In This Issue:
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THE VIEW FROM IDAHO |
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'SCHOOLS THAT [STILL] SHOCK THE CONSCIENCE' |
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MID-TERM REPORT ON SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT TURNAROUND MIXED AT BEST |
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NO WAIVERS FOR TRANSITIONAL K: State Board tells districts Transitional Kindergarten is a must |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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DO NOT ACCEPT THE NEW NORMAL
By Diane Ravitch, from her blog - http://bit.ly/MwDNlH
June 10, 2012 :: Since No Child Left Behind began its reign of error a
decade ago, the American public has slowly but surely changed its
understanding and expectations of schools.
We have come to think that every school must “make” every student
proficient, and if it cannot, then the school is a “failing” school.
We have come to look on schools as “failing” if they enroll large
numbers of students who don’t perform well on standardized tests,
regardless of their personal circumstances, their language ability, or
their disability.
We have come to believe that teachers alone can bring every student to
high test scores. And if we don’t believe this is possible, we are
accused of defending the status quo or not caring about students or not
believing they can succeed.
In pursuit of impossible goals, goals that no nation in the world has
reached, we have come to accept (with glee, if you are a corporate
reformer, or with resignation, if you are informed by reality) that
schools must close and staff must be fired en masse in pursuit of that
evanescent goal of “turnaround” from failure to success.
And here is the latest small and barely noticed episode in the continuing assault on common sense and public education.
The Los Angeles Times reported that students and parents demonstrated to
protest the planned layoff of at least of the staff at Manual Arts High
School. This school has been run for four years by a private group
called L.A.’s Promise.
It is no longer unusual to see students and parents protesting the mass
dismissal of teachers, so they will be ignored. That’s the new normal.
What is odd here is that L.A.’s Promise laid off about 40% of the staff last year. 50% last year, 40% this year.
It seems that this organization will just keep firing teachers until
they finally get a staff that knows how to raise test scores and
graduation rates higher and higher.
Such punitive actions display a singular lack of capacity on the part of leadership to build and support a stable staff.
Such heavy-handed measures surely demoralize whoever is left.
We have become so accustomed to mass firings and school closings that we have lost our outrage, even our ability to care.
Another school reconstituted, another school closed, more teachers fired. Ho-hum.
That’s the new normal. That is what is called education reform today.
So normal are such crude and punitive measures that the events at Manual
Arts High School didn’t even merit a real story in the Los Angeles
Times. It was posted in a blog.
Destroying public schools is called reform. Mass firings of staff are called reform.
It’s the New Normal.
Don’t accept it. Don’t avert your eyes. It’s not supposed to be this way.
Schools need a stable staff. Schools need continuity. Schools need to be caring and supportive communities.
Schools need to be learning organizations, not a place with a turnstile for teachers, administrators and students.
Don’t lose your own values. What is happening today is wrong. It is not education reform. It is wrong.
It does not benefit children. It does not improve education. It is wrong.
________
smf: THIS WEEK IN THE NEW NORMAL SAW THE RETURN OF STEVE BARR
Not Steve Barr v. 1.0: Green Dot with its small brave charter schools
started in storefronts and church basements in Inglewood and the South
Central, serving the underserved.
• Not v. 1.1 with his 10,000 signatures and The Thousand Parent March and dreams of 100 small schools
• not v. 1.2., trying to partner with LAUSD to take over Jefferson High
School and to revamp all forty-six of LA’s “broken” high schools in
the Green Dot model.
Barr’s biographer and charter cheerleader Alexander Russo writes: “In
education and in the private sector, half or more of turnarounds that
are attempted failed to take hold or—even worse—were superficial
makeovers. Much bigger and more established education organizations had
tried—and often failed—at managing dysfunctional public schools in the
past. Despite all these considerations, Barr was convinced that this
was exactly what Green Dot needed to do.” | http://bit.ly/SOchDf
• not v. 1.3, with the Green Dot wholly-owned LA Parents Union, which
morphed into Parent Revolution ...eventually armed by the Parent
Trigger.
• or v. 1.4, partnered with Mayor Tony and AB 1381 – could Steve be the next superintendent?
• or v. 1.5 and the hostile takeover of Locke High School – an over the
top, prohibitively expensive, non reproducible experiment that ended
with Barr’s own predictable removal from Green Dot (brash founding
entrepreneurs of successful enterprises invariably get replaced by
corporately accountable adults when start-ups mature and the second
tranche of venture capital arrive; Steve Jobs is both the proof and the
exception to this rule).
• v. 2.0 the spin-off Green Dot America, with Barr leaving town to start a
• v. 2.1 school in the Bronx and
• v. 2.2 another opening this year in New Orleans with the FIN brand.
If Barr v1.0 + 1.1 were about start-ups; v. 1.2 on were about takeovers,
makeovers, turnarounds and reconstitution. Caprice Young, the founder
of the California Charter Schools Association says: “Reconstitution and
turnaround never works. Only fresh squeezed works -- there is $10
billion in failed turn around work nationally. That would be a lot of
new high quality schools at $500k a piece,” [also see: Mid-Term Report
on School Improvement Grant Turnaround Mixed at Best]
The returned/reinvented Barr may not quite be the irrepressible, outrageous self promoter of the infamous LA Weekly [http://bit.ly/MgGNC0] and New Yorker [http://bit.ly/PvQfFd] profiles, out to save the core inner city.
Barr v. 3.0 (aka Future is Now Schools) is focused on more middle class
schools, Schools like Marshall, Fairfax and Venice High – schools with
challenges but also with programs in place to address them. (O.K. not
“like” Marshall, Fairfax and Venice – specifically those schools – and
Superintendent Deasy says “be our guest!”)
Barr lives in the Marshall attendance area; it is his children’s home
school. Mike Stryer, Barr’s ‘Director of New Unionism’ for FIN used to
teach at Fairfax. Steve used to live in Venice. Thomas Wolfe
notwithstanding, tt’s good to come home again.
Steve Barr’s kids attend Ivanhoe Elementary - Steve says Ivanhoe is a
wonderful school; all schools should be like Ivanhoe. Steve is right,
Ivanhoe is a gem. But he’s suffering from every elementary parent’s
fear+dread of middle school …and the best middle school in the world is
nothing like Ivanhoe!
And, Steve, it is possible to get involved in your child’s school without taking it over.
ON TUESDAY THE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION BEGAN THE DISCUSSION ON TAKING
INGLEWOOD UNIFIED INTO RECEIVERSHIP; there is a very real chance that
Inglewood USD might not be able to meet payroll as early as December.
The Los Angeles County Office of Education – the nation's largest
regional education agency, serving two million pre-school and
schoolchildren - is the only county in California where the Board of
Education and County Superintendent are appointed by the Board of
Supervisors. In other counties one or the other – or both – are directly
elected by the voters.
FACING EVIDENCE OF A CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY CITY CONTROLLER WENDY GREUEL
CRITICIZED THE LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT's hiring process
for an inspector general to oversee its $5.75 billion building program.
It’s late in the game to criticize process. The LACCD commissioned
Greuel’s independent study – which the controller farmed out to a third
party – and the State Controller has already identified wrongdoing and
alleged criminality …but maybe the LACCD board got what they paid for.
Unfortunately he voters and taxpayers cannot say the same.
EARLY IN THE WEEK SUPERINTENDENT DEASY WAS REPORTEDLY IN PALM SPRINGS,
HANGING WITH THE GATES AND PEARSON FOUNDATIONS. We all know who Gates
is; the Pearson Foundation is the philanthropic supporter of the mission
of Pearson Education, the giant textbook company – a subsidiary of the
International publisher Pearson plc. There is a lot stuff to done – and a
lot of money to be made - by textbook companies in Common Core
Standards. When everyone is on the same page it’s very profitable to be
the publisher of that page.
THE NOT SO SUBTLE RECALIBRATION OF THE MEANING OF “PHILANTHROPY”
There are other tempests in other L.A. teapots besides LAUSD. Currently
there is a power struggle ongoing at the Museum of Contemporary Art,
with the curator being summarily let go and contesting factions within
the board and the public resignations of all the artist-trustees –
including the iconic Ed Ruscha - a unique aspect of the MOCA board.
In their farewell letter two of the artists wrote:
“But this is not about a particular cast of characters, about good
actors and bad. It's a reflection of the crisis in cultural funding.
It's about the role of museums in a culture where visual art is
marginalized except for the buzz around secondary market sales, it's
about the not so subtle recalibration of the meaning of ‘philanthropy,’
and it's about the morphing of the so-called ‘art world’ into the only
speculative bubble still left floating (for the next 20 minutes). Can
important and serious exhibitions receive funding without a donor having
a horse in the race? Is attendance a sustaining revenue stream for
museums? Has it ever been? These are questions we have been asking.”
I recommend the entire letter [http://lat.ms/Q39M24] – and also the coverage of the brouhaha [http://bit.ly/NdEQKN].
After sports writing, arts criticism is a favorite form of nonfiction.
Below the veneer of truth and beauty there is always much roiling
intrigue – and in the case of MOCA, there are familiar puppeteers
working the strings.
From Monday’s LA Times, buried twenty-seven -inches into a thirty-column-inch story:
“Now the board leadership is in the hands of nonvoting MOCA life trustee
Eli Broad, the financier who supposedly ‘rescued’ the museum in 2008
through a $30 million pledge from his foundation. To observe that the
board he commands, now down to 33 voting members, is at least as
defective as before is disheartening.”[ http://lat.ms/NE1wy9]
Keep in mind #’s39, 40 & 41 from “How to Tell if Your School District is Infected by the Broad Virus” [http://bit.ly/jqDocs]
39. Local newspaper fails to report on much of this.
40. Local newspaper never mentions the words “Broad Foundation.”
41.Broad and Gates Foundations give money to local public radio stations
which in turn become strangely silent about the presence and influence
of the Broad and Gates Foundation in your school district.
And bear in mind the LA Times is for sale – and Eli could be a buyer.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
THE VIEW FROM IDAHO
A letter to 4LAKids from Dan Basalone
Sun, July 15, 2012
Hi Scott,
The United States was the leader in universal public education starting
with Horace Mann and the research of Dewey. Of course, the billionaire
corporatists who now run public education, discarded of 150 years of
educational practice and research in order to establish today's
politicized model.
In the 1950's and early '60's when I was trained to be a teacher, we
had academic majors and minors, mine were social studies and science, as
well as a minor in education including two full semesters of student
teaching under the direction of a teacher who was screened for the
position of training teacher.
The pedagogy and methodologies that we learned were based on the
principles of John Dewey which at is essence was that learning was both
cognitive and affective. Classrooms were microcosms of society so we
had class elections and classroom monitors; we had committee work (now
known as group activities); we had project based learning so that
students could see application of knowledge; and we emphasized
creativity especially in research based projects and creative writing.
And, of course we were expected to incorporate art and music into our
curriculum. We had a Physical Education course of study that emphasized
not only skills, but also game activities and dance.
In 1964, elementary teachers introduced teaching Spanish as a foreign
language, and, if you didn't speak Spanish yourself, you had a series of
records to use so that you could learn with the children for 15 minutes
each day. We based our elementary subject curriculum on social studies
themes and units of work. In other words, it was a holistic approach
to education.
I must also add that my training as a teacher with the major and minors
in academic studies and education methodology only took four years
because it was expected that a B.A. or B.S. in education would only need
to be a four year college curriculum.
Through the years politicians eroded the concept of educating the whole
child to the point now that we have a true factory model with students
as widgets and teachers as the robotics who put the parts together.
Scott, I can truthfully say that in my years as a teacher, no child
failed in my classes....they completed my prescribed course of study
with my assessments of their work and I was able to see the product of
their work. Their standards were my standards and I was evaluated as a
teacher based on the quality of the work that my students produced which
was displayed for all to see, parents, other teachers and
administrators, through classroom displays. I would not think of
displaying student work that wasn't of the highest quality even if it
meant editing and rewriting for instance. Students were proud to take
home their unit booklets with samples of the work that they had
completed during the six week unit.
Well, enough lamenting the fall of public education from what it once
was and the enjoyment that it brought me as a teacher. The sad part is
that current teachers who are being trained in the so-called data driven
model are going to become tomorrow's principals and the cycle will
forever continue to spiral downward.
Thanks for being a lonely voice of reason in a very sad educational world where children suffer and it isn't just from abuse.
Best wishes always,
Dan
• Dan Basalone has been associated with LAUSD since 1962 as a teacher,
assistant principal, principal, and upon his retirement in 2000, as an
Administrative Academy presenter and Principal Academy Coach. He served
as very successful principal of several schools and leadership in the
Professional Development Collaborative where he was instrumental in the
design and implementation of the LAUSD New Administrator Academy. In
addition to his District service, he has taught educational
administration courses at local universities, and was Program Director
for Educational Leadership at Mount St. Mary's College.
Dan was involved in the leadership of AALA for many years. He has served
as Elementary Department Vice President, Executive Board Director, and
ACSA Representative on the Representative Assembly. He served as the
AALA representative on the District's School Based Management Central
Council and the LEARN Planning Committee.
In addition to his school experience, Dan was a member of the LAUSD
Health Benefits Committee and an ad hoc member of the Board of
Education's Facilities Committee where he sat next to smf and asked good
questions from that end of the horseshoe – adding educational input to
the building of over 100 schools and the modernization and repair of
hundreds more.
A graduate of USC, Dan is retired and living in Meridian, Idaho where he
grandparents extraordinary grandchildren, writes a blog about artisanal
soda pop and serves on the Urban Renewal Board of Commissioners. The
Meridian School District is the largest in the state; Dan must feel
right at home.
'SCHOOLS THAT [STILL] SHOCK THE CONSCIENCE'
Themes in the News by UCLA IDEA/Week of July 16-20, 2011 | http://bit.ly/ONm1bW
07-20-2012 :: Twelve years ago, a class action lawsuit was filed on
behalf of California public school students against the state and
various education agencies. Williams v. California asked for relief from
“schools that shock the conscience” and levied two basic complaints:
That the state failed to provide students with even the most “basic”
level of education; and that the harm caused by inadequate instructional
materials, unqualified teachers, and unsafe and insecure school
facilities fell disproportionately on poor and minority students.
The conditions that prompted the lawsuit were well known to many who
attended or worked at poor and minority schools? Overcrowded classes
were held in temporary buildings that were uncomfortably hot, cold or
noisy. Bathrooms were closed and/or unclean. About 40 percent of
teachers in low-income schools reported vermin infestations—cockroaches,
mice and rats.
Williams was settled in 2004—and provided $800 million for facilities
repairs along with complaint procedures, inspection protocols, and other
oversight. The settlement and all its components and subsequent
legislation were meant to give students in every California neighborhood
access to adequate facilities and resources. Much progress was made in
the first years following the settlement, but recently California's
fiscal woes have undercut the settlement's promise.
California has funded less than half of the $800 million, and some
schools have waited up to four years for the money to fix leaking roofs
and crumbling buildings (California Watch). Conditions at many schools
are worse than pre-Williams. Stan Brown, a director of maintenance and
operations at a Riverside County school district, is waiting on $75
million for repairs. "I think the title says enough, doesn't it?
Emergency Repair Program. Should it take four years to fund an
emergency?"
As usual, California is “leading” a national trend of states that are
struggling or unwilling to provide their residents with basic needs,
including education. According to the State Budget Crisis Task Force,
there is a "fundamental shift in the way governments have responded to
recessions and appears to signal a willingness to 'unbuild' state
government in a way that has not been done before" (New York Times). The
task force released a report this week that looked at six large
states—California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Texas and
Virginia—and found severe and mounting fiscal challenges, especially as
states rely on gimmicks to balance budgets.
The Williams settlement was rightly claimed as a victory for California
students. The student plaintiffs, their families, and their communities
presumed that the settlement would help achieve a double objective—basic
and equitable education for all. Ultimately, the state's failure to
fully fund emergency repairs has left too many California students
waiting for the decent schools that are their constitutional right.
●● smf: I have spoken to LAUSD employees in charge of monitoring
Williams compliance – especially in the portion that assures students
have adequate instructional materials: textbooks, etc.
The reporters are tasked with making sure that LAUSD is compliant, not that students have books.
On the facilities issues, with the cuts to maintenance+operations and
janitorial staff, the cleanliness and safety of facilities have
drastically declined in the years since Williams was implemented. And,
as the article states, only half of the money allocated for
infrastructure repair has been spent.
• A student body president testified to the Bd of Ed last month that
only one restroom at his school is open during the day when the
requirement is one per floor.
•And putting temporary chain link fencing around a building where the
masonry is falling off – no matter how historic the landmark – is not
repair!
MID-TERM REPORT ON SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT TURNAROUND MIXED AT BEST
By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/NH518F
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 :: A landmark federal appropriation of $3
billion for turning around the nation’s worst-performing schools has
produced mixed results halfway through the grant process, according to
analysis released Monday by a D.C.-based think tank.
As part of the federal stimulus package of 2009, Congress provided
jumbo-sized School Improvement Grant money to states in exchange for
commitments to identify and restructure their most academically troubled
schools.
But three years later, many states are struggling to implement mandates
to replace teachers and principals as well as commitments to increase
learning time, according to surveys conducted by the Center on Education
Policy at The George Washington University.
But one bright spot for several SIG schools is that school climates appear to be getting better.
The findings are based largely on surveys of low-performing schools in
Idaho, Maryland and Michigan on how SIG schools are addressing three
major issues: staffing challenges that result from principal and teacher
replacement requirements, extended learning time requirements, and
school climate issues.
Analysis also included less detailed responses from 46 other states.
The report had three components, with each exploring one of these issues
in depth, and comes amid a flurry of speculation about the
effectiveness of the SIG program. Data was collected in the fall and
winter of 2011-12, a critical midpoint for implementing three-year SIG
awards funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“The CEP reports offer important findings for policymakers and the
public to consider as schools continue to do this work,” Maria Ferguson,
executive director of the CEP, said in a statement. “The findings are
especially relevant as policymakers debate a possible fifth school
improvement model under SIG, an idea recently passed as part of the
Senate Appropriations Committee spending bill.”
In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, better known as the
economic stimulus package, provided $3 billion for SIGs to help reform
persistently low-achieving schools, on top of the $546 million that had
already been appropriated for fiscal year 2009 for school improvement
grants under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Since the Obama administration has been in office, California has received $548 million in SIG support
This infusion of additional money was also accompanied by new
requirements from the U.S. Department of Education that targeted funds
on the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools within each state and that
limited these schools to using one of four school improvement models.
These models include: transformation, which entails replacing the school
principal and undertaking three other specific reforms; turnaround,
which involves replacing the principal and many of the school staff;
restart, which means becoming a charter or privately managed school; and
school closure. School year 2010-11 was the first year these grants
were implemented.
The reports’ findings draw on survey data from 46 responding states,
including the District of Columbia, and case study research in Idaho,
Maryland and Michigan. As part of these studies, which were summarized
in two earlier CEP reports, state and local education leaders provided
feedback about challenges of implementing SIGs and their influence on
the direction of school reform.
The first of the three special reports, Schools with Federal School
Improvement Grants Face Challenges in Replacing Principals and Teachers,
looks at SIG-related staffing requirements. The two most popular school
improvement models – transformation and turnaround – require major
staffing changes, and finding and retaining effective principals and
teachers was often the greatest challenge to SIG implementation in
Idaho, Maryland, Michigan and in some of the states surveyed.
Officials in rural, suburban and urban areas in case study states cited
various reasons why restaffing presented major challenges in all types
of low-performing schools.
“Recruiting the right principals and teachers was challenging across all
of the case study schools but was especially difficult in Idaho’s rural
schools, where staffing is already a huge obstacle,” read a statement
by Jennifer McMurrer, senior research associate and author of the CEP
studies.
Still, the majority of the 46 state survey respondents said that
replacing teachers and principals was an important element of improving
student achievement in SIG schools.
Legal and union requirements and a short funding timeline made it
difficult for some of the schools studied to find and hire the best
teachers and principals and remove ineffective staff. Despite this, only
a minority of the states surveyed reported that they were providing
assistance or resources to schools and districts to help ease the
challenges of staff replacement.
The second report in the CEP series, Increased Learning Time Under
Stimulus-Funded School Improvement Grants: High Hopes, Varied
Implementation, highlights another challenge to implementation. All 46
states surveyed reported that at least some of their SIG schools are
implementing an improvement model that requires increased learning time.
A majority of state respondents agreed this strategy is a key element in
improving student achievement, although some said its importance varied
from school to school. But it may be too early to judge the overall
effectiveness of this policy based on survey and interview responses,
CEP said.
Increased learning time is being implemented differently across schools
and states, the CEP researchers found. For example, case study schools
in Maryland really target their extra time on students with the greatest
need, while those in Michigan for the most part extend the school day
for all students.
Despite these challenges, the SIG program has already had a positive
impact in many schools, as evidenced by the third report, Changing the
School Climate Is the First Step to Reform in Many Schools with Federal
Improvement Grants. All of the SIG-funded case study schools in
Maryland, Michigan and Idaho are taking steps to improve school climate
among students, staff, or both – often as a first priority for reform.
Examples of strategies include:
• Improving safety and discipline;
• Building a sense of community among students and staff; and
• Establishing a shared vision among teachers, parents and students centered on student achievement.
As a result, the success most frequently cited by SIG-funded case study
schools during the first year of implementation was an improved school
climate, as demonstrated by a safer and more orderly environment,
increased student motivation to learn, and greater staff collaboration
and morale.
Some schools also reported gains in student achievement, but several said it is too soon to tell.
“Although Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has announced some positive
achievement findings for SIG-funded schools, at this point the unseen
impact may be the improved environments for learning that SIG funds have
helped create,” commented McMurrer.
NO WAIVERS FOR TRANSITIONAL K: State Board tells
districts Transitional Kindergarten is a must
By Kathryn Baron | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/NEraXR
July 20th, 2012 | Probably the strongest indication of how the State
Board of Education would vote on waiver requests from nine school
districts seeking to delay the start of Transitional Kindergarten came
from the districts themselves; not a single representative showed up to
even try to argue their case.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Board unanimously agreed with Department of
Education analysts and rejected the waiver applications. That decision
sent a clear message to other districts, said Scott Moore, Preschool
California’s senior policy director. “There was a sense of people are
watching this to see how the State Board acts,” said Moore. “Granting
them a waiver to not provide public education to these students isn’t
something that they feel is legal.”
Transitional Kindergarten is a new program, but doesn’t involve new
students. The same bill that raised California’s age requirement for
kindergarten created TK to provide the kids who miss the new cutoff with
an additional year of kindergarten the way it used to be; puppets, play
kitchens, and an introduction to phonics.
Because these children would have been in regular kindergarten anyway,
TK doesn’t cost the state any more money. But Gov. Brown tried to spin
it as a new program and proposed eliminating its funding to help pay
down the state deficit. In the few months between the time the governor
released that proposal and the Legislature rejected it, a number of
school districts panicked, thinking they’d have to add a new grade
without any state funding to pay for it. They appealed to the State
Board of Education for an extra year to put the program into place.
This has all been incredibly frustrating to Democratic State Senator Joe
Simitian of Palo Alto, who authored SB 1381, the bill that established
Transitional Kindergarten. “What’s a little bit surprising to me is that
it is still not fully understood now, almost two years after the bill
passed,” Sen. Simitian told EdSource.
For example, in a separate waiver request, a charter school wrote that
it only had four children displaced by the new age requirement and it
would be too expensive to start a new class just for them. Department of
Education staff recommended that the Board approve the request on the
condition that the school creates a split TK/kindergarten class. But the
bill already gives schools and districts the flexibility to implement
TK however they want, Simitian said, as long as it’s age and
developmentally appropriate. The State Board put off a decision on that
request until its next meeting.
So, on the belief that you can never explain things too often, Simitian
went before the State Board to give a synopsis of SB 1381 in an effort
to clear up confusion. “I think the Board appreciated the recap on just
how much flexibility we built into the system, and the fact that we had
two years to plan, so this wasn’t something that we simply rolled out in
the fall without notice,” said Simitian. “That being said, I think it’s
important to remember these are the exceptions to the rule. The buzz we
get from around the state is quite positive that people are really
excited that this is one of the few bright spots on the public education
horizon.”
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
RETWEETED FROM@dianeravitch : If you think it is okay
to cut the arts and make more time for test prep, watch this: http://youtu.be/GBaHPND2QJg
REGENTS TIE TUITION TO BROWN’S PROP 30: UC tuition could rise 20% if tax measure fails: By TERENCE CHEA, Associa... http://bit.ly/NLJFXz
LOS ANGELES SCHOOL POLICE CHIEF RETHINKING DISCIPLINE POLICY: By Susan Ferriss, iWatch News – Huffington Post | ... http://bit.ly/OTa2gS
Lax security at charter school suspected: NORTH HOLLYWOOD H.S. CLEARED IN STATE TEST LEAK: A former North Hollyw... http://bit.ly/NKGQGs
MAYORS SUPPORT “PARENT TRICKER” LAW: by Diane Ravitch | Bridging Differences - Education Week http://bit.ly/O ... http://bit.ly/PniT7V
NO WAIVERS FOR TRANSITIONAL K: State Board tells districts Transitional Kindergarten is a must: By Kathryn Baron... http://bit.ly/PmP5bF
SECURITY BREACH WILL DELAY RELEASE OF CST RESULTS: By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/Lyu1gD J... http://bit.ly/NHtQBh
MID-TERM REPORT ON SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT TURNAROUND MIXED AT BEST: By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report |... http://bit.ly/O2SQ4C
TONIGHT ON THE RADIO - DOG DAYS O’ SUMMER: Solutions to Problems in Public Education: KPFK 90.7 FM & online @ kp... http://bit.ly/SJI4Ff
LACCD Scandals: INDEPENDENT REVIEW FINDS INCONSISTENCIES IN APPOINTMENT OF LACCD INSPECTOR GENERAL: FOR IMMEDIAT... http://bit.ly/PlQmmv
State Budget Crisis Task Force: IN REPORT ON STATES’ FINANCES, A GRIM LONG-TERM FORECAST + NPR Story: California... http://bit.ly/NDC4hJ
Steve Barr v 3.0: The Press Release: FUTURE IS NOW, LA UNIFED (sic) SCHOOL DISTRICT AND UTLA TEACHERS ANNOUNCE P... http://bit.ly/Q3M8kX
PETITION: Change the time of regular LAUSD School Board meetings from 1:00 pm to 6:30 p.m.: by twitter from @utl... http://bit.ly/NTyXRe
The return of Steve Barr: LAUSD, FUTURE IS NOW SCHOOLS ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP FOR 2013-14 + CHARTER SCHOOL EXEC TA... http://bit.ly/O84hKi
CHARTER SCHOOL OPERATOR STEVE BARR TO PARTNER WITH L.A. UNIFIED: -- Howard Blume / LA Times/L.A. NOW | http://l... http://bit.ly/M6HRZ5
District does the right thing: LAUSD PHYS ED TEACHER PLACED ON UNPAID LEAVE FOR ALLEGED SEX CRIMES + smf’s 2¢: B... http://bit.ly/O8wjXr
The “Education Mayor” takes the train: VILLARAIGOSA’S TARNISHED TRANSIT TRIUMPH: The mayor often manages to disa... http://bit.ly/NAiiUe
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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