In This Issue:  | | • | EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families | | | • | STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO LAUSD: IOU $1 BILLION + GIVE US SOME TRUTH | | | • | DUNCAN TELLS MAYORS TO EXPECT INCENTIVES IN ESEA | | | • | GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE TO HELP COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS + GATEWAY TO COLLEGE EXPANDS WITH $13 MILLION IN GRANTS | | | • | 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: | | | | The principal told the story quietly to a crowd of politicians and policymakers and the usual crowd from academe, all-so-very-concerned about the economy and low test scores and dropouts and not enough money for education.
He was on noon duty in the lunch shelter of his inner city school, an elementary in the shadow of downtown. He watched as a young girl carefully put the plastic package of little carrots in her pocket and then asked her table mates if they had any carrots or fruit they didn't want; scoring a few more carrots – and a piece of fruit – and carefully stashing them in her pocket.
He approached her, doing as elementary school principals do, kneeling or sitting reduce his scale – trying hard not be the big scary principal.
He asked her if she was OK, concerned she might not be getting enough to eat.
She was terrified, sure she had been caught taking wasn't rightfully hers. Little tears started to form.
He had a difficult time finishing the story because he had his own little tears; writing this I know the feeling.
“Oh no.”she said. She was just trying to bring home food for her little brother, too young for school. Too little for the free lunch program.
She was afraid he wasn't getting enough to eat.
That's the situation. All he rest is just words on the page, pixels on the screen.
Onward/Adelante - smf
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families
►AT HOME OR IN SCHOOL, CALIFORNIA STUDENTS FACE HARDER TIMES, SURVEY FINDS: Statewide poll of principals reveals an increase in cutbacks and layoffs at schools, and unemployment and homelessness among families.
Howard Blume | LA Times
January 21, 2010 | 12:16 a.m -- The state's children found no escape from harder times last year whether at school, where they endured larger classes, unfamiliar teachers and scarce supplies -- or at home, where they faced family stresses from emptier refrigerators, job losses and more frequent dislocation.
The grim compilation comes in a report to be released today by UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access and the University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity. [article continues@http://bit.ly/7uSmSR]
►EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families
●Executive Summary of the UCLA/Institute for Demmocracy, Education and Access Study Released Friday Jan 22
“It’s the bleakest I’ve ever seen.”
— Principal of a southern California high school describing the impact of the recession on her school and students
EVEN BEFORE THE CURRENT RECESSION BEGAN, California public schools were ill-equipped to meet the learning and social welfare needs of many students.
Consider this brief glimpse of California’s serious education challenges, and standing compared to therest of the nation, just a year and a half ago.
BEFORE THE RECESSION - -
• One in six California students lived in families that earned below the federal poverty level, and more than a half lived in families with earning that qualified students for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program.
• Many California students experienced unstable housing and lack of secure access to food.
• Ranking 46th of all states in per pupil expenditures, California provided its students with less access to quality learningconditions than the rest of the nation.
• California’s middle school and high school classrooms were more overcrowded than classrooms in any other state.
• California’s high school counselors served more students than counselors anywhere else in the nation.
• While almost all California students receive less than students in other states, students attending schools serving primarily low-income Latino, African American, and American Indian students were the most likely to experience
critical problems in their schools. For example, such schools were 8 times as likely as other schools in the state to face severe shortages of qualified teachers.
Today, these conditions, challenges, and comparisons are worse. Much worse.
Today, for example, one in four California students lives in poverty and is likely attending a school with reduced funding, larger classes, and fewer instructional materials.
To illuminate the current, “real time” effects of the recession on California children and public schools, UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) conducted interviews with a representative sample of 87 principals from across the state. The immediacy of these interviews removes a certain abstraction that often accompanies data reports on California’s schools. The principals speak of conditions that children face today, on Monday morning when the school bell rings, and when they leave school and return to their families.
The principals in our study lead public schools that proportionately represent California’s wide diversity of geography, school size, school type, and student demographics. Our interviews reveal common themes across the socio-economic and
demographic diversity of the principals’ communities and differences in the degree of impact on families and school programs.
KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:
1.THE NEEDS OF CALIFORNIA’S CHILDREN AND YOUTH HAVE GROWN AND ARE NOT BEING MET DESPITE EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS BY CALIFORNIA EDUCATORS. More than half of the principals report that students’ needs for health, psychological, or social services have increased with the recession; many other principals report a continuation of extremely high social needs.
“There is “an epidemic [of hunger]….”
“A lot of students don’t eat at all when they go home.”
“I don’t go through a day that I don’t hear three or four people say they need to move because of layoffs.”
Educators have responded by connecting students and families with social service providers or by contributing food and clothing. In extraordinary cases some have taken in homeless youth to live with them. Nonetheless, budget cuts to social welfare program and school services have left the system with less capacity to respond to these growing needs.
“We make referrals, but they’re having a hard time keeping up.”
2. BUDGET CUTS HAVE LED TO TEACHER LAY OFFS AND LARGER CLASSES. The vast majority of principals reported that teachers in their schools have been laid off, “bumped,” or threatened with lay off. Actual lay offs were far more likely to be reported ind high-poverty as low-poverty schools. Principals reported that such layoffs affect school culture and teaching and learning.
“As we lose teachers, critical mass changes … it will trickle into the classroom.”
Teacher layoffs also led to class size increases in most California schools. Class size increases were particularly pronounced in elementary schools.
3. BUDGET CUTS ALSO HAVE AFFECTED STUDENTS’ ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS. Most principals reported delaying or cutting back scheduled purchase of new textbooks.
“It’s almost like the state is giving you one year worth of money but you have two years [of need]. … The state doesn’t give you enough, you are always a year behind.”
Similarly, almost all principals reported reductions to instructional materials and supplies.
“We have almost nothing to get through the year. This is terrible.”
4. PROGRAMS OUTSIDE THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE (OF READING AND MATH) WERE CUT BACK OR ELIMINATED, WITH MANY COSTS SHIFTED TO PARENTS. Most principals reported that summer school was reduced or eliminated. High-poverty schools were farm more likely than low-poverty schools to eliminate summer school outright. At times, this elimination of summer school was quite dramatic.
Students in one Central Valley elementary school were “literally told to go home.” In addition, roughly half of principals surveyed reported reductions to after school programs, field trips, art and music.
Programs are “hanging by the skin of their teeth.”
5. THE VAST MAJORITY OF PRINCIPALS REPORT REDUCTIONS TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Many described how budget cuts limited instructional improvement.
“Principals [are] dealing with problems on campus instead of focus[ing] on student learning as we should be and the state is mandating us to do. It’s less resources, more distractions, while trying to run the school.”
6. LOCAL STRATEGIES AIMED AT FILLING BUDGET GAPS ARE LIKELY TO EXACERBATE INEQUALITIES. On average, low-poverty schools in our study received far more in donations than high poverty schools.
These findings point to tremendous needs of California students and California public schools—needs that the federal government is best positioned to address in the short term. The short term is crucial for the millions of students who can’t wait for the economy to improve. They only get one chance to have a high-quality and equal education. But California also needs to reform its system for funding public schools.
“I’ve lived in California most of my life and I find it hard to believe how bad we have become with our funding for education.”
This report represents the fourth annual California Educational Opportunity Report produced by UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access (IDEA) in partnership with UC ACCORD. As in past reports, we examine the quality and distribution of educational opportunities across California’s public schools. A broader set of analyses of educational conditions and outcomes, including reports on each California legislative district and reports on each public high school and middle school in the state, can be found online at www.edopp.org.
En Español : RESUMEN EJECUTIVO DEL REPORTE DE OPORTUNIDAD EDUCATIVA EN CALIFORNIA | http://bit.ly/80QuxW
The Entire Report: EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families: is available at http://bit.ly/5eiXVE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO LAUSD: IOU $1 BILLION + GIVE US SOME TRUTH
IOU $1 Billion by smf for 4LAKids
School Boardmemeber Tamar Galatzan in her weekly constituent e-newsletter (see below) questions the disingenuousness of the governor in promising No Further Cuts to Education – and enumerates previous, ongoing and upcoming cuts to LAUSD – hundreds of millions of dollars.
What she doesn't say is that LAUSD is owed close-enough to-a-billion-to-call-it-a-billion in promised funding for school construction and modernization and repair already done or in the works. That's not money that LAUSD “would like to have” – or even money bait+switched around the budget table in Sacramento. We are talking about $986,817.157 in outstanding debt and obligations; money the State of California has promised to pay – with bills and invoices approved and sent to the treasury – bills sitting on a desk somewhere, stamped “OK-to-Pay”, unpaid.
This makes LAUSD the state's biggest creditor. The state of California, teetering on insolvency with a credit rating between zilch-and-nada owes more money to the schoolchildren of Los Angeles than it owes anyone else.
The upshot of this:
The LAUSD Facilities Division is looking at a cash shortfall of $204 million as of Nov 30, 2009. (LAUSD can borrow money, but it must pay interest and debt service – there is little [no] likelihood of interest paid on the money CA owes the district..)
District workers are being laid off; folks with jobs to do but no money to pay them
Needed repairs are not being made.
Safety is being compromised
Repair and modernization projects are being delayed, 'Shovel-Ready' projects aren't being started.
In a time when the economy is down and public sector construction is the easiest-quickest employer-and-stimulator (The LAUSD building and modernization program is the biggest public sector construction program in the nation) – the program is being cut back.
THIS IS THE RAINY DAY! Roofs are leaking. Buckets are being put out rather than roofers being called.
In a presentation to the Bond Oversight Committee on Wednesday Interim Chief Facilities Executive James Sohn said the District anticipates that this bill might be paid in 2011. When questioned about his confidence in that date – and how it was arrived at – Sohn referred to hopes and expectations …and actually used the words “crystal ball” in his response.
The state simply doesn't have the money or the ability to borrow it - which it would do by selling bonds it can't sell
LAUSD is not alone here, we are just the biggest creditor in line. In the dearth of revenue collection, cash flow, budget balancing skills, the ability to borrow and political leadership – LAUSD and the others in line - school districts and schoolchildren up-and-down the state - are in similar positions. Part of LAUSD's responsibility as the ten-ton-gorilla is to be their advocate: As soon as the revenue stream returns and the ability to borrow returns we must make sure that the money goes first to where it's owed ...not to high-speed-rail and other shiny sparkly things so attractive to the easily distracted.
►Message to the Governor: GIVE US SOME TRUTH!
Note from the Board Member: Tamar Galatzan | Galatzan Gazette
January 21, 2010 – Recently, Governor Schwarzenegger announced that he did not plan any additional cuts to public education for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.
Unfortunately, he is not being entirely accurate.
By "additional" let's remember the cuts he already imposed:
Last year, the state caused approximately $250 million in budget cuts for LAUSD that are scheduled to begin in 2010-2011.
In addition, California has used about $154 million in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds that LAUSD rightfully expected to receive.
As if that wasn't enough, you have to also subtract the $70 million in “adjustments” that pre-date the Governor’s pronouncement.
Now when he says this, there is actuallyan additional $100-200 million of changes in the Governor’s January budget.
The District is approximately more than half a billion in the hole. (And this assumes that the state gets all or most of the $6.9 billion of federal funds on which it is relying.)
I believe that the Governor wants to prioritize public education, but please be transparent about the numbers. Even in good times, education spending in Californiais performed with tricks, feints, and dodges.
This is bad enough when times are good, but downright cruel in the midst of a budget crisis. -Tamar
DUNCAN TELLS MAYORS TO EXPECT INCENTIVES IN ESEA
By Alyson Klein | EdWeek Vol. 29, Issue 19
Jan 20 – Washington - Providing incentives for districts that are making progress on student achievement will be a key element of the Obama administration’s plan for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the U.S. Conference of Mayors Wednesday.
“There are 50 ways to fail” under the No Child Left Behind Act, the current version of the law, said Mr. Duncan, a critique he has raised in the past. But there are “very little, if any, rewards if you do a good job. … We want to put unprecedented resources out there on a competitive basis for those who are committed” to boosting student achievement.
Secretary Duncan reminded mayors gathered at the Capital Hilton Jan. 20 that the Obama administration is seeking to make the economic-stimulus program’s Race to the Top Fund a permanent fixture in the U.S. Department of Education’s budget. That fund will provide up to $4 billion in competitive grants to states to spur education reform efforts. The administration will ask Congress to provide $1.35 billion to extend the program beyond next year.
Mr. Duncan told mayors that, under the administration’s proposal, the expanded Race to the Top would be opened to school districts, not just states, and that the mayors should work with their local districts to apply for the new funds.
He also reiterated what has become a standard part of his speech on ESEA reauthorization, saying that the administration wants to see “higher standards and higher expectations” from states and districts.
Duncan on ESEA Reauthorization
►In an exclusive interview this month with Education Week, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan discusses the future of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
• See more from this interview: http://bit.ly/7mfYQj
He said that he wants the new version of the law to be “tight on goals” but looser in terms of how states should achieve them. That line got enthusiastic applause from the audience of local leaders.
The education secretary also encouraged mayors to work with their local school districts to go after other competitive grants yet to be allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic-stimulus law passed in February. They include $650 million in Investing in Innovation grants, which are aimed at scaling up promising practices at the local level, and $200 million in new money for the Teacher Incentive Fund, which helps districts create pay-for-performance programs.
Role of Incentives
This is not the first time that Secretary Duncan has said he envisions an important role for such incentives in the next version of the ESEA law, which was scheduled for reauthorization in 2007. ("Duncan Aims to Make Incentives Key Element of ESEA," Dec. 9, 2009.http://bit.ly/8HfeKw)
Many advocates expect that some of the policies states are asked to embrace in Race to the Top—such as a focus on the lowest-performing schools and an emphasis on using student-achievement data to inform personnel and programmatic decisions—will likely be promoted in the Obama administration’s forthcoming ESEA proposal. ("'Race to Top' Viewed as Template for a New ESEA," Jan. 6, 2010.http://bit.ly/5eGU0l)
Salvatore J. Panto Jr., the mayor of Easton, Pa., gave Mr. Duncan high marks for the Race to the Top, calling it “an excellent” program.
He said his local school district was able to get the superintendent on board with the state’s application for Race to the Top money, but that the teachers’ union, an affliliate of the 3.2 million National Education Association, did not sign onto the state’s plan. He asked Mr. Duncan for his advice on how to get unions to go along with the agenda.
The secretary said that, in the applications submitted Jan. 19 for the first round of the Race to the Top grants, 600 state and local unions “signed on the dotted line” in support of their states’ bids, although he said that it had been a problem in some places to get unions on board.
But he said there have been encouraging signs that unions are ready to embrace significant change, including a speech last week in which Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, a 1.4 million-member union based in Washington, acknowledged that there need to be changes to due-process protections for teachers who attain tenured status. ("AFT Chief Promises Due-Process Reform," Jan. 20, 2010.http://bit.ly/5Y9419)
Mr. Duncan called that speech “an absolute breakthrough” and urged mayors to get a copy. But he repeated what has become his signature tough talk when it comes to teacher quality, saying that unions need to “stop protecting the small percentage of teachers who need to find another profession.”
Jerry Abramson, the mayor of Louisville, Ky., asked how the Education Department plans to encourage districts to create racial diversity in their schools. He made reference to a landmark 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case in which his local school district was a defendant, Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education. In its decision, the court barred districts from using race as the primary factor in assigning individual students to schools. ("Louisville District Unveils New Student-Assignment Plan," Feb. 6, 2008.http://bit.ly/7TmG1v)
“You can’t put a price” on the value of ensuring that students get a chance to attend school in a diverse environment, Secretary Duncan said. He said the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights had been “to say the very least, underutilized over the last eight years,” an apparent reference to President George W. Bush’s tenure.
But he said that department officials, including Russlyn H. Ali, the assistant secretary for civil rights, and Charlie Rose, the department’s general counsel, are now considering next steps on the diversity issue. He wasn’t specific about their plans, though.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Mr. Duncan said. “Stay tuned.”
GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE TO HELP COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS + GATEWAY TO COLLEGE EXPANDS WITH $13 MILLION IN GRANTS
►GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE TO HELP COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS
by Carla Rivera | LA Times LA Now blog
January 22, 2010 | 12:08 pm – California Community Colleges and Southern California Edison have launched a $1-million green jobs initiative to help train financially needy students for jobs that benefit the environment.
The gift from the electric utility will provide $2,000 scholarships to students at 10 colleges offering "green" education and job training in six key areas in which workforce demand is expected to grow. Those sectors include solar panel installation, water and waste water management, transportation and alternative fuels, biofuels production and farming, green building and energy efficiency, and environmental compliance, such as air quality and pollution prevention. It is the first time that Edison has aimed grants specifically at expanding job opportunities in eco-friendly technology, said SCE President John R. Fielder.
"It seemed to be a good fit with our focus on the environment and renewable energy and providing workers for Edison as well as other companies in the region," Fielder said. "We think we know a bit about the kinds of jobs needed."
Recent reports have documented a growing green economy, especially in California, where the number of green companies increased 45% from 1995 to 2008, according to Next 10, a nonprofit group based in Palo Alto, Calif. The Pew Charitable Trusts reported recently that the growth rate of green jobs nationwide was 9.1% from 1998 to 2007, compared with a 3.7% increase for all jobs during the same nine-year period.
The Edison initiative will provide $100,000 to each of 10 grant recipients: Cerritos College in Norwalk, Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, El Camino College in Torrance, Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Long Beach City College, Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, Rio Hondo College in Whittier, San Bernardino Valley College and Ventura College.
Los Angeles Southwest College is developing a new associate's degree program in environmental science and technology with the first three courses offered this spring, said Alistaire Callender, an instructor who developed the program. "This [grant] is really helpful, especially when we’re starting a new program," Callender said. "And in this economy, students can use every bit of assistance they can get."
►GATEWAY TO COLLEGE EXPANDS WITH $13 MILLION IN GRANTS
LA Times LA Now blog
January 22, 2010 | 12:01 am – The Gateway to College National Network announced today that it has received $13 million in grants to expand programs that help high school dropouts earn a diploma while also amassing college credits.
The grants include $7.28 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $3.8 million from the Foundation to Promote Open Society and $1 million each from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Kresge Foundation.
Gateway to College serves students who are 16 to 21 years old and have dropped out of school or are unlikely to graduate. They study basic reading, writing and math in community and technical colleges and then transition to regular college courses. Students also receive training in study skills, time management and stress reduction.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT THIS WEEK is slow – but the underlying current is swift.
It rained but no schools were flooded – Cal State Long Beach wasn't so lucky. There was the denouement of the Zachariah-and-the-Badge incident - with the former superintendent being the stand-in for poor previous decision making – and the final (?) removal of the unfortunate Matthew Kim - the long-term-substitute for 'bad teachers' – both oversimplifications so gross that even 4LAKids won't go there!
The FEDERAL HEALTHCARE REFORM FIASCO isn't our issue any more than it's always been –the lack of healthcare for LAUSD's kids is critical to the education mission.(The BBC political backgrounder [http://bit.ly/6f6ES0] is telling.) The CAMPAIGN FINANCE DECISION is worrisome – especially viewed through the prism of that BBC politics-of-healthcare piece . We've seen corporate power when it was limited ...what happens when big business cranks it up to 11?
The Public Schools Choice Resolution community meetings have been unreported on ...I did see The Times at one and EGP at another. In my opinion the plans put forward by the schools themselves have been strong and well received – I sat on the District task force that reviewed Small Learning Communities and these are good well-developed plans. At the Jefferson HS meeting where the Mayor's Partnership's presentation was weak – but their two strongest advocates: Mayor Tony and Marshal Tuck were not there – leading one to believe they will rely on their own meetings without the opposition to debate.
The Box Score: HISTORY/LITERATURE/GEOGRAPHY - 0 | CHARTER SCHOOLS - 29: "Take a look at Arne Duncan's speeches. O... http://bit.ly/5AtqFd
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: see: AT HOME OR IN SCHOOL, CALIFORNIA STUDENTS FACE HARDER TIMES, SURVEY ... http://bit.ly/4ui433
Dumb superintendent tricks: FORMER L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF FINED IN BADGE INCIDENT: by Jason Song | LATimes/LA Now blog... http://bit.ly/8bF4Kw
HISTORIC TIME FOR ‘CHOICE’ IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS + DO THE APPLICANTS HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? - Parents, students and teach... http://bit.ly/4vXmak
‘DESPERATE’ UC STUDENTS SCURRY TO SNAG KEY CLASSES: By Larry Gordon | LA Times LA Now blog | http://bit.ly/8mgdsp ... http://bit.ly/6H4jUp
RttT/NCLB v.2.0: OBAMA PUSHES $1.35 BILLION OF EDUCATION PLAN: By Mark Silva | LA Times LA Now blog | http://bit.l... http://bit.ly/5Zt8QI
UC TO ESTABLISH WAITING LISTS FOR FRESHMAN APPLICANTS: LA Times/ LA Now blog| http://bit.ly/6RvGIg January 20, 20... http://bit.ly/5NgoqX
QUOTE O’ TH’ WEEK: "We've worked hard to get parents more involved in their children's education but how can they help if they don't know there's a problem?” http://bit.ly/4ssmoE
AT HOME OR IN SCHOOL, CALIFORNIA STUDENTS FACE HARDER TIMES, SURVEY FINDS + Survey rollout invite: Statewide poll ... http://bit.ly/8pPBrv
SAN FERNANDO VALLEY SUN INTERVIEW RE: SAN FERNANDO MS ‘CHOICE’ PROPOSAL PT2 http://bit.ly/6yOPBF | EN ESPAÑOL htt... http://bit.ly/6LQxzo
As wet as it gets!: LAUSD[c] MARCHES IN MLKingdom DAY PARADE, WILL RALLY @ JEFFERSON HS WEDNESDAY EVENING: from th... http://bit.ly/6mvn73
UC APPLICATIONS UP; TRANSFER INTEREST ESPECIALLY STRONG: LA Times/LA Now blog smf: Education funding cuts acr... http://bit.ly/4SJIkH
OBAMA WANTS 2 EXTEND RttT - asks $1.35 billion in '11 budget for competitive funding for states who don't get '10 RttT http://bit.ly/8mgdsp
ON FIRING BAD TEACHERS: Cases such as the one involving the LAUSD's Matthew Kim show the need for change.: LA Time... http://bit.ly/84cV28
AUTISM PARENTS SUE TO RESTORE BUDGET-CUT PROGRAM IN LA - California's Children http://bit.ly/53W9Oy
OPINION: SCHWARZENEGGER'S BUDGET DOESN'T REFLECT CALIFORNIA'S PRIORITIES By Darrell Steinberg - Mercury News http://bit.ly/6IbPl1
O'CONNELL's SWAN SONG: State education chief to give final address - ContraCostaTimes.com http://bit.ly/8ipO2G
SCHWARZENEGGER BUDGET PROJECTS LESS SPENDING FOR CLASS-SIZE REDUCTION - San Jose Mercury News http://bit.ly/6SjmfR
ACA-DECA: IT'S CRUNCH TIME FOR KIDS ON ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAMS -
Call it the bookworm season... LA Daily News http://bit.ly/6TTWgy
:LAUSD[C]: by smf for 4LAKids In the past few weeks a number of educators, parents students and community members ... http://bit.ly/8DcCUR
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: 213-893-6800
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385
Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • 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.
• If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE.
• If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT.
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