we will make no progress.

The meeting began with the introduction of Dr. Judy Elliot, the new LAUSD Chief Academic Officer. (see Video - WHAT IS RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION: Dr. Judy Elliott on 4LAKidsNews) Her message was that she intended to do most of her work at the local schools, not at Beaudry. But the restless parents cut her little slack - immediately asking when she was going to visit their school.

Cortines began by saying he was happy to be back at LAUSD. He welcomed the new state dropout data - and took the mayor to ask for continuing to insist on the previous data. (see: "Mayor Says Dropout Report Is Wrong")

• He proposed a new initiative to monetarily reward schools - not just principals and teachers but schools - that improve attendance and dropout rates over the new established baseline.
• Cortines declared that real parent involvement happens at the school - parents and staff are too focused on Beaudry.
• He has brought back the Cortines Plan of 2000 and is insisting that it be implemented (and published anew), decentralizing the District and transferring control and accountability to the local districts and schoolsites.
• He will institute (one can't re-institute what never happened!) the Parent Community Advisory Councils at the local districts - the LDPCAC's reporting to the Board and Superintendent quarterly.
• It is clear that this passing of control from Beaudry to the local districts is a top-down, not bottom-up/grassroots initiative. Some local district staff feel overwhelmed by the challenge; their own numbers and resources have been decimated in the ongoing budget cuts.
• Cortines expects to visit every school in the District - and he intends to show up unannounced!
• Professional Development meetings at schoolsites are public meetings - parents are welcome.
• He will be focused on training parents in parenting skills and in how to navigate the system - with a focus on parents as trainers.
• The A-G Curriculum will be instituted THIS YEAR district wide in the 9th grade - with mandatory intervention called for after the first grading period.
• He will visit and evaluate every middle school in the district - focusing on Program Improvement Schools - with the very real possibility of reconstituting (all staff must reapply for their jobs) schools operating blow proficiency. This specifically includes Partnership and i-Division schools.
• "We need each other. I work for you and will continue to meet with you even if I really don't want to!"
• Cortines keeps early hours, usually in the office by 6AM. His office is on the 11th floor and his phone number is 213.241.0800. He will pick up the phone if there's no one else in the office.
• He is unconcerned about the comfort level of staff. It's about the kids.
• No will brook no more talk about the 'Achievement Gap', the goal is 'Proficiency for All Students'.
• No more hotel meetings. Limit out of town conferences. A tight fiscal ship.
• He promised an audit of parent funds with real cost controls and transparent accounting.

As the conversation dissolved into a rehash of old issues - with the tension between African-American and Latino parents simmering - Cortines interrupted - reminding all that as a Mexican-American child adopted by Anglo parents he is experienced in discrimination. "Racism," he said, "is alive and well among us. It's just become more sophisticated over time."

One of the issues brought up by parents was increased security at schoolsites and at Beaudry - with all visitors required to have photo ID …placing undocumented parents in a Catch-22. Cortines promised to address this. "If you get your child enrolled in our schools you should be able to visit the schools and classrooms."



ALSO ON FRIDAY Mayor Villaraigosa, Board President García and Charter Schools President Young held a surprise press conference to "support" the next school bond. (see NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND AIMED AT HELPING CHARTERS, below)
Read between the lines - and bear in mind that the "$300 Million for Charters" request/demand/suggestion is being addressed in the latest not-so-secret bond discussions. $300 million - 10% of the total bond - has been proposed to be shared between the charters and i-Divison/Partnership schools, - the 'outside-the-box' public schools in LAUSD.

Unfortunately sharing, playing well with others and not running with scissors is a hard to learn/easily forgotten skill set.

• Politicians and billionaires need to remember: There is a huge difference between $3.2 Billion and $10 Billion.
• Special Interests are, by definition, Special.
• The Special (!) Board meeting scheduled for next Tuesday to discuss and theoretically vote to put the next bond on the November ballot has been postponed.

Stay tuned.

- ¡Onward/Hasta adelante! - smf


SENIOR DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT'S OPERATIONAL PLAN OF ACTION 2008-2009



1 in 4 CALIFORNIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS DROP OUT, STATE SAYS
• Using a new system for tracking dropouts, California discloses a rate considerably higher than previously reported. About 1 in 3 students in Los Angeles Unified left school.

By Mitchell Landsberg and Howard Blume | Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

July 17, 2008 - Deploying a long-promised tool to track high school dropouts, the state released numbers Wednesday estimating that 1 in 4 California students -- and 1 in 3 in Los Angeles -- quit school. The rates are considerably higher than previously acknowledged but lower than some independent estimates.

The figures are based on a new statewide tracking system that relies on identification numbers that were issued to California public school students beginning in fall 2006.

The ID numbers allow the state Department of Education to track students who leave one school and enroll in another in California, even if it is in a different district or city. In the past, the inability to accurately track such students gave schools a loophole, allowing them to say that departing students had transferred to another school when, in some cases, they had dropped out.

The new system -- which will cost $33 million over the next three years, in addition to the millions spent for the initial development -- promises to eventually provide a far better way to understand where students go, and why. But state and school district officials acknowledged that the data initially available Wednesday, after a final one-day delay, were limited in usefulness.

"I think as the system stabilizes, you will get better data," said Esther Wong, assistant superintendent for planning, assessment and research in the Los Angeles Unified School District. For now, she said, the numbers tell only part of the story, albeit more accurately than in the past.

Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, presented the new data, based on the 2006-07 school year, as a quantum leap forward in understanding the nature of the dropout problem. But, he said, "no one will argue that the number of dropouts is good news. . . . It represents an enormous loss of potential."

State data analysts were able to come up with a four-year "derived" dropout rate, which estimates how many students drop out over the course of their high school careers.

For the state overall, it was 24.2%, up substantially from the 13.9% calculated for the previous school year using an older, discredited method. Statewide, 67.6% of students graduated and 8.2% were neither graduates nor dropouts. The last category included those who transferred to private schools or left the state.

School districts have until the end of August to correct data, so figures could change.

The statistics highlight a problem that is getting worse in California, said Russell Rumberger, a professor of education at UC Santa Barbara who directs the California Dropout Research Project.

Even using the old system of measurement, he said, the number of dropouts has grown by 83% over five years while the number of high school graduates has gone up only 9%.

"So that's sobering, it's really sobering," he said.

Rumberger attributed the trend to three primary factors: an increase in Latino immigrants, who are among the most likely to drop out; the raising of academic standards; and insufficient funding for public education.

For Los Angeles Unified, the new dropout rate was 33.6%. The rate was 25.3% under the old system in 2005-06.

Critics, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, have said that as many as half of Los Angeles Unified students drop out. But a recent report by an independent research group, Policy Analysis for California Education, put the district's dropout rate at 25.7%.

O'Connell chose Birmingham High School in Van Nuys for his announcement, noting that it was the focus of a Times series on dropouts in 2006. He said he was particularly concerned by data showing a dropout rate of 41.6% for black students and 30.3% for Latino students, compared with 15.2% for whites and 10.2% for Asians.

"This is a crisis," he said.

In Los Angeles Unified, African American students dropped out at a lower rate than their counterparts statewide. That was not true of the other three groups.

Among large, comprehensive L.A. high schools, the highest dropout rates were recorded at Jefferson, 58%; Belmont, 56%; Locke, 50.9%; Crenshaw, 50%; and Roosevelt, 49.6%.

Those with the lowest rates were Palisades Charter High, 2.5%; Granada Hills Charter, 6.4%; Canoga Park, 11%; Cleveland, 12.8%; El Camino, 13%; Taft, 13.1%; Chatsworth, 14.5%; and Fairfax, 14.9%.

State officials acknowledge that even the latest figures are less than ideal. The four-year rate is based not on students' actual progress over four years but on one year's worth of data for all four grades. In the spring of 2011, data will be released based on students' actual journey over four years.

Moreover, it remains difficult to say why students left school because codes designed to explain that, listing choices such as "graduated," "died" and "no show," are based on a different time period than the dropout rate itself.

Eventually, the two sets of figures will be synchronized, but the state was unable to do that before the release of the latest dropout figures.

The new system drew accolades even from some critics of the Department of Education.

"Though it has taken far too long and it is only partial progress, we applaud today's advances," said John Affeldt, managing attorney of Public Advocates, which has battled the department in court over the high school exit exam, among other matters.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger hailed the data, but said it was important "that we don't just look at numbers."

"It's good information," he said at a briefing for reporters in Sacramento, but "what we need to find out is, what is the reason for the dropouts? . . . We've got to find out what the reason is and then we can work on that to eliminate those problems."

Some of the new dropout numbers are open to misinterpretation. For instance, some continuation schools -- which cater to the most troubled students -- show dropout rates of more than 100%. That is because their enrollment is based on a single date in October, but such schools typically have students who come and go throughout the year, so more students can drop out by June than were enrolled in the fall.

Nevada County, a semirural swatch of Northern California whose schools generally perform well, showed a dropout rate of nearly 77%. The explanation, Associate Supt. Stan Miller said, is that the county charters one of the largest dropout recovery programs in California, with campuses spread throughout the state but reported as if they were in Nevada County.

Even the most successful of such programs have high dropout rates, and the Nevada County program is large enough to outweigh the relatively low dropout rate of the county's own students.

What is inescapable, ultimately, is that the effort to statistically capture the complications of teen life does not lend itself to the simple analysis that a dropout rate suggests.

Susana Garcia, 18, counts as neither a dropout nor a graduate but as a "completer" because she elected to take the general educational development test, or GED, rather than earn a diploma.

"Obviously, people ask you, 'Did you graduate or do you have your diploma or GED?' " she said. "I don't want to be seen as a failure -- or a complete failure." She added: "In my mind, I still want to go back and get the diploma."


MAYOR SAYS DROPOUT REPORT IS WRONG
By Rick Orlov & George B. Sanchez | Daily Breeze

7/18/08 - Sharply disputing a state report, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Thursday said he believes the dropout rate at Los Angeles schools is even worse than the dismal 33 percent estimated by state officials.

Villaraigosa, who previously used the dropout rate issue as leverage to take control of a handful of schools, said the new state figures released Wednesday did not take into account all relevant factors.

For example, he said, the state report did not count students who dropped out before ninth grade.

"I'm heartened they are highlighting the dropout issue but I know it is higher than they are saying," Villaraigosa said. "We know it's 50 to 60 percent and in some parts of the city 65 or 70 percent."

State Superintendent Jack O'Connell on Wednesday released a report showing the dropout rate at districts throughout the state, trying to quell years of debate over the issue.

O'Connell said Los Angeles Unified has a dropout rate of 33.6 percent, above the state average of 24.6 percent.

The new report, which tracked students using a unique identification number, was heralded by education experts and local school officials as a new benchmark to measure dropout rates and end the debate over the accuracy of figures cited in the past.

Deputy State Superintendent Rick Miller on Thursday stood by the results of the state's work.

"This is not a study," Miller said. "Everything before this was a study. We looked at individual students by their ID number and reported on whether they were enrolled or not. If the mayor would look at our documentation, he would see what we did."

LAUSD Senior Deputy Superintendent Ray Cortines did not dispute the state's report, even after hearing Villaraigosa's statement.

Cortines said he shared the report with the mayor's staff Wednesday morning, hours before the report was publicly released, and heard no questions or concerns about the findings.

The mayor issued a written statement on Wednesday afternoon that did not dispute the report's findings.

But Villaraigosa said he is now convinced the figures are higher than the state determined.

As evidence, Villaraigosa's staff cited reports by Education Week and Harvard University as well as his own experience in taking over 10 LAUSD schools.

A 2006 study by Education Week estimated that only 44 percent of LAUSD students received a high school diploma.

A joint study by UCLA and Harvard University released in 2005 stated only 48 percent of black and Latino students in LAUSD who start ninth grade complete grade 12 four years later.

Cortines said the state's new tracking system is the first to generate agreement by local and state education officials as well as nonprofit groups and education experts.

He acknowledged there are schools with dropout rates as high as those cited by the mayor.

"In his schools, it is closer to 50 percent," Cortines said.

At Roosevelt Senior High School in Boyle Heights, the adjusted dropout rate is 49.6 percent, according to the state, and at Santee Education Complex near downtown, the figure is 44.3 percent.

"The issue should not be what the percentage is, but what we are going to do about it," Cortines said. "It'll take the city and school district working together, combining social services, law enforcement, gang reduction and everyone to deal with the problem."

Villaraigosa said dropout rates are one of the factors he will look at with his partnership schools.

"We are going to track the dropout rates and focus on what it takes to keep kids in school. Our goal is to graduate every student and see them go on to college."

Villaraigosa took over control of the 10 schools on July 1. They are among the worst performing schools in the LAUSD.

____________________________

• Hammering Hamlet: "Me thinks thou dost protest too much." The mayor has a vested and special interest in keeping this years dropout numbers high - he has inherited ten low performing schools and the statistical baseline from which they must improve has been raised. He really has nothing to complain about - the truth and the challenge remain - there is plenty of room for improvement. - smf


MAYOR, CHARTER SCHOOLS FAVOR NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND AIMED AT HELPING CHARTERS + VILLARAIGOSA PUSHES SCHOOL BONDS
► NEW SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND AIMED AT HELPING CHARTERS

By Kerry Cavanaugh and George B. Sanchez, Staff Writers | LA Daily News

July 19, 2008 - Amid concerns that voters may hesitate to approve a fifth multibillion-dollar school construction bond in a decade, Los Angeles Unified officials and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have crafted a proposal to woo the public with promises to fund charter schools and small learning communities.

At a hastily called news conference Friday afternoon, Villaraigosa and LAUSD leaders provided few details of the proposed bond measure but said a portion would be dedicated to developing charter schools and breaking up behemoth public schools into independent, mini-campuses.

"This is not about slapping another coat of paint on a problem," Villaraigosa said. "This reform-minded bond will create smaller, independent schools rooted in community and free from downtown bureaucracy."

The mayor and school-district leaders would not say how much money would be sought - or how it would be spent. LAUSD officials had discussed a $3.2 billion figure this spring, but Villaraigosa would only say it would be a significant, multibillion-dollar bond.

Villaraigosa's office has survey research that indicates voters would support a school-bond of up to $10 billion on the November ballot, according to a source briefed on the research.

The president of the California Charter Schools Association said she supports a bond but is apprehensive because she has not yet seen details in writing. She wants $320 million for charters.

A draft of a proposed 2008 $3.2billion bond measure sets aside $150million for charter schools.

"We're supportive of a $3.2billion bond as long as there is a fair share for charter schools," said association President Caprice Young.

"We consider a fair share 10percent of the bond."

While LAUSD officials have pitched the need for another school-construction bond, the district has not appeared to have strong support among civic leaders for a new measure.

And at least two board members said Friday that talk of a bond and how funds would be divided is preliminary.

"I haven't seen any specifics or numbers," said board member Tamar Galatzan.

Board member Julie Korenstein said while there have been discussions of funding for school modernization and construction, there has been no decision on a bond, its total or how it might be divided.

"This board of education has not yet taken a position," she said.

Korenstein was adamant that the Friday news conference was not an LAUSD event and even though board President M nica Garc a attended she was not representing the district.

At the news conference, officials said the proposed bond measure would be discussed at a Tuesday board meeting. However, the board meeting has been canceled.

Voters have already approved four construction bonds for the LAUSD totaling $13.5 billion over the past 11 years.

Voters in November already are being asked to approve $17billion in state bond measures, a $36 per-year parcel tax for Los Angeles residents to fund gang-prevention programs, and possibly a half-percent sales-tax increase in Los Angeles County to pay for transportation.

Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, immediately assailed the announcement.

"This is buffoonery of the highest order," he said. "This would make five bonds in 11 years. Taxpayers are already on the hook for $20 billion including interest."

But Villaraigosa said he is willing to sign on to a bond that dedicates money for small-learning-community construction.

"I need to see a commitment that as we build we're going to build smaller, smarter, more successful schools," he said.

Billionaire philanthropist and LAUSD reformer Eli Broad announced Friday that he also would back a bond that dedicates money for small, independent schools.

Broad donated $23 million earlier this year to help open 17 new charter schools through three organizations, including the Knowledge Is Power Program for school development.

Still, LAUSD Superintendent David Brewer III stressed that a large portion of the bond would go toward maintenance of existing schools.

"Clearly about 40 percent of this bond will be used to continue to modernize and refurbish all of the schools that need it," Brewer said.

"Even though we've built new schools and we've done some modernization, the need is horrendous."

The previous LAUSD bonds raised $13.5 billion and state matching funds provided $6.5billion for new school construction to relieve overcrowding.

The district so far has allocated $12.3 billion for construction of 132 new schools, 65 campus additions and about 160,000 new classroom seats.

Half of the work is completed and the rest is on schedule to be done by 2012 - when the district is expected to reach its goal of having all schools on a two-semester calendar.

But the average age of the district's 800 schools is 45 years and the district has received about $7 billion in voter-approved funding for modernization.


► VILLARAIGOSA PUSHES SCHOOL BONDS: Mayor works with charter-school advocates to get measure on ballot.


By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer


July 19, 2008 - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa teamed up with charter school advocates Friday in Boyle Heights to pressure school board members and district officials to put a multibillion-dollar school bond on the November ballot -- and to include at least $300 million for charter schools.

Though not present, billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and former Mayor Richard Riordan have added their support -- and political weight -- to the anticipated bond, which would include more local dollars than ever for charters.

"Today we're putting the muscle behind the reform movement to break down our system into schools that work for all of our kids," Villaraigosa said at Roosevelt High School, defining such campuses as the "small, safe and independent community schools our students so desperately need here in the city."

The bond also would include money to repair and modernize existing schools, upgrade their safety systems and build traditional campuses.

The event's hasty scheduling -- even L.A. schools Supt. David L. Brewer had to adjust his schedule to attend -- was the latest strategic turn in a drama that has occurred mostly behind closed doors. Most of the jousting has been over how much money would go to charter schools, which are independently managed public schools free from some state regulations.

The charter community, led by former school board member Caprice Young, wanted no less than $300 million, or about 10% of the proposed $3.2-billion bond. But that level of support met with resistance from some board members of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The board was to vote on the bond at its Tuesday meeting, but late Friday, officials postponed the item until July 31. Five of the seven board members must approve placing the measure on the November ballot by Aug. 8.

Before the news conference, Young, who now heads the California Charter Schools Assn., said in an interview that she remained dissatisfied with how the dollars are divvied up.

Senior district administrators want to set aside $150 million for charters, according to a district report. Another $150 million would go to "educational partners to operate schools" that work within the system.

In other words, equal dollars would support reforms in district-controlled schools. The bond negotiations, in effect, have became another battlefront over who will control the path of reform in L.A. Unified.

Like Young, Broad, who funds reform efforts around the country, has concluded that charter schools are the best path in Los Angeles. In their view, the more removed they can make the L.A. Unified bureaucracy, the better. This goal also matches up with Broad's personal commitment to help fund new schools started by the more successful charter school organizations, which will need campuses.

Whatever emerges is also likely to help the 10 low-performing schools (none of them charters) now operating under the mayor's purview.

In private discussions, Young has sought an undiluted $300 million for charters.

At one point, she threatened to lead the charter community in an anti-bond campaign if it contained anything less.

But the goal Friday was simply to call for the bond, implicitly bring district officials in line and presage the campaign pitch to come.

Villaraigosa said he spent 10 hours on the phone over the last three days with civic and labor leaders and district officials, including Brewer, to promote the bond and take part in negotiations.


Hollywood Happy Ending for Dropouts: STUDENTS AT L.A. ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL TELL SUCCESS STORIES IN THEIR OWN WORDS
by Howard Blume | Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

July 17, 2008 - The new state system of tracking individual students to determine a more accurate dropout rate is also a step toward helping those who have left school and preventing others from leaving, officials say.

Behind each dropout statistic is the narrative of an education that derailed. But these independent-study students at the Alternative Education and Work Center in Hollywood are on their way to turning things around.

The center enrolls students who complete most of their work on their own and then come in for tests and help.

The program, which is intended for high school-age students, is part of Hollywood Community Adult School, which is managed by the Los Angeles Unified School District. The students either dropped out or are considered at great risk of dropping out.

Name: Kimberly Marquez

Age: 19

Residence: Atwater Village

High school: Marshall

Story: "Marshall High always had the best intentions, but it's hard to keep track of all those students. I was just a bit of a wild one. I got drunk at school too often. I enjoyed doing a lot of other stuff more than going to school: ditching, drugs, alcohol. I was a meth user. Most of my friends were. [Two friends have died; she's not certain of the circumstances.] If it wasn't for this program, I don't think I'd ever consider college. [With] the one-on-one attention, it wasn't as easy to sneak away. They make you grow up. They make you responsible."

Goal: College

Note: Marquez graduated in June 2007 and now works as a teaching assistant at the center.

Name: Leslie Lopez

Age: 19

Residence: South Los Angeles

High school: Hollywood

Story: "In the 11th grade, I got pregnant and I started feeling sick. [The family had moved from Hollywood to the Watts area, but she tried to continue at Hollywood High -- a 45-minute bus ride.] I had a really bad pregnancy. I'd get dizzy a lot and wouldn't be able to read my books. I was behind in credits and my age was a concern to the school. I thought about giving up."

Goals: Saving to move in with her boyfriend, attend college and pursue a career in computer drafting.

Name: Angel Yos

Age: 18

Residence: Koreatown

High school: Fairfax

Story: "My parents had new jobs that required me to help them, starting when I was 13. I had to take care of my brothers and help Dad maintain the store. And we also did swap meets. . . . I had so much responsibility that was bestowed upon me. All that work I had to do at school plus all the work I had to do at home. It distorted me inside. At school, I was just purely not doing my work. I'd go to classes and sleep or talk to friends. I wanted to have fun with them. They said, 'Skip school. It won't really hurt you.' On the contrary, it did hurt me a lot. It took the school a while to catch on. They didn't even notice how weird it was to show up one day and not another, or miss a week. [When the school called home,] I would delete messages before my parents saw them. . . . I did consider dropping out."

Goals: Attend college, major in political science and learn the business of the music industry.

Name: Jasmin Alas

Age: 18

Residence: Hollywood

High school: Fairfax

Story: "In middle school, you name it, I did it: meth, marijuana. I hung out with people way older. [But she started going to church and changing her behavior.] I had gotten myself away from taking the wrong path in life. I didn't want to go to parties or hang out or drink. I became an outsider with my friends. . . . It was like a lot of peer pressure. It got to the point that I just didn't show up for school. The work I had no problem with. It was getting up in the morning and going to school. I would tell my mom I didn't want to go. The doctor told her I was depressed. I probably went like once a week. [She once had been a good student. Late last year, when catching up seemed impossible, she quit entirely.] I didn't show up. I failed everything. [At the center in Hollywood,] it just felt different than any other school. They made the effort. They would say little things like 'How is your day?' They made me feel so comfortable coming here. . . . My old friends, they're either pregnant or have kids -- every single one. I'm not lying. Most of them they just didn't finish high school."

Goals: College, manage a business.

___________

• Congratulations to every graduate and thank you Howard.


This story with pictures and a peek at graduation rehearsal



HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
Video - WHAT IS RESPONSE TO INTERVENTION: Dr. Judy Elliott
Dr. Elliot is the Chief Academic Officer of LAUSD

JUDGE BLOCKS CONSTRUCTION OF ECHO PARK SCHOOL: L.A. Unified submitted a flawed environmental impact report, ruling says. District must now consider other sides and gather community opinion.

TEACHERS TO LEARN SIGNS OF SUICIDE
The governor signed into law today a measure that would allow teachers to get up to two hours of suicide prevention training. The Jason Flatt Act, SB 1378, authorizes school districts to use some of their Professional Development Block Grant funding to pay for the training.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT DROPOUTS: State statistics should boost efforts to reduce the number of students who quit before graduation.
It wasn't true, what the critics said about half the students in Los Angeles Unified School District dropping out. One in three do. The first state database to count dropouts in a more realistic way revealed this week that although the district's numbers weren't as bad as feared, neither were they statistics to inspire a happy dance.
L.A. Unified is finally taking meaningful measures to keep kids in school, a formidable task. But how did we get to this place?

DROP-DEAD DROPOUT NUMBERS: One-third of all L.A. Unified students don't finish high school — where's the civic outrage?
July 19, 2008 - We've all become so inured to the unending stream of dreary and dispiriting news produced by the Los Angeles Unified School District that Thursday's horrific report on the high-school dropout rate came and went with barely a civic whimper.

ARNOLD TERMINATES EDUCATION BUDGET
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the Terminator once more. It's not in a feature film this time but as the trigger of impending budget cuts in California education.

GAS PRICES AND LAUSD
In a year the amount of money LAUSD has spent on fuel for its 1300 busses, 400 other vehicles and gas-operated machines has increased from $9.85 million for the 2006 -2007 school year to $12.4 million in 2007-2008 for the school year,

ULTIMATE COLLECTOR: Eli Broad wields his vast fortune like a blunt instrument—buying art, hiring architects, and shaping L.A. through a mix of civic vision and force of will.
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has long been notorious for stalled construction and indecisive leadership. When its old headquarters on Grand Avenue became the proposed site for a new high school, Broad stepped in and spent much of 2002 holding backroom meetings to convince the district to scrap a complete (and admittedly unexciting) plan by AC Martin Partners and to build a Fame-style performing-arts academy by Wolf Prix of Coop Himmelb(l)au.

STATE SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE CAUSE FOR CONCERN
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - VAN NUYS (KABC) -- "Not good news," says California's Superintendent of Public Instruction. That, after he revealed that nearly a quarter of all public high school students in the state dropped out last year.

RIGHTING RODRIGUEZ: IMPLICATIONS FOR ADVANCING A FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO EDUCATION
Lynn Huntley, President of the Southern Education Foundation, introduced the topic by making the case for a U.S. Constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to a quality education for all children. The idea for such an amendment is not new. Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. introduced a bill in Congress five years ago to guarantee students such a right. Jackson’s efforts have not gained much traction, although, according to Huntley, his ideas have broad public support.

SCHOOL BOARD RESOLUTION AND CAMPAIGN BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES QUALITY PHYSICAL EDUCATION FOR ALL
Thirty seven school districts throughout California including LAUSD did not enforce physical education requirements in 2006.

SWITCHING BAD VARIABLE RATE DEBT: LAUSD Refunding Ambac-Backed Certificates of Participation
The Los Angeles Unified School District plans to refund $120.9 million of Ambac Assurance Corp.-insured variable-rate demand obligations early next month after seeing rates on the debt surge to as much as 10% after the insurer's credit ratings were cut.

CITY READIES A 'BEAUTIFUL 'VISTA': Park on Long-Troubled Belmont Learning Center Site to Open This Week
This week, City West will get a lot greener with the debut of a 10-acre park. If some people thought it might never arrive, that's understandable: It is opening on a notorious site where construction first began a decade ago.


GO TO: The news that didn't fit from July 20th.



EVENTS: Coming up next week...
► The Board of Education had scheduled a Special Board Meeting on Tuesday, July 22,2008, to consider a Local Bond, a charter renewal and other items of business. This meeting has been canceled and is tentatively been rescheduled for Thursday, July 31.

► The Board of Education Charter and Innovation Committee meeting set for 7/22
This Committee Meeting has been canceled and tentatively rescheduled for Thursday, July 31 at 1 p.m.


• Monday Jul 21, 2008
South Region Elementary School #9: CEQA Scoping Meeting
6:00 p.m.
Independence Elementary School - Multipurpose Room
8435 Victoria Ave.
South Gate, CA 90280

• Tuesday Jul 22, 2008
South Region High School #4: Pre-Construction Meeting
6:00 p.m.
Dominguez Elementary School - Auditorium
21250 S. Santa Fe Ave.
Carson, CA 90810

• Wednesday Jul 23, 2008
South Region High School #8: CEQA Draft EIR (Environmental Impact Report) Meeting
(Additional Meeting)
6:00 p.m.
Nueva Vista Elementary School
Multipurpose Room
4412 Randolph St.
Bell, CA 90201

• Thursday Jul 24, 2008
Central Region MacArthur Park ES Addition: Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) Hearing
6:00 p.m.
MacArthur Park Primary Center
2300 W. 7th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90057

*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: 213-893-6800


• LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR



What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Marlene.Canter@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Julie.Korenstein@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385

...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • 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 Schwarzenegger: 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.
• Register.
• Vote.


Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them?




Scott Folsom is a parent and parent leader in LAUSD. He is immediate past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA as Vice-chair on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is a Community Concerns Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on various school district advisory and policy committees and is a PTA officer and/or governance council member at three LAUSD schools.
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