Monday, May 27, 2013

Believe


Onward! 4LAKids
4LAKids: Sunday•26•May•2013 Memorial Day Weekend
In This Issue:
 •  VETERAN TEACHER MONICA RATLIFF SCORES UPSET WIN IN LOPSIDED RACE FOR LAUSD BOARD
 •  MONICA RATLIFF'S ELECTION TO L.A. SCHOOL BOARD IS 'HUGE UPSET'
 •  Parent Trigger: POPULAR PRINCIPAL'S DISMISSAL LEAVES A SOUTH L.A. SCHOOL DIVIDED
 •  Parent Trigger: FOLLOWING THE MONEY - EDUCATION REFORM AND THE MEDIA
 •  HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
 •  EVENTS: Coming up next week...
 •  What can YOU do?


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The meaning is clear:

1. (transitive) To think something is true without having proof or empirical evidence

… but by definition #5 isn’t quite so clear:

5. (transitive) To consider likely.

How transitive I that?

The meanings range from the Nicene Creed “We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible….” to W.C. Fields “Everybody has to believe in something. I believe I’ll have another drink.”

There’s a Marky Mark Song “YOU GOTTA BELIEVE", and a Spin Doctors song “YOU’VE GOT TO BELIEVE IN SOMETHING.”

John Stuart Mill said that “one person with a belief is equal to a force of 99 with only interests.” A couple of Mills believers quickly adds to Margaret Mead’s dedicated few who changes the world – and becomes the village that raises the child.

A teacher I know who likes to give assignments suggested I write this week on "Belief", apropos of Monica’s Ratliff’s “unbelievable” victory against the odds on Tuesday in her school board race.

A Ratliff canvasser called in last weekend to campaign H.Q. after a day of knocking on doors – his own disbelief disturbed: The electorate was listening, the arrow was shifting. The voters were going to vote. Not in droves because the turnout would be abysmal …but in sufficiency.

“I believe we are actually going to win this!”

I believe.

Belief isn’t the opposite of science. Or math. Or data or anecdote. Belief complements those things.

Edward R. Morrow had a radio program in the 1950’s of spoken essays called “THIS I BELIEVE”; the program was revived by NPR and has generated tens of thousands of individual statements of personal belief. One of them “THE CAREFUL CULTIVATION OF BELIEF” is about belief in belief – and on the educational value thereof. | http://bit.ly/11jUFR3

In the show biz, which I was once a part, the entire fantasy machine is driven by the necessity of the double negative Suspension of Disbelief. In every theater and cinema the audience is required to give up what they know to be true: That they are sitting in a seat and watching actors (or shadows of actors) - and not the Battle of Agincourt or the decadence of Gatsby or Wallace+André (or Wallace+Gromit) eating a meal. Theater began in ancient Greece as a religious rite: The masked shadows of Gods and Men told their stories to the believers.

With all the definitions and permutations of belief each one of us ends up defining belief and what we choose to believe in for ourselves. I looked at the polls and the trending data and into my heart of hearts -- and applied experience and Poli Sci classes from the last century and believed Monica Ratliff would win …without having proof or empirical evidence. I wasn’t right, Monica Ratliff was right for that moment. And hopefully for the next four years.

I also believe in teachers and administrators and in the hard work done by students. I believe in my own work – and the great changes in this school district over the past fifteen years. I and others believe good things happened at LAUSD prior April of 2010. We believe great things are yet to come.

We didn’t win this one; every child won this one. And democracy and heart and a teacher who taught in the classroom everyday and who ran for school board after school and on the weekends won this. She had her victory party in her apartment and was back in school on Wednesday morning. The little engine that chugs up the mountain thinking-it-can-and-thinking-it-can won this. Si se puede won this. And carpe diem. Doing the work and checking your answers and going for extra credit won this.

Political operatives and conventional thinking and billionaire check writers and careful bet-hedging and special interests and big labor didn’t win. Not this time. And maybe, when you look up at the sky there’s a little more light, a little more disinfecting sunshine. Thomas Jefferson said that with “A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles.”

Like that. You gotta believe.

NOT AS AN AFTERTHOUGHT, BUT IN MEMORIAM: Honor and hold dear in the dedicated, consecrated and hallowed ground of memory the many who stood and fell for our Right to Believe.

¡Onward/Adelante! - smf


VETERAN TEACHER MONICA RATLIFF SCORES UPSET WIN IN LOPSIDED RACE FOR LAUSD BOARD
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/Z9qGiq

5/22/2013 - 8:00:42 PM PDT :: Attorney-turned-teacher Monica Ratliff was elected to represent the East San Fernando Valley on the LAUSD board, upsetting a heavily favored rival with strong political ties and seemingly unlimited campaign resources.

According to unofficial results from Tuesday's runoff, Ratliff received 20,243 votes compared with 18,779 for self-described education advocate Antonio Sanchez, who finished well ahead of her in the March primary.

Sanchez, 31, had the endorsement of powerful labor unions and financial support from well-funded political action campaigns, while Ratliff ran a part-time campaign on a shoestring budget. That had been seen as a disadvantage heading into the runoff, but on Wednesday it was viewed as a key to her success.

"At the end of the day, the teacher running against the establishment and outside money was the main thing driving her victory," said Raphael Sonenshein, the executive director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. "Sometimes, getting all of the support is worse than getting some of the support."

Ratliff was at work Wednesday in her fifth-grade classroom at San Pedro Elementary, as she was every day during the campaign. She said she went to bed about 11 p.m. Tuesday, when early returns gave her a slight edge and didn't know until morning that she had won.

Once she was at school, she turned news of her campaign into a civics lesson
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for her students, the last class of kids she'll be teaching for a while.

"I'm going to finish out this year, but then I'll be giving it up," she said. "I was really sad today when I thought about packing up the classroom. But it's a real opportunity and one I'm really looking forward to.

"We can fix the schools together," she said.

Ratliff will take office on July 1, succeeding Nury Martinez, who ran instead for City Council.

The District 6 contest filled the last open seat on the Los Angeles Unified board. Incumbents Steve Zimmer and Monica Garcia won re-election in March, in bruising campaigns funded by United Teachers Los Angeles and rival reform groups that favor Superintendent John Deasy.

As a vocal supporter of Deasy, Sanchez received strong backing from those groups, which support issues like data-based teacher evaluations and the growth of charter schools. The Coalition for School Reform spent more than $800,000 on behalf of Sanchez, who also collected nearly $87,000 in individual donations.

Ratliff received no help from political action committees but raised $37,000 in contributions for the runoff. She spent about $40,000 on her campaign, which works out to about $1.98 a vote. With direct and independent expenditures, Sanchez spent $47.16 per vote.

Ratliff has expressed cautious support for Deasy, saying she supports some of his policies and wants to know more about others. She recently said she wouldn't move to replace him at this time.

Deasy said Wednesday that he'd placed an early-morning call to congratulate Ratliff but hadn't been able to immediately reach her.

"I'm looking forward to working with her," he said. "Our agenda remains exactly where it's always been, front and center on behalf of students."

Garcia, the board president, and Zimmer each said LAUSD will benefit from having a teacher helping to set policy.

"She brings the substance of immediate experience that is irreplaceable," said Zimmer, a former high school teacher and counselor. "If Monica is able to bring that immediacy to our issue of elementary instruction, we're going to be a better school board."

The head of United Teachers Los Angeles, which had endorsed both candidates in the race, said he was "overjoyed" that voters had selected a teacher to represent them.

"She can hit the ground running," said UTLA President Warren Fletcher. "She understands the challenges the district is facing, and what's needed. This is a very positive development."

Zimmer said he believes that Sanchez also would have been a good board member, but he decried donations made by the coalition and its supporters, who included New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad.

"Our involvement in this election has always been about the children, families, and educators of LAUSD. With the election behind us, we will continue to work to move the cause of real public school reform forward in Los Angeles in the years to come."


MONICA RATLIFF'S ELECTION TO L.A. SCHOOL BOARD IS 'HUGE UPSET'
THE FIFTH-GRADE TEACHER'S LOW-BUDGET EFFORT DEFEATS ANTONIO SANCHEZ, WHO HAD $2.2 MILLION SPENT ON HIS BEHALF AND WAS ENDORSED BY THE MAYOR'S REFORM COALITION.

By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/17ejlnh

11:14 PM PDT, May 22, 2013 :: On its face, the election this week of a Los Angeles fifth-grade teacher to the Board of Education was a stunner. Monica Ratliff's low-budget effort included her boyfriend, a film school instructor, as her campaign manager. She had no paid staff and no meaningful help from her own politically active teachers union.

Her strategy to achieve some name recognition was to mail out refrigerator magnets, which cost $5,000 in scarce campaign funds. Ten to 20 faithful volunteers knocked on doors every weekend.

Her election night party? She jammed some 10 people into her one-bedroom apartment and then shooed them out at 11 p.m. — before the results were in — because she had to get up early to teach on Wednesday.

Her opponent, Antonio Sanchez, meanwhile, had more than $2.2 million spent on his behalf and an aggressive ground campaign of union volunteers and paid canvassers. He was endorsed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Coalition for School Reform, which received major donations from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and L.A. philanthropist Eli Broad, among others.

Political observers shook their heads Wednesday as they tried to make sense of it all.

Ratliff, 43, had the lead from the get-go Tuesday, ending up with about 52% of the votes, or 20,243 to Sanchez's 18,779.

"This is a huge upset," said Charles Kerchner, a professor at Claremont Graduate University who studies labor and education politics. "Overcoming financial odds of this size … suggests a big difference in the allure of the candidates and the ability to make big money unattractive."

Ratliff echoed that view.

"This is a testament to the voters," she said just before the start of class Wednesday at San Pedro Elementary south of downtown. "Voters put their belief in skills and expertise.... It sends the clear message that school board seats are not for sale."

The teachers union endorsed both candidates in the East Valley race, even though Ratliff is a highly regarded teacher and union leader at her school. The neutrality of United Teachers Los Angeles was a huge advantage to Sanchez because it cut off Ratliff from her best hope of major support.

The L.A. County Federation of Labor jumped in strongly for Sanchez, as did the Service Employees International Union. Local 99 of SEIU, which spent about $400,000 on his behalf, sent out 90 canvassers who talked to more than 21,000 households about Sanchez.

In the end there were various factors contributing to the outcome. Sanchez's base, for example, was in the low-turnout city of San Fernando, which lacked any higher interest races.

"When that few people show up to an election, almost anything can happen," Sanchez campaign consultant Mike Shimpoc said.

Turnout was comparatively strong in Ratliff's environs of Sunland and Tujunga, according to her team.

District 6 was set up to elect a Latino, but among likely voters, Latinos don't hold a majority, consultants said. Ratliff replaces Nury Martinez, who is running for the L.A. City Council.

Using her $52,000 in contributions strategically, Ratliff appealed to targeted groups. She touted the endorsement of Republican county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, for example, in a mailer to Republicans. Latino voters learned, in another letter, that she won a college scholarship available only to Latinos. (Ratliff has a Latino parent.)

Ratliff benefited, too, from her ballot designation: fifth-grade teacher. She also succeeded in winning endorsements from Los Angeles' two major newspapers and from educators as well.

A campaign consultant, Fred Huebscher, packaged the magnets — which featured a ruler and a conversion table for recipes — in an oversized envelope. He wanted people to remember Ratliff's name, recall that she is a teacher and make sure Latinos recognized her ethnicity. There was an accent over the o in Monica.

On Wednesday, Ratliff returned to her classroom, where she continued to read "Holes" to her students and worked on algebraic formulas. She skipped lunch to meet two journalists, but insisted that no students be photographed — she hadn't told them about her candidacy.

A colleague, Ruby Chavez, echoed feelings of some shock and much pride at the school over the election results.

To help the principal, Ratliff had volunteered to take on a difficult assignment next year — a combination class with fourth- and fifth-grade students. But in July, she'll take on instead the challenge of being one of seven board members during a time of change in the nation's second-largest school district.

She'll help oversee a new evaluation system that will, for the first time, use student standardized test scores in teacher evaluations. Charter schools are battling the district for classroom space and her former union is fighting for job restorations.

Near her classroom door is a poster of a ball and a basketball hoop. It states: "You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take."

Ratliff took a shot. And she made it.


Parent Trigger: POPULAR PRINCIPAL'S DISMISSAL LEAVES A SOUTH L.A. SCHOOL DIVIDED
IRMA COBIAN WAS HIGHLY REGARDED AT WEIGAND AVENUE ELEMENTARY IN WATTS. BUT UNDER CALIFORNIA'S 2010 TRIGGER LAW, SHE WAS OUSTED LAST WEEK. 'IT DEVASTATED OUR MORALE,' ONE TEACHER SAID.

By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/16ZedT4

4:08 PM PDT, May 24, 2013 :: Third-grade teacher Kate Lewis said Irma Cobian is the best principal she's had in nine years at Weigand Avenue Elementary School in Watts.

Joseph Shamel called Cobian a "godsend" who has used her mastery of special education to show him how to craft effective learning plans for his students.

Los Angeles Unified Supt. John Deasy praised a plan developed by Cobian and her team to turn around the struggling campus — where most students test below grade level in reading and math — calling it a "well-organized program for accelerated student achievement." He thanked Cobian for her commitment and hard work.

So why did the school board oust Cobian from her job last week?

That question has raged on the Weigand campus ever since board members voted 5 to 2 to accept a petition demanding Cobian's removal.

Under California's 2010 trigger law, parents at low-performing schools can force out staff, change the curriculum, close the campus or convert it to an independent, publicly funded charter. At Weigand, the district verified signatures of parents representing 221 of 420 students, or 53%; 35 signatures were thrown out as invalid.

It was the state's first successful campaign to remove an administrator, and a sign of the power that can be wielded by a group of disaffected parents. But the outcome has prompted elected officials and education groups to call for closer monitoring of trigger campaigns.

Parent leader Llury Garcia said that although her second-grade daughter has done fairly well at Weigand, Cobian was inaccessible and rude. She and other petition backers were assisted by Parent Revolution, a Los Angeles nonprofit that lobbied for the parent trigger law and is aiding overhaul efforts at several other Los Angeles campuses.

"We want strong leadership," said Garcia, who has kept her daughter at Weigand instead of her neighborhood school because of concerns about bullying. "We support our teachers."

But in a show of loyalty to Cobian, 21 of 22 teachers have asked for transfers to other schools. Several said the petition campaign has poisoned the campus. Profanity has been scrawled on walls and even on Cobian's car. Others said they have no desire to stay without the leader who inspired them.

"It devastated our morale," said Robyn Hernandez, who followed Cobian to Weigand in 2010. "It felt like a betrayal of something we had worked so hard for."

Kathleen McGrath, a district instructional director who works with Weigand, said it could take three years to rebuild a team and get the campus back on track.

This week, parents voted to accept Cobian's turnaround plan as the next step forward. Although a Parent Revolution statement quoted Garcia as saying that parents "spent several months carefully reviewing" the plan, she told The Times last week that she had never read it and disagreed with key elements, such as its focus on reading and writing.

The day after the removal vote, Cobian, 53, made no attempt to mask her emotions.

Trying to cheer herself up, she dropped by Lewis' class to give prizes to those who have read 25 books this year. Cobian whooped for Andrea's 28 and encouraged Joseph to push his 11 to 15.

"I need happiness today," Cobian told the bright-eyed students. "What do I do when I'm sad?"

"Come here!" the students sang out.

For a moment, her sadness gave way to smiles. But later, she said: "I am crushed."

More than two decades ago, Cobian walked away from a high-powered law firm to teach. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she said she was inspired by a newspaper article about the low high school graduation rates of Latinos and wanted to make a difference.

Her passion for social justice led her to Watts in 2009.

When Cobian arrived, Weigand was beset with conflicts over a dual-language program and low parent participation. The school presented challenges associated with lesser achievement: All the students come from low-income families, more than half are not fluent in English and a quarter turn over every year.

She focused right away on morale, sprucing up the campus with a new school logo and banners. She offered prizes and popcorn parties to entice students to read more and initiated good-behavior incentives. Last year she eliminated student suspensions.

Aaliyah Harrison, 12, said Cobian is a special principal who gives her hugs and understands her struggles, such as losing her father to cancer last year. "She is a wonderful person," Aaliyah said.

From the start, Cobian laid out her belief that literacy is the gateway to academic success and she helped teachers boost their classroom skills.

Fourth-grade teacher Hector Hernandez said Cobian is the first principal he's had who frequently pops into classrooms to model good teaching herself. Recently, he said, she demonstrated how to teach about different literary genres by engaging students in lively exercises using characters from the "Avengers" comic book and film.

Her staff says she has built an open and collaborative culture — and boosted what Hernandez said had been "atrocious" morale with gestures of appreciation like hauling in her griddle to make pancakes for them.

In Cobian's first year as principal, Weigand's state test scores dropped in both reading and math. But some bright spots are emerging, McGrath said. Reading scores increased among all students last year, and district assessments so far this year show particular growth in reading comprehension. Math scores have dipped overall but rose for African Americans and students with disabilities.

Cobian also has focused on boosting parent participation. The percentage of Weigand parents returning district surveys has increased from 4% the year before she came to 51% this year. Answering specific questions, 93% of parents said they felt welcome at the campus and 94% reported that the staff treated them with respect; 95% felt their concerns were taken seriously.

On a recent day, the school's parent center was filled with more than a dozen mothers — and a few fathers — who said Cobian has welcomed their involvement. All but one opposed the petition; that mother said she now regrets signing.

But Cobian has offended some parents.

Alicia Cardiel, a petition supporter, said Cobian failed to help her second-grader for more than two years with his behavioral and academic problems. Six months ago, she said, he finally received an individualized learning plan and is now receiving psychological help — but she questioned why it took so long.

The parents behind the campaign have denied allegations that they misled or harassed anyone into signing, as some have alleged. As they noted, the petition — printed in both English and Spanish — clearly stated the demand to remove the principal.

Ben Austin, Parent Revolution's executive director, said the move against Cobian was justified. He said the school had "academically flat-lined" and that the children could no longer wait for improvement.

"The kids will be better off under new leadership, not someone who has presided over abject failure," he said.

But the Cobian case has prompted calls to rethink the process.

Judith Perez, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, said the campaign was an unjustified attack on an outstanding administrator and urged the district to better support targeted campuses. Weigand teachers said they were prevented from defending Cobian's record by district instructions not to speak to parents about the petition while it was being circulated.

"There needs to be a rigorous approach because the stakes are so high," Perez said. "You're talking about a whole school and all of the children."

Board member Richard Vladovic, whose 7th District includes Weigand, said Cobian — who will stay on as principal through the end of the school year — was "a good person" but that he had to follow the law and approve the verified petition.

"Basically we had no choice," he said.

But he added that greater monitoring could help ensure that parents clearly understood petition campaigns.

"Another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt," he said. "Everybody should be told the truth."


Parent Trigger: FOLLOWING THE MONEY - EDUCATION REFORM AND THE MEDIA
Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Update | Week of May 27, 2013 | http://bit.ly/ZnNr4s

May 23, 2013 :: Virtually all media outlets have touted the parent trigger law and ensuing school takeovers as parent empowerment and reform of a system that has protected teachers and administrators via their unions. Parent trigger campaigns and procharter groups have received glowing reports in the media, while none of the outlets have exposed their funding conflicts of interest. The most well-known parent trigger group is Parent Revolution, which was covered in previous editions of Update. We informed you then that Parent Revolution receives the bulk of its funding from the Walton Foundation, which is definitely no friend to public education; in fact, it has spent over $1 billion to promote school privatization. But delving even deeper, we find that some of the media funding is coming from the same sources that are funding Parent Revolution and other privatizing education efforts.

News Corp, the world’s second largest media conglomerate, has holdings in newspapers, books, radio, studios, Internet and cable, satellite and broadcast TV. This includes all of the Fox TV networks and studios, National Geographic, Harper Collins Publishers, New York Post, Wall Street Journal, Barrons and several smaller newspapers throughout the eastern portion of the country. Its holdings also include Wireless Generation/Amplify, an online education, software, tablet and testing corporation. News Corp’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, called K-12 education a “$500 billion sector that is waiting desperately to be transformed.” Is it no wonder that Parent Revolution and the parent trigger always receive positive comments on Fox TV?

NPR stations have embraced Michele Rhee’s procharter group StudentsFirst and describe her as a crusading reformer trying to “build a national movement to defend the interests of children in public education.” Both NPR and StudentsFirst have received millions from the Walton Family Foundation which is known for union-busting and the privatization of public education. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has funneled about $8.5 million to NPR over the last decade and earmarked it for improving education reporting. (Note: Parent Revolution receives the bulk of its funding from the Walton and Gates Foundations). NPR hosts and reporters routinely cover charter schools, parent trigger campaigns and procharter groups in a positive light, while not mentioning the financial conflict of interest.

Education Week received a $2 million grant from the Gates Foundation to support coverage of innovation in K-12 education. An assistant editor at Education Week, Sean Cavanagh, runs the Charters & Choice blog for the newspaper. The blog embraced a study by the Friedman Foundation that showed how vouchers and charters help boost academic performance. Surprise? The Friedman Foundation is funded by the Waltons and Mr. Cavanagh had nothing but praise for Parent Revolution and its director, Ben Austin. Also, Mr. Cavanagh recently was a guest on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, hosted by Neal Conan, where the battle waged in Adelanto by Parent Revolution and the movie, Won’t Back Down (released by 20th Century Fox/News Corp), were the main topics. Here we have an entire program, its host, its guest and its topic, all funded by the same groups—Walton and Gates.

Won’t Back Down was the story of the use of the parent trigger law to transform a “failing” school, but its facts were somewhat distorted. In the movie, a parent and a teacher unite to go door-to-door to convince parents to sign the petition to trigger a school transformation. While in reality, most teachers do not sign the petition and actually are likely to be replaced when the trigger is pulled. Instead of promoting unity, as in the movie, generally the petition drives have created chaos and division in the school community and have been run by those who have no connection to the site. What is true is the result of the parent trigger—the school turns into a charter run by a noneducator. Won’t Back Down was produced by Walden Media which is owned by billionaire Philip Anschutz (AEG) who has ties to many conservative groups, particularly the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which has been instrumental in pushing parent trigger legislation and “don’t back down” laws across the country.

As we continue to follow the money behind education reform, parent empowerment, public choice and school transformation, we see that the same billionaires are now controlling the media as they continue to expand their coffers through the privatization of public education.


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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DATABASE:: Los Angeles County school rankings based on API test score data http://bit.ly/12I4DOz

Children’s Health: IGNORE EVIDENCE. DENY SCIENCE. MINIMIZE PROBLEMS. CRY “FREEDOM!” + smf’s 2¢: Companies Say ... http://bit.ly/16QzXkR

PEARSON AGREES TO $75 MILLION SETTLEMENT OF U.S. E-BOOKS CASE + smf’s 2¢: Kate Holton and Nate Raymond of Reut... http://bit.ly/16Pyxa9

When measuring educator performance, what weight do we give teachers who return to their classroom after winning the school board election?

When measuring educator performance, what weight do we give to principals who place themselves in harm's way during a crisis?

When measuring educator performance, what weight do we give to teachers who shield students with their bodies in a tornado?

MARK HER PRESENT: @LADNschools: San Pedro ES says teacher Monica Ratliff is there today, as she was during the campaign for a #LAUSD boa ...

MORE THAN YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT inBLOOM, SOONER THAN THEY WANTED YOU TO KNOW IT: Be afraid, be very afraid: ... http://bit.ly/183PU6W

1More2Go: There will a singular woman in LA Govt after July. Who to be decided in CD6 runoff 7/23 CINDY MONTANEZ 44%
NURY MARTINEZ 24%

G’Morning L.A.:CONGRATS TO GARCETTI, FEUER, GALPERIN, CEDILLO, PRICE, O’FARRELL, RATLIFF, PEARLMAN - 19.2% turnout ¿Big $ repudiated?

RESULTS: Member of the LAUSD Board of Ed, Dist #6 w/100% reporting
Monica Ratliff 20,243 | 51.87%
Antonio Sanchez 18,779 | 48.12%

Steve Lopez@LA Times: this just in. 10 more votes counted. final results expected by memorial day.

Steve Lopez@LA Times: how long would it take these knuckleheads to count votes if we had a respectable turnout? anyone got any medical marijuana?

Barbara Jones ‏@LADNschools: About 1,200 more ballots counted in #LAUSD District 6. Ratliff and Sanchez margin still 52-48.

smf ‏@4LAKids: The Bow+Truss Restaurant in NoHo, where Antonio Sanchez is having his "victory" party, is apparently NOT in his school board district.

smf ‏@4LAKids 21 May: As of 10:31 PM:
MONICA RATLIFF 7,306 VOTES 51.85%
ANTONIO SANCHEZ 6,783 VOTES 48.14%

@LADNschools: Monica Ratliff holds her lead over Antonio Sanchez thru second round of ballots.

Official (but-not Final) L.A.Election Night Results: Updated approximately every 45 minutes after the polls close | http://bit.ly/18gVLTQ


EVENTS: Coming up next week...


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


• LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR



What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
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!.


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




Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD and is Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represented PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee for ten years. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids.
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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Garcetti and Ratliff and Feuer, oh my…


Onward! 4LAKids
4LAKids: Sunday 19•May•2013
In This Issue:
 •  Los Angeles City Elections 2013: A CITY AGENDA FOR L.A. SCHOOLS?
 •  The May Revise: SUMMARY+EVALUATION OF THE GOVERNOR’S MAY BUDGET REVISION 2013-2014
 •  POLITICAL SAVVY VS. EDUCATION SKILLS IN L.A. SCHOOL BOARD RUNOFF
 •  LAUSD BOARD RACE TO BE DECIDED BY EAST VALLEY VOTERS
 •  HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
 •  EVENTS: Coming up next week...
 •  What can YOU do?


Featured Links:
 •  Follow 4 LAKids on Twitter - or get instant updates via text message by texting
 •  4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved!
 •  4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc.
…AND CEDILLO AND CUBAS AND O’FARRELL AND GALPERIN AND VELA.

OK, this is an e-newsletter/blog – a conversation – about education. So why does it have endorsements about mayor, city council and city-wide offices? Read Bennett Kayser’s excellent Op-Ed (following) about why it should not …but these endorsements are based primarily (but not exclusively) upon how well the candidates would subscribe to Bennett’s insistence on the Separation of Powers embedded in the L.A. City Charter and guaranteed in the state constitution . And adjudged+affirmed, lest we forget, in LAUSD v. Villaraigosa.

When the events that led to that court case played out bright yellow t-shirts were issued to LAUSD parents that said: PARENTS – NOT POLITICS. (The other side’s t-shirt color was blue – they have changed names numerous times since – from The ©oalition for $chool ®eform to The Partnership for L.A. Schools to The LA Parents Union to Parent Revolution …but the color has remained the same). Parents – Not Politics was hogwash – putting on the t-shirt was-and-is a political act. The fight itself was political. It was never about kids. It was always about Power+Money. And those two imposters, gentle readers, are the same.

● GARCETTI: If one can have friends in politics Eric is a friend. When he was a brand new city councilman he delivered on a campaign promise in Mount Washington and freed up some ‘surplus’ federal funding the city had to help fund a joint-use project with the school district to build a library and community center at Mount Washington School. This was a paradigm shift in District project funding and design – and created the model that led to many other joint-use/joint-funded projects+programs between public and private agencies and the District. Eric’s continued support of LAUSD Adult Ed programs (and particularly the Aircraft Mechanics School at Van Nuys Airport) has been exemplary. He didn’t show up at the Board of Ed the week before the election … he was there advocating on the day that the board might have otherwise eliminated adult ed and early childhood ed and after school programs.

● RATLIFF: Monica Ratliff is and continues to be a classroom teacher in LAUSD, teaching fifth grade in an inner city school even while campaigning for a seat on the Board of Education. She is the right person for the job. And unapologetically going negative: Her opponent – supported by the (un)usual suspects, the empowered+entitled+well-connected - and funded by the ©oalition for $chool ®eform and the mayor of New York City, is not.

● FEUER: When the incumbent became city attorney he ended the city attorney’s office support for a groundbreaking and-truly-excellent public/private sector program that was making a difference at Markham Middle School – the kind of City involvement in District schools that must be fostered. I’m all for pot-stirring and troublemaking for-the-public-good – but his incumbency and track record has been downhill since. Better that the city attorney be a team player like Mike Feuer.

● CEDILLO IN CD 1. Gil Cedillo has been unjustly accused of being “One Bill Gil”, of for being a “Sacramento Politician” (for his service representing Northeast L.A. in Sacramento!) Two things: Cedillo’s ‘one bill’ is The Dream Act – opening opportunity to young people – how is that a bad thing? And Cedillo took the time one afternoon to connect to this constituent on a truly personal level. That is really all it takes, and on another level, all that matters.

● ANA CUBAS IN CD 9. Ana worked on the staff of former board president Jose Huizar in LAUSD and later on his staff at the city council; she listens and learns and returns phone calls – she has her education and government chops. There aren’t enough women on the city council. The billboard companies are supporting her opponent (Full disclosure, they are also supporting Cedillo.) The LA Times doesn’t think she’s ready yet …which I guess means they aren’t ready yet.

● MITCH O’FARRELL IN CD 13: I like Mitch, he doesn’t just answer my calls, he laughs at my jokes – and I his. Eric Garcetti took his sweet time but came out for Mitch on Thursday. The big money and the billboard companies say vote the other way. Go Mitch!

● RON GALPERIN FOR CITY CONTROLLER: OK, campers: what does the Los Angeles City Controller do? To those of you who said that person is the Chief Financial Officer of the city, you can all go back and take Civics again in High School. Oh wait, …we don’t teach Civics in LAUSD!

The closest thing to a CFO is the City Treasurer (combined with the Office of Finance in 2011) – the treasurer is appointed and removed by the mayor with the confirmation of the council – a free subscription to 4LAKids to the first ten readers who can name the L.A. City Treasurer. The elected controller is the city’s paymaster and chief accountant – but the office has no requirement for professional accounting competency. The Controller issues reports and does management and performance audits. The Controller is essentially a political whistleblower and watchdog - though that person does get to sign the checks – and often identifies the obvious with suitable outrage at a press event once it’s reported in The Times.

All of this said, 4LAKids endorsees Ron Galperin mainly because the billboard money supports his opponent.

● DAVID VELA FOR LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT SEAT #6. The incompetence and ineffectiveness at education and the ignorance of the public will/failure of the public trust …and waste, fraud and abuse in the building program (plus the deliberate appointment of an inexperienced lightweight as Inspector General) at the community college district has been rampant and well reported.

Voting the Rascals Out should be the mantra. Vela’s opponent may not have been the principal rascal – but the LA Times endorsement of her qualifies her as “a long time board member” and “one of the building program's main advocates.” Enough said: There is no fine line between mis-and-malfeasance at the ballot box.

MOSTLY: GO OUT AND VOTE. The turnout in the primary was abysmal and in all likelihood Tuesday’s turnout will be less. Or to spin it another way: More abysimal. We get whom we vote for. And when we don’t vote we get whom the billboard companies, the billionaires and the self-proclaimed-®eformers play for.

► IT WASN’T ME WHO CALLED IT “KABUKI THEATER”* …it was a newsman in an off-the-record conversation, But Superintendent. Deasy – who proposed to eliminate Breakfast in the Classroom by leaving it out of his budget – saved it and welcomed it back (complete with Wendy Greuel wringing her hands for the poor hungry children) from the abyss with open arms (and unanimous board support) on Tuesday – blaming UTLA for the “crisis” he manufactured.

► SUPERINTENDENT DEASY PRESENTED HIS PROPOSED BUDGET ON TUESDAY. It is, by his admission, totally dependent up two things:

● The governor’s Local Control Funding Formula passing exactly as it was proposed on January 10th and revised earlier Tuesday in the May Revise. (following)
● The federal sequester being rescinded.

I hate to be all cynical as the promise of nothing-but-blue-skies looms so brightly in the great new wonderful tomorrow – but neither of those things is going to happen. And the possibility of both happening is miniscule. And even then the budget is for one year, not three as required by state law.

Not one board member on the horseshoe asked about what Plan B would be. Not one of them.

● What if the Senate Democrats plan passes instead?
● What if there’s a one-year delay in implementation as both the Senate and Assembly Dems suggest?
● What if the sequester remains in force?

From the LA Schools Report (which generally is Th’ Voice o’ ®eform …not to be confused with Monica Garcia’s board district, which declares itself ‘Th’ Cradle o’ ®eform) – on a joint appearance by Brown and Deasy on Friday: “The Governor presented his plan as a small but important change in how funds are allocated to districts like LA. Deasy described its passage as a make-or-break $188 million game changer (for LAUSD) [http://bit.ly/UXHVhZ ] The LASR goes on to say Deasy’s “chief intergovernmental relations staffer noted that there were some LA-area legislators who hadn’t yet gotten behind the plan”. Really? Like John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) who happens to be Speaker of the Assembly? (see The May Revise: Summary+Evaluation/following)

► FINALLY: The emerging evidence suggests that the big train wreck (the real one, not the metaphorical one) on the East Coast Friday was caused by a section of broken track. Not an engineer tweeting and missing a signal; not a terrorist attack – but a failure of maintenance and repair of basic infrastructure. If we – We The People – don’t get our act together and start maintaining and repairing stuff …and making the investment in aging infrastructure – if we don’t commit to paying for Maintenance and Operations and things as critical to health+safety as school custodians and groundskeepers – systems and roofs and air conditioners and twenty-five-year ‘temporary’ bungalows in their fiftieth year of life will fail.

It wouldn’t be 4LAKids without a pop music reference from another time/another crisis.

This one’s by George Harrison: “Bangladesh”.

¡Onward/Adelante! – smf
__________
* In common English usage, a kabuki dance, also kabuki play, is an activity or drama carried out in real life in a predictable or stylized fashion, reminiscent of the Kabuki style of Japanese stage play. It refers to an event that is designed to create the appearance of conflict or of an uncertain outcome, when in fact the actors have worked together to determine the outcome beforehand. Wikipedia: http://bit.ly/Z6jDct


Los Angeles City Elections 2013: A CITY AGENDA FOR L.A. SCHOOLS?
IF PUBLIC OFFICIALS IN THE MORE THAN TWO DOZEN CITIES SERVED BY L.A. UNIFIED WANT TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP KIDS SUCCEED, THERE ARE PLENTY OF THINGS WITHIN THEIR PURVIEW.

OpEd in the LA Times By Bennett Kayser | http://lat.ms/142Ykas

May 15, 2013 :: For those who need reminding, I'll state it clearly: Neither the Los Angeles mayor nor the City Council has one lick of voting authority at the Los Angeles Unified School District. They can't set policy at the district, nor can they hire or fire its leaders. And when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa tried to challenge that organizational structure, launching an unconstitutional attempt to take over the entire school district, the courts quickly slapped him down.

But those facts haven't seemed to stop candidates for city office from grandstanding about district schools, turning them into a political pinata as they attempt to score points with voters.

Bashing the district seems to be the default response when a candidate is asked a tough question about the city. Instead, we need elected leaders who are willing to pitch in and help.

L.A.'s school district faces huge challenges. More than three-quarters of its students live in poverty; about 29% haven't mastered English and an additional 13% are in special education classes. But despite that, even as class sizes have continued to rise and the budget has been slashed, students continue to make academic gains.

Part of that is due to sacrifices by district staff. District employees again took pay cuts this year so that children would continue to have after-school programs, art in elementary schools, early education opportunities, Academic Decathlon teams and an All-City marching band.

And yes, California just dropped to 49th in the nation in student funding.

Against this backdrop, there is an important role for elected officials to play, and it is one that goes far beyond politically motivated carping. A recent study noted that the average student spends just 18% of his or her life in school. The great bulk of a student's time is spent at home or out in the community. I'd love to hear the mayoral candidates commit to partnering with the district to create a better city for children.

If public officials in the more than two dozen cities served by L.A. Unified want to do something to help kids succeed, there are plenty of things within their purview: making communities safer, for example, or more economically vibrant and family friendly. Rather than looking east to cities where mayors have made power grabs to take over schools, they should look north to San Francisco, which stands as a model of how a city-school district partnership can work.

In Los Angeles a few years ago, the Department of Water and Power agreed to refund more than $100 million it had overcharged L.A. Unified and other public institutions. In San Francisco, public schools get deeply discounted electricity from the local utility under an agreement forged decades ago. While L.A.'s Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently shaved a small amount off the monthly bill of students traveling to schools on public transit, San Francisco recently instituted a program that allows low- and moderate-income students to ride for free. Many San Francisco museums are also free to students. And school policing costs come, for the most part, out of the San Francisco police budget, not the school district's. Furthermore, the city provides substantial funding to a variety of school programs, pursuant to an initiative approved by San Francisco voters, including for preschools, arts and student-support services.

If the mayoral candidates want more ideas for how they can lead on education, they might consider what Gavin Newsom did during his first run for mayor of San Francisco. He took the politically risky move of supporting additional city funding for schools. The measure he supported passed, and it has spared San Francisco schools from some of the worst ravages of state budget cuts.

L.A. Unified students need safe routes to schools, access to healthy food, open playgrounds and libraries, support for after-school programs, free public transportation to school, real access to museums, Internet in the home, summer jobs, violence-free communities, regular healthcare, clean air and water, safe homes, employed parents and a vibrant parks and recreation program that supports healthy living. Doesn't that sound like a perfect education agenda for the mayor and the City Council?

Bennett Kayser, a member of the L.A. Unified Board of Education, is a former teacher and administrator.

●● smf: Boardmember Kayser is absolutely right.

But reality trumps legality– and Mayor Villaraigosa was instrumental in the selection of the past two superintendents of LAUSD and has been influential (if not decisive) in every major decision made by the board of education during his mayoralty …probably more so than with the city council.


The May Revise: SUMMARY+EVALUATION OF THE GOVERNOR’S MAY BUDGET REVISION 2013-2014
By smf/4LAKids based on confidential evaluations and news reports.

►BACKGROUND ON REVENUE
●Overall, state revenues are running about $4.5 billion ahead of expectations through April (due at least in part to more people paying their taxes early).
●Much of the new revenue will result in a significant one-time increase for K-14 education in the 2012-13 budget year.

►HIGHLIGHTS
●The Governor proposes $1 billion specifically to support the implementation of new COMMON CORE STANDARDS IN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE ARTS AND MATH. No mention is made of Common Core Science Standards released in April - or California’s standards in other subjects including Social Studies, Arts and Music, Health Ed, Physical Education, etc.
●ONE-TIME MONIES WOULD BE DISTRIBUTED TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS ($170 per student) to support investments in PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY.
●Local districts will HAVE FLEXIBILITY TO DETERMINE THE BEST USE OF THE MONEY OVER THE NEXT TWO YEARS, BUT BE REQUIRED TO DEVELOP A PLAN AND HOLD A PUBLIC HEARING ON THE PLAN. (In LAUSD a “Public Hearing” is usually an agenda item on the Board of Ed agenda – prefaced with the disclaimer: “This constitutes a public hearing…..”)
●No SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE GOVERNOR’S LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA AS INITIALLY PRESENTED in January, in terms of the calculation of the formula itself. There is an additional $236 million proposed in the overall funding amount for LCFF. The Governor strongly re-affirmed his commitment to providing concentration grants as part of the formula, rather than directing more of the funds to restore and increase base grant amounts for all districts. Increasing the base grant beyond what he has proposed “would only delay implementation of the formula, direct new money away from those schools that need it most and perpetuate existing inequities…” (Page 15, May Revision.)

►LEGISLATIVE LEADERS - Assembly Speaker Perez and Senate President pro-tempore Steinberg - HAVE SIGNALED THAT THEY PREFER MORE FUNDING GOING TO INCREASE BASE GRANTS FOR ALL DISTRICTS. The concentration grants – which compounds increased funding for districts with more socioeconomically needy, English learners and/or Foster youth (LAUSD qualifies on all three) present s a challenge.
●"Any change in formula has to result in an increase in funding for all schools" Perez said. "We're very optimistic we can reach an agreement with the governor in this area."
●"The concentration grants treat thousands of disadvantaged students unequally," Steinberg said.

►Some important changes proposed to the ACCOUNTABILITY PROVISIONS. While the specific language has not yet been released, there will be provisions that:
●Tighten requirements that monies designated for English learners, students from low-income families and foster children MUST be spent to serve these children.
●Establish a more specific role for technical assistance, intervention and oversight of school districts by county superintendents and the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.
●“For school districts that fail to meet academic achievement targets set by the State Board of Education, including achievement goals for each sub-group of students, for two out of three years, the county superintendent may disapprove local plans that are not likely to improve student achievement. In more limited cases, where a Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) review deems necessary, a county superintendent may make changes to a district’s plan or overturn decisions made by a district governing board. The Superintendent of Public Instruction may intervene in place of the county superintendent in a district which is failing to meet academic achievement targets.” (Page 19, May Revision.)

●NO CHANGES TO THE 24:1 CLASS-SIZE REDUCTION TARGET as proposed in January budget.

●SPEEDS UP THE REPAYMENT OF DEFERRALS. The Governor proposes to increase the amount paid to reduce deferrals owed to school districts from past years.
●A total of $4.3 billion, up by about $1 billion from the January proposal would be used between the current 2012-13 year and the 2013-14 budget year to further reduce K-14 deferrals.
●By the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year, the K-12 deferral amount would be reduced to a total of $4.9 billion compared to the $9.5 billion peak when the Governor took office.

►EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY.
●There is no additional funding proposed for early education programs, which have suffered nearly $1 billion in cuts in the last few years and are proven to help address the achievement gap and reduce future state costs.
The Obama Administration is focused on Early Childhood Ed – with a possibility of a federal funding match. The governor persists in conflating Child Care with Early Childhood Ed.

►THE MAY REVISE STEPS BACK FROM PREVIOUS PROPOSAL TO RESTRUCTURE THE ADULT EDUCATION SYSTEM. The May Revision states: “Given concerns raised with the timing and structure of the [January] proposal, the May Revision proposes to “maintain the status quo for existing K-12 and Community College Adult Education programs for two years.”
●The May Revision maintains the existing apportionment structure and school districts retain their authority to independently continue their existing adult education programs – “but over time it is expected they will join a regional adult education consortium.” (Page 25, May Revision.)

► With apologies to Shel Silverstein: MISSING PIECES -
● NO MENTION IS MADE OF ANY ANTICIPATED FACILITIES FUNDING; the governor proposes no new state school bonds and indeed may intend to fold facilities (capital improvement) funding into the General Fund – further compromising Prop 98 while failing to invest in needed infrastructure: School construction, modernization and repair.
●THE GOVERNOR SEEMS RETICENT TO APPROVE ANY CHANGES TO PROP 13 (such as lowering the parcel tax threshold to 55% or splitting the rolls on residential v. commercial property.
●He has stated opposition to an oil severance tax to support education.
●THERE IS NO PROVISION FOR TRUE LOCAL CONTROL AND/OR ACCOUNTABILITY AT THE SCHOOL SITE OR COMMUNITY LEVEL. Making school boards accountable locally might work in traditional school districts with a couple of thousand students. But LAUSD with almost a million students when you count adult ed – and encompassing an area that includes 26 municipalities or jurisdictions and covers over 600 square miles of urban landscape is a whole other matter.

Trailer bill language was expected to be introduced later last week.


Read THE GOVERNOR’S MAY REVISION PROPOSAL at http://www.ebudget.ca.gov.

Senate Dems; The Senate Democratic Caucus plan is contained in SENATE BILL 68: SCHOOL FINANCE: NEW PUPIL FUNDING FORMULA | SB 69 Senate Bill – AMENDED http://bit.ly/160blpy

Assembly Dems: BLUEPRINT FOR A RESPONSIBLE BUDGET - Assembly Democrats' Plan for Fiscal Responsibility, A Stronger Middle Class & Less Government Red Tape | http://bit.ly/10ON3XG



POLITICAL SAVVY VS. EDUCATION SKILLS IN L.A. SCHOOL BOARD RUNOFF

ANTONIO SANCHEZ, 31, HAS THE FORMER, WHICH HAS HELPED HIM ATTRACT BIG SUPPORT FROM LABOR, WHILE MONICA RATLIFF, 43, HAS THE LATTER, MAKING HER THE FAVORITE OF EDUCATORS.


By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/14lX0zt

May 17, 2013, 10:47 p.m. :: The race for a seat on the Los Angeles Board of Education pits the political savvy of Antonio Sanchez against the education skills of Monica Ratliff. And when it comes to campaign resources, politics trumps all.

Sanchez, 31, has used his background in campaigns and ties to political figures to attract huge financial support from labor groups and a political-action committee headed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Ratliff, 43, has used her background as a legal-aid attorney and respected teacher in a high-performing school to impress editorial boards and educators.

In the March 5 primary, Sanchez claimed 44% of voters, with Ratliff next at 34%, setting up Tuesday's runoff.

The campaign spending has been lopsided for Sanchez. The Coalition for School Reform, the mayor's group, amassed more than $1 million for the runoff, with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and L.A. philanthropist Eli Broad the largest donors. To date, independent groups, including the L.A. County Federation of Labor and Local 99 of Service Employees International, have spent nearly $1.9 million for Sanchez.

His own fundraising totals about $132,000, according to the latest filing. Ratliff, meanwhile, has no outside campaign to help; she has raised about $42,000.

The candidates are vying to represent the east San Fernando Valley, a mostly working-class Latino area, on the seven-member board.

They don't have vast differences in their positions. Ratliff, however, has been inconsistent in her take on L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy, saying most recently that she would not move to replace him. Sanchez is an avowed Deasy supporter — the key reason for his backing by Villaraigosa's allies. They support Deasy's efforts to limit seniority protections for teachers and they also back the superintendent's push to include student standardized test scores in teacher evaluations.

The county labor federation knows Sanchez from his service as a midlevel aide for last fall's successful campaign to defeat Proposition 32, a statewide anti-labor initiative. Sanchez also has the blessing of a phalanx of labor allies already in office.

United Teachers Los Angeles, which is sharply critical of Deasy, endorsed both candidates. Many teachers are upset that the union did not vigorously back Ratliff, the elected union leader at her school, even though she has not adopted the union position on some issues.

One factor was money — the union depleted its war chest to reelect incumbent Steve Zimmer in the March primary. Union officials said they were reluctant to borrow funds to contest a Sanchez victory that seemed inevitable — before Ratliff's strong primary showing.

But even without huge donations, the union could mobilize a small army of volunteers. Many individual teachers have volunteered for Ratliff, but the union's neutrality proved a massive benefit to Sanchez.

In union meetings, the leadership has said that Sanchez was being groomed for higher office by officials they needed to appease, especially if they wanted to prevail in the Legislature on laws affecting teaching evaluations and tenure rules, said members who were present.

Some high-level union members alleged that there was a deal for Sanchez to let UTLA choose his chief of staff — which top officials and Sanchez deny.

Some praise Sanchez's political instincts.

"He has the type of personality that is conducive to getting things done in a difficult political environment," said supporter Alex Reza, who was Sanchez's government teacher at San Fernando High. "He is a good listener and he sees perspectives of issues."

And Sanchez "shares the life experience of many of our students" — having entered local schools not speaking English.

Sanchez remembers this vividly: "I'll never forget the day I walked out of the apartment and thought: 'How in the world am I going to talk to anybody?'" Sanchez said.

Sanchez last year completed his master's in urban and regional planning at UCLA. Along the way, he was a field representative for a state legislator and for Villaraigosa.

"I'm used to being the youngest one in the room, with people either underestimating me or telling me I'm inexperienced," he said. "My passion is fueled by a very simple idea: We have to have more kids graduating from high school."

Newspaper editorial boards and some observers have concluded that Sanchez's resume is too thin for the job, especially when compared to Ratliff.

"We liked him, but his response to our questions lacked depth," said Judith Perez, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, which represents district administrators. Ratliff "had a deep knowledge of teaching and learning. She was clear on the priorities of students in the district."

Ratliff, who is Latina and grew up in Arizona, won a scholarship to Columbia University, where she also earned her law degree. During work as a legal aid attorney, "something hit me like a lightning bolt," she said. "Poverty is the problem, and the solution is education."

She teaches fifth grade at San Pedro Street Elementary, a Los Angeles school that has achieved high test scores despite serving students from mostly low-income families.

On education matters, Ratliff said she's learned from her principal and her colleagues as well as her previous experience as a lawyer. What sets her apart, she said, is being "in the classroom for over a decade at a school that is much like many schools in the district — and that has been improving."


LAUSD BOARD RACE TO BE DECIDED BY EAST VALLEY VOTERS

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/13AhOjY

5/18/2013 08:20:42 PM PDT :: Spending has topped $1.8 million in the race to fill the remaining open seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board, with East San Fernando Valley voters deciding how the transformation of the nation's second-largest school district will play out.

Tuesday's runoff for the District 6 seat has become as much about the future of Superintendent John Deasy's reform agenda as who will succeed outgoing board member Nury Martinez. The winner of the contest between teacher Monica Ratliff and self-described education reformer Antonio Sanchez could become the swing vote as the seven-member board decides contentious issues like teacher evaluations and the growth of charter schools.

"The balance of power on the school board is still the most salient issue in the race," said Tom Hogen-Esch, a political science professor at Cal State Northridge. "You've got a division on the board between people who believe in the market approaches to issues like school choice and testing and accountability for teachers, and critics who think those kinds of approaches create an incentive for things like teaching to the test."

Demonstrating how critical the seat is to the reform movement, political action committees spent $1.2 million on Sanchez's campaign in the March primary, and $600,000 more since then. Sanchez has raised $67,000 in individual donations for Tuesday's election.

Most of the money came from the Coalition for School
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Reform, a group formed by outgoing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sanchez's former boss. The donations have funded glossy fliers and phone calls to the district's 252,870 registered voters, while Sanchez himself campaigns full time, knocking on doors and speaking to community groups.

Ratliff received no help from independent expenditure committees, instead relying on the $27,000 raised from individual donors to fund her grass-roots campaign. She's continued to work at her full-time job teaching fifth grade at San Pedro Elementary before heading out to neighborhood meetings and fund-raising receptions.

Both candidates were endorsed by United Teachers Los Angeles, which made two $500 contributions to Ratliff and none to Sanchez.

Ratliff, 43, is a former public-interest lawyer who turned to teaching as a way to help lift families out of poverty. Now the UTLA chapter chair at her K-5 school, she was openly critical of Deasy during her primary campaign but has since softened her stance.

"I'm interested in keeping a strong leader at the helm," she said last week. "I would (vote to) keep him unless he does something that makes it impossible to keep him."

She supports Deasy's effort to toughen requirements for teachers to get tenure, and to end seniority-based layoffs. She's in favor of expanding high-performing schools - traditional or charter - and also suggested that teachers be paid a bonus to work at hard-to-staff schools.

She believes the district is "on the right track" in using student test scores to evaluate teachers, but only to help improve their performance. And she spoke passionately about her desire to increase local control at neighborhood schools, empowering principals, teachers and parents to decide how to best keep their kids safe and help them succeed.

Ratliff is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant mother and a U.S. born-father who died when she was an adolescent. Ratliff's mother went back to school while raising Monica and her two younger brothers, an accomplishment that now helps her understand the challenges facing kids and parents today.

"I'm so very proud of my mother and my heritage," she said. "It connects me to my students. Their parents come here so their children can have a better life and they stay here so they can have a better life."

Sanchez, 31, also related his campaign to his experiences growing up in the East Valley and going to local schools. He recalled having to walk past a dangerous corner on his way home from Pacoima Middle School, a problem he doesn't want today's students to have to deal with.

"We need safe walking routes for kids and figure out how the district can work with the LAPD so we can collaborate on providing a safe environment," he said.

Sanchez has been an unwavering supporter of Deasy, voicing support for the superintendent's efforts to use student test scores to evaluate teachers and to bring accountability to turnaround efforts at low-performing schools. He's also an advocate of increasing the number of charter, pilot and magnets schools as a way to enhance parental choice.

But he said the East Valley isn't getting its fair share of district services, and he's prepared to fight for more resources.

Education leaders concede that the school board race may not have the sex appeal of the mayor's race, which will be on the same ballot, but that it's vital that voters get engaged.

"Political campaigns for school board seats can seem like inside baseball, but they have a huge impact on the future of the city," said Ama Nyamekye, executive director of Educators 4 Excellence Los Angeles. "The next generation of college students, workers and elected and community leaders hinges on the quality of education that LAUSD offers.

"The process of voting on the future leadership of schools is what makes 'public education' public."


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
JACKIE GOLDBERG ENDORSES MONICA RATLIFF: “We all need to help her win this very important race for the school ... http://bit.ly/14mjErB

NO MORE WILLFUL DEFIANCE: Themes in the News: A weekly commentary written by UCLA IDEA on the important issues... http://bit.ly/16Cu4ra

LAWMAKERS REMAIN SKEPTICAL OVER LCFF; BROWN IGNORES LAO, STANDS PAT ON HIS PROP 39 FUNDING PLAN: Lawmakers rem... http://bit.ly/113tKPk

@DrDeasy:"Happy Breakfast in Classroom will continue 2 provide healthy meals so students can start the day ready to learn." But he axed it!

LA TIMES & ED WEEK ON THE MAY REVISE; Capitol Dems, Sacramento Bee and Center for Oral Health weigh-in …+ John... http://bit.ly/144Wypi

Los Angeles City Elections 2013: A CITY AGENDA FOR L.A. SCHOOLS?: If public officials in the more than two doz... http://bit.ly/143277B

L.A. UNIFIED BANS SUSPENSION FOR ‘WILLFUL DEFIANCE’: Zero tolerance policies adopted after Columbine lower ach... http://bit.ly/16fCkNB

PARENT TRIGGER GROUP GETS ‘THUMBS-UP’ FROM LAUSD: "Someone on our staff is talking to Parent Revolution, and we need to know who it is.”... http://bit.ly/16fzJDA

‘Working Hard, Left Behind’: CLOSING CALIFORNIA’S EDUCATION GAP: As the overall education level declines, the ... http://bit.ly/13Vq00W

BROWN SET TO RELEASE “MAY REVISE” BUDGET PROPOSAL: Some Democrats and interes... http://bit.ly/13eQqrs

State Finance Director: "The governor's budget assumes that the spending reductions made over the last several years are ongoing in nature." http://bit.ly/YRc2O

LAUSD BOARD COULD BAN SUSPENSIONS FOR ‘WILLFUL DEFIANCE’ + smf’s 2¢: Backers of the resolution say 'zero to... http://bit.ly/17lWo0x


EVENTS: Coming up next week...
Monday May 20, 2013
Manual Arts Wellness Center: Grand Opening and Ribbon-Cutting

Time: 10:00 a.m.

Location:
Manual Arts Wellness Center
4085 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90037

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


• LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR



What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
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!.


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




Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD and is Parent/Volunteer of the Year for 2010-11 for Los Angeles County. • He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represented PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee for ten years. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids.
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