In This Issue:
 |
| • |
SUPT. JOHN DEASY FACES ROCKY RELATIONSHIP WITH NEW BOARD PRESIDENT |
|
| • |
NEW MEMBER RATLIFF IS KEY VOTE FOR VLADOVIC AS L.A. BOARD PRESIDENT |
|
| • |
DEASY
IGNORES THE FIRST RULE OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT + REFORM STRESS HAS
NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON KIDS & EDUCATORS + SUPT'S EFFORT TO DO RIGHT BY
HIS KIDS |
|
| • |
PARENTS, EDUCATORS, AND COMMUNITY GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT CHALLENGING NEW CHARTER SCHOOL LAW IN WASHINGTON STATE + smf’s 2¢ |
|
| • |
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:
|
|
|
|
For a week abridged by a holiday, this one had a lot packed into it.
The tragedy in Colorado, the walk-away plane crash in San Francisco, the
coup/not-a-coup in Egypt. Seven score and ten years after Gettysburg
the fight for the proposition that all men, women and children are
created equal continues. We have a new mayor, more than a handful of
new city council people. We had Wimbledon and Dwight Howard and the
LAUSD Board meeting +election on Tuesday. Bagpipes in the boardroom?
…of course a Scot won at Wimbledon!
In the great perspective-of-things the LAUSD board meeting wasn’t all
that earth shattering. A course correction? …or just a tack in the
windward direction of public education in L.A.?
The superintendent likes to say that L.A. is just like the rest of America …only sooner.
In the Times article following Dr. Deasy is described as a national
leader in education – and there’s the rub. Public education is
inexorably local – about community and my neighborhood school; about
whom the principal is and your child’s classroom assignment in August.
About the teacher and your child’s progress: the report card, the
spelling test on the refrigerator door; the assignment due and the
college application. Those scrapbooks with the envelopes for report
cards and memories? …the picture frames with the cut-outs for thirteen
class pictures? Neither have blank spaces for API and AYP and STAR
scores.
The great National Public Education Agenda – born of A Nation at Risk
and fanned by Bill Bennett and Lamar Alexander and the ersatz
Texas-miraculous Rod Paige reached its peak (or perhaps nadir) in the
woebegone No Child Left Behind and the extra-added-distraction of Race
to the Top. And most recently the misnamed Common Core State
Standards.[THE TROUBLE WITH THE COMMON CORE - http://bit.ly/14LtKRM]
The Reagan/Bush I/ Clinton/ Bush II era National Ed Agenda has evolved
to a corporate/textbook publisher/testing company
/privatization/charterization/anti-union agenda.
The wind speed has changed. Maybe the wind direction has shifted. The
tide and currents under the boat change. The sun and the moon and the
barometer and chronometer and the isobar on the weather charts and the
shoals+narrows on the navigation charts push and pull. They always do
One is tempted to mix the metaphors and shift to the parliamentary – to
speak of votes-of-confidence won and lost – but our sailboat is the best
one. The elections in March and May showed a slight shift in the
direction of the wind – but not the mark at the end of the course. The
election in the boardroom shows the wind is freshening. But the mark is
fixed.
“Hard -a-lee!” We duck our heads and put the tiller all the way down
toward the leeward side of the boat …and come-about in a choreographed
burst of activity as the sails flap momentarily, the bow crosses the
wind and the boom swings overhead. Sails recatch the wind. The rigging
groans, sheets are adjusted and momentum never-lost is regained anew. We
point the bow closer to the wind and sail on on our new tack –
scrambling for the high side. Heartily.
And if there is change at the helm to come it won’t be a mutiny – it’s simply a change in the pilot …or the watch.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
●●Postscript: Godspeed Ted Hood. Home is the sailor, home from the sea.
SUPT. JOHN DEASY FACES ROCKY RELATIONSHIP WITH NEW BOARD PRESIDENT
DEASY THREATENED TO RESIGN OVER THE ELECTION OF BOARD
PRESIDENT RICHARD VLADOVIC. NOW THE TWO MUST FIND A WAY TO WORK
TOGETHER.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1bfvGam
July 6, 2013, 7:15 p.m. :: The private warning from Los Angeles
schools Supt. John Deasy was clear: If Richard Vladovic became president
of the Board of Education, Deasy was poised to resign and cause a
maelstrom in the nation's second-largest school system.
Vladovic became board president regardless last week — elected by
colleagues on the seven-member body. It was a testament to political
skills honed during decades in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
And Deasy, who had made his threat known to civic leaders and district officials, backed down.
The episode affirms how Vladovic, 68, has become a central figure in a
school system entering a period of risk and opportunity. The district is
preparing for new state curriculum standards and planning to give iPads
to all students. Teachers and principals face new, detailed job
evaluations based in part on student test scores. And for the first time
in several years, the district won't face substantial budget cuts. But
tough decisions loom on how to spend funds that aren't sufficient to
redress all the recent cuts.
A coalition of civic leaders and philanthropists consider Deasy, a
national figure, crucial to rapid, continued progress in L.A. Unified.
Critics accuse him and his allies of pushing too hard too fast and of
favoring an unproven brand of reform that relies too much on
standardized test scores while placing too much pressure on teachers.
Deasy took the job in 2011 knowing he had the influential support of
then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and an allied board majority. That
backing has dissipated.
Deasy's current agenda includes pay increases, with larger bumps for
teachers that are tied to measurable results or leadership roles.
Vladovic, in contrast, leans toward restoring staffing levels to reduce
class sizes, for example, or provide more counselors for students. That
position aligns closely with the teachers union's.
The relationship between a board president — who has mostly ceremonial
powers — and a superintendent matters. The president works closely with
the superintendent, establishing the meeting agenda and setting a tone
for the entire board, said former L.A. school board president Marlene
Canter.
"You have to have a relationship to work through the problems together,"
she said. "It doesn't mean you have to agree on everything."
Critics assert that Vladovic's temper poses a problem. Deasy declined to
discuss it, but those close to him conveyed his fears about losing
senior staff such as Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino, the top official in
charge of academics.
Vladovic acknowledged that he shouted at Aquino, but added that he thinks "very highly" of him. Aquino declined to comment.
That incident and others became part of an ongoing internal
investigation into whether Vladovic crossed legal or ethical lines with
alleged verbal abuse. To date, the district has released no findings.
His critics say he can be a bully, while also noting he can display a
disarming charm as well.
Vladovic's graciousness has resulted in close relationships with board
members Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte and Bennett Kayser, who felt
marginalized by the former board majority allied with Deasy.
Both voted for Vladovic, along with two others.
A San Pedro High graduate, Vladovic said he chose to teach in L.A.
Unified, starting in 1969, turning down a more prosperous school system.
"I did not think I was needed in Palos Verdes," he said.
His rise included a stint as principal at Locke High and long experience
in staff relations, where he mediated conflicts and investigated and
meted out employee discipline. He became a regional superintendent
before accepting a job heading West Covina Unified.
He left after two and a half years to deal with heart problems that blood pressure medication eventually controlled.
Both his children work for L.A. Unified, one as a principal.
Vladovic was elected to the board in 2007 with help from Villaraigosa.
But as the mayor's departure approached, Vladovic notably shifted to a
posture more independent of Villaraigosa and Deasy.
Behind the scenes, Deasy recently was displeased that Vladovic — and
three other board members — refused to grant multiyear contracts to key
members of the superintendent's team. Past school boards have used such
measures to express displeasure with superintendents. Deasy's critics
see, in this scenario, the beginning of irreconcilable differences that
could lead to the superintendent's departure.
Vladovic offers a less foreboding interpretation. Deasy, said Vladovic,
wanted sole responsibility for evaluating senior staff. Vladovic
disagreed. If he's going to vote on a contract, he said, then he wants
to perform his own evaluation — with something more quantifiable than
the superintendent's recommendation.
"I just want to make sure everyone is treated equally, including senior
staff," he said. "Some senior staff are given one year and others two
years, and I never understood the rationale for that."
Deasy won't discuss whether he threatened to resign, but Vladovic said
he heard about it and invited Deasy for a chat after last week's board
meeting.
"I said, 'John, I think you do a lot of good things for kids.... I'd
like to give it a go, and I'm counting on you,'" Vladovic said.
Deasy seems ready — or at least resigned — to giving the new world order a try.
"I look forward to working with my entire board — the president, the
vice president and all of them," Deasy said, "as we continue to serve
the students."
NEW MEMBER RATLIFF IS KEY VOTE FOR VLADOVIC AS L.A. BOARD PRESIDENT
By Howard Blume | latimes.com http://lat.ms/15eCjXE
July 2, 2013, 4:42 p.m. :: The Los Angeles Board of Education on
Tuesday ushered in newly elected Monica Ratliff, who immediately played a
key role. She was the swing vote to elect Richard Vladovic as president
of the seven-member body.
The annual meeting to select a president was part ritual, part political
foreshadowing. Vladovic's ascendancy symbolized the waning influence of
the city's mayor over education -- and the board majority's increasing
willingness to exert more control over L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy.
But the assertiveness of former teacher Ratliff at her first board
meeting also was noteworthy. Ratliff's first role was to calm her
mother, who cried with joy as she handled the honor of swearing in her
daughter -- first in Spanish, then in English. In her acceptance speech,
Ratliff, citing her upset win, said the impossible could be achieved.
And she called for unity in accomplishing the tall task of providing all
district students with the education they need to succeed.
Ratliff was a fifth-grade teacher at San Pedro Elementary until she
defeated a better-funded candidate supported by then-Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa. (New Mayor Eric Garcetti has signaled he'll be less
directly assertive in matters involving the school system.)
At Tuesday's meeting, as the board prepared to choose its leader,
Ratliff executed two striking parliamentary maneuvers, just after
colleagues had nominated Vladovic and Tamar Galatzan for the post of
president.
First, she moved that each candidate explain what he or she would do
with the job. That motion passed without opposition. Then, she asked
each to announce an intended pick for the role of board vice president.
That motion also passed.
The motions forced Vladovic and Galatzan, in effect, to give campaign
speeches. Vladovic focused more on big-picture issues -- his passion for
doing the best for every child and the imperative to treat parents and
employees with respect and to hear their voices in affairs of the
nation's second-largest school system. Galatzan focused on specific
proposals that would make meetings more effective and also more
representative of groups with a stake in the outcome.
The board president has no greater legal authority than other members
but runs the meetings and frequently represents L.A. Unified. And,
sometimes, the president is able to command greater resources and
authority within the bureaucracy.
The president also chooses the vice president, who steps in for the president as needed.
Vladovic said he would choose Steve Zimmer as his vice president -- a
move that may have helped secure Zimmer's vote. Galatzan said she would
ask Ratliff to fill that role.
The board voted first on Vladovic's nomination because his name had been
put in first. Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte saw to that. She nominated
Vladovic before Supt. Deasy, who was presiding over the election, could
finish his first sentence introducing the item for action.
The first two yes votes for Vladovic were LaMotte and Bennett Kayser.
Ratliff was polled next by board parliamentarian Jefferson Crain.
Ratliff hesitated, then cast her vote for Vladovic.
Vladovic voted next for himself, and his election was sealed.
With the outcome settled, Zimmer then also voted for Vladovic, making
the finally tally 5-2. The no votes were Garcia and Galatzan.
Ratliff's support for Vladovic ended any chance for Zimmer to jump in
with a bid to become president. Before the meeting, Zimmer had been
widely considered the alternative to Vladovic.
Vladovic and Deasy have become adversaries behind the scenes, even
though Vladovic was elected twice as part of a bloc endorsed by
Villaraigosa, a Deasy enthusiast. As usual, the interaction between
Vladovic and Deasy in public Tuesday was courteous and deferential.
LaMotte had been a critic of recent board president elections that
extended the six-year run of Garcia as the leader. She had angrily
accused board colleagues of backroom deals and trade-offs.
On Tuesday, she was reserved through much of the meeting, but she spoke up in response to Ratliff's eye-catching maneuvers.
LaMotte offered that "only new people" were able to make motions that changed the usual election process.
"I have a feeling not in the future," Ratliff answered, laughing.
LaMotte then laughed as well.
After the meeting, LaMotte said there remained a problem with trust
among board members and between the board and the superintendent. But
she said the openness of the proceedings, including Ratliff's motions,
were a step in the right direction.
She also was happier with the outcome. LaMotte has been a critic of Garcia and has strong ties to Vladovic.
DEASY IGNORES THE FIRST RULE OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT +
REFORM STRESS HAS NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON KIDS & EDUCATORS + SUPT'S
EFFORT TO DO RIGHT BY HIS KIDS
►Stress, Zealotry, Hubris and Gravity as applied to fecal matter: DEASY IGNORES THE FIRST RULE OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
from The Agitated Education Aggregator Daily - Shared by Larry Ferlazzo | http://bit.ly/1baofRL
Thursday, Jul. 4, 2013: [PHOTO IMAGE OF A STUDENT OR TEACHER HOLDING THEIR HEAD IN FRUSTRATION, OVERWRITTEN WITH THE CAPTION]:
“Deasy ignores the first rule of school improvement that, "the…stress
rolls downhill." He and other high-profile accountability hawks are
oblivious to the fact that their rush to "reform" dumps extreme stress
on adults, and that poison inevitably pollutes children's schools.” –
Dr. John Thompson
The quote is from an article in Scholastic Administrator | John Thompson: A Teacher's POV http://bit.ly/12JtzDu
►THOMPSON: REFORM STRESS HAS NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON KIDS & EDUCATORS
July 3, 2013 :: NPR's [Michel] Martin, in Superintendent's Effort To
Do Right By His Kids (smf: follows) nailed the essence of LA
Superintendent John Deasy's zealotry, as well as the hubris that has
distorted accountability-driven "reform."
Deasy says that one of the things that keeps him up at night is worrying
how quickly is he can make good on the promise he made to the youth in
Los Angeles. He acknowledges that his rush to transform the schools
imposes stress on teachers. He doesn't understand why everyone would
not "get over" that stress.
Deasy warns that educators across the nation will soon be following his
driven approach because, "LA is America," and "we are coming to a
hometown near you."
Deasy closes his affirmation of stress-induced sleeplessness as a force
for helping children with the claim, "the economic viability of LA in
California is intrinsically linked to the ability for this country to
move forward. And that is going to depend on whether I can live up to
the promise of getting every single student college and career ready."
However, Deasy is clueless about what is takes to overcome the
educational legacies of poverty. The problem is intense concentrations
of poverty and trauma, and the stress that they impose. Inner city
schools need more stress like we need another gang war.
Deasy ignores the first rule of school improvement that, "the feces
stress rolls downhill." He and other high-profile accountability hawks
are oblivious to the fact that their rush to "reform" dumps extreme
stress on adults, and that poison inevitably pollutes children's
schools. – JT (@drjohnthompson)
________________________________________
►SUPERINTENDENT'S EFFORT TO DO RIGHT BY HIS KIDS
from NPR “Tell Me More” | http://n.pr/12Jvw2Y
July 1, 2013 12:00 PM :: The Los Angeles Unified School District is
one of the largest school systems in the country. As its superintendent,
John Deasy knows the challenges facing educators, parents and children.
Host Michel Martin speaks with Deasy about the things that keep him up
at night, and what he enjoys most about his job.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
This is TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin. We are joining
you from Aspen, Colorado as part of the Aspen Ideas Festival. And while
we're here, we decided we wanted to focus on the big ideas about
education and, more broadly, learning. And if you missed your flight or
lost your all-access pass, do not worry, because over the next two days
we'll be joined by many other people who are shaking things up in
education - or trying to. You can also join us online. Head to Twitter
and use the #NPRAspen. We'll be reading your tweets and sharing as many
as we can over the next few days. Why are we talking about education?
Well, one reason is that education has been critical to America's status
as the land of opportunity, where anybody can rise and improve his or
her circumstances through hard work, but also education. Later this
hour, we want to ask a group of people who are all involved in education
in one way or another whether that is still true. Is the U.S. still the
land of opportunity for all, with education as the key? But we want to
start with a newsmaker interview. John Deasy is the superintendent of
the Los Angeles Unified School District. That's the nation's second
largest school system.
He took the job there in April of 2011, and he's faced a number of the
challenges that are seen in school systems across the country - budget
cuts, fraught relationships between administrators, teachers and
parents, and, oh yes, the big one: teaching students effectively. And
Superintendent John Deasy is with us now from the Aspen Ideas Festival.
Thank you so much for joining us.
JOHN DEASY: Thank you, Michel.
MARTIN: So let me just start with a simple question. What keeps you up at night?
DEASY: Where do you want to begin? A great deal...
MARTIN: ...But the truth, that always helps.
DEASY: Definitely. So I think one of the things that absolutely keeps me
up at night is how quickly I can make good on the promise that we made
to the hundreds of thousands of youth in Los Angeles, that their rights
would be honored, and that they would all graduate, college and
workforce ready. We are a very large school system, and the overwhelming
majority of the youth who I get the privilege of leading live in
circumstances of peril and poverty.
Many do not speak English at home, many do not speak English as their
first language, many do not have access to health care. And every single
one of those students wants to be you and I, and they want to graduate
and enter post-secondary without remediation, or enter the workforce and
earn a living wage. And that is our promise, and we work at that at a
very rapid pace. And I know that that causes stress for some of us.
MARTIN: We talked about fraught relationships between teachers, parents
and kids and balancing, you know, the needs, the interests and the
desires of all the various stakeholders, to use a word that we hear a
lot in education. When you're honest with yourself, what's the hardest
relationship to maintain in a positive way?
DEASY: At the moment, I think the hardest relationship to maintain in a
positive way is the teachers' union leadership and the administration.
Membership are remarkable folks. I mean, I've seen the best teaching
I've ever seen in my life in Los Angeles.
I've seen people work in punishing economic circumstances, giving
opportunity to students who otherwise would just not have that. But
trying to move the system much quicker on a youth rights agenda has
certainly been, at times, very prickly. And quite frankly, at times I
just don't understand the opposition.
MARTIN: What do you mean, you just don't understand it? Well, I mean,
just to your point, back in April, 91 percent of the 17,000, almost
18,000 ballots cast by LA's teachers' union expressed a vote of no
confidence in your leadership. Back in April of 2012, there was a
profile of you in the Los Angeles Times and it described you as, quote,
some see Deasy as a dynamic leader driven by a moral urgency to give all
students a quality education, others view him as a relentless
taskmaster intolerant of dissent.
And it's interesting to me that a number of school leaders have been
described in very similar terms. Like Michelle Rhee, for example, is a
name that many people know, who was a leader, for a time, of the
Washington, D.C. public school system. So why do you think that is?
DEASY: So when the union orchestrated the vote, so about half of the
membership voted and that was their vote. During those days leading up
to it, there were cartoons that were produced every day. You know, the
fact that we were feeding students in the classroom was a major reason
why we should have no confidence.
MARTIN: Feeding breakfast to the students?
DEASY: Correct. So let's be really clear, we're not confused about our
mission. And our mission is to serve students. And part of that mission
is to ensure that students have a highly-effective teacher in front of
them every single day of the year in a school led by a highly-effective
principal. So we are very much driven by the issues of high
instructional quality by individuals who have the right to be in front
of students, and we take that seriously.
And the fact is that if folks are doing a phenomenal job, we should be
doing everything to ensure that they stay there. That goes way beyond
their seniority number. And if folks are not doing a phenomenal job, we
should be intervening and trying to help them. And if they cannot get
better, they do not have the right to be in front of students. So I get
the stress around that. I get the fact that we've put in a new
evaluation system. I understand the fact that we are moving technology
as fast as any district I know around that.
We are implementing the common core. But I have to be quite frank with
you, if those things cause stress in adults, and I understand they do,
then you need to come with me and visit the families who live in cars
behind Huntington Park High School. You need to visit the young ladies
who are having children - and we provide schools just for gals who are
having babies, 'cause you don't drop out of school anymore - who see an
OBGYN for the first time the day they have their child. There's no
access to healthcare. If we want to talk about stress, it's families
with no parents. That's stress. I am convinced that we can get over
adult stress to serve youth. You know, LA is a fascinating place. I say
this all the time, LA is America, only sooner, and we are coming to a
hometown near you.
MARTIN: Or as we like to say, the way we live now.
DEASY: Right, I mean, who we look like, our successes, our struggles - I
mean, the economic viability of LA in California is intrinsically
linked to the ability for this country to move forward. And that is
going to depend on whether I can live up to the promise of getting every
single student college and career ready.
PARENTS, EDUCATORS, AND COMMUNITY GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT
CHALLENGING NEW CHARTER SCHOOL LAW IN WASHINGTON STATE + smf’s 2¢
by seattleducation2011 | http://wp.me/pNbRQ-2XS
July 3, 2013 :: A coalition of parents, educators, and community
groups has filed a Complaint in King County Superior Court challenging
the constitutionality of Initiative 1240, Washington’s new Charter
School Act.
The Complaint asserts that the Charter School Act violates the
Washington Constitution by improperly diverting public school funds to
private organizations that are not subject to local voter control and by
impeding the State’s constitutional obligation to amply provide for and
fully fund K-12 public education.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the League of Women Voters of
Washington, a nonpartisan organization that encourages the participation
of citizens in government; El Centro de la Raza, a Seattle-based group
dedicated to social justice; the Washington Association of School
Administrators, an organization of more than 1,600 school
administrators; the Washington Education Association, an organization
that represents nearly 82,000 public school employees; Wayne Au, Ph.D.,
an educator and education advocate; Pat Braman, a former Mercer Island
High School teacher and current Mercer Island School Board member; and
parents with children in public schools in Snohomish and Spokane
Counties.
“The Charter School Act poses a real threat to our public school system
in Washington,” said Plaintiff Dr. Wayne Au. “Not only does it divert
already deficient state funds from public schools to private
organizations, it also exempts those private organizations from many of
the standards that are in place to ensure that all children receive an
adequate education.”
The Complaint asserts that the Charter School Act violates the Washington Constitution in at least seven ways:
1. It improperly delegates the State’s constitutional “paramount
duty” to provide for the education of children within its borders to
private organizations that are not subject to the requirements and
standards in place to ensure that all children receive a
constitutionally sufficient education.
2. It also violates the State’s paramount duty to make ample
provision for the education of all children within its borders by
interfering with the State’s progress toward complying with the
Washington Supreme Court directive to the Legislature to fully fund
basic educational programs by 2018, as set forth in the 2012 McCleary
decision.
3. It unconstitutionally diverts public funds that are restricted to
use for public common schools to private charter schools that are not
subject to local voter control.
4. It violates the Constitution’s “general and uniform” provision
because charter schools are not subject to many laws and regulations
applicable to public schools, including many of the provisions defining a
basic education.
5. It amends existing state law in a manner not permitted by the Constitution.
6. It violates the constitutional requirement that the
superintendent of public instruction “have supervision over all matters
pertaining to public schools.”
7. It violates the Constitution because it mandates the use of local
voter-approved levy funds for a purpose other than the purpose for
which the voters approved the levies.
The plaintiffs previously asked the Washington Attorney General’s Office
to address the unconstitutional provisions of the Charter School Act
and the Attorney General declined the request. The lawsuit now asks the
King County Superior Court to rule that the Charter School Act is
unconstitutional and to prohibit further implementation of the Act. Paul
Lawrence and Jessica Skelton of Pacifica Law Group are the lead
attorneys in the case.
Contact: Paul Lawrence, 206-245-1708; Linda Mullen, 206-445-2657; or Dr. Wayne Au, wayne@rethinkingschools.org
●●2cents smf: 4LAKids operates, if not in cahoots – in solidarity with
SeattleEducation2011, who lead the fight against the forces of ®eform as
imagined by the Gates Foundation and The Broad Foundation (and the
Waltons and the Bloombergs and the Arne Duncans of the ®eformation) in
Seattle.
We have things in uncommon: LA is the international HQ of The Broad Foundation; Seattle the hub of all things Gates.
SeattleEducation2011 writes: “When we began our blog, we were collecting
information from many sources and trying to piece together the reasons
for what was happening in our school system in Seattle in 2008 and 2009.
We discovered that what was happening in Seattle was reflective of what
was an attempt on a national level to transform public education. Only
then did the actions of our superintendent in terms of school closures
and program changes begin to make sense. We began to make the
connections between Dr. Goodloe-Johnson, the Broad Foundation and
charter schools and how that involved the Gates Foundation and
ultimately the Race to the Top reform movement led by Education
Secretary Arne Duncan.” http://bit.ly/1cSY4gk
Along the way SeattleEd2011 and 4LAKids picked up some additional common
concerns and nemeses: Race to the Top, The Parent Trigger and Parent
Revolution – the later two also LA area exports. Like criminal street
gangs.
It was SeattleEd2011 (in their previous identity as SeatlleEd2010) who
wrote the basic text for 4LAKids’ oft quoted-and-referred-to litmus test
for ®eform skullduggery: By the Numbers: HOW TO TELL IF YOUR DISTRICT
IS INFECTED WITH THE BROAD VIRUS [http://bit.ly/11t1SVP] …4LAKids only added value by enumerating the ways!
The voters of Washington State had been very successful in defeating a
number of heavily Gates-supported initiatives to permit charter schools
in Washington. Last year, on the third or fourth try, pro-charter forces
prevailed by a very narrow majority in Initiative 1240. Perhaps because
the charter proponents got the National PTA to stop the Washington
State PTA from advocating against the measure (as they had previous
ones) because it dubiously violated a dubious new National PTA policy.
This lawsuit doesn’t challenge policy or bylaws or regulations – it
challenges the constitutionally of the Washington charter law. And if
the forces of truth and light prevail it might set a precedent for a
similar challenge in a state to the south.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
Q: IS STUDENTS FIRST (a/k/a Michelle Rhee, Inc.) A
501(c)(3) or a 501(c)(4) NONPROFIT? A: YES!: ●●smf: A story... http://bit.ly/17Ys9ux
SUPT. JOHN DEASY FACES ROCKY RELATIONSHIP WITH NEW BOARD PRESIDENT: Deasy threatened to resign over the electi... http://bit.ly/1abXIp3
LAUSD Supt. John Deasy threatened to resign if Richard Vladovic became board president. Vladovic was elected anyway.. http://lat.ms/1bfvGam
Uncovered California Kids: AN OBAMACARE INSURANCE EXCHANGE GAP IN CALIFORNIA: The state's new marketplace has ... http://bit.ly/1aa94d8
Eli Broad: A BETTER WAY TO TRAIN TEACHERS + smf’s 2¢ and some mail: Too few aspiring classroom teachers receiv... http://bit.ly/1a8FnJw
MOTION PICTURE AND RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS VOICE PIRACY CONCERNS OVER LAUSD iPAD PROGRAM: The MPAA and... http://bit.ly/1a7lQJv
TAKE NO VACATION FROM MAKING SCHOOLS BETTER: SUMMER SCHOOL: LAUSD offers just 170 credit-recovery classes at 1... http://bit.ly/1a3ERMT
“DEASY IGNORES THE FIRST RULE OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT…” + Stress, Zealotry, Hubris and Gravity as applied to fec... http://bit.ly/14UWiZa
VOICES OF THE PEOPLE: from “When in the Course of human events...” to “…our lives, our Fortunes and our sa... http://bit.ly/17O9Ic3
PARENTS, EDUCATORS, AND COMMUNITY GROUPS FILE LAWSUIT CHALLENGING NEW CHARTER SCHOOL LAW IN WASHINGTON STATE +... http://bit.ly/14SfRRD
EdWeek @PoliticsK12: Week of July 22 is the rumored timeline for getting
#ESEA the disaster aka #NCLB to the floor of the House, sources say
Capitol Alert: California Legislature stalemates over teacher discipline bill http://sacb.ee/11hAOZu
Retweeted by Scott Folsom
FINLAND’S EDUCATION AMBASSADOR SPREADS THE WORD: Pasi Sahlberg was Finland's chief inspector of schools … unti... http://bit.ly/19VQ81C
from the department of crappy student journalism: LAUSD BOARD OF ED’S NEW PRESIDENT IS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR... http://bit.ly/1aASQsP
NEW MEMBER RATLIFF IS KEY VOTE FOR VLADOVIC AS L.A. BOARD PRESIDENT: By Howard Blume | http://latimes.com h... http://bit.ly/13pZM9h
RICHARD VLADOVIC ELECTED LA UNIFIED SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT: Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http... http://bit.ly/17GjgpA
LAUSD BOARD TAPS RICHARD VLADOVIC AS NEW PRESIDENT + All the little birdies: tweet, tweet, tweet!: LAUSD board... http://bit.ly/17GfZqd
INFUSION OF (one-time) MONEY FOR CAREER EDUCATION IN NEW STATE BUDGET: ●●smf: One-Time-Money may be a kiss of... http://bit.ly/1ayjSkA
Editorial …or Political Theater Review?: MINI-DRAMAS AT L.A. UNIFIED: Can a changed school board and Supt. Dea... http://bit.ly/19SAu7k
THE TROUBLE WITH THE COMMON CORE: Unfortunately there's been too little honest conversation and too little dem... http://bit.ly/14LtKRM
VLADOVIC OR ZIMMER LIKELY PICK FOR LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD PRESIDENT: Smart money has it LAUSD Board Chair will com... http://bit.ly/19R7ywx
L.A. COUNTY MUST PAY MILLIONS TO LAUSD: …could this be be a windfall and continuing funding stream for cash-s... http://bit.ly/160JU9b
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
Monica.Ratliff@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!.
|
