Saturday, February 27, 2010

PSC: What happened?


4LAKids: Sunday 28•Feb•2010
In This Issue:
AS U.S. AID GROWS, OVERSIGHT IS URGED FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS
THE CHARTER SCHOOL TEST CASE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN + smf's 2¢
LA SCHOOL DISTRICT, STATE OF CALIFORNIA SUED OVER TEACHER LAYOFFS
A Reduction in Ethics
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?


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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.
TUESDAY'S BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING PROVED VERY INTERESTING; it's not often one can say write or even think that with today's tightly run board agendae.

Sometime/somewhere between the introduction of the Public School Choice Resolution and the charterization of LAUSD the board wandered off script.

Sometime was Tuesday/Somewhere was the LAUSD Boardroom: At least for the moment he magic bullet of charter schools has been dodged.

Make no mistake – the superintendent's recommendations in themselves looked at charter school operators carefully and critically – but the board ended up being even more skeptical.

WHAT HAPPENED:

1.There have been a number of studies and reports recently – data driven/research based – that have been critical of charter schools' academic progress, service of special needs students and ADA compliance.
2.The PSC advisory voting process, flawed as it was, engaged the community. Four times as many voters voted as were expected – in the rain with a poor notification process. ("Poor" being a generous adjective.)
3.The Scholastic controversy may have weakened the superintendent's credibility among the boardmembers.
4.There was a backlash to the unabashed lobbying, hectoring and threats from charter proponents – who packed the boardroom and the speakers' lists. Certainly the threat to “Pull the parent trigger” backfired – as Boardmemeber Zimmer said: “You can't declare war on people and not expect them to act like combatants.”
5.The charter community turned out and/or bused in as many as 3000 parents – many of who camped out on the sidewalk overnight to monopolize seats in the boardroom and the all important speaker spots. UTLA President Duffy was heard railing at his troops for only turning out 300 ...but maybe their small quiet voice was easier to hear?
6.Maybe the board just woke up Tuesday morning and came to their senses?


THE SECOND OUTCOME WAS THE COLLAPSE OF THE SIX VOTE LOCK-STEP BOARD MAJORITY ALLEGEDLY CONTROLLED FROM THE MAYOR'S OFFICE. Hopefully this will result in a more pragmatic, responsive and yes – transparent and accountable – board. But one that avoids previous LAUSD Bd of Ed's tendency to micromanage. Sporks anyone?


APPLYING THE TESTS OF POLITICAL SCIENCE: The first test and vote followed the formula and scenario of The Great Unwritten Rule of Politics: “Thou shalt not mess in another politician's bailiwick”. Boardmember LaMotte (“The Great Outsider”) challenged a recommendation for her district and the board majority predictably supported her. Barack Obama Middle School's forced co-location with a charter was derailed for good and politic reasons.

In the very next test Board President Monica Garcia broke The Great Unwritten Rule and challenged a superintendent's recommendation in Boardmember Yolie Flores district. This amounted to betrayal: Flores is the author of the PSC Resolution and the champion of the supe's recommendations – she had been a loyal ally of Garcia and seemed genuinely upset if not blindsided. Yolie angrily resisted the change, lines were drawn and Monica's resolution held ... from this point on all bets and deals were off: It was SURVIVOR: BEAUDRY at the tribal council and no one had immunity. And in the first two votes the charter juggernaut – and the powerhouse charter management organizations of ICEF, Green Dot and The Alliance for College Ready Schools were sidelined in favor of homegrown teacher/school/collaborations.

Following those first two acts the rest of the drama was anticlimax. The award of Gratts Primary Center to Para los Niños (a darling of the mayor and unpopular in Gratts community) was strangely amended with a promise to amend the amendment next year into a compromise to be arrived at later.

Exploring the new possibilities an attempt to somewhat challenge all charters was somewhat defeated – but in subsequent breaths the charters' rejected efforts were praised ...recalling Antony's oration in Shakespeare's Caesar. Real questions were left on the table unanswered; real issues unresolved.

So gentle reader, much happened. If you had a white shirt, a good seat in the boardroom and a bad sleep on the sidewalk the status quotient has preserved. The Pilot Schoolers (in red) – whose projects aren't really pilots – held the day over the charter operators, whose projects weren't really charters.

Maybe not-really reality won. I hope a small victory was won for kids.

¡Onward/Adelante! - smf


AS U.S. AID GROWS, OVERSIGHT IS URGED FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS
By Sam Dillon| New York Times

February 24, 2010 -- WASHINGTON — The Obama administration plans to significantly expand the flow of federal aid to charter schools, money that has driven a 15-year expansion of their numbers, from just a few dozen in the early 1990s to some 5,000 today.

But in the first Congressional hearing on rewriting the No Child Left Behind law, lawmakers on Wednesday heard experts, all of them charter school advocates, testify that Washington should also make sure charter schools are properly monitored for their admissions procedures, academic standards and financial stewardship.

The president of one influential charter group told the House Education and Labor Committee that the federal government had spent $2 billion since the mid-1990s to finance new charter schools but less than $2 million, about one-tenth of 1 percent, to ensure that they were held to high standards.

“It’s as if the federal government had spent billions for new highway construction, but nothing to put up guardrails along the sides of those highways,” said Greg Richmond, president of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

Charter schools operate mainly with state financing, and with less regulation than traditional public schools. A provision of the No Child law offers federal startup grants, usually in the range of $150,000 per school, to charter organizers to help them plan and staff a new school until they can begin classes and obtain state per-pupil financing.

The federal money has provided crucial early support to many successful charter schools, but has also attracted many people with little education experience who have opened chaotic schools that have floundered.

The administration’s proposal for rewriting the law would increase federal financing for charter schools to $490 million in 2011 from about $256 million in 2010. It would also, for the first time, allow the funds to be used to finance additional schools opened by a charter operator, if the original school has been successful.

Representative George Miller, the California Democrat who is the committee chairman and helped write the No Child law, said in opening the hearing that the law’s requirements for annual testing had placed a spotlight on students across the nation who were falling behind.

“But we also know the law didn’t get everything right,” he said, “and we cannot afford to wait to fix it.”

Much debate on Wednesday focused on whether charter schools educate disabled children in the same proportion as regular public schools.

Thomas Hehir, a Harvard education professor, said that national research on that question had been inadequate, but that his work in the San Diego, Los Angeles, Boston and other school systems had shown that “charters generally serve fewer children with disabilities than traditional public schools.”

Furthermore, Mr. Hehir said, charters in some cities educate only a minuscule proportion of students with severe disabilities like mental retardation, in comparison with regular public schools. That, he said, undercuts the assertions by some that charters are outperforming regular schools.

Eileen Ahearn, a project director of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education, said that charter schools faced unique challenges in educating disabled students but that many nonetheless do so successfully.


THE CHARTER SCHOOL TEST CASE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN + smf's 2¢
IF THEY HADN'T BEEN MOSTLY SHUT OUT OF BIDS TO RUN A SLEW OF NEW L.A. UNIFIED CAMPUSES, THE GROUPS MIGHT HAVE DEMONSTRATED HOW THEY HANDLE STUDENTS WITH CHALLENGING NEEDS.

By Howard Blume | LA Times
February 26, 2010 -- Los Angeles school officials lost a chance this week to test whether the booming charter movement can take on all the problems of the district's traditional, and often troubled, schools.

On Tuesday, the Board of Education denied proposals from three major charter organizations that had sought to run newly built neighborhood schools, which would have included substantial numbers of limited-English speakers, special education students, foster children and low-income families.

That is exactly the population that charter schools have been criticized for not sufficiently reaching.

Charters are independently managed and exempt from some rules that govern traditional schools. They're also schools of choice -- campuses that parents seek and select. And researchers have found that charters enroll fewer students with more challenging, and often more expensive, needs.

Over the last six months, charters have competed to run 18 new campuses as well as 12 low-performing ones under a Los Angeles Unified School District reform plan adopted in August by the Board of Education.

And in this instance, charters agreed to operate by more inclusive rules in exchange for access to state-of-the-art, multimillion-dollar campuses.

"This would have been an opportunity to have [charters] rise to the challenge as we in the district do every day in serving these populations at an equal level," said board member Yolie Flores, who brought the school-control proposal to the board in August.

In the end, the board turned down all but four charter bids, opting instead primarily for internal, teacher-led proposals. Even though the district has struggled most with improving secondary education, no charter received a high school and only one, Magnolia Science Academy, will run a middle school -- on a campus it will share with a separate teacher-run school.

The teachers union fought hard to limit the charters. Every new charter would have effectively reduced the union's membership -- potentially corresponding to more L.A. Unified layoffs during the current district budget crisis. And a growing nonunion charter workforce gradually reduces union clout not only on pay and benefits issues, but also on matters such as class size and the direction of future reforms.

The union's pressure on board members got a boost from Maria Elena Durazo, who heads the L.A. County Federation of Labor and who personally called on board members the day before the vote.

Although Supt. Ramon C. Cortines favored mostly internal proposals, he had also recommended giving schools to Green Dot Public Schools, the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools and ICEF Public Schools, which all came away empty-handed. All are charter management groups with a track record in the city.

Flores, the author of the reform strategy, had argued that Cortines' recommendations should be followed without exception.

Charter critics, however, focused on the fact that 11.2% of district students are disabled, compared with 7.4% at local charters. A third of students at traditional schools are learning to speak English, while the figure is 22% at charters, according to district data.

Charters should not be allowed to run new schools, paid for by taxpayers, that were intended for all children, said A. J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

Charter advocates lobbied hard. And they argued that the district's higher special education population stems from the neglect of many students' academic and social needs. The result, they said, is behavioral issues that are later misidentified as disabilities. They also fault the quality of the district's services to special education students.

Charters lost their bids for a variety of reasons.

Cortines had wanted ICEF to share a new middle school with a teacher-led program. But board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte said the campus wasn't built for two operators. And besides, she said, the district had hired a principal and worked on its own version of the school well before the school-control competition intruded.

(One of her grandsons attends an ICEF school, but she has been a consistent charter critic and an ally of the teachers union.)

Green Dot and the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools lost out at the new Torres high school complex east of downtown. Board President Monica Garcia cited the need to respect the long-term efforts of teachers and community groups who put forward competing plans.

Functioning as a neighborhood school remains beyond the experience of nearly all charters except Green Dot, which broke ground by taking over low-performing Locke High in July 2008. It has struggled with the challenge of managing a typical urban population.

"People are moving in and out of homeless shelters and housing projects in the neighborhood," said Green Dot Chief Executive Marco Petruzzi. "Fifteen to 20 kids show up almost weekly."

And at Locke, Green Dot has had to serve more disabled students than the typical charter. "It's the right thing to do and also presented us with a learning challenge in dealing with higher-severity cases," Petruzzi said. "And it creates budget pressures that are very large."

There could be a trade-off for pushing charters into the cold: The charters can still play by the old rules.

Already, L.A. Unified has over 160 charters, more than any other district. Valid charter petitions can't be denied, and 20 are in the pipeline. And those would operate under the ground rules that critics find objectionable.


●●smf's 2¢: There is evidence – the all important data we so want to be driven by – that generally charter schools underserve students with disabilities, special education kids and English language Learners.

I believe enlightened charter school counselors and administrators steer kids and families with special needs to their neighborhood schools when those schools are best equipped to serve those populations – that choice is the right choice for kids. However [remember, there's always a 'however'!] that is also a decision that saves charter schools money.

When a charter operator suggests a transfer because it's in the best interest of the child they should be nominated for sainthood; when the make the decision to save the charter school money they should be doomed to an eternity in Dante's fire. Only the Ultimate Judge can decide … but He (...or She) is capable following the money.

The article above suggests that we give charter school operators another chance.

I don't know when Howard Blume wrote this article, but I want to remind him of a quote quoted by State Superintendent candidate Tom Torlakson in debate held earlier in the day of publication – a debate Howard attended. Tom gave us Einstein's definition of Insanity: “to keep doing the same thing the same way and expecting a different result”.

There is an established pattern of charter schools – and charter operators operating neighborhood schools – 'pushing out' special ed, disabled and English language learners. I would like to say there's no denying the evidence --- but charter proponents – stuck in denial – do.

Denial is the longest river. However2: I argue against putting more kids– general ed, special ed, ELL, disabled or those whose parents wear white t shirts into programs to prove what what is already evident.

The very fact some charters can claim that ALL their kids go on to college proves there is cherry-picking afoot: ALL the kids from Harvard Westlake or Choate or Exeter don’t go on to college!

There is a need for a challenge to charter schools’ service of disabled, special ed and English Language Learner populations – and that that challenge probably needs to be in court. Our legislature and the US/Obama/Duncan Dept of Ed are so lobbied by the charter proponents they have become blind to the very data they claim to be driven by.

Los Angeles – the most charter saturated district in the nation - is the place where the case should be heard ...though ultimately it will be decided in courts of appeal and higher.

I've written this earlier: LAUSD’s Public School Choice Resolution does not create charter schools. I would create a hybrid: Neighborhood schools run by charter management organizations; a completely different beast with a sorry record of it's own ...most unspectacularly in Philadelphia.

EINSTEIN MEETS AESOP: OLD DOG/NEW TRICKS+THE LEOPARD WITH THE CHANGEABLE SPOTS: The board did vote to let charter operators have full control of three campuses and partial control of another. I truly hope they are able to serve all kids on those campuses; if they do more power to them!

And looking reality full into the eye: LAUSD has financial difficulties enough without having to prosecute a lawsuit vs. charter schools that will be defended by deep-pocket Silicon Valley and Westwood billionaires who are true believers in charters and have packed the State Board of Ed and a lot of the legislature with drinkers of their flavor of Reform Kool-Aid.



LA SCHOOL DISTRICT, STATE OF CALIFORNIA SUED OVER TEACHER LAYOFFS

By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Los Angeles, CA (AP) -- Civil rights groups sued the Los Angeles Unified School District and the state on Wednesday, claiming thousands of teacher layoffs will deprive inner-city children of their right to an education.

The budget-cutting dismissal of 2,100 permanent teachers last year disproportionately affected three schools in low-income and minority areas, violating the state constitutional right of students to an equal and proper education, according to the lawsuit.

The district could eliminate another 5,000 jobs during the 2010-2011 school year. The 650,000-student district, the nation's second largest, has seen its funding slashed as the state struggles to close a massive budget deficit.

Some inner-city middle and high schools in Los Angeles could lose up to 40 percent of their teachers in the upcoming cuts, according to an analysis by the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines declined comment on the lawsuit, citing a district policy that prohibits speaking about pending litigation.

__________________________________________

►ACLU PRESS RELEASE: http://bit.ly/cBQ5iT
►Read the full statement of Mark Rosenbaum, ACLU/SC chief counsel. http://bit.ly/909bc9
►Read the full statement of Sharail Reed, 8th grader and member of the AVID program at Markham middle school. http://bit.ly/b5XiQm
►Read the full statement of Concepciona Manuel-Flores, 7th grader at Markham middle school. http://bit.ly/cRKZA8

__________________________________________

The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court and asks a judge to block any more budget-related layoffs at the three schools for the 2010-2011 school year. The lawsuit also wants to bar future layoffs that affect a higher percentage of teachers at those schools than at other district campuses.

Effectively, that could require the state to rescind its funding cutbacks.

"If the government can bail out bankers on Wall Street, they can bail out students in Watts and Pico Union," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, one plaintiff in the case.

While the layoffs are meant to be districtwide, state seniority rules mean the newest teachers go first. Many of them are in schools in tough, poverty-stricken neighborhoods that see a higher teacher turnover.

School districts around the nation are suffering financial crunches. The National Education Association estimates that some 34,000 teaching jobs will be eliminated this year.

Rosenbaum said he did not know whether other ACLU chapters planned to file similar lawsuits, but he called the layoffs "the civil rights issue of our day."

"I don't think we should have to run into a courtroom so that students can learn from teachers that they love," he said.

The lawsuit argues that more than half the permanent teaching positions in the Los Angeles district were lost at Gompers, Liechty and Markham middle schools. Transferred senior teachers and substitutes took over to fill some of the vacancies. But the civil rights groups claim that created a revolving-door situation that harms the learning process.

Some classes have seen as many as 10 teachers in the first four months of the current school year, Rosenbaum said.

"In my history class this year I had so many different teachers that it was a blur," said Sharail Teed, an eight-grader at Markham Middle School in Watts who is listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.


A Reduction in Ethics
by smf for 4LAKids

In a heartfelt email to “Friends and Colleagues” on Monday Yea-Lan Chiang – the LAUSD Ethics Officer announced she would be leaving the District effective March 15 – a part of the downsizing and reduction in force – a change in direction – a door opens, another closes.

There will be folks in the field and guardians of their shrinking budget-line-items who will throw up their hands: “OMG, They have an ethicist at Beaudry!”

Certainly the current regime had little use for an ethics office – but that reflects upon their priorities, not on the work of the office. Perhaps LAUSD can no longer afford afford an ethicist ...but we (“We have met the enemy and he is us!) can't afford to be without ethics.

Ethics and fairness and goodness and values and moral philosophy are pins upon the heads of which unlimited angels dance; we are are charged with raising and educating future generations of our a City of Angels, We are neither angels nor saints ourselves - we are not without our challenges.

We have had our dilemmas and temptations. But the facilities team with whom I work has negotiated a minefield populated with billions of dollars without scandal in a city whose government has a love affair with developers and their money.

Sure, crummy things have happened, sprinkled with a a modicum of wrongdoing and illegality – but our multi-billion-dollars-in-public-funds megaproject has moved from where we were (mired in a scandal of not having built a school in thirty years and sucked into the toxic quicksand of the Belmont Learning Center) to where we are now – almost done - without a Sixty Minutes investigation, an indictment or a staged-for-TV perp walk.

Much of this is do to with ethics policies and guidelines and training from Yea-Lan Chiang and the Ethics office. Lobbyists and contractors and consultants and employees alike have generally been kept honest and have done their work – ethically and with excellence.

Yea-Lan has been a quiet force in her office on the 20th Floor at Beaudry, not the ethics police or an attorney or even a watchdog – but a listening ear and careful questioning voice – a gentle reminder that the areas between legal and illegal and right and wrong are shaded not in just in black and white and gray zones. ...but a rainbow of possibilities to do well and good.

“You”, she says of the people she has served, “Initiate the uncomfortable but clarifying conversations that are necessary to ensure quality and equity. You remain passionate about honoring our students and our people with excellence, fairness and care. You are, in short, the heart of this organization and its greatest gift”

Others may have initiated those conversations, but Yea-Lan facilitated them.

In the seven years since she took over as Ethics Officer much has been accomplished – the launch of the district-wide Ethics Booster and “Gray Zone” film, the passage of two model public integrity codes, the creation of the Electronic Lobbying Filing System, the increase in financial disclosure via greater compliance with Form 700s, and the recent completion of LAUSD's online Ethics University.

Yea Lan says she is most proud of is the work achieved through the Ask Ethics Helpline, [(213) 241-3330] in her words “Supporting individuals at all levels of the organization in making better choices that honor the public’s trust and that take into account the ethical ripple effect we create as public school officials”

“Through the transition plan that Chief Operating Officer David Holmquist and I have been working on since January,”the ethics work at LAUSD will continue and with strong leadership support', says Yea Lan, “ Ethics advisor Darlene Vargas, whom I place great confidence in, will help to helm the transition.

“I only wish,” she says “ that more people inside and outside of our organization would appreciate what Harvard Business School Professor Joseph Badaracco says about you "quiet heroes", that you “make an organization—and indeed the world—a better place.”

Yea-Lan says in her farewell: “I want to conclude by expressing my deepest heartfelt thanks to all the “quiet heroes” in this organization who give their very best, day in and day out. You work responsibly, inconspicuously, behind-the-scenes with thoughtful consideration, good planning and integrity in all that you do. You tackle the many endless details that others overlook.”

“I thank each of you for being my inspiration all these years, starting from my own early days as a child of this district. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Thank you, Yea-Lan. You will be missed.

http://ethics.lausd.net


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources


OH, SAY, CAN YOU SAY THEM: Being word 'pronouncer' at a spelling bee is harder than it looks: By Sandy Banks, Los ... http://bit.ly/bTZelp

LET’S TALK ABOUT CHARTER SCHOOLS AND RACE: By Leonard Isenberg & Anthony Holland in PerDaily.com | http://bit.ly/d... http://bit.ly/diIDa5

LAUSD DISCOVERS “LOCAL CONTROL”: Themes in the News for the week of February 22-26, 2010 By UCLA/IDEA Staff ... http://bit.ly/9boAfB

SCHOOLS, FAMILIIES STRUGGLING TO PAY FOR AP EXAMS: BY JORGE BARRIENTOS, Bakersfield Californian staff writer F... http://bit.ly/cwgG9B

STATE DELAYS LIST OF LOWEST PERFORMERS: By John Fensterwald | The Educated Guess February 25th, 2010 -- State and... http://bit.ly/ax3D2Y

EXPANSIONS OF STATE VOUCHER PROGRAMS GAIN MOMENTUM: By Lesli A. Maxwell | EdWeek | Vol. 29, Issue 23 Element... http://bit.ly/9ymQNS

FREMONT STAFF PAYS PRICE WHEN KIDS UNDERPERFORM: LAUSD's drive to reform hits high school hard and fuels a backlas... http://bit.ly/d9OlX3

TO LIVE AND LEARN IN L.A.: by Mikhail Zinshteyn in Tapped – The American Prospect Blog | http://bit.ly/digOs3 Feb... http://bit.ly/aiqI4t

THE CHARTER SCHOOL TEST CASE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN: If they hadn't been mostly shut out of bids to run a slew of new ... http://bit.ly/cDy1WC

When two local paper editorial boards disagree so fundamentally, does it mean you’ve done the right thing? Or step... http://bit.ly/attjiX

LAUSD TO RAISE FESS FOR AFTERSCHOOL USE OF FACILITIES BY NONPROFITS: The celebrated transparency and accountabilit... http://bit.ly/94X8tW

Study: GAINING GROUND IN MIDDLE SCHOOL -- WHY SOME SCHOOLS DO BETTER: from EdSource Educators widely recognize th... http://bit.ly/9F0c9r

NY TIMES:Oversight Is Urged for Charter Schools | Progress Slow in City Goal to Fire Bad Teachers | Obama Pitches ... http://bit.ly/cKuVN8

GOV. SCHWARZENEGGER APPOINTS FIFTH (AND FINAL?) ED. SEC.: By Lesli Maxwell | Ed Week February 23, 2010 4:34 PM ... http://bit.ly/9OWjbk

L.A. UNIFIED IS SUED OVER TEACHER LAYOFFS AT 3 LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS: Suit seeks to prevent further teacher cuts ... http://bit.ly/d52N6w

LA SCHOOL DISTRICT, STATE OF CALIFORNIA SUED OVER TEACHER LAYOFFS: By ROBERT JABLON, Associated Press Writer Wed... http://bit.ly/bdB3LG


Letters to the Editor of the Daily News: LAUSD PARCEL TAX: Updated: 02/23/2010 09:41:51 AM PST Re "LAUSD puts par... http://bit.ly/b9pzxO

BIG TEACHER SEES ALL: by Michael McGough | LA Times Opinion LA Blog February 23, 2010 | 6:59 am -- One of the mo... http://bit.ly/d6KSdf

19. COMMUNITY COLLEGES MUST SHARE IN HIGHER EDUCATION RECOVERY: Schwarzenegger's education plan does nothing to help t... http://bit.ly/aam73j 5:31 AM Feb 24th via twitterfeed
RED SHIRTS + WHITE SHIRTS: Audience members react as the L.A. Unified Board of Education decides how to divvy up 3... http://bit.ly/cD44bY

NOVEL SCHOOL PLAN UPHELD: Los Angeles' Board of Education voted Tuesday to hand over some of its public schools to... http://bit.ly/avTLLc

THE DENOUEMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE: The day that was: Tuesday Feb 23rd as of 8:35 pm: de·noue·ment /ˌdeɪnuˈ... http://bit.ly/9x86xO

STATE TRIMS DEFICIT, BUT KEY CUTS (Education, Health and Human Services) DELAYED: Wyatt Buchanan, SF Chronicle Sac... http://bit.ly/9kMZzQ

PSC: THE MORNING OF THE SHOWDOWN: smf: Today’s board meeting -- where the Board will make the the public school “c... http://bit.ly/assChm

T&A in a blog about education! + LAUSD OPENS THE BOOKS FOR ITS EMPLOYEES: by smf for 4lakids 23 Feb 10 -- We have... http://bit.ly/cF0t5x

LAUSD CHARTER SCHOOLS FAIL TO MAKE THE GRADE IN AREA OF DISABILITIES: By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily Ne... http://bit.ly/dfTpR6

SNATCHING OUTRAGE FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY: Charles Kerchner - Research Professor of Education at Claremont G... http://bit.ly/cZW4Yh

MR. CORTINES, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!: SICK AND TIRED By Ken Alpern | LA City Watch |Vol 8 Issue 15 Pub: Fe... http://bit.ly/a8JvZ3

Using one-time-money to to pay for ongoing programs: SACRAMENTO SCHOOL DISTRICTS USED STIMULUS FUNDS TO PAY TEACHE... http://bit.ly/ayUsKI

LAUSD BOARD TO DECIDE ON OUTSIDE GROUPS TO RUN SCHOOLS: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC Monday Feb. 22nd |6:00 a.m. |... http://bit.ly/atIgFZ

HAMILTON HIGH STUDENTS RALLY AROUND A BELOVED OFFICE WORKER: They saved her job for a while. Now they are trying a... http://bit.ly/b5eU3H

INVITING TROUBLE: City Hall, LAUSD officials can seem blind to potential conflicts of interest: LA Daily News Edit... http://bit.ly/chhmLH

Duffy: LAUSD MUST RESPECT VOTE OF THE PUBLIC: By A.J. Duffy - Op-ed in the LA Daily News :: A.J. Duffy is presid... http://bit.ly/9pKrpX


EVENTS: Coming up next week...
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-241.8700


• 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
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.


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




Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is an elected Representative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids.
• FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
• To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.



Sunday, February 21, 2010

IFTK::MEGO


4LAKids: Sunday 21•Feb•2010
In This Issue:
COMPLACENCY ADDS TO THE FISCAL CRISIS IN EDUCATION
CORTINES RECOMMENDS WHO SHOULD RUN 30 CAMPUSES; Charter schools wanted more
PARSING THE PARCEL TAX: Yes, the LAUSD needs the money. But will voters go along? And what exactly would be funded?
“IT’S FOR THE KIDS” NEEDS TO GO!
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:
4 LAKids on Twitter
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.
A recent EdWeek blog article attacks the shibboleth “It's for the Kids” (acronym IFTK) and its tired sidekick "putting the interests of adults ahead of children”. We've all sworn on that stack of holy books, crossed our hearts and hoped to die. RIP IFTK.

Here's another acronym, born of endless meetings: MEGO – “My eyes glaze over”.

Blogger Rick Hess comes from the right side of the political spectrum, but he sees the danger in the Kool-Aid. He writes: “Pushed to consider revisions to No Child Left Behind that would relax NCLB proficiency targets, for instance, some high-ranking officials in the Bush Administration's Department of Education were prone to respond, 'So, whose child are you prepared to leave behind?'"

He continues: “Such variants of the IFTK genus are intended to stifle questions by flaunting moral superiority. Playing the IFTK card ignores the likelihood that no one is eager to leave anybody's kids behind and the reality that policies entail imperfect choices. By squelching honest dissent, IFTK excuses incoherent policy and practice in the name of moral urgency.”

'Urgency' – another word-as-a-weapon.

Hess proposes we presume that everybody cares (...or admit we can't tell the posers from the real deal) and discuss/argue/debate policies and practices instead. 4LAKids seconds the motion and calls the question.


An unnamed teacher writes the LA Weekly this week re: LAUSD's challenges : "The biggest obstacle is the district's bizarre 2003 decision that every child would take and pass traditional academics starting with algebra 1AB. As a teacher of algebra one and two, I can tell you that for some students, this is not teaching, it is miracle work. Universal mandatory algebra is a social experiment on the order of Prohibition or communism — beautiful in the abstract and a fiasco in reality."

The same can be said about the District's 2005 decision to commit to the A through G Graduation Requirements: Every high school graduate qualified - and by illogical extension destined - for the UC/CSU system. As is the mantra for 100% graduation.

Look back on the history of the highly touted and recently-cloned-in-LA Boston Compact. [Here: http://bit.ly/byF2gs and here: http://bit.ly/bjgJFr] .Dreaming big should be encouraged. High Standards and Expectations need to be fostered. Opening the doors to opportunity and offering multiple pathways to myriad flavors of success is an absolute.

Every child can succeed. School reform is not impossible ...but universal mandatory success is.

¡Onward/Adelante! - smf


PS: [from Sacramento, a city maybe crazier than ours! And the airport code is SMF! What'sWithThat?] Supt. Cortines resignation from the Board of Scholastic rates more than a PS – but as off-putting as this apparently decade-long appeaence of a conflict of interest is, it not the biggest deal ongoing in LAUSD.

Next weeks decision by the Board of Ed on Public School Choice will be next week's biggest deal. True, Cortines' recommendations do not suggest selling (or giving away) the entire farm – but the cow has been traded and magic beans have been planted. Tuesday the Board of Ed makes its choice – the only choice that matters. Unless some judge steps in.

In future weeks The Budget will be the issue. And Layoffs. And Special Ed. And English Language Learners. And Adult Ed. And Arts Education. And Testing. The Crisis o' th' Week Club will overide/overrule/overwhelm the board that only wants to meet every two weeks.

Sooner or later Scholastic will return. The issues of the Read 180 program acquisition and ethical recusal – the history of who did what when and who knew what when remains unresolved. Cortines resigned from the Scholastic Board – but he remains a stockholder ...Schoalstic stock has increased in value 17!% in the year of his superintendency. The influence of textbook publishers in public education needs to be looked into. It's a national story worthy of 60 Minutes ...and this may be a start.


COMPLACENCY ADDS TO THE FISCAL CRISIS IN EDUCATION

Fred Brill | Open Forum in the San Francisco Chronicle

Friday, February 19, 2010 -- Please. Slow down and listen before you take up your pitchforks. I am not a monster. I am merely an educator and a parent. I, too, have been complicit in allowing our education system to deteriorate.

The primary focus in education has been "equity" - addressing the low achievement of students of color, students of low socioeconomic status - but profound fiscal challenges are shifting our attention. Public school districts across the state are increasing class sizes, decreasing the length of the school year, eliminating professional development and eviscerating art, music, athletic and summer school programs.

We educators are fish swimming placidly, heedless of the political environment. Or maybe we are frogs in a pot of simmering water.

Maybe it's the unwavering "can-do" attitude of teachers that contributes to the state of affairs.

Raise our class size incrementally to 40? No problem.

No school nurses or counselors? Fine. We'll insert a needle into the thigh of a girl experiencing anaphylaxis, while consoling the boy whose father passed away.

No classroom materials? We'll pay out of pocket.

Fewer custodians? We'll teach in filth.

Cut our benefits? We'll take one for the team.

Maybe it is the parents who are to blame, especially those from wealthy communities. Rather than work to change a dysfunctional educational system, we ask: "What kind of check should we write?" We take care of our own.

Our elected officials struggle to pass a state budget, but they'll impose midyear budget cuts on school districts and delay payments, while refusing to pay interest on hijacked money. Is it ridiculous for the state to fully fund the mandates it imposes?

Our political system requires a two-thirds majority to pass a parcel tax, a tranquilizer we readily swallow to avoid the headache of dealing with the bigger problem. How about a simple majority of voters to impose a tax?

While California is the seventh-largest economy in the world, our per-pupil funding is 46th in the nation. What are the policymakers doing to address this educational crisis? Aside from patching together a state budget that is but a house of cards, aren't they supposed to pay attention to the system as a whole?

Doesn't a world-class education system necessitate an adequate revenue base?

Are we content to live in this state of mediocrity we call California?

I didn't become an educator to dismantle programs and services that support our students' learning. Never mind. Maybe it's better to enroll our kids in a private school. We shouldn't think about the water we are stewing in. It's so warm and soothing ...


CORTINES RECOMMENDS WHO SHOULD RUN 30 CAMPUSES; Charter schools wanted more

by Howard Blume | LA Times/LA Now blog

February 18, 2010 | 9:11 pm -- The chance to operate 18 new campuses would be divided among competing bidders in a politically balanced way under recommendations released Thursday by Los Angeles schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines.

His recommendations are the next step in a process through which bidders from inside and outside the school district are competing to run the 18 new campuses as well as 12 persistently low-performing schools.

The main competitors include groups of teachers—often working with district administrators—versus independently operated charter schools, which are exempt from some rules that govern traditional schools.

In the end, each political constituency is positioned to get something, but there is also substantial disappointment--especially among charter school advocates.

The Los Angeles Board of Education is scheduled to make the final selections Tuesday and intense lobbying from all quarters has already begun.

Charter companies had bid mainly for new campuses. Most of the larger, better-known charter organizations got one school or part of one school, but charter advocates said Cortines should have gone further based on their record of running high-achieving schools.

Charters scored seven new small schools, some on campuses they would share with schools that are still affiliated with the school district. Proposals involving district teachers claimed 18 new small schools. A nonprofit controlled by the mayor also competed for a new elementary school and would get it, under the superintendent’s choices.

Among the existing schools, the biggest news concerned Jefferson High in Central-Alameda. Cortines opted for an internal reform proposal at a school where he handpicked the current principal. The loser in that competition would be the mayor’s team.

The mayor’s nonprofit, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, also lost to an internal plan at Griffith-Joyner Elementary in Watts, but would claim a notable prize: Carver Middle School in South Park.

The Youth Policy Institute will split San Fernando Middle School with an internal district team. The institute would keep its part of the school within the school system rather than making it a charter.

A handful of charter operators vied for an existing school and lost. Yet for most of the existing schools there was no competition; only an internal plan emerged. Cortines approved these but expressed strong reservations on some.

No San Fernando Valley school went to a charter, which dismayed charter operator Eugene Selivanov.

“A lot of us have been very skeptical of this process and I guess a lot of us were right,” said Selivanov, executive director of Ivy Academia. The “superintendent’s recommendations show that this was never a competitive process.”

Charter operator Mike Piscal called the split campuses a “half a loaf strategy.”

His ICEF Public Schools is supposed to share a middle school campus. He would run one small school and an internal district team would run two.

“From a practical standpoint, it runs the risk of muddling reform by putting three schools run by two separate operators on a campus built and intended to house one,” he said.

The new Torres High School complex will house five new small schools. Cortines wants to see two charter schools and three “pilot” schools. The pilots are internal, teacher-led plans for schools that are supposed to have much of the autonomy of charter schools

Former school board member David Tokofksy called the split campuses “educational Darwinism” that overlooks the importance of unity and collaboration to a successful school.

The teacher groups did well overall, but they could take issue with the recommendations as well. They had a claim to every campus because the teacher plans prevailed in every school-level advisory election among staff, parents and high school students.

Cortines, however, was not bound to comply with these results. He also examined analyses by professional evaluators and conducted his own review.


PARSING THE PARCEL TAX: Yes, the LAUSD needs the money. But will voters go along? And what exactly would be funded?

LA Times Editorial

February 18, 2010 -- The parcel tax proposal for Los Angeles schools is barely out of the gate and already it's limping. In an economy this bad, a new $100-a-year tax on each piece of residential and commercial property sounds like a lot of money to many property owners. In addition, parcel taxes in poorer school districts have fared badly at the ballot box lately. And even if it passes, the money would only begin to cover budget shortfalls at the L.A. Unified School District.

What's more, many voters remember that they recently approved a far bigger sum in construction bonds so that students could have uncrowded, sparkling, state-of-the-art classrooms.

There are some things to admire about the new tax proposal. Even if the money isn't nearly enough to make the district whole, the school board was right to keep the amount and duration moderate -- less than $400 million over four years, compared with more than $7 billion over a decade in the over-padded bond measure of 2008. We're glad the district moved decisively to place the measure on the ballot in June rather than November, even if its chances are weaker in a spring election. The district's shortages are immediate.

Although we are convinced of the need, that doesn't mean we are convinced about this particular proposal. We will be learning more about the measure in coming weeks, and hope to hear item-by-item specifics from district leaders on how this money would be spent; one of our chief objections to the bond was the vagueness about the projects that would be funded. We're not persuaded by assurances that none of the money from the parcel tax would go to administration. The budget is fungible; more money for the classroom means fewer cuts for administration. Besides, at least a portion of this money should go to the district's Office of the Inspector General for regular audits on whether it is being used well.

We also want to hear more about what the district has done and will continue to do in order to cut unnecessary expenses. In 2007, the board voted -- in a union-placating move and over the objections of then-Supt. David L. Brewer, who said the district lacked the money -- to expand the hours and benefits of cafeteria workers at a cost of millions of dollars per year. Has the district done anything to cut back on those expenses? If not, will it?

If local voters are asked to give yet again to L.A. Unified, they have a right to ask what they would get in return.


“IT’S FOR THE KIDS” NEEDS TO GO!

from Rick Hess’ Straight Up EdWeek blog | http://bit.ly/9KQDt1

February 17, 2010 -- It's time to banish the phrase, "It's for the kids," (that's "IFTK" for those of you keeping score at home) from the edu-discourse, along with its insipid cousins like "it's all about kids," "just for the kids," and "we're in it for the kids." Actually, it's way past time.

Two things recently reminded how much I loathe IFTK. One was a terrific little essay penned by my old mentor, Harvard University's Dick Elmore. The other, which I'll take up tomorrow, was AFT President Randi Weingarten's painful interview recently on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show.

Elmore bracingly terms "We're in it for the kids" a "monument to self-deception." He argues, "Public schools, and the institutions that surround them, surely rank among the most self-interested institutions in American society"--with school boards "training beds" for would-be politicians, superintendents sketching grandiose visions and then fleeing for cushier positions, and unions sacrificing student interests in the name of teacher job security.

"It's for the kids" is a phrase that encourages obfuscation and posturing. It allows self-interest to hide behind self-righteousness and vapid sentiment. It also imposes real costs.

First, the rhetoric of "it's for the kids" makes it easy for serious disagreements about policy or practice to devolve into name-calling and questions of motive. If I'm "in it for the kids" and you oppose my stance on teacher licensure, desegregation, charter schooling, or merit pay, it can be easy for me to assert (and maybe even assume) that you're not in it for the kids. This fuels ad hominem attacks and makes it more difficult to find workable solutions.

And, honestly, I can't see why motive much matters. I couldn't care less whether my doctor loves me; I just care whether she's any good at her job. If someone is in it for the kids, for the adoring news coverage, or for a buck, all I really care about is whether they deliver. If they do, terrific. If they don't, their noble motives don't matter.

Enough for now. Check back tomorrow if you want to catch the second half of this little tirade--and a few choice quotes from the Weingarten interview.


It’s tomorrow already?:
FREE WEINGARTEN NOW!
from Rick Hess’ Straight Up EdWeek blog

February 18, 2010 -- Yesterday I railed that the "it's for the kids" (IFTK) mantra turns substantive disagreements into name-calling. If I'm "for the kids" and you disagree with me on tracking, testing, or whatever, it follows that you're "against the kids." (As an aside, Knowledge Alliance honcho Jim Kohlmoos wryly asked whether it wasn't IFTK that led me into teaching. Straight up: nope. Cold-hearted guy that I am, I just enjoyed the instruction, the kids, and the content. But, it was easy enough to play along and mouth IFTK banalities just like the next guy. And that's the problem.)

The IFTK lingo becomes a reflex that stifles honest debate and cogent thinking. This brings us to AFT President Randi Weingarten's recent interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show. Pressed by tough questions, the razor-sharp Weingarten illustrated how IFTK helps turn important discussions into vapid and disconcertingly stupid ones.

Asked, "Why are the teachers union held in such disregard?" Weingarten responds (in a bit of a non sequitur), "I think what's happened is that, since the economy has changed so much, everybody really wants to make sure we help all of our kids."

Told, "But the perception is that you all over the years have put job security in front of the welfare of the kids," Weingarten says, "Teachers want to help kids succeed ... But we need to help, all of us, take more responsibility to make sure all of our kids get a decent education."

Asked, "What's the central complaint of the teachers union about charter schools?" Weingarten counters, "Look, the issue becomes: how do you help all kids?" A minute later, she adds, "The issue becomes: how do we help all kids succeed? The issue in terms of the charter schools were, we want to make sure that they're taking the same kinds of kids that all other public schools have."

Weingarten's parting comments? "We want to do a great job with kids. That's what it's about." Just to be clear, she elaborates, "But it is about how we help the kids. And teachers want to help the kids." Randi Weingarten is smart, savvy, and engaging. I've got to imagine it was as painful for her to mouth that pabulum as it was to listen to it.

This isn't just about Weingarten, by any means. Pushed to consider revisions to No Child Left Behind that would relax NCLB proficiency targets, for instance, some high-ranking officials in the Bush Administration's Department of Education were prone to respond, "So, whose child are you prepared to leave behind?"

Such variants of the IFTK genus are intended to stifle questions by flaunting moral superiority. Playing the IFTK card ignores the likelihood that no one is eager to leave anybody's kids behind and the reality that policies entail imperfect choices. By squelching honest dissent, IFTK excuses incoherent policy and practice in the name of moral urgency.

So, here's a wild idea. Can't we just presume that everybody cares (or admit that we can't tell the posers from the real deal) and just argue policies and practices instead?


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS REPORT ON THE PSC ELECTIONS: from the Los Angeles LWV Yahoogroup As most of you know, the ... http://bit.ly/b590LK

UNITED TEACHERS LOS ANGELES PROTESTS SCHOOL DISTRICT REFORM: dogwelder/Flickr CC | Protesters gather in front of t... http://bit.ly/9dEA0s

DOWN WITH PARENT POWER: by Jay Matthews in the Class Struggle/Education blog of the Washington Post February 19, ... http://bit.ly/cRHIZr

COMPLACENCY ADDS TO THE FISCAL CRISIS IN EDUCATION: Fred Brill | Open Forum in the San Francisco Chronicle Friday... http://bit.ly/9IGErL

LAWMAKERS TO LAUNCH BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO REWRITE NCLB: By Nick Anderson | Washington Post Staff Writer Thursda... http://bit.ly/cs5wb1

SAFEGUARDING THE RIGHT TO A SOUND BASIC EDUCATON IN TIMES OF FISCAL RESTRAINT: By Michael A. Rebell | School Fundi... http://bit.ly/a7xgD4

PSC: BOARD REPORT | SUPERINTENDENT’S RECOMMENDATIONS: ‘FULLDOCPSCRECOMMENDATIONS http://bit.ly/ceVXKk
Friday, February 19, 2010 12:32 AM

PSC | Cortines: “LAUSD SHOULD BE IN CHARGE” - District would run most schools under reform plan: By Connie Llanos,... http://bit.ly/ddXGq1

Update: L.A. UNIFIED HEAD QUITS BOARD OF SCHOLASTIC INC: Ramon C. Cortines says he is cutting his ties to the ed... http://bit.ly/c8eagW

SUPERINTENDENT CORTINES RESIGNS FROM SCHOLASTIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS EFFECTIVE TOMORROW: Cortines Resignation From S... http://bit.ly/cZTtfU

THE SUPERINTENDENT’S “STATE OF THE SCHOOLS” …I MEAN “DISTRICT”: The bullet points and press release: by smf for 4L... http://bit.ly/ctB9nP

PARSING THE PARCEL TAX: Yes, the LAUSD needs the money. But will voters go along? And what exactly would be funded... http://bit.ly/d7EDCT

“IT’S FOR THE KIDS” NEEDS TO GO!: from Rick Hess’ Straight Up EdWeek blog | http://bit.ly/9KQDt1 February 17, 201... http://bit.ly/dmL5jQ

Me-too photo-Op School Reform?: COMMUNITY LEADERS SIGN LA COMPACT TO REFORM LAUSD SCHOOLS: By Connie Llanos Staff ... http://bit.ly/cM9vSE


EVENTS: Coming up next week...
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-241.8700


• 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
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.


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




Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is an elected Representative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids.
• FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
• To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.