In This Issue:
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HEAD OF LAUSD ADULT EDUCATION ED MORRIS OUSTED AS PROGRAMS TEETER |
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NEW HOMEWORK POLICY SURVEY |
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MAYOR
TONY STRIKES AGAIN (ACTUALLY 3 TIMES): In DC with All the Mayors + Arne
Duncan/Writing Letters to Gov.Brown/Interviewed by a TV Newswoman |
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BUDGET WOES MIGHT CAUSE LAUSD TO SHUTTER ITS UNIQUE CLEAR CREEK NATURE CENTER |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not neccessariily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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A School of Thought, Wikipedia tells us, is "a
collection or group of people who share common characteristics of
opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement,
cultural movement, or art movement.
"Schools are often characterized by their currency, and thus classified
into "new" and "old" schools. This dichotomy is often a component of
paradigm shift. However, it is rarely the case that there are only two
schools in any given field."
LAUSD has 680,000 students, 40,000 teachers and over a million parents.
It is rarely the case there are only two schools of thought on anything.
Sometimes I don’t agree with me.
There is a school of thought that says if you aren’t at the meeting you
can’t complain about the outcome. There is another school of thought
that says you can’t go to the meeting if you don’t know about it. I go
to a lot of meetings and I can say that individually most of them are
pretty boring. Meetings are pieces of a puzzle – eventually you might
get enough of them to know what the picture is. Sometimes you see the
whole thing assembled.
THE FINAL MEETING OF THE LAUSD REDISTRICTING COMMISSION should have been
boring. The conclusion was forgone, the executive director made it
clear that the commission had absolutely no option but to approve the
report he authored (Cinderella-like on Leap day, the meeting convened
with only six hours remaining in the commission’s statutory term – at
midnight it would be pumpkins and mice and tattered rags.
But speaker after speaker challenged the report and the map – and when
actual interchanges between stakeholders and the commissioners ensued
the deputy city attorney threatened that the discussion violated the
Brown Act because – and try not to be too surprised – it exceeded the
scope of the agenda item – which was “Discussion and possible action on
Draft Commission Report”. How exactly do you exceed that scope when
discussing the commission report?
Part of the quashed discussion arose from accusations of possible
malfeasance in that commission staff allegedly continued to revise the
map after it had been finally approved. Even though the staff was able
to generate map revisions in real time at last week’s meeting – they
were unable to actually publish the “final” map until the day before the
final meeting …and Schoolboard member LaMotte alleged that the maps
continued to be revised after that.
And – true to Steve Lopez’ column that dirty politics in LA is second
only to Chicago - what should’ve been an unspoken threat was uttered
aloud and read into the record: Don’t reopen the discussion about the
map or you’ll only get a worse deal than you got. The audience groaned
and the commissioners fell into line.
In addition to the allegations of insider dealing there was also a lot
of “who knew about the meetings?” from the public …while commission
staff patted themselves on the head about how much money they saved on
community outreach.
So the sausage was made according to the script and gerrymanders were
unloosed upon the earth. The glorious goal of creating a “Federally
Protected African American Seat” was celebrated and the African American
occupant of that seat cried foul. A decade ago this commissions’
predecessor created a “Safe Latino seat” in District 5; in three
elections a Latina won only once. The gerrymander has been jiggered
again, but with city and school district elections happening in June –
and real elections in November - the electorate probably won’t follow
the script or the directions anywhere near as well as the commission
did.
LAUSD LEADERSHIP SHOWED THE IRON FIST IN ITS VELVET GLOVE, removing Ed
Morris as head of Adult Ed – "placed on administrative leave with no
additional information to be provided" - as is their wont. Morris has
capably run Adult Ed in LAUSD – a program three times the size of San
Diego Unified, has done so efficiently and cost-effectively, using
entrepreneurial methods - and being data-driven while the rest of LAUSD
only talked about being data driven. But Ed protested a little too much –
and a little too effectively - when his program was led to the chopping
block. At the Disney Company employees who aren’t in step with
corporate leadership and/or the company mythology – not swimming with
the school of thought - are said not to “have their ears on straight”.
Like that.
MAYOR TONY IS A WHOLE OTHER SCHOOL OF THOUGHT UNTO HIMSELF ...though
having appointed four of the redistricting commissioners (who sat and
voted as a bloc) it’s hard to miss his fingerprints.
Remember how Antonio started out as the Energizer Bunny, was seemingly
everywhere in the city, riding shotgun is his black-out
windowed/unmarked 9MPG SUV? Then he kind of settled-down/laid-low as
his personal life and the city’s financial picture and political
fortune+future went into a tailspin? (Plus all the potholes were murder
on the SUV’s suspension.) Well, he’s back – kind of. Tony’s taken the
Energizer Bunny show on the road, running L.A.’s foreign policy in
Asia; he’s El Alcalde de los todos Alcaldes, and he’s running the
Democratic National Convention. He’s no longer The Education Mayor, he’s
the Education President of the U.S. [Conference of Mayors] – pleading
with Arne Duncan to give Race to the Top Money to school districts
…something Arne’s already said he’s going to do. This puts Tony and his
handpicked superintendent, John Deasy in an interesting position: Both
want to be Arne’s successor as Secretary of Education in the worst way.
Of course Arne hasn’t
said he’s leaving, Los Angeles’ reputation in public education right now
is at an all time low …and there won’t be a Secretary of Education in a
(gosh forbid!) Romney, Gingrich, Santorum or Paul
administration.
Tony sent a letter to Governor Brown bemoaning how hard it is to fire
teachers who misbehave – even as he alleged bad apple at one of “his”
schools. And it still seems moot when LAUSD can’t seem to report alleged
perpetrators to the state within thirty days as required by law– yet
complain that they are hamstrung by a forgotten clause in the union
contract about four-year-old “cold cases”.
How is anyone possibly limited by a rule they don’t know about? This
looks more like a case of the Bad Teacher’s Union who ate their
homework.
DID SOMEONE SAY HOMEWORK? There are a number of schools of thought
about homework, ranging from kids shouldn’t get any to kids aren’t
getting near enough. The District has had four community meetings about
the new proposed homework policy.
“New Homework Policy?” you say – I didn’t know about that. Now you do. An article follows.
“I didn’t know about the meetings” you say? Go back and re-read those
two points I made about how folks who weren’t at (or didn’t know about)
the meetings can’t complain.
An All-Call went out with 24 hours notice on the first two meetings in
Local District 8 and 3 and less than twenty people showed up. Total. An
All-Call with almost a week’s notice went out on the next two – in Local
District 2 and 5 – along with an article in the Daily News and a media
announcement (not a parent announcement) on the LAUSD site. 7 or 8 folks
showed up in LD5, and perhaps 25 in LD2. The discussion in LD2 at
Walter Reed Middle School was frank, lively and contentious. It’s
obvious that the policy needs much more thought and the District needs
more community meetings. More are planned but not yet scheduled. Stay
tuned. And take the survey cited in the article.
Sarcasm alert: THE DISTRICT HAS DECIDED TO PROHIBIT BLINDFOLDS+BUTTER
MAKING – both actually parts of the state approved/textbook published
curriculum. That will stop the perverts far more cost effectively than
real professional development and parent outreach on child abuse
identification and prevention.
A teacher friend reminded me that family members (and close friends and
other children) are statistically the predominant abusers of children.
That was the primary focus of the Darkness to Light program we used to
have for parents in LAUSD. Those statistics aren’t statistics, they are
undeniably real truths – sad and intolerable – but that doesn’t excuse
one instance of abuse at school.
¡Onward/Adelante! –smf
THE SUNDAY PAPERS:
TEE DAILY NEWS features stories about the Closing of Clear Creek Nature
Center (follows), an Op-ed about Ed Reform (not yet published online) a
piece on how the Federal Jobs Plan may help community colleges [http://bit.ly/zHBXEJ], and actual journalism about high school sports | http://bit.ly/yoZ7fq. THE TIMES describes a bit of legislative overkill re: keeping food trucks away from schools | http://lat.ms/xmDurf
(Pot shops must be 600 ft away, taco trucks 1500 ft. – there’s a chunk
of irony here about the availability of Alice B. Toklas gourmet
brownies); a piece about Whittier parents who built their own school
library [http://lat.ms/wb4pa9] and a Steve Lopez column about good teaching/a good teacher [http://lat.ms/yjX78I . ] On Monday The Times will erect a firewall around their online content
…apparently all those ads for charter schools and online virtual charters aren’t keeping the creditors at
bay.
HEAD OF LAUSD ADULT EDUCATION ED MORRIS OUSTED AS PROGRAMS TEETER
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/yzE3EI
3/01/2012 08:40:06 PM PST :: Assistant Superintendent Ed Morris has been
ousted as head of LAUSD's popular, yet embattled, Adult Education
Division, the Daily News has learned.
Morris was notified of the decision about 4 p.m. Tuesday by Deputy Superintendent Jaime Aquino, sources said.
A district spokesman said Morris had been placed on administrative leave
and that no additional information would be provided. Morris could not
be reached for comment.
The action came just days after Morris was quoted in an National Public
Radio interview questioning the long-term value of earning a GED or
high-school equivalency certificate, one of the programs offered by his
division.
"If I were prepared today with a GED, and that's what I had as an
18-year-old, I'd be scared to death of the future," he said in the Feb.
18 story, in which Superintendent John Deasy also raised concerns about
the adequacy of a GED.
Morris joined Adult Education as an English teacher in 1984 and worked
his way up to executive director of the division, which serves about
300,000 students.
His most recent contract for $144,118 a year was signed on July 1, 2010
by then-Superintendent Ramon Cortines. It is due to expire June 30,
2012, the end of the current fiscal year.
With the district facing a $550 million deficit for the 2012-13 school
year, Deasy had proposed eliminating most Adult Education classes and
diverting the division's $200 million in state money to K-12 programs.
Deasy said there was money available to fund GED and high school diploma
classes but that parenting, vocational and other career-education
programs would be cut.
That proposal touched off a firestorm of protests among Adult Education
teachers and students. Supporters launched a website, gathered tens of
thousands of signatures and mounting raucous demonstrations at LAUSD
headquarters.
The school board had been scheduled on Feb. 14 to make crippling cuts to
adult education, as well as arts and preschool programs. On a motion by
Steve Zimmer, the board delayed the vote until March 13 in the hope of
finding additional funding sources or other programs to cut.
In an interview with the Daily News published Feb. 12, Morris worried
about the long-term impact of gutting the Adult Education Division.
"About 74 percent of students in LAUSD qualify for free or reduced-price lunches -- they live in poverty," he said.
"These students will live in poverty for every day of every week of
every month of every year until we raise the standard of living of their
family.
"The kids can't get themselves out of poverty -- it has to be the
parent," he said. "And adult education is the best option in terms of
helping students, of developing the community, of providing hope for
families, and of providing hope for economic development."
NEW HOMEWORK POLICY SURVEY
From the AALA weekly update | http://bit.ly/wd71qI
Three committees made up of District staff, members from UTLA (teachers’
union) and AALA (administrators union) , as well as LAUSD parents have
been actively working on recommendations regarding LAUSD policies on
homework, A-G graduation requirements and standards-based promotion
since October 2011. Opportunities were provided for parental input at
four locations on February 23, 2012, and March 1, 2012.
smf: Four additional stakeholder forae will be scheduled – stay tuned.
After reviewing and discussing articles and research on homework and
gathering input from their stakeholders, the committee made four major
recommendations which will be presented to the Board in April 2012.
1. Homework assignments will comprise no more that 20% of a student’s academic letter grade.
2. A distinction must be made between routine daily homework and projects/long-term assignments.
3. Schools may establish local guidelines with input from all stakeholders.
4. There are maximum time allocations for homework per grade level.
The District intends on reaching out and encouraging more input from all
stakeholders through the distribution of a brief online survey.
Stakeholders will be allowed to anonymously complete the online survey
and the results will be shared with the committees. Please note that
there are some questions that are specific to teachers and parents that
will only be shown to those who identify themselves as such.
MAYOR TONY STRIKES AGAIN (ACTUALLY 3 TIMES): In DC
with All the Mayors + Arne Duncan/Writing Letters to
Gov.Brown/Interviewed by a TV Newswoman
► SCHOOL DISTRICTS WILL BE ALLOWED TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL EDUCATION MONEY, SECRETARY DUNCAN SAYS
By Richie Duchon City News Service, from EGPNews.com | http://bit.ly/AECvXM
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today asked Secretary of Education Arne
Duncan in Washington, D.C., to allow not just states, but also
individual school districts that can show gains in student achievement
and graduation rates to apply for “Race to the Top” grants.
Receiving a grant in the $4.35 billion program would enable the Los
Angeles Unified School District to expand innovative programs that are
proving successful, Villaraigosa told City News Service.
“In times of devastating cuts at the state level, access to federal
funds would allow the district to implement programs district-wide, like
the new teacher evaluation system that’s currently being piloted and
the school turnaround program,’ Villaraigosa said.
Duncan reiterated his previous commitment to reserve the majority of
$550 million in grants later this year for individual districts that
apply. The department is expected this spring to release proposed
criteria for school districts to apply, which will then go through a
public comment period.
“I’m really really pleased now to have a chance to participate with
districts, and there’s a huge appetite there,” Duncan told Education
Week in January.
If approved, LAUSD could find itself competing with the state for the grant money.
California has faired poorly in the “Race to the Top” application
process. The state, which has cut billions of dollars in public
education spending in recent years because of drops in tax revenue,
received no money during the first two rounds of grants and just $52
million for early childhood education in the most recent phase.
Villaraigosa also pushed for the ability of individual school districts
to be freed from the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, a
federal program conceived by President George W. Bush’s administration
that ties school funding to performance on standardized tests.
States can apply for waivers from No Child Left Behind, but California
education officials deliberately missed application deadline this week,
claiming conditions set by Duncan for obtaining a waiver are too
restrictive.
Duncan did not say if he would consider the request.
No Child Left Behind has focused too heavily on school achievement
without taking into account school districts’ growth, Villaraigosa press
secretary Vicki Curry said.
“This has restricted LAUSD’s ability to allocate funds to schools that
need the most support. NCLB requirements also limit how to use the money
at the school site,” Curry said, adding that a waiver from the law
would give the district the power to spend money on what’s best for its
students.
Villaraigosa and LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy called for the changes
during a discussion today with Duncan titled “Education Now: Cities at
the Forefront of Reform.” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as top school administrators from those
cities, also took part.
NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell moderated
the discussion, which dealt with numerous issues, including how to
improve urban school systems and strengthen the teaching profession.
The mayors and superintendents had a private meeting with Duncan after the public discussion.
Villaraigosa’s trip is being paid for by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
He is scheduled to return to Los Angeles this afternoon.
_____________________
► VILLARAIGOSA REACTS TO MIRAMONTE SCANDAL WITH LETTER TO GOVERNOR
-- Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/zE6M5f
March 1, 2012 | 6:10 pm :: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
lobbied the governor this week to make it easier to fire teachers “who
violate the public trust of our families and students.”
In a letter Wednesday to Gov. Jerry Brown, Villaraigosa refers to the
January arrest of a Miramonte Elementary School teacher for allegedly
blindfolding students and spoon-feeding them semen.
Villaraigosa noted that former instructor Mark Berndt received a $40,000
settlement last year from the Los Angeles Unified School District in
exchange for dropping the challenge to his dismissal.
“While it is the district’s responsibility to follow the law to remove a
teacher,” Villaraigosa wrote, “it is the state’s duty to ensure that
the process is not so irrational and arduous that districts are forced
to make these kinds of decisions, which encourage resignation as opposed
to dismissal.”
Villaraigosa expanded on his views in an interview Thursday.
“Like everyone, I’m outraged -- and disgusted by what some of these
teachers have done to prey on our kids and to violate the trust that our
students and our families have,” he said.
Villaraigosa said he also had written to the Legislature with the same request for changes to state law.
The mayor also criticized a provision of the local teachers contract,
which requires the purging of teacher personnel records after four
years. The only negative documents that can be officially retained are
those that pertain to a situation that resulted in formal discipline.
The rule has complicated current efforts by L.A. Unified to identify
teachers who pose a potential risk to students, officials have said.
The local union leadership has said that, in general, it’s willing to
negotiate over any measures that would enhance student safety. Union
leaders also have defended rules that are intended to provide teachers
with “due process” to protect them against false accusations and
mistreatment.
Villaraigosa said he also supports stripping pensions and the school
district’s retiree health benefits from school employees found guilty of
sexual felonies against students.
“The system is broken,” he said.
The mayor’s recommendations track closely with those of L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy.
_____________________
►¿Verb?: INTERVIEW BY TV NEWSWOMAN WITH MAYOR TONY
From CNN transcript: http://bit.ly/wWQHWM
16 Feb 2012 1PM EST
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The [Democratic National] convention in
Charlotte will be a three-day pep rally for President Obama. And leading
the cheers will be this man, Antonio Villaraigosa, the L.A. mayor.
Congratulations. I'm excited to hear that you're going to be at the
helm. At the same time, I don't know what your job entails. I always
know what comes out of the convention. I don't know what goes into it.
(LAUGHTER)
What does go into it?
ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES: I bang the gavel. (LAUGHTER)
BUDGET WOES MIGHT CAUSE LAUSD TO SHUTTER ITS UNIQUE CLEAR CREEK NATURE CENTER
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/zg1IHw
3/03/2012 09:59:06 PM PST :: Standing at the edge of a babbling creek,
a gaggle of students mirrored their instructor in performing the "water
dance," their gyrations disguising the lesson about the science of
evaporation, condensation and percolation.
In a bungalow at the top of the rugged trail, several brave
fifth-graders waited to handle a wriggling snake while others ogled a
caged tarantula or stroked the pelts of forest creatures.
Nearby, clusters of new friends huddled over microscopes, their casual
conversations nearly as important as completing the assignment about
cells.
Welcome to the Clear Creek Outdoor Education Center - Los Angeles Unified's classroom on top of the world.
Established in 1925 on a rugged hillside north of La Cañada Flintridge,
Clear Creek is the nation's oldest continually operating outdoor
education center. But supporters of the center worry this year could be
its last because of looming budget cuts.
They say its loss would mean the end of one of the district's unique
programs - one that allowed students to learn about nature in nature.
And for many of the inner-city and suburban kids who attend the program,
it's also their first chance to hike a trail, watch a hawk soar or gaze
at the constellations against a dark night sky.
"They can think and imagine and engage their natural curiosity," said
Gerardo Salazar, a coordinator in the school district's Office of
Outdoor and Environmental Education.
"They can learn from the instructor. They can learn from their peers. They can learn from themselves."
_______________________________________________
LAUSD BOARD MEMBER BENNETT KAYSER IS LOOKING FOR CORPORATIONS OR
CHARITIES INTERESTED IN DONATING TO CLEAR CREEK. CONTACT HIS OFFICE AT
213-241-5555
.
_______________________________________________
Clear Creek operates year- round in the Angeles National Forest, its 43
acres leased from the U.S. Forest Service for $30 a year.
Los Angeles Unified has invested millions of dollars over the years -
most of it grant money - to build and maintain the sleeping cabins,
classrooms, support buildings, swimming pool, aviary, trails, roads and
electrical, water and septic systems.
There's even an observatory for astronomy lessons.
Eighty fourth- and fifth-graders from two district schools are bused to
the camp each week for the Monday-Friday program. As soon as they leave,
an equal number of middle- and high-school kids arrive for the weekend
session.
Participants come from elementary campuses in different parts of the
city, a move designed to foster tolerance and develop social skills.
Last week, for instance, the camp hosted classes from Angeles Mesa in
the Crenshaw District and Julie Korenstein Elementary, the new North
Hollywood campus named for the former San Fernando Valley school board
member.
Paired up as "science buddies" early in the week, 10-year- olds Andrew
Gaitan from Korenstein and Michael Person from Mesa found a shared love
of soccer and corny jokes.
And for Korenstein's Izaiah Miranda, the best part about Clear Creek was "hanging out with kids from different schools."
"Anywhere else, we might fight, but we don't do that here," he said. "I
also like hiking and looking at the mountains and the view of the moon."
Clear Creek and its sister facility, Point Fermin - a beachside center
in San Pedro - serve about 6,000 students a year at a cost of $1.5
million. Along with adult and early-childhood education, after-school
activities and other programs deemed "nonessential," the outdoor schools
face elimination as the district struggles to erase a $550 million
deficit for 2012-13.
Superintendent John Deasy has repeatedly said he doesn't want to cut
anything, but that state funding falls short of what the district needs
to fund its core K-12 programs.
Complicating the decision is the requirement that LAUSD return Clear
Creek to its natural state if it closes the camp and gives the site back
to the Forest Service. That means demolishing the buildings, ripping up
the sewer and water systems, taking down the electrical lines, tearing
out the roads, filling in the pool and re-seeding the land with native
trees and shrubs.
Salazar estimated it would cost $2.5 million to complete an
environmental impact statement for dismantling the facility and some $20
million to actually do the work.
School board member Bennett Kayser, who recently toured the center, said
it doesn't make sense to spend money killing off a program with so much
value. He'll seek donations from corporations or charities if the
district can't find the money to save Clear Creek.
"I saw two classes of kids who were more engaged in their lesson that
I've ever seen before. I breathed air that didn't have smog, and I saw
incredibly enthusiastic staff and counselors," said Kayser, who is a
seventh-grade science teacher. "It's exactly the kind of facility I'd
want my own students to attend."
He also suggested that top administrators and his colleagues on the board take the time to visit Clear Creek as he did.
"There are some people in the district who are looking too hard at the
cells on a spreadsheet and not hard enough at what they mean," Kayser
said.
Salazar said it's a common misconception that Clear Creek is merely an
elaborate playground. After all, kids are away from home, sleeping in
bunks, and having nightly sing-alongs around a propane-fueled campfire.
But he cited research that found that students who attend outdoor school increase their science scores by 27 percent.
He noted that the science lessons taught by the center's four
naturalists meet state curriculum standards. And the interactive
teaching methods they use are designed to improve understanding by
special-education students and English-language learners.
"Kids learn about science by doing science," he said. "It's a watershed moment, when the abstract becomes concrete."
Mark Gardina, who lives at Clear Creek and has managed the center for 20
years, said the days spent on the trails and the nights spent sleeping
in bunks form experiences that many people remember forever.
"We recently had a man in his 90s stop by," said Gardina, a burly man
affectionately known as "Bear" by the Clear Creek youngsters. "He wanted
to see how things had changed since he was here as a kid."
Karen Moreno, who is in the gifted program at Korenstein, brought along a
disposable camera to capture her favorite moments, including the
waterfall she happened upon during a morning hike.
Laura Contreras has the dark-red stone she mined from Garnet Creek and
her recollection of holding a snake - experiences that convinced her she
wants to be a naturalist when she grows up.
Citlalli Vasquez seemed to be committing even the most mundane experience to memory.
"I liked the pancakes for breakfast and the pizza we ate at night," she
said. "I got to sleep in the top bunk and on our night hike, I got to
see the constellations - Cancer and the Twins.
"I'm going to be sad to go home," she said. "I really like this place."
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not neccessariily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
Lopez: LEARNING LESSONS FROM A FATHER’S PRIDE IN HIS
SON - A visit with a respected instructor shows how success...
bit.ly/A13cHM
PTA IS MOBILIZING FOR $10 BILLION FUNDRAISER: OUR CHILDREN, OUR FUTURE:
By Carol Kocivar | Thoughts on Public E... bit.ly/zTg76v
¿Verb?: INTERVIEW BY TV NEWSWOMAN WITH MAYOR TONY: From CNN transcript: bit.ly/wWQHWM 16 Feb 2012 1PM ES... bit.ly/w5ZTTR
L.A. TIMES GETS IT WRONG: L.A. Board of Education OKs proposal for new
district boundaries: THE BOARD OF EDUCATI... bit.ly/AkL1F7
Value Added in Ancient Athens: SOCRATES FAILS TEACHER EVALUATION:
Uploaded By Heidi_Hayes_Jacobs,ASCD Edge (for... bit.ly/zO2vU4
DEASY WANTS TEACHERS' CONTRACTS CHANGED OVER MISCONDUCT RECORDS + LA
SCHOOLS CHIEF OPENS UNION TALKS OVER MISCON... bit.ly/Ae8ERz
LAUSD: NOT ENOUGH MONEY OR PEOPLE TO END SOCIAL PROMOTION OF UNPREPARED
STUDENTS: By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer... bit.ly/wBY2lS
DEASY CLAIMS TEACHERS’ CONTRACTS HINDER MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION + smf's
2¢: A 1990s agreement, in exchange for ... bit.ly/zXHdFV
ADELANTO PARENT-TRIGGER SUPPORTERS CLAIM FRAUD +smf’s 2¢: Parents
seeking to improve Desert Trails Elementary sa... bit.ly/yDiDtJ
INGLEWOOD SCHOOLS GET LOAN TO AVERT LOOMING BANKRUPTCY: The
$17.4-million short-term note will eliminate any nee... bit.ly/x3U8m7
Obama: “INVEST IN EDUCATION, JOB TRAINING” – LAUSD: “ELIMINATE ADULT
ED”: Posted By Joanne Jacobs - Community Co... bit.ly/z0qu4R
RIGOR MORTIS: POSTED BY Aaron Pallas in the Hechinger Report, Teachers College at Columbia University | http:... bit.ly/yhx2um
OUR CHILDREN OUR FUTURE will give CA Schools $6.1Billion in 13-14 &
LAUSD $710Million. How much will your school get? bit.ly/OCOFwidget
READ NEW LAUSD HOMEWORK POLICY: bit.ly/AaFcEB - COMMENT HERE: on.fb.me/xgAMP2 +/OR ATTEND MEETING THURS PM: bit.ly/w
PROPOSED LAUSD HOMEWORK POLICY SUMMARY: Parents are invited to weigh in
on the proposal on Thursday March 1 from... bit.ly/AaFcEB
THREE CA EDUCATION REVENUE INITIATIVES FOR NOVEMBER, 2012? A Comparison,
Because Voters Will Probably Only Suppo... bit.ly/zjZu7q
LAUSD HOLDS PUBLIC FORUM IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD TO DISCUSS HOMEWORK PROPOSAL: from LA Daily News | bit.ly/w... bit.ly/zc8xCO
CALIFORNIA’S FLAWED ‘PARENT TRIGGER’: Education reform benefits from
parent involvement, but state rules on the ... bit.ly/vZxFBZ
NORTH HOLLYWOOD HIGH WINS REGIONAL SCIENCE BOWL COMPETITION: -- Angel Jennings, LA TIMES/LA NOW | http://la... bit.ly/yEvLNs
Discipline in a box?: TEACHER PLACED ON LEAVE IN FLAP OVER AUTISTIC
BOY’S TREATMENT: The student tells his mothe... bit.ly/AkOcEJ
LA UNIFIED TO CONSIDER NEW POLICY CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO MIRAMONTE AND
OTHER MOSCONDUCT CASES + smf’s 2¢: By Tam... bit.ly/ApkEzw
CHILD ABUSE EXPERT CALLS ON LAUSD TO TEACH HOW TO SPOT PEDOPHILE
BEHAVIOR: KNX 10.70 Radio: Reporting Ed Mertz |... bit.ly/yhnnls
PROBABLY NOT THE LAST LAUSD REDISTRICTING MAP!: by email from the LA
City LAUSD Redistricting Commission office ... bit.ly/Aubmi6
TEACHERS NEED TRAINING TO SPOT CAMPUS MOLESTERS: WIRE REPORT By the Associated Press | bit.ly/zw89zl 2/2... bit.ly/zTDfp8
PARENT TRIGGER LAW MEETS NEW TESTS IN ADLANTO: The Adelanto school board
rejects parents' petition for change, s... bit.ly/zDNYWS
SOME CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS GET TWICE THE FUNDING -- AND MORE -- OF OTHERS:
By Sharon Noguchi, San Jose Mercury News... bit.ly/yUAAog
SCHOOLS PREP FOR LAYOFFS: By Heather Murtagh, San Mateo Daily Journal Staff | bit.ly/wr7jgo February 27... bit.ly/zrJUNZ
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-241.8700
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Bennett.Kayser@lausd.net • 213-241-5555
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! • Find
your state legislator based on your home address. Just go to: http://bit.ly/dqFdq2 • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600
• Call or e-mail Governor Brown: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
• Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these
thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school.
• Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it!
• Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child.
• If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE.
• If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. THEY DO!.
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