In This Issue:
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REBRANDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS |
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WHY ARE WALMART BILLIONAIRES BANKROLLING PHONY SCHOOL “REFORM” IN L.A.? |
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NO REST FOR THE WEARY |
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THE PATRIARCH OF HEALTH EDUCATION: C. Everett Koop, MD. (1917-2013) |
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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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The LAUSD school board election campaign, at once ugly, turned uglier still.
When some asked me if they thought my being forced out of the District 2
race by unscrupulous signature gatherers had been somehow engineered by
my opponent I said I thought not. I prefer to believe that the school
board president wouldn’t stoop that low.
What I prefer to believe has nothing to do with the case. This week she stooped lower.
Monica Garcia’s “Which side are you on?” campaign flyer accuses her
opponents – all four of them – of “standing up for child predators”.
This is an all time low in negative campaigning.
• see NO SHAME: “Until this moment, Mónica García, I think I never
really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. You have done enough.
Have you no sense of decency?” http://bit.ly/XLlyN2]
It must be remembered that the “predators” are her problem. She is the
school board president: the bad stuff happened on her watch. Monica and
her hand-picked superintendent’s complicity aren’t in the predatory
actions …but in the District’s inability at timely reporting and frank
discussion. In the cover-up and whitewash. In the witch hunt for “bad
teachers”.
A second flyer from the special interests supporting Monica (‘Major
funding by Michael ®. Bloomberg [the mayor of New York City] and Parents
and Students for Putting StudentsFirst [in other words: Michelle
Rhee]') says: “Monica stands against child abuse: The special interests
are waging an all out campaign to defeat Monica because she’s vowed to
toughen the law to give local school officials the authority to
immediately fire staff convicted of inappropriate sexual contact with
students.”
This is pure balderdash!
• Those “special interests“ must be the California State Legislature –
because they are the ones who refused to vote on Monica’s Law last year.
• The law Monica’s people says she’s advocating for already exists. The
law Monica wants (SB1530, reborn this year as SB5) would allow her to
fire individuals SUSPECTED (not convicted) of child abuse – in other
words – to deny due process and the right to trial.
¿What Fifth Amendment?
Her mentor, Mayor Tony, violated the state constitution in his attempted
to take over LAUSD. Monica, Deasy and Co. would violate the Federal
Constitution and Bill of Rights.
When Monica+ Deasy consistently+institutionally failed to report child
molesters permitted to resign to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing
they placed children throughout California in harm’s way while they
protected kids in LAUSD. When they fail to disclose+discuss child
abuse at schools with parents at the school they violate a sacred trust
between educators and parents.
According to state regulation, the superintendent must report the change
in employment status no later than 30 days after the status changes
when it is a result of alleged misconduct or an allegation of misconduct
is pending.
FROM A LETTER TO DEASY FROM THE COMMISSION ON TEACHER CREDENTIALING: "Re: Superintendent's Mandatory Reporting Requirement":
"In one recent case we have no record of a report related to the
teacher after the final settlement was reached and were only notified
that the teacher was charged with multiple counts of lewd acts upon
children more than six months after final settlement was reached by your
District with the credential holder. Although the Commission is aware
that errors can occur, please be aware of the potential for harm to
students by not meeting your mandatory requirement to report information
to the Commission when credential holders separate while charges of
misconduct are pending." | http://bit.ly/15qGSwQ
WHEN MONICA ACTS TO END ADULT ED, AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS, ARTS ED AND
PRESCHOOL – and then brings back a small portion of the programs she
proposed to cut - she is NOT a savior. She is a budget-butcher with a
meat axe.
When your backers put you on billboards as a poster child for Arts Ed [http://bit.ly/YIRmFR]
after you’ve eviscerated the program you are a hypocrite, not an arts
advocate. And the billboards are campaign ethics violations.
Monica’s most recent flyer – those who live in District 2 get two or
three a day - says she is endorsed by the LA Times …and she’s right,
But please read that endorsement – which begins: “We'll be upfront
about this: We consider Garcia a poor choice for the school board, and
we always have.” | http://lat.ms/VW4dpr
OBVIOUSLY (and obliviously) THOSE WHO WOULD BUY VOTES WITH THEIR
MILLIONS cannot buy legitimacy or moral authority. Hopefully they cannot
buy the election.
THE KEY VOTE ON TUESDAY WILL BEEN DISTRICT 4 and the A vs. Z contest
between Kate Anderson and Steve Zimmer. With only two contestants in the
race there will be no run-off. Zimmer has often been a pragmatic swing
vote on the board, driving the superintendent, the ®eforrmers, the
teacher UNion and 4LAKids crazy with his pragmatism. He has propped up
Monica+Deasy when a vote against them might have been their undoing; he
has sided with UTLA on other issues ...often following his own drummer.
He has voted for charter schools most of the time – but has asked for
charter school accountability.
• IN THE END Deasy+Co. don’t want pragmatism and swing votes. They want salm-dunk loyalists to the ®eforrm, Inc. agenda.
• IN THE END charter schools don’t want accountability – they want more charter schools.
• IN THE END Deasy+Co. and Charters and Mayors Tony+Mike want Kate
Anderson – a politically ambitious one-time candidate for assembly who
will pretty much say anything and take anyone’s money to get elected to
something. Anderson blames Zimmer for cutting Arts Education (which was
Monica+Deasy and test scores über alles) and for the high costs of the
RFK Schools (Again, Monica – when those decisions were made six years
ago Zimmer was still teaching at Marshall High school!),
And “Anyone’s Money” just keeps rolling-in+flowing-out – courtesy of
Bloomberg and Perenchio and Broad and Michelle Rhee – paying for paid
“volunteers” to walk precincts on Kate's behalf. And blizzards of flyers
stuffing mailboxes and TV spots on cable TV.
IN DISTRICT 6 THE RACE IS TOSS-UP. With incumbent Nury Martinez running
for higher office and change assured UTLA has endorsed everyone. Strange
bedfellows ®eforrm and organized labor supports union organizer Antonio
Sanchez. 4LAKids supports Maria Cano – Maria has the experience and
commitment of a community organizer who truly understands LAUSD: she
knows the territory. And the bedfellow LA Times and Daily News endorse
classroom teacher Monica Ratliff.
THE APOCALYPSE OF THE MONTH CLUB /or/ THANK GOD THE POPE’S NOT HERE TO
SEE THIS! Arne Duncan: “We don’t have any ability to absorb dumb cuts
like this!”
Welcome Arne to the real world of school budgeting as practiced outside
the Beltway. Maybe when the cuts get put back programs can compete for
it like a jump ball in a basketball game. Like Race to the Top. Like
waivers from NCLB. Do not fear, Sequester’s here – see http://t.co/FhFSsKSXNh ...or -http://t.co/k1l2MiWFI6
H.R. HALDEMAN, NIXON’S J. WALTER THOMPSON MAD MAN brought advertising to
political science in an ethical collision the nation has never
recovered from. Karl Rove fine tuned the managed message and created the
Tom Delay/Dick Cheney/Bush2 machine. Tweaking the test scores became
The Houston Education Miracle, The Houston Miracle – ultimately a
scandal in Houston - became No Child Left Behind. It’s about framing and
spin doctoring and rebranding: Firing teachers’ became rightsizing.
Charters and vouchers and outsourcing/privatizing public education
became Parental Choice.
This week’s EdWeek op-ed “Rebranding Public Schools” (follows) describes
in detail the lack of success of charter schools in general ,
illustrates the spin doctoring and media manipulation that frames
failure as success – and – in a mixture of irony , reality and – if not
dark certainly shaded humor – suggests that leaders in urban districts
should seize the moment and publicly capitulate. They should simply
append the ‘charter’ label to their schools. It would trip the tongue,
but maybe we should just rebrand the District as LAUS(C)D . Maybe we
could slip an ® in there too? Sell some naming rights: The Edythe and
Eli Broad Greater Los Angeles Unified Charter ®eform School District,
Inc. – A Gates/Walmart/Bloomberg/Fox/Koch Company. ¿Ya think?
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
►4LAKids’ SCHOOL BOARD ENDORSEMENTS
• District 4: STEVE ZIMMER
• District 6: MARIA CANO
• District 2. ANYONE BUT MONICA! …smf prefers and supports ISABEL VAZQUEZ
¡Please do not w rite in Scott Folsom. Thank you!
Wendy Greuel’s ads promise to reform public education …remember what happened last time?
Jan Perry is probably public education's best friend in the race - but unfortunately....
Eric Garcetti stepped up and advocated strongly to preserve Adult Ed
when Monica+Deasy+Co. wanted to eliminate it. Eric worked to save the
LAUSD Aviation Mechanic School at Van Nuys Airport. Eric has been an
effective partner with LAUSD in education.
• 4LAKids supports ERIC GARCETTI FOR MAYOR!
Carmen Trutanich (and Mayor Tony’s PLAS) eliminated the tremendously
effective partnership between the City Attorney’s Office and Markham
Middle School. [Secure in their Studies - Los Angeles Times http://lat.ms/ZZRWSi]
• 4LAKids supports MIKE FEUER FOR CITY ATTORNEY.
REBRANDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Commentary by Jack Schneider, EdWeek | http://bit.ly/Wpo68M
February 27, 2013 :: Charter schools are a silver bullet for urban education. But not for any of the reasons you might think.
Charters, as research reveals, don't achieve particularly impressive
results. In a study conducted by the Stanford University-based Center
for Research on Education Outcomes, or CREDO, 17 percent of charters
outperformed their traditional public school counterparts. But nearly
half performed no differently. And more than a third—37 percent—produced
results that were worse. Other studies have produced similar results.
In short, charters are on average not that different from traditional
public schools: Some are high performers, some are basement dwellers,
and the vast majority are someplace in between.
Yet ask Americans what works in urban education, and you're likely to
hear something about charter schools. As polling data reveals, support
for charters has grown nearly every year for the past two decades and
now hovers around 70 percent. And with backing from the Obama
administration, the movement is booming. Roughly 2 million children in
40 states and the District of Columbia attend charter schools with
enrollment growing every year.
This widespread faith in charters is particularly surprising because
public confidence in the nation's schools is at an all-time low. In the
most recent Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll, only 19 percent of Americans
gave the public schools an A or B grade, and 30 percent gave them a D or
an F. Charter schools, of course, are public schools. Yet, somehow,
they have been immune to the national panic about education, even
without producing demonstrably different results.
"Leaders in urban districts should seize the moment and append the ‘charter’ label to their schools."
Many supporters of the public schools are outraged at this uncritical
faith placed in charters, and for good reason. Charter boosters have
frequently worked to make charters look good by making traditional
public schools look bad. And just as troubling, charter supporters have
often gone after teachers, making the case that traditional public
schools are rendered ineffective by one-sided collective bargaining
agreements. Consequently, charter skeptics have tried to chip away at
the public's faith in charters, believing that if they can burst the
charter bubble, they will restore the place of traditional public
schools. But they are wrong. And in turning their backs on charters,
they are missing a tremendous opportunity.
Schools, whether or not we choose to admit it, operate on faith in their
quality. Such faith is what attracts and motivates capable teachers. It
is what draws the most active and concerned parents. And it is what
keeps young people showing up each day. High or low test scores
certainly can corroborate what we already believe about a school. But
ultimately our decisions about where to teach or where to send our
children are driven not by careful analysis so much as by unreasoning
belief. In the second half of the 20th century, Americans gradually lost
their faith in urban education. Believing city schools to be
inadequate, middle-class parents moved to suburban districts or sent
their
children to private schools. In so doing, they left a stain on the
systems they exited—marking them as the sole domain of those without
better options. Without a way to inspire faith, urban schools have been
unable to turn back the tide. They are a failed brand.
Charter schools, however, present an opening. Because regardless of
whether people should believe in charters, they do. Capitalizing on that
faith, leaders in urban districts should seize the moment and append
the "charter" label to their schools. Think of it as a massive
rebranding effort.
This, certainly, will not be the most substantive of recent school
reform initiatives. Yet it just might be the most powerful. Why? First,
because such a rechristening would collapse the divide between public
school supporters and charter boosters, bringing badly needed resources
and enthusiasm into traditional public schools. Second, such a move
might give quality-conscious parents a new perspective on urban
education. As the president of the St. Paul (Minn.) Area Association of
Realtors put it in an online news article: "It's all about reputation
and word of mouth, and people see that as the truth." In the same
twincities.com story, she said the city's schools "just don't have a
good reputation out there." But imagine if they did. Imagine what city
schools would look like if teachers, parents, policymakers, and students
began to believe in them again.
In considering a districtwide rebranding, leaders should establish two
conditions. First, to prevent the weakest schools from sinking to the
bottom, these new charters should initially operate under the aegis of
the district, much as traditional public schools do. And second, to
prevent the exploitation of teachers, rebranded schools should recognize
current collective bargaining contracts.
Charter boosters, no doubt, will raise objections to these conditions,
claiming that they undermine charter autonomy. But savvy district
leaders will frame their efforts as a transition, not a ruse. Although
districts would at first grant little autonomy to these new "charters,"
they could promise increasing independence to schools that demonstrated
effectiveness. And while the district would initially control labor
contracts, effective charters might begin to negotiate school-specific
collective bargaining agreements. Such moves, of course, might not
satisfy charter zealots, but they would appeal to the movement's
moderate majority. And though refashioning schools as charters might irk
defenders of traditional public schools, it just might restore the
support they so badly need.
For decades, socially mobile parents otherwise happy with city living
have worked to get their kids out of urban schools. In the process, they
have turned perceptions of low quality into reality and delayed the
pursuit of educational equity. But with a deft and simple policy move,
leaders in urban districts might manage to reverse the equation.
Building on faith in charters, they might begin to restore the
confidence required for making city schools great again. And eventually,
they might even give us reason to believe.
- Jack Schneider is an assistant professor of education at the College
of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass., and the author of Excellence for
All: How a New Breed of Reformers Is Transforming America's Public
Schools (Vanderbilt University Press, 2011).
WHY ARE WALMART BILLIONAIRES BANKROLLING PHONY SCHOOL “REFORM” IN L.A.?
by Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College in the Huffington Post | http://huff.to/13uY4Tz
2/28/2013 9:46 am :: For years, Los Angeles has been ground zero in
an intense debate about how to improve our nation's education system.
What's less known is who is shaping that debate. Many of the biggest
contributors to the so-called "school choice" movement -- code words for
privatizing our public education system -- are billionaires who don't
live in Southern California, but have gained significant influence in
local school politics. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent
contribution of $1 million to a political action committee created to
influence next week's LAUSD school board elections is only the most
recent example of the billionaire blitzkrieg.
For more than a decade, however, one of the biggest of the billionaire
interlopers has been the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune,
who have poured millions into a privatization-oriented, ideological
campaign to make LA a laboratory for their ideas about treating schools
like for-profit businesses, and treating parents, students and teachers
like cogs in what they must think are education big-box retail stores.
As a business chain, Walmart has spent a fortune -- in philanthropy and
campaign contributions -- trying to break into the Los Angeles retail
market with its low-wage retail stores.
Now the Walton family -- which derives its fortune from the
Arkansas-based Walmart -- is trying to use that fortune to bring
Walmart-style education to Los Angeles.
The Waltons have long supported efforts to privatize education through
the Walton Family Foundation as well as individual political donations
to local candidates. Since 2005, the Waltons have given more than $1
billion to organizations and candidates who support privatization.
They've channeled the funds to the pro-charter and pro-voucher Milton
Friedman Foundation for Education Choice, Michelle Rhee's
pro-privatization and high-stakes testing organization Students First,
and the pro-voucher Alliance for School Choice, where Walton family
member Carrie Walton Penner sits on the board. In addition to funding
these corporate-style education reform organizations, since 2000 the
Waltons have also spent more than $24 million bankrolling politicians,
political action committees, and ballot issues in California and
elsewhere at the state and local level which undermine public education
and literally shortchange students.
In 2006, Greg Penner, who married Carrie Walton Penner (daughter of
Walmart chairman Rob Walton and granddaughter of Walmart founder Sam
Walton) and serves on Walmart's board, spent $250,000 to oppose a
statewide ballot initiative that would have created a universal
preschool system to give California's children a much-needed leg up in
early education. It also would have created thousands of good jobs for
preschool teachers.
In Los Angeles alone, the Walton Family Foundation has donated over
$84.3 million to charter schools and organizations that support them,
such as Green Dot Schools, ICEF schools, and the Los Angeles Parent
Union, as well as $1 million to candidates or political action
committees which support diverting tax dollars away from public schools.
They believe in high-stakes testing, hate teachers unions, want to
measure student and teacher success primarily by relying on
one-size-fits-all standardized tests, but have an entirely different set
of standards when it comes to judging charter schools.
You'd think that the Waltons would invest in ideas that would improve
education. But there's little evidence that private charter schools and
vouchers -- the Waltons' two big obsessions -- are effective at boosting
students' learning outcomes. A 2009 study by the Center for Research on
Education Outcomes at Stanford University discovered that only 17
percent of charter schools provided a better education than traditional
public schools. Thirty-seven percent actually offered children a worse
education. In other words, on balance, charters make things worse, even
though many of those schools "cream" the best students from regular
public schools. Just this month, the same Stanford center released a
study that called for stronger monitoring and review processes for
charter schools.
Other research confirms that charters rarely deliver on the promises
their backers make. In October 2012, the Office of the Inspector General
at the U.S. Department of Education released an audit finding that the
California Department of Education lacks the necessary oversight
capabilities to monitor charter schools' compliance with federal law.
With about 100,000 children in charters -- the highest number of charter
students in the country, representing more than 15 percent of the
children in the district -- Los Angeles bears the brunt of this
regulatory failure.
The Walton family became America's richest family by creating a retail
model built on ruthless cost-cutting, low wages and few benefits. So, it
isn't surprising that some studies show that charter school teachers
are paid less than teachers at traditional public schools and have few
years of education on average. Is this the right model for our schools?
Many studies show that parents' incomes are the best predictor of
students' academic performance, which results in a wide "achievement
gap" between affluent and low-income students. Walmart contributes to
this gap. It is not only the nation's largest private employer, with
well over one million employees, but it also has the largest number of
poverty-level jobs in the country. If the Waltons, who still own half of
Walmart, really wanted to do something to help improve schools, they
could start by paying their employees a living wage.
If we are serious about the future of our children, we must ask: why are
the Waltons, a largely out-of-state family with no ties to Los Angeles'
children and little background in education, intent on turning our
communities' educational choices into a junior version of the
cut-throat, profiteering corporate world? It's time for us to take a
hard look at ideological billionaires who are throwing their wealth into
undermining our schools -- before our children pay the real price.
- Peter Dreier teaches politics and chairs the Urban & Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College
NO REST FOR THE WEARY
From Anonymous Secondary Principal to the AALA Update, week of March 4, 2013 | http://bit.ly/VU2bUM
Just wanted to share/vent. The number of successive meetings makes it impossible to supervise instruction at the schoolhouse.
This week:
• Tuesday --1/2 [day] meeting (including travel to and from ESC office) on Algebra SPA results;
• Wednesday -- day long principals’ network meeting;
• Thursday--day long operations meeting.
Monday was a holiday, so that leaves
• Friday for everything else, including writing up 2 teachers, visiting
classrooms, planning PD for next week, approving payroll, etc.
There still seems to be a disconnect between what we are expected to do
and the time we have to accomplish it. I am on campus every Saturday to
try and catch up; a losing proposition.
•• smf’s 2¢: This cry for help needs no further explanation. Check the
full Update page for the AALA response if you want. I realize the bit
about writing up two teachers won’t elicit all that much sympathy from
4LAKids’ teacher-readers – but perhaps an administrator who’s not so
overworked would be a little more sympathetic. And more than likely
those teachers are just as stressed and under-appreciated – they are
certainly under supported.
I remember the The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union “Look
For the Union Label” anthem: “Sure we work hard, but who’s complaining?”
But this is no time to cave in and go all uncomplaining. Your workplace
isn’t a station at the widget factory; it’s a school where children and
young people need to be safe, healthy and educated. The environment
described is neither safe nor healthful. The-powers-that-be care only
for data that supports their belief that data identifies success and
everything else is anecdotal.
Children need to read technical manuals because technical manuals will be on the test. Moby Dick is an anecdote.
They do not give an instance of airborne intercourse for much else –
and even less for the wellbeing and morale of their employees.
Remember what Mr. Buddy Holly of Lubbock Texas taught us: “Rave On!”
THE PATRIARCH OF HEALTH EDUCATION: C. Everett Koop, MD. (1917-2013)
By smf for 4LAKids
“The Teachable Moment” has become an educational cliché. If ever there
was a person who seized a number of teachable moments and wrestled them
to the ground, it was Surgeon General C. Everett Koop,
When Dr. Koop was named as surgeon general by President Reagan his
appointment was opposed by liberals and progressives because of his
public reservations about abortion. When he left office he was a figure
beloved+respected by all ….with the exception of Big Tobacco. The
picture of Dr. Koop with his Yankee chin whiskers and naval officer's
uniform (The Chief of the US Public Health Service is a Navy Vice
Admiral) is the image of The Surgeon General. He looked like Captain
Ahab – not Ahab undone by his nemesis whale but Ahab promoted to admiral
– and Koop’s mission against tobacco smoking makes Melville’s Ahab look
like Caspar Milquetoast.
Before he came to Washington Dr. Koop was practically the inventor of
neonatal surgery – as the savior of thousands of infants (and through
education and pioneering technique millions) – how could he not be
opposed to abortion? Yet Koop balked at the Reagan Administration’s
request that he oppose abortion on medical grounds – he contended it was
a moral issue and not an issue of public health.
His 1988 Surgeon General’s Report – his crusade against smoking and the
Surgeon General’s Warning printed on every pack of cigarettes since was
a game changer. In his term as Surgeon General tobacco use began to
wane– it has declined every year since. Koop informed, he educated and
he did holy battle against tobacco. He did what leaders do: He led.
Smoking isn’t just bad – it is evil … in a purely public health sense.
Koop was every bit as successful in initiating the fight against
AIDS-HIV. The disease was preying on Haitians, homosexuals and drug
addicts – social outcasts – but Koop educated us all that the epidemic
was our epidemic – and that its victims were our brothers and sisters.
The vengeful judge doing battle with his terrible swift sword became the
scholar-priest with the lamp of knowledge – enlightening us all.
We continue Koop’s mission in education today in Tobacco Use and
Prevention Education (TUPE) and AIDS/HIV Education – embedded in the
curriculum – every bit as important as Language Arts, Math or Science,
Only more so – few die from failure at algebra.
Dr. Koop was first and always and ultimately a pediatrician. After that
he was a teacher - and he taught not just an entire generation but
across generations. He saved and changed lives well beyond his own
generation and into future generation.
A long and wonderful life well lived. Godspeed.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR TAKE DIFFERENT TACKS ON EDUCATION
Eric Garcetti has the backing of the teachers union and wants to unite
the union and reformers. Wendy Greuel wants local decision-making. Jan
Perry wants a non-voting seat on the board.
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/ZSsQRy
LAUSD JOINS OTHER DISTRICTS IN ASKING FOR NCLB WAIVERS, PROMISING TO USE TEST SCORES IN EVALUATING TEACHERS + ... http://bit.ly/WClBjM
PORN STAR SPEAKS TO PASADENA CITY COLLEGE CLASS WITHOUT INCIDENT - [smf: I'm sorry - I couldn't resist that headline!] http://bit.ly/13zUrMt
Only in LACCD: COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT PAYS $1 MILLION IN FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS SETTLEMENT OVER HIRING INSPE... http://bit.ly/YYkysB VIDEO - ZIMMER’S RESPONSE TO BILLIONAIRE BLOOMBERG: “If you have enough money you can say anything.": http://bit.ly/ZP4F6r
IVY ACADEMIA FOUNDERS’ TRIAL BEGINS: By Mariecar Mendoza, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/ZMWGaf
Please RSVP: GOTV Rally for Steve Z. - ZIMMER, CANO + ANYONE BUT MONICA - iErase the ®eform Slate! http://stevezimmer2013.nationbuilder.com/gotv_rally?recruiter_id=13610 …
AB 1575: SCHOOL DISTRICTS CAN’T CHARGE PARENTS FOR BASIC EDUCATION, MUST
CREATE COMPLAINT PROCESS + ACLU Guide and Complaint Form: Be the first
at your school! http://bit.ly/VkJ8E3
THE WEEK THAT (ALMOST) WAS: Dispatches from the frontline +smf’s 2¢: NO REST FOR THE WEARY From Anonymous Sec... http://bit.ly/VkEW73
WHY ARE WALMART BILLIONAIRES BANKROLLING PHONY SCHOOL “REFORM” IN L.A.?: Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguishe... http://bit.ly/14bL6WB
A poem: SEQUESTER’S HERE: Posted by Matt Miller, Washington Post Opinion Writer/Host of KCRW 89.9 Left, Right+... http://bit.ly/ZKGkyO
LOS ANGELES PARENTS POWERLESS AS CANDIDATES IGNORE ABUSE + smf’s 2¢: By James Nash & Edvard Pettersson, Bloomb... http://bit.ly/YR0zMf
SEQUESTERDAY- all my troubles seemed so far away….: ...float a final
layer of dark rum, clouding the glass with its oppressive weight until
you can’t see any hope at all." http://bit.ly/Xt9H8w
Replay/Podcast: AIRTALK DEBATE ANDERSON vs. ZIMMER – Listen Now http://bit.ly/ViRqfI : from KPCC Airtalk with ... http://bit.ly/ZJ3zcs
NO SHAME: Until this moment, Mónica García, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. Y... http://bit.ly/ZIpbWo
NINE CA DISTRICTS SUBMIT WAIVERS FOR RELIEF FROM NCLB + smf’s 2¢:
Apparently with no consultation with parents... By Kathryn Baron and
John Fensterwald | EdSo... http://bit.ly/146ojeO
Prop 30: VOTERS WEREN’T TOLD ABOUT PLAN TO REDISTRIBUTE MONEY + smf’s 2¢: Gov. Jerry Brown wants to use Prop. ... http://bit.ly/Wp7b6x
THE LAST PATRIARCH: C. Everett Koop, MD. (1917-2013): By smf for 4LAKids “The Teachable Moment” has become an... http://bit.ly/VdCiQu
Bloomberg+Broad+Perenchio+Rhee+Mayor Tony: ®eform Inc's Million$ buy what in LAUSD election?–Which Way, LA? on KCRW http://bit.ly/143e0s5
LAUSD WRITE-IN CANDIDATE JANEEN ROBINSON ENDS CAMPAIGN, ENDORSES STEVE ZIMMER FOR DISTRICT 4: Daily News | htt... http://bit.ly/13oG9xT
MEDIA ADVISORY: smf/4LAKids will share his opinions on the evils of big
outside $ in school board elections #whichwayLAKCRW 89.3 7PM Tonite!
LAUSD TO HIRE NEW SEX ABUSE INVESTIGATORS + smf’s 2¢: By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News- Press-Tel... http://bit.ly/YEzkEJ
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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