In This Issue:
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BILLS PROMOTED BY LAUSD TO IMPOSE NEW TEACHER EVALUATIONS, LAYOFF RULES DIE IN COMMITTEE |
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iPADS IN SCHOOL: A TOOL OR A TOY? |
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LINKED LEARNING: A GUIDE TO MAKING HIGH SCHOOL WORK |
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GRANADA HILLS, EL CAMINO REAL 1st + 2nd IN NATIONAL ACADEMIC DECATHLON |
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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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Thirty years ago this week The National Commission on
Excellence in Education published “A Nation at Risk”, with its famous,
damning statement: "If an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to
impose on America the mediocre educational performance that exists
today, we might well have viewed it as an act of war."
So was fired the first salvo in the war against the bad teachers.
Also thirty years ago this week the German Magazine Stern (and some
British tabloids owned by Rupert Murdoch) published excerpts from The
Hitler Diaries – which were revealed to be one of the great literary
hoaxes of all time. These two events are connected by date, the fact
that they are both publications …and ever so slightly by Murdoch’s
capitalism.
A NATION AT RISK: THE IMPERATIVE FOR EDUCATIONAL REFORM was a call to
arms. It stated in flaming rhetoric "the educational foundations of our
society are presently being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that
threatens our very future as a Nation and a people”. One can hear the
echoes of jingoistic nationalism and The Threat to the Homeland – and
the snap of banners in The Winds of Change – as the commissioners laid
the blame at the feet of the teaching profession.
Before AN@R classroom teachers+educators were the solution of the
problem of ignorance; after AN@R teachers were the principal cause of
the problem of mediocrity.
The national commission was not presidentially appointed – from the
beginning AN@R was at odds with President Reagan's Ed agenda – which was
vouchers, prayers in schools and elimination of the Department of Ed.
The commissioners was appointed by the Secretary of Education – and a
great part of the solution proposed came from thinking within the
Department of Ed – as well as from the corporate/private sector,
government, and academic interests – from the upper and middle class -
who made up the commission.
Good grief, none of this mediocrity was their fault!
AN@R was the product of a Republican administration reacting to what
they saw as the permissive liberalism of the sixties – a period
mislabeled by its progressive champions as the Golden Age of Public
Education. Look how that turned out: The workforce taking to the
streets, all SexDrugs&Rock+Roll - protesting war and eventually
hounding a duly reelected Republican president from office!
The report was undeniably right in finding a dearth of excellence and an
absence of international competiveness in American Primary and
Secondary Education – but finding and identifying that was in their
mission. They were charged to respond to Secretary of Education T. H.
Bell's observation that the United States' educational system was
failing to meet the national need for a competitive workforce.
What the report saw coming was the emerging global economy – posed in the report as a direct foreign threat.
What the commissioners failed to note was the gathering socioeconomic
storm: The decline of the white middle class and the emerging minority
majority in America: The others, the significant subgroups. It was a
trend first apparent in our schools …and they didn’t see it. Instead
American students were compared unfavorably to students in counties
where the middle class and a single race are predominant -- and found
wanting. Why can’t our kids be like Singaporean kids? They must’ve
believed that The New Deal and Great Society - Johnson’s War on Poverty
and Title One Programs - had solved the problems of poverty of race. One
can’t blame them. For the most part they were academics and educrats –
and even the most economic+fiscal conservatives in academe are social
progressives. We don’t have poverty …this here’s America!
What AN@R gave us was three things:
1. The growing sense that American schools are failing and/or in crisis -
fed by data based on test scores, acronyms and algorithms. Before AN@R
students were assessed by teacher’s grades and final exams - and
teachers were evaluated by their principals. (Note: Some of AN@R’s data
and conclusions were later challenged by The Sandia Report – which was
quickly suppressed by the government. | http://bit.ly/125uheI)
2. The rhetoric of warfare and competition: “If an unfriendly foreign
power….” the endless lists of bullet points, Race to the Top, The Parent
Trigger, etc.
3. Mostly AN@R spawned a tsunami of local, state, and federal reform
efforts. Some of them good: Smaller class size, Targeted categorical
funding, Higher standards, Raised expectations, Increased fiscal
support, A Public Focus on Education. And some not so good, a growing
addiction to standardized testing and the growth of corporate-model
for-profit Ed ®eform. Public education has gone from a right and
obligation of local government to a market for corporate profiteers.
Mostly A Nation at Risk generated lists of reforms, some implemented,
most not, few well –but all listed and bound and studied. All
were-and-are subject to budget volatility as the cash flow and public
interest and “This Weeks Flavor” of reform ebbed. Remember LEARN and
LAAMP? NCLB, Clear Expectations, STAR tests and Small Learning
Communities? Last year it was Per Pupil Funding, this year it is the
Local Control Funding Formula. Why would Race to the Top or Common Core
State Standards be any different?
Until we Do and Honor and Complete the Work in The Classroom – and then pick up the next assignment – it is all moot.
AND ANCIENT HISTORY BRINGS US TO LAST WEEK:
SEQUESTRATION AND FURLOUGHS: Why do airlines and business travelers and
air traffic controllers get a break from sequestration and the effect of
furloughs when kids in classrooms do not? Children up and down the
nation lost instructional days as teachers were furloughed in the past
few years. Head Start kids – the most vulnerable and also most educible
will be hammered in the coming year. Where is the outrage from Congress
about them? They are not being made to wait in a line or in a seat at
the terminal or on the tarmac …they are being denied an education.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE LAUSD SPONSORED ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAMS WHO
SCORED FIRST AND SECOND IN THE NATIONAL COMPETITION! Granada Hills
scored a three-peat as national champion; El Camino came in second
nationally in the completion held in Minneapolis. All of the Academic
Decathletes are champions - but the record of Los Angeles teams this
year and over time demonstrates continuing excellence and dedication,
not incremental mediocrity.
LAUSD rocks, has rocked, and will rock on.
IN OTHER NEWS AND/OR SHENANIGANS:
• New York City Mayor Bloomberg sent another check to the Coalition for
School ®eform to support candidate Antonio Sanchez - $350,000 from the
Mayor of NYC to elect a school board member in LAUSD! (In NYC Bloomberg
gets to appoint all the school board members.)
• Superintendent Deasy flew up to Sacramento to support the Local
Control Funding Formula (which now faces a challenge from Senate
Democrats) and to lobby for a couple of bills he’s promoting to get
help him get rid of Bad Teachers and Increase Teacher
Effectiveness/Accountability/Evaluation. Both died in committee.
• Dr. Deasy and Board President Garcia are also doing a bit of house
cleaning at Beaudry – and maybe trying to get even with a board member –
by not renewing contracts of some senior staff and employees that board
member has mentored.
• And now Dr. Deasy has failed to fund Breakfast in the Classroom – a
popular program that feeds lots of youngsters who might not otherwise be
fed and employs a couple of thousand food services employees. Deasy was
the champion of Breakfast in the Classroom last year. Deasy blames this
program elimination not on a budget shortfall but on lack of support
from UTLA – when UTLA President Fletcher’s message re BIC is to “Mend
it, don’t end it!” Ending BIC is purely the superintendent’s idea. It
seems like Dr. D. is looking for a fight where there isn’t one – or a
vote of confidence where there isn’t much. Although all of this may be
part of a dance for power in the County Labor Federation.
This is reminiscent of the budget stratagems from last year when the
superintendent and board president proposed to eliminate After School
and Arts+Music and Adult Ed Programs – and then brought them back (in
skeleton form) while claiming to “save” them.” Between the two of them
they have one vote on the Board of Ed – and Ms. Garcia voting ‘No’ to
feeding poor children breakfast and pink-slipping cafeteria staff seems
very unlikely.
Is this “Stop me before I cut again?” …or “Pay the ransom …or I’ll shoot this cute dog!”
A few months back Dr. D.”gave up” on his own Common Core/Tablet for All
Program when it didn’t get immediate approval from the Bond Oversight
Committee – then brought it back “by popular demand”.
Is any (or all) of this brinksmanship? Boardsmanship? How many times
does one go to the brink with the board? Is it merely political
machinations?
Or is it Götterdämmerung?
¡Onward/Adelante/Vorwärts! - smf
BILLS PROMOTED BY LAUSD TO IMPOSE NEW TEACHER EVALUATIONS, LAYOFF RULES DIE IN COMMITTEE
By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report. http://bit.ly/11Hay6n
Thursday, April 25, 2013 :: Efforts to rewrite longstanding rules
surrounding teacher evaluations and educator staffing laws fell badly
short of success Wednesday before a key Senate panel.
First, lawmakers killed a bill that would have given school districts
the ability to make teacher staffing decisions based on performance
evaluations. Then, members of the Senate Education Committee became
badly spilt over legislation that would have imposed new requirements of
how and when teachers are evaluated – but in the end killed that bill
too.
Sen. Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, called his SB 441 a ‘modest bill’ that
would require districts to use multiple measurements in performing
evaluations at least every three years for veteran personnel. But
critics, which included most of the state’s teacher unions, put up
strong arguments in opposition mostly around concerns that the measure
would undermine collective bargaining rights.
Calderon’s bill, which comes a year after lawmakers killed another
teacher evaluation bill by a Democrat, did not attract enough votes for
passage out of the committee.
“California public school students – our children – were the losers
today,” said Calderon in a statement. “Those defending the status quo
won the day and while I am disappointed I am hopeful that at some point
the Legislature will show the leadership necessary to guarantee our
children have the best teachers possible.”
The day-long hearing, which included review of nearly two dozen other
bills, was representative of the challenge lawmakers face in taking on
complex, sometimes emotionally charged issues dealing with teachers and
classrooms.
At one point during the discussion of SB 441, Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson,
D-Santa Barbara said that while she was “anxious to move this bill
along,” she said the bill “isn’t cooked yet.” She worried about how
teachers might be stigmatized by a negative evaluation and what plans
the state had for offering support and training.
“On the other hand,” she said, “I do think we need to keep this debate going.”
To which Sen. Calderon responded: “We can’t sit here and say, ‘we’ve got
to get something going and then say, ‘well, I’m not going to support
this bill – how can we do that?”
Unlike legislation last summer that would have at one point required
student test scores be among the performance indicators – Calderon’s
bill would require governing board of school districts to regularly
“evaluate and assess the performance of certificated staff using
multiple measures, including a minimum of four rating levels.”
The bill would give the school board authority to define each rating level used.
Opponents, which include the California Teachers Association, have
argued the bill could result in requiring districts to bargain aspects
of the system, evaluation criteria – for instance – which could intrude
on the school districts rights to exercise managerial prerogatives,
according to staff analysis.
Meanwhile, SB 453 by state Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, was rejected
outright – the third time his proposal failed to win support of majority
Democrats. His proposal would have would have allowed districts to make
staffing decisions based on performance evaluations and factors other
than a teacher’s simple date of hire.
“We have an education system that is depriving students of the education
they deserve,” he said in a statement. “We spend over half our state
budget on education and yet we throw money at it without adopting the
reforms we need to make it effective. I’ve tried to negotiate with the
school employee unions who oppose this bill, but we’re just not going to
come to an agreement. They represent the adults in the system. I’m
representing the best interests of California students.”
iPADS IN SCHOOL: A TOOL OR A TOY?
WHETHER EQUIPPING ALL STUDENTS WITH iPADS IS A
GIMMICK OR A GREAT IDEA, ONE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY SCHOOL THAT'S USING
THEM IS SOLD.
By Steve Lopez, L.A. Times columnist | http://lat.ms/168wj4r
April 27, 2013, 5:15 p.m. :: At Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences in Granada Hills, every student has an iPad.
That's 1,200 iPads, and if L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy can figure out
how to pay for 660,000 more of them, every student in the district will
have a tablet in the next few years.
A good idea?
"It's magical," declared a student at Valley Academy who loves his iPad.
Maybe. But I've got lots of questions.
Like many parents, my wife and I have tried to make sure our daughter
reads real books and doesn't get addicted to everything digital. And now
her school district, which has laid off teachers and staff and
eliminated programs because of budget problems, wants to spend several
hundred million dollars on the latest electronic fad.
And LAUSD is not the only district racing into the future while
struggling to fix leaky roofs and broken toilets. As Deasy argues,
students are supposed to begin taking standardized tests on electronic
devices in the 2014-15 school year as part of a new curriculum. And he
said it would be irresponsible not to prepare students for an
increasingly digital economy.
But Stanford University education professor Larry Cuban has lots of reservations.
"There is still no evidence that iPads will increase student achievement
at all. It's not the hardware, it's the software, and no studies have
been done on the software apps in use, so no one knows," said Cuban, who
suggested the money might be better spent on training and recruiting
teachers. "I've seen students with iPads and the novelty is there and
the engagement is there, but it's not clear that novelty and engagement
will lead to increased academic achievement."
It should be noted, as well, that people with ties to tech companies
were among the major donors to a political action committee that
supports Deasy-friendly school board candidates. As reported by my
colleague Howard Blume, $250,000 came from the parent corporation of a
company that sells tablet computers designed for schools. Another
$200,000 came from a group headed by the widow of Apple founder Steve
Jobs.
And Deasy appears in a promotional video for Apple in which he says
tablets are "phenomenally going to change the landscape of education."
Deasy told me he received no money for being in the ad and that he has
no role in choosing what companies the district does business with.
Regardless, he'd be better off not serving as a pitchman for any
product.
Given the advent of test-taking by computer, a teacher who's a friend of
mine worried that this is "another sign of how tests are taking
priority … over everything," and she wondered if this is part of a plan
to facilitate teacher assessment. She added: "I think the paper and
pencil version of tests works just fine," and she complained that
teachers haven't been consulted on whether tablets are useful teaching
aids or potential distractions.
Other skeptics have raised questions about maintenance costs and
equipping schools with WiFi — not to mention the tendency of kids to
drop things. And there have been disputes about whether voter-approved
bond money could be used for tablets.
But having said all that, what I saw at Valley Academy — the first of
about a dozen schools to get iPads in a $50-million pilot program — was
impressive. And the principal, Debra McIntyre-Sciarrino, had glowing
reviews and noted that the iPads are great equalizers, because many
students come from homes where electronic tablets are beyond the family
budget.
The impact "was immediate and dramatic," she said. The tablets helped
create "a dynamic learning environment" in which students and teachers
were prompting each other. And the distraction feared by some teachers
can be mitigated with locks that prevent students from using anything
other than the assigned program.
Let it be noted that the school's Internet service crashed on the day of
my visit and tech help had to be summoned. Still, I saw some impressive
work. In a geometry class, students Jose Cruz and Brandon Zulueta
showed me a project they had just completed. Using old-fashioned paper,
they made geometric origami figures, then used an iPad program to
produce a stop-animation video in which a harpoon chased a whale. The
animation was used to illustrate a story they'd written about a drama on
the high seas.
Their teacher, James Emley, told me that in his physics class, students
used iPads to design rockets and test them in a virtual wind tunnel.
English teacher Jenn Wolfe said grades improved when students were
allowed to take the iPads home rather than lug textbooks. But district
officials determined that restrictions on the bond money that purchased
the iPads required that they stay at school.
One of her students, Meagan Toumayn, showed me a multimedia project she
did on cruelty to animals. Sarah Gonzalez showed me a digital index of
her assignments, notes and reports on the classic novel "To Kill a
Mockingbird." When the honors class read "Romeo and Juliet," they were
able to hear audio pronunciations of British words they were unfamiliar
with.
"This is not a teacher and it's not a student, either. It's a tool," Wolfe said of the tablet.
"We can't go backwards," she said. "We're preparing kids for jobs we don't even know about yet."
If for some of us the jury is still out on iPads, that's not the case at
Valley Academy. I asked Wolfe's 36 students if anyone want
LINKED LEARNING: A GUIDE TO MAKING HIGH SCHOOL WORK
by UCLA IDEA, Themes in the News Week of April 22-26, 2013 | http://bit.ly/10lJ1EB
04-24-2013 :: To stem the tide of high school dropouts and a lack of
college and career preparedness among graduates, a growing number of
schools and districts across the state are turning to the promising
practices and opportunities of Linked Learning.
Linked Learning, delivered through widely varied “pathways,” blends
rigorous academics, a challenging career-based core, an opportunity for
students to apply learning in real-world contexts, and individual
support services. The practice is not uniform—pathways may vary in their
theme or career focus, how they organize coursework, the extent to how
much time students spend on and off campus, etc.—yet it can be equally
successful, in a wide range of settings, for all students.
Linked Learning is in the process of expanding statewide. The California
Department of Education identified 63 districts and county offices of
education that will pilot programs beginning this fall (EdSource Today).
As such, it is a key moment to identify many of the shared and
effective strategies employed by schools and districts implementing the
approach.
Linked Learning: A Guide to Making High School Work, along with an
accompanying DVD, highlights the experiences—both the struggles and
successes—of sites that have committed to the hard work of transforming
the high school experience for students by using the Linked Learning
approach. Based on a UCLA IDEA study of 10 high school sites across
California, this guidebook provides educators, policymakers and
stakeholders interested in revamping their school communities a solid
launching point. The guidebook does not offer hard-set rules or
checklists for implementing Linked Learning; rather, it presents six
conditions that are strongly associated with successful Linked Learning
pathways. The following conditions provided the foundation that allowed
Linked Learning to take root and transform high schools:
1. A Commitment to Equity: Each participating pathway was guided by a
commitment to prepare all students for college and career. Before
opening their doors, sites spent considerable amount of time
establishing an equity-based purpose, and planning and designing a
program around it. Pathways used desired student outcomes to serve as a
school’s starting point and moved to shape the curriculum and structures
to support this equity-based purpose.
2. Connecting Linked Learning Components: Linked Learning pathways work
to integrate disparate pieces of the curriculum into a more coherent
whole. A rigorous academic core, for example, that fails to connect to
the pathway’s technical core or to real-world experiences re-creates the
fragmentation seen at the traditional high school. Pathways often rely
on overarching industry sector themes to integrate the curriculum.
3. A Culture of Care and Respect: Pathways use various strategies to
establish caring and supporting relationships between students,
teachers, and other adults that help teachers and school leadership
identify students’ existing and developing needs. By personalizing
relationships, the school communicates its high expectations and high
value on a caring culture—emphasizing civic as well as academic and
workplace preparedness.
4. Grounding in the Real World: Participating sites established
relationships with individuals, businesses, institutions, and
organizations situated in the world outside of school. Expanding the
learning community to include a wide range of partners allows outside
agencies to invest in students and the school community, and
acknowledges the role of multiple stakeholders in the learning, growth,
and development of young people.
5. An Environment that Works for Adults: Teacher enthusiasm is one of
the most impressive features of Linked Learning. Linked Learning sites
created environments that work well for adults as well as students by
shifting the way schools operate and rethinking traditional adult
relationships. Distributed leadership, collaboration, and support are
common strategies employed by pathways to create professional and
creative atmospheres.
6. Redefining Success: Participating Linked Learning sites use multiple
means to measure their students’ success and to judge their own progress
in meeting established goals. The sites studied did not define success
solely on mandated standardized-test scores, but by students’
preparedness for the adult world. Understanding success in this way
requires new and authentic assessment tools that go beyond test scores
and course completion to capture college and career readiness, students’
civic orientations, and eagerness for life-long learning.
While Linked Learning: A Guide to Making High School Work is based on
the research findings of 10 unique schools implementing the approach,
the implications extend well beyond the school level. The successes
highlighted are meant to serve as a springboard to effect system-wide
change. Indeed, earnest efforts to expand Linked Learning must pay
attention to the on-going classroom and school practices, principles,
beliefs, and norms that undergird the approach—the six conditions
described in this report.
It is a daunting task to reform high schools. Those hard efforts are
reflected within the 10 participating sites. None of them emerged
overnight as successful Linked Learning pathways. They have worked
steadily over a number of years to develop an engaging curriculum, a
culture of care, support and collaboration, and committed partnerships.
But they have gained the growing support of their communities and
districts, which recognize Linked Learning as a means to achieving
systemic change.
GRANADA HILLS, EL CAMINO REAL 1st + 2nd IN NATIONAL ACADEMIC DECATHLON
►GRANADA HILLS CHARTER WINS THIRD CONSECUTIVE NATIONAL ACADEMIC DECATHLON
By Will Ashenmacher, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/151G9pv
Posted: 04/27/2013 11:50:28 AM PDT/Updated: 04/27/2013 02:49:18 PM
PDT :: Granada Hills Charter High School is bringing home the U.S.
Academic Decathlon Nationals trophy for its third consecutive year.
The school was announced national champions at a banquet Saturday at the Hilton Minneapolis.
"They've had many emotions today," Granada Hills coach Matt Arnold said
of his students. "They stayed up all night last night, celebrating the
end of the decathlon season, but they're very excited to have won. They
feel like their hard work has been validated."
Granada Hills Charter and El Camino Real Charter high schools were the
two San Fernando Valley schools representing California at this year's
national academic event, marking the first time the state has sent two
schools.
The competition between the two valley schools - just 14 miles apart -
has been fierce as there was just 496 points separating the rivals
during the state competition in February.
El Camino Real Charter High School won a record six U.S. Titles before Granada Hills' winning streak..
"El Camino is a powerhouse school. They've won six times. We were very
careful not to underestimate them," Arnold said. "During the award
ceremony, it was very hard to tell who was staying ahead. Sometimes I
thought we were ahead, sometimes I thought they were ahead, it was very
hard to tell."
Now in its 31st year, the decathlon tests students in art, economics,
literature, music, math, science and social science - all centered on
this year's theme of Russia - along with essay-writing, speech and
interview.
During the ceremony, 450 participants comprising 10 teams were praised
by speakers for their dedication and commitment to a program that
rewards teamwork over individual effort.
"In this competition, working together in a competitive yet
collaborative environment, seems to be the right approach," said David
Stead, executive director of the Minnesota State High School League,
which supervises high school arts and athletics tournaments.
The Granada Hills decathletes are Seung Woo Baek, Jae Kyung Chong,
Beatrice Dimaunahan, Faria Ghori, Dayoung Kim, Kailin Li, Kimberly Ly,
Kelley Ma and Hamidah Mahmud.
"I'm looking forward to each of you joining me in contributing to a
brighter future," CEO of ERBUS, Inc. Deborah Yungner told the students
during the event.
A California team has been national champion every year since 2003.
"We're really excited and happy about this," Arnold said. "The medals
and trophies are great. I know that in the coming days the feeling of
winning will go away, but the benefits they gained from participating
over time will stay."
Daily News reporters Barbara Jones and Mariecar Mendoza contributed to this report.
------------------------------------------------------------
►GRANADA HILLS WINS THIRD NATIONAL ACADEMIC DECATHLON COMPETITION
By Rick Rojas,L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/10lAFwX
Granada Hills Charter High School senior Hamidah Mahmud of Granada Hills
Charter is comforted by her mother, Jahanara, after her team won the
state competition last month. The students proceeded to nationals, where
they won their third consecutive title. (Robert Durell / For The Times)
April 27, 2013, 2:25 p.m.
Granada Hills Charter High School won its third consecutive national
title in Academic Decathlon on Saturday, beating out about 50 other
teams — including its closest competitor, another team from Los Angeles
Unified.
The team of nine students scored 54,652 points out of a possible 66,000,
in the rigorous 10-subject battle of wits in which students are tested
in such subjects as math, science, literature and art, as well as give
speeches and are interviewed by judges, district officials said.
Another L.A. Unified team — El Camino Real Charter High School, a
six-time national winner looking to reclaim the top prize — came in
second. The school, which also placed second to Granada Hills in the
state competition in Sacramento last month, was able to participate at
the national level after a rule change allowing more than one team from
each state.
"In having the top two teams in the county, LAUSD this year exceeded our
own amazingly high standards in the Academic Decathlon," Los Angeles
schools Supt. John Deasy said in a statement Saturday. He said Granada
Hills' success has proved "once again that when it comes to the Academic
Decathlon, our district is way ahead of the competition."
Granada Hills' win marks the 14th national win for the district in the three-decade existence of the competition.
The winning team members are Jae Kyung Chong, Seung Woo Baek, Hamidah
Mahmud, Kelly Ma, Kimberly Ly, Kailin Li, Dayoung Kim, Faria Ghouri and
Beatrice Dimaunahan. The team is coached by Granada Hills teachers Matt
Arnold, Nicholas Weber and Spencer Wolf.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
LAUSD FIGHT FOCUSES ON BREAKFAST PROGRAM: Supt. John
Deasy is leaving key funding decisions up to the board, t... http://bit.ly/ZIlzXR
LAUSD REASSIGNS VALLEY SUPERINTENDENT, 3 OTHER ADMINISTRATORS IN “PERSONNEL INVESTIGATION” + smf’s 2¢: By Barba... http://bit.ly/14Dy0qD
Commentary: A DANGEROUS GAME FOR UTLA: by Jamie Alter Lynton in LA School Report | http://bit.ly/Y6MFWD ... http://bit.ly/ZIhOSg
EFFORTS TO SPLIT SANTA MONICA-MALIBU SCHOOL DISTRICT GAINS NEW TRACTION AS SCHOOL BOARD ATTEMPTS TO REDISTRIBU... http://bit.ly/14Ds1lN
CROONER TAKES NOTE OF EAST L.A. HIGH SCHOOL: Tony Bennett and his wife, Susan Benedetto, check out Esteban E. ... http://bit.ly/12Fj0V2
SENATE SCHOOL FUNDING PLAN INCLUDES BOOST FOR LINKED LEARNING: By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report. http://bi... http://bit.ly/168D9XL
DEMOCRATS SPLIT ON TIMING, SPECIFICS OF BROWN’S FUNDING FORMULA: By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://... http://bit.ly/14DnuzL
Expand
AALA explains it all for you: THE PARENT TRIGGER LAW, PARTS I & II: From the AALA Update, Weeks of April 22, 2... http://bit.ly/129eX0z
STUDY WARNS THAT GRAD RATES WILL DIP WITH A-thru-G COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Repo... http://bit.ly/12nGvly
BILLS PROMOTED BY LAUSD TO IMPOSE NEW TEACHER EVALUATIONS, LAYOFF RULES DIE IN COMMITTEE: By Tom Chorneau, SI&... http://bit.ly/14dlhuw
‘The Battle of Their Lives’ over LCFF: GOV. BROWN PROMISES FIGHT OVER EDUATION OVERHAUL: Jerry Brown says lawm... http://bit.ly/12nz3a4
U P D A T E: LAPD ARRESTS 3 IN CLEVELAND HIGH STABBING: By Eric Hartley Staff Writer, LA Daily News | - LA Da... http://bit.ly/14dcngS
Shenanigans in School Board Race: BLOOMBERG DONATES $350K TO ®EFORM CANDIDATE, RUMOR OF DEAL WITH ®EFORMER ROI... http://bit.ly/12nrtMt
TOM BARTMAN 1946- 2013, FORMER LAUSD BOARD PRESIDENT WHO HELPED END MANDATORY BUSING: Article by: Associated P... http://bit.ly/14cSer4
STUDENT AT CLEVELAND HIGH SCHOOL IN RESEDA FATALLY STABBED DURING ARGUMENT: City News Service from LA Daily Ne... http://bit.ly/17XaLUX
CALIFORNIA SUED ON BEHALF OF FAILING ENGLISH LEARNERS: ACLU Sues California On Behalf of 20,000 Students, Says... http://bit.ly/11UkR5F
TWO EXCELLENT STORIES ON THE PARENT TRIGGER: Who ‘they’ are …stuff they don’t want you to know …and how they ... http://bit.ly/ZtTovF
SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH BILL FALLS VICTIM TO GUN BILL DEFEAT: Capitol Connection Newsletter - ASCD Public Policy ... http://bit.ly/148z3i5
SB 69: DEMOCRATIC SENATORS OFFER ALTERNATIVE TO BROWN’S FUNDING FORMULA: By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today |... http://bit.ly/11RuK4a
The best LA school board the NYC mayor’s money can buy: NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG DONATES ANOTHER $350,... http://bit.ly/ZsLl2c
FORMER SUN VALLEY TEACHER ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF HAVING CHILD PORN: Douglas Randolph Collins taught at Ferna... http://bit.ly/13YztHP
CALIFORNIA RANKS LOW IN DIAGNOSIS RATES OF ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER: By Jane Meredith Adams, E... http://bit.ly/13VuBmI
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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