Sunday, September 29, 2013

Questionable content.



4LAKids: Sunday 29•Sept•2013
In This Issue:
 •  Steve Lopez: “WhyPads?/GoodbiPads?” - NEW PROBLEMS SURFACE IN L.A. UNIFIED’S BRAND NAME HANDHELD TABLET COMPUTER PROGRAM
 •  IPADS BRING MORE UNRESOLVED ISSUES
 •  LA UNIFIED BUDGET WARS RETURN WITH THE USUAL COMPETING VISIONS
 •  FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, SEGREGATION THE, SEGREGATION SINCE: Education and the Unfinished March
 •  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.
In the Rialto school district there is a scandal unfolding over the superintendent allegedly having had an inappropriate relationship with the District accountant who was allegedly ‘stuffed her bra’ with the lunch money. Stories like that make you miss Andy and Aunt Bea and Opie ….living just 55 miles East on the I-10.

In LAUSD we misspend the meal money on the wrong things – like kids buying candy instead of lunch.| http://bit.ly/1dQpqWT

A GOOGLE NEWS SEARCH Saturday afternoon produced 178 stories on the LAUSD iPad debacle.

(FYI: Fewer than 100 stories is a ‘kerfuffle’. Over 200 stories is a ‘disaster’.)

Moving into Sunday I do not doubt that the story count and level-of-mishap will increase. These are national, international and local stories, from the local Patch to The Huffington Post; London Daily Mail and Washington Post. The first listed of the 178 labeled the debacle a “train wreck”.

Before I get all hyperbolic about damage done to public education and whatever scraps of LAUSD’s reputation remains let me state right off: All these concerns about students gaining access to questionable content on Facebook+Twitter – or naughty lyrics on Pandora or even full blown porn – this is a tempest in a teapot. Misdirection from the actual skullduggery. The access to questionable content isn’t the issue because at least the students were using the iPads to do something the iPads were capable of doing!

Because the content in question isn’t questionable content or (anti)social media. The content in question is the (lack of) educational/curricular content.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: the Pearson Common Core System of Courses is not educational content – it is what is known in software developer parlance as “Vaporware”.

va•por•ware [vey-per-wair]
noun: Computer Slang. a product, especially software, that is promoted or marketed while it is still in development and that may never be produced. | http://bit.ly/15BOKjh


To mix, shake and stir the metaphor: When LAUSD was continually failing at improving educational outcomes the complaisant apologists could find solace that other school districts were doing even worse: “Be thankful we are not Oakland!”

The iPads are Gertrude Steins’ Oakland: “There is no ‘there’ there”

If the road to hell is paved with good intentions, the iPad to hell is loaded with Pearson software.

How we got here is requires a real enquiry from the Board of Education ….or from a Grand Jury. Or a full-hour Sixty Minutes expose. Where’s Mike Wallace when we need him?

Question One: What did John Deasy know and when did he know it?

Remember Jack Nicholson in ‘A Few Good Men?: “ You can’t handle the truth?”

The voters and taxpayers, parents and students and stakeholders of LAUSD – The Board of Education and the Bond Oversight Committee – having been denied it for so long may be strangers to the truth – but I think we can handle it.

Steve Lopez poses questions, below. “We’ll have to get back to you on that” won’t answer them.

Valerie Straus in the Washington Post asks “Will they be held accountable?”| http://wapo.st/1fRQOWs

She’s not wondering about sixteen-year-olds misbehaving with school iPads on the internet. She’s wondering about school district officials and their contract with Apple, Inc. and Pearson LLC and the $1 billion initiative that they didn’t really think through before implementing.

….or just maybe they thought it through long before they implemented it? …or even put it out to bid?

“We’re respected educators. Apple is the number one brand and the world's second-largest information technology company. Pearson is the world’s leading learning company. What could possibly go wrong?”

¡Onward/Adelante! - smf


Steve Lopez: “WhyPads?/GoodbiPads?” - NEW PROBLEMS SURFACE IN L.A. UNIFIED’S BRAND NAME HANDHELD TABLET COMPUTER PROGRAM
HACKING BY STUDENTS AND MISSING iPADS ARE ONLY PART OF THE PROBLEM. DID ANYONE ASK IF THE TEACHING SOFTWARE IS ANY GOOD?

By Steve Lopez, L.A. Times Columnist | http://lat.ms/15Cp9kV

September 28, 2013, 12:00 p.m. :: Don't worry, L.A. Unified officials keep telling us. The $1-billion program to give iPads to more than 600,000 K-12 students is going to work out fine.

Maybe. But so far, nobody at district headquarters gets any gold stars for the rollout.

Last week, students at Roosevelt High were almost instantly able to breach the wall intended to keep them from using the iPads as toys rather than tools. They simply deleted the personal profiles on their tablets and presto! A free pass to YouTube and Facebook.

As my colleague Howard Blume reported, the district initially said 185 students had broken through the wall, but soon the number was adjusted up to 260. Then an additional 80 students at two other high schools made monkeys of the L.A. Unified geniuses who approved the setup.

As one Roosevelt student explained, they had to do something. The problem with the iPads, as issued?

"You can't do nothing with them. You just carry them around."

Where do I begin?

Is that a case of lousy students, bad teaching, uninspired software or a failure to fully appreciate the challenge of convincing students the tablets are for education rather than recreation?

The Roosevelt story was followed by another Blume report that 71 iPads were "missing" from an early implementation program last year.

Let's just call them goodbiPads.

And speaking of what happens when the tablets leave campus, Board of Education member Monica Ratliff called it "extremely disconcerting that the parent and student responsibility issue has not been hammered out" when it comes to damaged or lost iPads, which cost almost $700 apiece. (Keyboards, an apparent afterthought, will cost the district an additional $38 million).

L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy has a lot to answer for. But these little snafus may be distracting everyone from bigger concerns about Deasy's determination to move faster than any other large district in getting every student wired.

One question is whether the educational software is any good, or whether everyone was so focused on the hardware that they forgot to scrutinize the separately purchased content?

Steve Zimmer, a board member, said he isn't ready to judge the software, but he agreed that he and other district officials may have had their eye on the wrong ball in making a huge financial commitment without more discussion.

There was "a lot of talk about the machine and…very little talk about software," said Zimmer, who was motivated in part by his conviction that tablets can serve as an equalizer in a district with so many disadvantaged students. He said he put faith in Deasy and the procurement process because "frankly we are not equipped as board members to micromanage."

I'd have to disagree with him there.

We're talking about a superintendent who's in a race to spend $1 billion, counting bringing Wi-Fi to classrooms. And let's not forget that Deasy was featured as a pitchman in a commercial for iPads, and Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino (who just resigned in a snit over the tech implementation) once worked for the parent company of Pearson, the firm hired to provide curriculum for the iPads.

So, yeah, do some micromanaging. Hold people accountable. Ask questions.

As in, what was so compelling about the Pearson proposal that L.A. Unified bought a product sight unseen?

Did the district do a thorough job of evaluating other software options, and is it too late to change course before committing millions on the next phase of the rollout?

Shouldn't there have been more public discussion, more teacher training and more information for parents, given that we're in the midst of a dramatic shift to digital material and an entirely new set of learning standards called Common Core?

I know teachers who believe the kinks will be worked out and the tablets will be an engaging and effective teaching tool. And earlier this year, I visited a Granada Hills high school where teachers and students in a pilot program were giving high marks to iPad instruction. (Of course, 69 of those iPads are now missing.)

But I got a closer look at the content on one of the iPads last week, and for all the hype about students taking a magic carpet ride into the future on these tablets, I missed the wow factor. One eighth-grade math lesson included a video of some guy on a treadmill going faster and faster, with a question about how to graph his movement. But no matter how you answered, there was no feedback, and no right or wrong answer.

"I wasn't that impressed," said Marina del Rey resident Karen Wolfe, parent of two L.A. Unified students. "I didn't think it was very engaging."

"A mediocre teacher with little training, and with a shiny new textbook, could do better than what I saw," said former teacher and school board member David Tokofsky.

Scott Folsom, a member of the oversight committee that supported using bond money for the technology despite reservations, now has concerns that extend beyond content.

"I remember Deasy said … last week that it was only 20% ready … and yet the contract called for it to be ready in September," Folsom said of the software. "We've only got a couple of days to go and it's not going to be ready. That's what really concerns me."

I'm with him after looking at another eighth-grade math lesson on one of the district-issued iPads that involves graphing a roller coaster's movement. Just when it might get interesting from an interactive standpoint, a message pops up:

"This digital manipulative (interactive) is not playable in this version of the Pearson Common Core System of Courses."

That'll get the kids excited, won't it?


IPADS BRING MORE UNRESOLVED ISSUES

$30 MILLION HAS BEEN EXPENDED IN THIS ROLLOUT OF WHAT SEEMS TO BE AN INITIATIVE THAT HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED WITHOUT SUFFICIENT THOUGHT AND PREPARATION.

AALA Update Week of September 30, 2013 | http://bit.ly/19eTx50

26 September 2013 :: On Tuesday, September 24, 2013, Superintendent John Deasy temporarily reversed his initial directive to have all students take their recently distributed iPads home until the District can be 100 percent certain the problem has been resolved and students are using the devices safely and appropriately. This decision was in response to students at Westchester and Roosevelt High Schools and Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences hacking into the security system of the District-issued iPad and accessing various and sundry websites on the Internet at will. The schools are among the first to distribute the iPads as part of a yearlong project to put them in the hands of every student in the District. This breach has caused additional concern for what is already a controversial project that uses $1 billion in construction funds to buy the devices and the required hard- and software. Ron Chandler, Chief Information Officer, said that the District was immediately alerted that students were accessing unauthorized sites and the iPads were locked down.

Thirty million dollars has been expended in this first phase of the rollout of what seems to be an initiative that has been implemented without sufficient thought and preparation. While reasonable people agree that students need access to technology as a tool, opinions vary greatly whether the second largest district in the nation should spend construction money on iPads for every student when so many schools sorely need improvement of their infrastructure, in addition to facilities maintenance, safety and basic repairs.

Yet, in what are still difficult economic times for many, parents are being required to accept responsibility for an approximately $700 instructional item without their input. As parent Sara Roos said in her blog, “I do not WANT to be responsible for this much money. If I felt comfortable letting my child be responsible for that much money, I might perhaps have bought her one of these machines already.” But inasmuch as the iPads replace the traditional textbook and are, therefore, mandatory instructional materials, parents really have no choice. In fact, according to the Los Angeles Times (September 26, 2013), Gerardo Loera, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction, said that parents cannot opt out.

The form that parents must sign just for the students to use the iPad is probably mind-boggling for many. They and the student must agree to a variety of guidelines and restrictions—and this form only addresses in-school use. While we understand that there is a separate form if students are allowed to take them home, it was not part of the public documents shared at the Board meeting on September 17. And to make matters worse, different schools have used different forms. These inconsistencies are troubling.

Mr. Chandler reportedly told the LAUSD Technology Committee that there would be no cost to students if something happened to the tablet because the District has the capability to “kill” a tablet, making it useless to thieves. Even Board Member Monica Ratliff said that she had been told that students were not being held responsible for the device. But, how can that be, when parents must sign a form accepting financial responsibility? Another issue which no one seems to have really addressed is that of the potential physical danger to students as they carry these devices back and forth to school. But that’s a topic for another article.

According to Mr. Chandler, when Dr. Deasy’s temporary moratorium is lifted, it is going to be up to individual principals whether the devices are allowed to leave the campus.

As has frequently happened in the past, when the District is not sure how to proceed, leadership delegates the tough decision to the local school site

However AALA believes that with an investment of this magnitude, there should be one standard District policy

Individual site administrators should not have the burden of making that decision

Further, we are concerned about the equity issue that Dr. Deasy has spoken about.

Is it fair for students at some schools to get to take the iPads home when others cannot? What about access to the Internet at home?

That certainly is a concern for many families.

As more and more questions arise about the use of the iPads, prudent minds may want to delay their distribution until, at least, the security issues can be worked out, a more coherent use policy is developed and District leadership is on the same page with their expectations.


LA UNIFIED BUDGET WARS RETURN WITH THE USUAL COMPETING VISIONS
by Hillel Aron, LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1bTdqWu

Posted on September 27, 2013 :: Competing visions for future spending will be on grand display again Tuesday when the LA Unified Board of Education meets to put Superintendent John Deasy’s budget plan to a vote (or not) and consider a competing resolution (or not) that would tell him how to spend the money.

Confusing? Welcome to Budgeting 101, LAUSD style.

Deasy’s presentation prioritizes addressing the debt, giving new money to campuses with high concentrations of low-income and English language learning students and raising the salaries of all LAUSD employees. It’s largely an update of the version he proposed back in June.

But the board voted 5-2 to send him back to the drawing board to put re-hiring teachers and staff – an idea backed by the teachers union – at the top of the list, along with a laundry list of its own wants and needs. Deasy effectively said, well, OK, but it’ll cost you something in the $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion range. And that includes expunging a $341 million deficit.

The board has twice postponed voting on his proposal, and it’s entirely possible it will be postponed again, inasmuch as Deasy has scheduled five public hearings in October, and a sixth with union members, to get feedback on his proposal.

Then there’s board member Steve Zimmer’s proposal (No. 14 on your agenda scorecard), that essentially ignores Deasy’s approach and recommends that the superintendent fund things closer to the way the board asked him to back in June.

Zimmer would have the superintendent be “guided” by various “principles,” such as “[b]ringing LAUSD in line with national averages for class size, counselor ratios, administrator ratios, and clerical and classified ratios.” It would return all employees that have been placed on temporary status to permanent status (primarily substitute teachers).

It’s doubtful the board will take action on either plan, given the intensity of the debate.

A Problem for President Vladovic?

And here’s another mystery: What will the board do in the aftermath of the investigation into harassment allegations against Board President Richard Vladovic?

Members were individually briefed this week on what investigators concluded. So far, the nothing has not been released to the public, and — shockingly — there have been no leaks.

If the result was bad for Vladovic, the board could choose to censure him or even remove him as president, the type of thing would most likely be done in closed session – and the Board doesn’t have one of those scheduled until October 15.

Or, there’s an outside chance a Board member, or even Vladovic himself, could bring the matter up.

But with this board, well, you never know.


See the Oct 1 Board of Ed meeting agenda here.



FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, SEGREGATION THE, SEGREGATION SINCE: Education and the Unfinished March
By Richard Rothstein | The Economic Policy Institute

Press Release | http://bit.ly/16AGPDL

News from EPI: EDUCATION GOALS OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON NOT YET MET - PROPOSALS THAT IGNORE SEGREGATION AND INEQUALITY ARE DOOMED TO FAIL

August 27, 2013

The goal of racially integrated schools of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom has yet to be met. As a result, national efforts to raise the achievement of the most disadvantaged African American students have been impeded. In For Public Schools, Segregation Then, Segregation Since: Education and the Unfinished March, EPI Research Associate Richard Rothstein observes that the isolation of socially and economically disadvantaged African American students is increasing. Yet policymakers, Rothstein said, “have abandoned integration as a goal despite abundant evidence that it continues to be essential for closing the gap between white and black student achievement.”

As of 2010, African American students typically attend schools that are only 29 percent white, a decline from 1970 when African American students typically attended schools that were 32 percent white. As more lower-middle-class and middle-class African Americans move to suburbs, low-income African Americans are more likely to attend heavily African American and low-income schools, with damaging consequences for their lifelong opportunities. On average, African American students in segregated cities perform below nearly two-thirds of African American students nationwide and below nearly all white students nationwide.

Despite continued school segregation, African American student achievement has been rising steadily over the last 40 years, according to data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The achievement gap persists because the same social and instructional forces that have caused black student achievement to rise have apparently also caused white student achievement to rise.

The striking and steady improvement in disadvantaged students’ performance is inconsistent with the conventional claims of reformers that teachers of such students are poorly trained, have low expectations, and fail to exert their best efforts. However, Rothstein argues, African American children will never achieve educational equality unless we remedy their economic inequality and segregation. Attempting to substantially improve achievement, without economic equality and integration, is an impossible task.

“Organizers of the March on Washington were correct to stress how critical integration was to education improvement,” said Rothstein. “It is tragic that education reformers fail to see the disastrous impact school isolation is having on African American students, while they persist in futile denunciations of failing schools.”

______________________________________

RICHARD ROTHSTEIN – PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE STILL SEGREGATED
Interview on The Tavis Smiley Show | http://bit.ly/1fSmXNw

A study published by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC indicates that public schools in the United States are more segregated for African Americans today than they were 40 years ago. Richard Rothstein, a senior fellow at the UC Berkeley School of Law and the author of the report, explains how education policy undermined integration efforts.

HEAR THE INTERVIEW: http://bit.ly/1fSmXNw




Economic Policy Institute Report: FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, SEGREGATION THEN, SEGREGATION SINCE Education and the Unfinished March



HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
“We’ll have to get back to you on that.”: QUESTIONS ASKED AND NOT ANSWERED AT THE CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION + COMMON CORE TECH COMMITTEES ... http://bit.ly/167tRuI

SAT SCORES STAGNANT, MANY UNPREPARED FOR COLLEGE, OFFICIALS SAY: A College Board report finds that scores rema... http://bit.ly/18BVr1F

►@EDactivistNH: remember who runs @CollegeBoard & his ideological biases @4LAKids

TOP CHEF MASTERS SEASON 5 EPISODE 9: The chefs honor teachers from LAUSD with meals prepared especially for them. | http://bit.ly/15CYWrN

COMMON CORE CORRUPTION: Pearson Publishing Investigated for Payoffs http://bit.ly/1aCc3rd

NYT: Arne Duncan and the Business Roundtable write their own ®EPORT CARD ON EDUCATION ®EFORM | http://nyti.ms/166dvCB

FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS, SEGREGATION THE, SEGREGATION SINCE: Education and the Unfinished March: By Richard Rothste... http://bit.ly/1bScVfj

UTLA President’s Perspective: VAM/AGT – STILL A MEANINGLESS, DANGEROUS NUMBER: "It doesn’t matter whether the ... http://bit.ly/18AnWia

STUDENT HACKERS LEAD L.A. SCHOOLS TO HALT MAJOR iPAD INITIATIVE: By Valerie Strauss, Washington Post/Answer Sh... http://bit.ly/16Uks6m

Steve Lopez: GoodbiPad? - NEW PROBLEMS SURFACE IN L.A.UNIFIED’s iPAD PROGRAM: Hacking by students and missing ... http://bit.ly/16U1T2b

iPad fallout continues: FROM THE HUFF POST + MORE MAIL TO THE LA TIMES: LA Students Outfox Apple, Pearson and ... http://bit.ly/18cZHpf

RIALTO UNIFIED SUPERINTENDENT NEITHER CONFIRMS NOR DENIES A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH "BRA STUFFING" ACCOUNTANT — http://bit.ly/18uKAYY

RIALTO USD ACCOUNTANT ACCUSED OF STUFFING HER BRA AND MAKING OFF WITH $2M IN SCHOOL LUNCH MONEY | http://cbsloc.al/198ixuG

BROWN VETOES SB 344 (Padilla) TO ADD MORE ACCOUNTABILITY TO LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA: By Kimberly Beltran... http://bit.ly/15ZemEZ

Photo: ¿AN EMPTY BAG?: http://bit.ly/16P34jx

NEW SURVEY SHOWS THOSE WITH HIGHER EDUCATION WERE MORE LIKELY TO RECEIVE ARTS EDUCATION IN K-12 : Mary Plummer | | Pass ... http://bit.ly/188NFx9

Editorial+Letters: L.A. UNIFIED’S iPAD PLAN DOESN’T COMPUTE: L.A. TIMES EDITORIAL: The district's failure to r... http://bit.ly/177GNRe

L,A. UNIFIED REPORTS 71 iPADS ARE MISSING: The lost iPads [71 of 1,200 = a loss rate of 17%] are from a trial... http://bit.ly/18v3L2Z

HOW DID LA STUDENTS BYPASS iPAD SECURITY? Board members ask tough questions + smf’s 2¢: Annie Gilbertson | Pas... http://bit.ly/1fJtl9V

WHO PAYS IF L.A. UNIFIED STUDENTS LOSE OR BREAK iPADS?: L.A. Unified board grapples with the question of wheth... http://bit.ly/1h5MlNy

LAUSD REVIEWING iPAD POLICIES AFTER STUDENT SECURITY BREACH: Boardmember Ratliff concerned that the school boa... http://bit.ly/19Jt54m

2 PICTURES WORTH 2000 WORDS: from Hemlock on the rocks |http://bit.ly/1840FEi http://bit.ly/14JgxMa

PARENTAL ADVISORY/CONTAINS EXPLICIT IMAGES: An actual screen capture of an actual Facebook Page from an actual LAUSD iPAD... http://bit.ly/1h2JbtZ

¿iPADS HACKED? ‘Surprised it Took This Long,’ Says Zimmer http://bit.ly/15u9jJ7

FEDS COME UP WITH WORKAROUND FOR “DOUBLE TESTING” … but No Help for California!: By Catherine Gewertz, EDUCATI... http://bit.ly/1fEOuSm

NO MORE FUN-FUN-FUN AS DADDY DEASY TAKES THE iPADS AWAY! + comments from the peanut gallery: L.A. School Dis... http://bit.ly/14IxVR2

‘PRIORITY SCHOOLS’ PLAN IS THE LATEST TO REMAKE FAILING L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS: Annie Gilbertson | Pass /Fail http://bit.ly/19Djw78

LAUSD COMPLETES HARASSMENT PROBE OF RICHARD VLADOVIC, RESULTS TO REMAIN SECRET: By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles ... http://bit.ly/1gZ5P6A

STUDENTS HACK NEW LAUSD iPADS, VISIT YOU TUBE & (OMG!) FACEBOOK: Roosevelt students get access to unauthorized... http://bit.ly/19DdjZ1

WILL LAUSD’s iPAD UPGRADE WORK?: By Sam Gliksman, Los Angeles Jewish Journal |
http://bit.ly/18Y4acs


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
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!.


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, September 22, 2013

Once disruptive behavior occurs...



4LAKids:Sunday 22•Sept•2013 The Autumnal Equinox
In This Issue:
 •  Steve Lopez: L.A. UNIFIED LEADERS DON'T MAKE THE GRADE
 •  PASADENA LEADS THE WAY IN REDUCING POLICE ROLE ON CAMPUSES
 •  FEDS SAY NO TO CALIFORNIA TESTING SUSPENSION | GOV. BROWN STANDS HIS GROUND | DUNCAN MY BE BLUFFING
 •  DID A LITTLE ELECTION IN BRIDGEPORT, CT. STRIKE A BIG BLOW AGAINST EDUCATION ®EFORM?
 •  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.
The past week saw a four-hour closed session Board of Education meeting that included, among the unreported-upon-items: A performance review of the superintendent. An open session followed - where everyone was on their best behavior (“Micromanagement? …moi?”) …and not much happened over the extended time. [See: L.A. UNIFIED LEADERS DON'T MAKE THE GRADE, below, for Steve Lopez’ excellent take on that.] And there was an interesting Committee of the Whole meeting on the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) & Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) that was unattended by the part-time minority or the superintendent. (They are the minority full-time …they just have other jobs that were more important than the LCFF/LCAP.)

At no time during the Committee of the Whole did either Monica Garcia or Tamar Galatzan say:
• ‘You’ve got the votes so I guess you can do anything you want.” Or
• “What are you going to take the money from to do THAT?”
That’s because it’s impossible to disrupt the class when you’re ditching school.

If you weren’t in the room, you didn’t see it. Because the Committee of the Whole meeting was untelevised and unvideotaped - apparently to save money …it costs approximately $1000 to record+televise a meeting. The meeting included excellent presentations and discussion from+with the California Budget Project, the California School Boards Association and Sacramento legislative staff. Senator Carol Liu, Senate Education Chair spoke, The District missed a valuable opportunity to get the word out about the importance of community, parent and student involvement in LCFF decision making and LCAP participation.

Or, conspiracy theorists, do you think that NOT getting the word out AS the idea? There’s no accounting for lack of accountability.

Perhaps it’s better to broadcast the Superintendent & Board of Education behaving badly (and two hours late) than it is to televise an actual educational process on LAUSD’s Education Station.

• See+Share The ACLU Explains It All For You: IT IS UP TO PARENTS AND STUDENTS TO MAKE SURE LCFF FUNDS ARE USED RESPONSIBLY... http://bit.ly/15bsLtU to see what you’re missing …and what LAUSD isn’t doing.

THE STUDENT DISCIPLINE TASK FORCE met on Thursday – hell-bent to come up with a new Discipline Policy in 120 Days or Less to (per the School Discipline Policy and School Climate Bill of Rights Resolution) and to answer the question: “What can we do now that we can’t Suspend ‘em for Willful Defiance?”

I suspect back in 1986 similar meetings were held; “What can we do now that we can’t Paddle ‘em for Willful Defiance?”

DISCIPLINE ≠ PUNISHMENT: "Discipline" is not leather bustiers and stiletto heels …or paddles-with-holes-in-them.

Excuse me for asking here and not at the meeting …but I’m not the only one who didn’t ask: When and where do we have the deep and meaningful discussion (beyond the bullet points about classroom management, posting rules on bulletin boards and monthly assemblies) about Prevention and Positive Behavior Support rather than Alternatives to Suspension?

How about Alternatives to Disruption?

Big Red Boldface Letters on the draft Guidance Document: “Once disruptive behavior occurs, intervention strategies need to be implemented to provide necessary support to students.”


“Once disruptive behavior occurs” forecasts an inevitability. What’s wrong with avoiding the inevitable? This is the place for some disruptive innovation. What will be taught at those monthly assemblies? Those are the moments to provide necessary support to students.

Apropos/see: PASADENA LEADS THE WAY IN REDUCING POLICE ROLE ON CAMPUSES (Follows)

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE:
• Last weekend UNITED WAY OF GREATER L.A. pulled together and surveyed some high school students and the thing they would like to see more of in school is sports programs | http://bit.ly/1aWEoJJ
• THE ATLANTIC’S COVER STORY is How Sports Are Ruining High School | http://bit.ly/18OIob4
• ...and there’s too much homework. | http://bit.ly/18jHzJ7
• Kids Shouldn't Have Smarthones | http://bit.ly/15iO7La ...but No Child Should be Left Untableted | http://bit.ly/14q4QtD
• AN OP-ED IN THE NEW REPUBLIC questions Arts+Music Ed: STOP FORCING YOUR KIDS TO LEARN A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT |http://on.tnr.com/1afIADj …and draws fire: PARENTS SHOULD ABSOLUTELY FORCE KIDS TO TAKE MUSIC LESSONS | New Republic | http://on.tnr.com/1f7I9Bk


FRIDAY EVENING I WAS ON A RADIO CHAT SHOW (Politics or Pedagogy, KPFK 90.7) and attorney Catherine Lombardo made a presentation on the District’s policy+practice of removing teachers who are accused of inappropriate conduct from classrooms and their careers. I’m all for protecting children and getting rid of pedophiles – but what she said was chilling …and rang a little too true!

Take a listen here: http://bit.ly/1aV40Xm …and compare and contrast to Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Or the McMartin Preschool debacle. Or Star Chamber proceedings.

Consider also that the ®eformist rhetoric of Bad Teachers = Failing Schools makes no distinction between “bad teachers” with low Academic Growth Over Time scores and “bad teacher” pederasts. Bad teachers are bad. Reworking the battle slogan of Viet Nam era Green Berets (Itself reworked from 12th century crusaders); “Fire ‘em All – let God sort them out.”


THE FEDS AND THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA continue to stare and not blink over the suspension of testing. | http://bit.ly/16pz1ha | bit.ly/19jN21F | bit.ly/16nPCCX


THIS PAGE TENDS TO SERMONIZE ON SUNDAYS. I am not a Christian in an organized sense. I have been a member of a Jewish temple and raised a Jewish child, grew up a Unitarian with Christian Science tendencies and regularly debated a friend's catechism teacher in high school – no souls were saved or lost. For a year in college I hung out at the Newman Society, drawn by the girls rather than the faith.

I am recommending the interview with Pope Francis on the Jesuit Magazine America. A BIG HEART OPEN TO GOD | America Magazine http://bit.ly/1gN5lAm

It has been much quoted from on hot-button subjects ranging from homosexuality, gay marriage, birth control and abortion – but 4LAKids always recommends you don’t let your pundits do your reading for you. And as the pope says – we should not be preoccupied with those subjects anyway – moral and dogmatic issues are not equivalent.

Much of the interview is inside baseball about the Jesuit Team – but I find Jesuit scholarship attractive even when I doubt the conclusions.

Pope Francis – and a Jesuit pope who takes the name of the founder of the Franciscans has to be interesting – was a high school literature teacher. His insight into teaching and literature is worth the read. He is a man who appreciates art and the role of the arts and creativity. He understands the role of history and the promise of the future and he has both feet firmly in the here+now. In perhaps the most authoritarian and hierarchical system in the world he is anti-authoritarian and collaborative. He chose not to live in the papal apartment not because it was too grand (he insists it really isn’t) but for architectural reasons: it is too isolating.

He quotes from Puccini and grand opera – from Turandot – on the riddle of Hope:

In the gloomy night flies an iridescent ghost.
It rises and opens its wings
on the infinite black humanity.
The whole world invokes it
and the whole world implores it.
But the ghost disappears with the dawn
to be reborn in the heart.
And every night it is born
and every day it dies!

Thinking at one with the anti-grand operatic Belle of Amherst, Miss Dickenson:

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all


Pope Francis: “I am afraid of laboratories because in the laboratory you take the problems and then you bring them home to tame them, to paint them, out of their context. You cannot bring home the frontier, but you have to live on the border and be audacious.”

Rabbinical Judaism rose two thousand-plus years ago from the grass roots, an answer to the priesthood of the fallen temple; one of those itinerant rabbi-preachers s was Jeshua ben David, of Bethlehem and Nazareth.

This Pope Francis, he is a mensch …and we all could learn a lot from him.

¡Onward/Adelante! - smf


Steve Lopez: L.A. UNIFIED LEADERS DON'T MAKE THE GRADE
THE NEEDS OF THE DISTRICT'S 600,000-PLUS STUDENTS SEEM TO BE A SECONDARY CONCERN FOR ADMINISTRATORS AND A UNION MIRED IN SQUABBLING, PARALYSIS.

By Steve Lopez, LA Times columnist | http://lat.ms/18a3h44

September 17, 2013, 8:19 p.m. :: The nation's second-largest public school district is dealing with a few disciplinary problems of late, but it's not the students I'm talking about.

It's the grown-ups.

Members of the L.A. Unified administration think new school board President Richard Vladovic is a big bully, and in fact Vladovic has been under internal review for possible verbally abusive behavior. Supt. John Deasy had reportedly threatened to take his ball and leave the playground if Vladovic got the top job on the board but then changed his mind when it happened.

Some school board members, meanwhile, would have you believe it's Deasy who's the bully, charging around full speed all the time and flipping out when he doesn't get his way. Then last week, Deasy's right-hand man, Deputy Supt. Jaime Aquino, had me reaching for a violin when he said he'd just left a tearful meeting and had no choice but to quit because he can't handle the board's interference and paralysis.

"My heart is completely broken," Aquino told the Daily News.

His heart's broken? Stand in line, pal.

How about the hearts of L.A. Unified parents — myself included — who naively want to believe this district might one day put the interests of 600,000-plus children ahead of inflexible agendas, political feuds and petty grievances?

The teachers union leadership doesn't like too much testing or evaluations or charter schools, and it never met a reform it couldn't gleefully torpedo.

The newly formed school board, still working on its chemistry, is neither leading nor getting out of the way.

And Deasy, a man of many strengths, is pulling a D-minus in the political skills needed to cultivate relationships with foes and win their support for his agenda.

Next time someone says it's time to blow up the beast and create smaller, more accountable districts, I'm not going to be as dismissive as I've been in the past. Given recent developments, you have to wonder if L.A. Unified is too big and too splintered into special-interest fiefdoms to ever succeed.

As for Aquino, he's the guy Deasy had hand-picked for two critical jobs — tech acquisition and the switch to the new Common Core curriculum. In midstream, Aquino decides he can't take it, and Deasy doesn't have the clout or inclination to change the man's mind?

Don't leave yet, Jaime. I haven't had time to figure out why there was such a rush to spend millions on iPads, in particular (for which Deasy made a pitch in an Apple commercial), and commit to software from Pearson (a company owned by Aquino's former employer) before the software was fully developed and tested.

And there are still those nagging questions about whether it was OK to use bond money for computers and/or the software that makes them run, as well as whether those computers can be taken home by students. Not to mention another little hiccup:

On top of $500 million for iPads, and another $500 million to build Wi-Fi into the schools, are students supposed to take tests and write reports on touch screens? And if not, where's the extra $38 million for external keyboards supposed to come from, and when all is said and done, do tablets make more sense than laptops?

I'm no Luddite. Maybe tablets will make terrific learning tools one day, although the jury is out, and maybe they'll be great equalizers for students whose families can't afford them, as Deasy has argued. And I like that the superintendent knows what he wants and can't wait to get started. Sometimes, though, it's OK to slow down and do a better job of explaining an agenda rather than imposing it.

As for the school board, someone needs to remind Vladovic that, no matter how badly he'd like to wake up one morning and discover he really is superintendent, his title is still board member.

Not that I don't appreciate attempts to vet and challenge rather than rubber-stamp administration initiatives, but test scores and graduation rates have improved under Deasy. And in the midst of a switch to a new curriculum, we don't need teacher training delayed by months because board members are in a contest to see who can be the biggest windbag and sabotage an agreement on how to best get the job done.

Why is it that once people enter the education industrial complex, they forget why they were on that path to begin with, and lose the ability to relate to parents and other laypeople who don't speak their strange language?

I tuned into Tuesday's L.A. Unified board meeting and was treated to a discussion of LCAP and LCFF, and if you haven't heard, let me be the first to tell you that the district got a waiver for CORE on NCLB. I don't know about you, but when I hear the words "categorical funding," "Race To The Top" or "No Child Left Behind," I need aspirin.

Whatever the decade, whatever the fad and whatever the location, all that really matters is good teaching, good training that makes for even better teaching, and adequate resources for principals and support staff.

If only school board members, superintendents and union officials could get out of the way more often and let it happen.


PASADENA LEADS THE WAY IN REDUCING POLICE ROLE ON CAMPUSES
PASADENA SCHOOL OFFICIALS HAVE AGREED TO HANDLE MOST STUDENT OFFENSES WITH CAMPUS-BASED DISCIPLINE RATHER THAN CITATIONS OR ARRESTS.

By Teresa Watanabe, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/14wfRcS

September 21, 2013, 6:11 p.m. :: A new agreement to limit the role of Pasadena police on school campuses marks a California milestone in the national movement to minimize student encounters with the criminal justice system, advocates say.

As school districts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and elsewhere grapple with rising concerns about police actions on campuses, Pasadena officials have agreed to handle all but the most serious offenses with school-based disciplinary actions rather than citations and arrests. Police officers will intervene only in cases involving assault, weapons, narcotics sales and other major offenses that state law requires them to handle.

David Sapp, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the pact was "unlike anything we've seen" statewide.

"No other school district has attempted, in such a clear and defined manner, to identify the exact circumstances when police may engage," Sapp said. "There was a shared understanding that minor things shouldn't lead to police citations and arrests."

The agreement, unanimously approved last week by the Pasadena City Council following passage by the city school board in July, runs counter to the "zero tolerance" policies that took hold after the 1999 school massacre in Littleton, Colo. The mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn., last year amplified calls to expand campus police, whose numbers grew nationally by 40% between 1997 and 2007, according to federal data.

But civil rights and community groups have pushed to reduce police involvement in schools and treat student misbehavior with strategies shown to be more effective, such as incentives and conflict mediation.

They cite numerous studies showing that having more police on campus has led to more arrests of students, often for minor offenses such as disorderly conduct and fights. Research has also shown that arrests and other contact with the criminal justice system is linked to higher dropout rates.

The Los Angeles Unified School District's campus police force, the largest in the nation, had been criticized for years for issuing thousands of citations annually to students as young as 7 for such offenses as truancy, disturbing the peace and tobacco possession.

But efforts by community activists helped result in new policies by L.A. Unified school police last year to end citations for truancy. Instead, the district's students are sent to city youth centers for educational counseling and other services to help them with their academic struggles.

The district is currently crafting new guidelines to limit the role of police on campus, as directed in a "school climate bill of rights" passed by the board of education in May and supported by the school police union.

District officials are working with community groups on a possible pilot program to replace citations and arrests for battery and disturbing the peace with community-based alternatives.

But whether a new district policy will go far enough in circumscribing police — and whether community members will have a chance to help shape it — remains to be seen, said Zoe Rawson of the Community Rights Campaign, a Los Angeles organizing effort to minimize police actions on campus. She said she was "encouraged" by district data showing that citations on campuses declined last year over the previous year but remained concerned about the disproportionate impact on African American and Latino youth.

Public Counsel, a Los Angeles pro bono law firm, is also working with the San Francisco and Oakland school districts to forge new campus policing practices, while similar efforts are underway nationally.

Last year, the law firm and L.A. Delinquency Court Judge Donna Groman sponsored a visit to Los Angeles by a Georgia chief juvenile court judge who has launched a nationally recognized program to minimize police arrests in favor of alternatives. The program led to a deep decline in weapons and fights on campus and a 20% increase in high school graduation rates there, Judge Steve Teske said in his L.A. appearance.

In Pasadena, the new agreement directs police to focus on building ties with students, resolving conflicts and creating a safe environment.

It was not prompted by lawsuits or widespread complaints but by an opportunity to improve an existing agreement up for renewal for the city to provide police services to the district, said Eric Sahakian, a district director of child welfare, attendance and safety.

Sahakian said police make about five arrests a month in the district of 17,700 students in 26 schools.

Gary Moody, president of the NAACP's Pasadena branch, agreed that excessive police actions have not generally been a problem in the district but he hailed the move to explicitly limit them.

"School is a place of education," he said. "A police presence would be a distraction."

Sahakian said the policy is in line with a new approach to student discipline adopted two years ago that he credited with driving down student suspensions by 40%.

Under the plan, officials respond to student misbehavior with a graduated series of actions that include incentives, specific classroom management techniques, mentoring and training on how to change behavior.

"The bottom line is that we want our students to succeed," said Sahakian, who worked on the effort with police, elected officials, civil rights attorneys and community activists. "This is really about students' well-being."


FEDS SAY NO TO CALIFORNIA TESTING SUSPENSION | GOV. BROWN STANDS HIS GROUND | DUNCAN MY BE BLUFFING
►BROWN NOT BACKING AWAY FROM DECISION TO SUSPEND STATE STANDARDIZED TESTS

By John Fensterwald | EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/1aLV2eY

September 17th, 2013 :: Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday defended the state’s decision to suspend state standardized tests this year and instead offer students a practice test in the Common Core standards that’s now being developed. And he gave no sign of steering away from a collision with the federal government over this issue.

“I feel that a test based on a different curriculum does not make a lot of sense,” he said during a news conference in Oakland. “We are investing $1 billion to adopt Common Core.”

The source of the conflict is Assembly Bill 484, which the Legislature approved last week and Brown has promised to sign. By requiring that every district capable of administering a computer-based test give students a Common Core field or practice test next spring, the bill will put California out of compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind law. NCLB mandates annual testing in state standards in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 in math and English language arts in order to measure schools’ and individual students’ performance. The field test will not produce results for federal accountability. Its purpose is to help the test developers create a valid assessment on the new standards in 2015, when California and other states would formally introduce it.

But Brown, who was at the Oakland School for the Arts, the charter school he founded, indicated the sky wouldn’t fall if schools went a year without test results for accountability purposes. “We’ve had test results for 12 years,” he said.

Turning to the school’s executive director, Donn Harris, Brown asked, “Can you handle a year without test results? I’m not worried.” Harris agreed that the school has mas many ways, beside standardized tests, to evaluate how students are performing.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, an advocate of the Common Core standards, has acknowledged the usefulness of the field test and said he would exempt schools, comprising up to 20 percent of a state’s enrollment, from also taking their state tests.

But California will be pressing the issue by seeking a waiver for most districts from state tests in those grades. Those districts without the technology to administer the computer-based field test would give neither the old test under state standards nor the Common Core test – one reason for Duncan’s opposition. The State Board of Education earlier this month authorized Board President Michael Kirst to work with the state Department of Education on the waiver request and handle negotiations with Duncan’s staff.

In an unusual move a day before the Legislature was to vote on AB 484, Duncan issued a clear threat to penalize California if it passed the bill. But he was ambiguous about what the state would have to do to qualify for a statewide waiver, and after the Legislature approved the bill anyway, he turned more conciliatory.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, published Monday, Duncan called fining the state “a last resort.”

“We want to be flexible, we want to be thoughtful,” Duncan told the newspaper. “We don’t want to be stuck. There are lots of different things happening across the country. I don’t want to be too hard and fast on any one of these things because I have not gone through every detail, every permutation.”

Duncan also praised Brown for providing substantial money for teacher training and technology needed to teach and test the Common Core. “I give the governor tremendous credit,” Duncan said. “He’s put real resources behind that.”

Brown in Oakland framed the disagreement over testing as part of the state’s larger effort, through the adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula, to move control over education from Washington and Sacramento to local school districts. And he hearkened back to a much earlier era as evidence. “How did we win World War II?” he asked rhetorically. “How did we do before the federal government intruded in education?”

Brown was in Oakland on Monday to support Project A-Game, a $450,000 program funded by The California Endowment and the Entertainment Software Association, in which students in Oakland and Sacramento will learn about careers in the lucrative computer arts industry and create their own video games. The governor praised the effort to help students make the connection between math and science and electronic media. Students at the East Oakland neighborhood center Youth Uprising piloted the program.
______________________________

►CALIFORNIA WON’T QUALIFY FOR TESTING WAIVER UNDER NEW FEDERAL GUIDELINES

By John Fensterwald | EDSOURCE TODAY | http://bit.ly/19f73Yc

California plans to roll out computerized testing in 2015. Image from Flickr

Students would take online Common Core field tests, rather than traditional standardized tests, under a bill before the governor. Image from Flickr

September 18th, 2013 :: The federal Department of Education specified for the first time Tuesday what states would have to do to receive a waiver from giving state standardized tests next spring in the one-year transition to implementing the Common Core standards.

Within hours, California’s two top education leaders acknowledged in a news release (follows) what observers had been saying: There’s no way the state will get such an exemption under the terms of a bill now awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature.

“We recognize that legislation awaiting action by the governor would not meet the requirements outlined in today’s guidance. Nevertheless, we continue to believe Assembly Bill 484 represents the right choice for California’s schools,” said State Board of Education President Michael Kirst and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson in a joint statement. But they also downplayed the potential conflict and indicated they’d do damage control to minimize unspecified penalties the state may face for failing to follow testing requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

“While this may put California technically and temporarily out of compliance with federal testing mandates, we’re confident that we can work with our colleagues in Washington to effectively manage this transition,” they said.

In order to encourage teachers to turn full attention to learning the new Common Core standards this year, the state is proposing under AB 484, which Torlakson authored, not to give the California Standards Tests in English language arts and math in the spring of 2014 to grades 3 to 8 and grade 11. Instead, it would offer every student in those grades a field or practice test in the Common Core in either subject. Schools and parents wouldn’t get results back, because a field test is intended to screen and evaluate questions and procedures, not produce reliable scores for students and schools.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan had indicated that Washington would permit some field testing in the new Common Core standards and would grant a waiver so that students wouldn’t have to take both the Common Core field test and state tests in the same subjects.

But, as a three-page letter from Assistant Secretary of Education for Elementary and Secondary Education Deborah Delisle makes clear, the government wasn’t anticipating granting a waiver to every student in every school. And those students who took the field test in math or English language arts would still have to take the existing state test, for accountability purposes, in the other subject.

AB 484 would put the state in the position of funding only one of the field test subjects per student and not offering a state test in the other subject.

The bill would create two other complications for a waiver:

The field tests would be administered on a computer. Those districts without the capacity to handle them would give no test next spring. State officials argue that giving no test is better than giving an old test under state standards the state is abandoning. And Deb Sigman, deputy state superintendent of public instruction, said Tuesday that she hasn’t conceded that some districts would not be able to give the field test by computer in the 12-week span allowed. The state doesn’t have the information yet for that determination, she said.

Federal law requires annually measuring the progress of English learners and of low-achieving schools receiving federal School Improvement Grants. Sigman said that the state may propose measurements other than standardized tests for English learners and School Improvement Grant schools next year.

State officials plan to submit a waiver request this fall, however doubtful it now appears it will be granted. Duncan has threatened to withhold some federal funding from California, although he said this week it would be “a last resort.”



More on Testing Impasse - EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN’S THREATS MAY BE MORE BLUFF THAN BULLY: “VIRTUALLY NO CHANCE OF A DRASTIC ROLLBACK IN FUNDING.”



DID A LITTLE ELECTION IN BRIDGEPORT, CT. STRIKE A BIG BLOW AGAINST EDUCATION ®EFORM?
●PROGRESSIVES AND UNIONS SAY A PRIMARY IN CONNECTICUT LAST WEEK SHOWS MOMENTUM IS TURNING AGAINST THE CORPORATE-BACKED CHARTER-SCHOOL MOVEMENT.
●●smf: CAN’T WE SAY THE SAME ABOUT THE RECENT LA SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS?

by Molly Ball – The Atlantic - http://bit.ly/1aZvwXi

Sep 17 2013, 12:52 PM ET :: In the world of education reform, Paul Vallas is a superstar. As leader of school districts in Chicago and Philadelphia, he expanded charter schools and testing. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he replaced New Orleans’ ravaged public schools with a radical experiment in decentralized, charter-based learning. President Obama’s education secretary, Arne Duncan, has hailed him as an innovator.

And yet a tiny, little-noticed municipal election in Connecticut last week may have been his undoing -- and a major setback for the self-styled reform movement he champions, which increasingly faces tough political fights after years of ascendance nationally. The results in Bridgeport, Vallas's opponents claim, are proof that communities are mobilizing to defeat the reformers.

For the past two years, Vallas has served as the controversial superintendent of schools in Bridgeport, Connecticut, a depressed post-industrial shipping town that is the state's largest city. Last Tuesday, three Vallas-supporting school-board members were trounced in the city’s Democratic primaries. Vallas’s opponents -- liberals, labor unions, and angry public-school parents -- are calling it no less than a repudiation of his philosophy. And Vallas is likely to lose his job as a result.

"I think we have reason to be optimistic that the tide is turning against this corporate education-reform movement."

“A coalition of teachers, parents, local activists, working families, and good-government groups -- folks with a stake in the education system in Bridgeport -- came together and defeated the Bridgeport political machine,” said Lindsay Farrell, state director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, which backed the winning slate of insurgent candidates. “I think we have reason to be optimistic that the tide is turning against this corporate reform movement that Paul Vallas is the poster child for.”

The Bridgeport primaries were the latest front in the ongoing political war over American education. It’s a fight that has become intensely polarized, with reformers like Vallas and Michelle Rhee vilified by progressives and unions who see them as working to privatize public schools and undermine teacher unions.

Vallas's opponents say he has a record of closing schools, laying off teachers, privatizing school management, raiding pension funds, and funneling taxpayer dollars to for-profit education companies with dubious track records. Vallas says that in Bridgeport, he has not closed a single school, opened a single charter, or laid off a single teacher.

In an interview, he adamantly defended his record in Bridgeport, arguing that he’s ruffled feathers by making much-needed waves. “Anytime you push reform, you’re going to create controversy. Why? Because you’re upsetting the status quo,” he told me. “We closed a massive budget hole. We brought this district back from the brink without cutting a single teacher. If that’s controversy, it’s made-up controversy.”

The Vallas allies who lost last week were Democrats endorsed by the state Democratic Party and town Democratic committee and backed by the mayor. In a nearly 10-to-1 Democratic city, the primary winners are all but guaranteed to win the November elections and team up with Working Families Party members to form an anti-Vallas majority on the nine-member school board.

For the town’s Democratic machine, which has traditionally exerted tight control over municipal politics, it was a stunning and unprecedented defeat. “Definitely, I was surprised. Low turnout is usually good for the establishment,” said Mario Testa, the local Democratic boss who has chaired the town committee for most of the last two decades, running absentee-ballot operations and hosting state and national Democratic politicians at his Italian restaurant and pizzeria. “As long as I’ve been involved, it’s never happened.”

The new board members are determined to oust Vallas, Farrell told me, and begin searching for a new superintendent. They plan to undo Vallas’s reforms, including increased student testing, high-priced consultant contracts, and cuts to special education and electives.

The schools fight in Bridgeport actually predates Vallas; he was hired as part of a school-reform push by the state's Democratic elites. In 2011, after the Working Families Party won a minority of school-board seats and started using them to challenge the establishment, the state responded by eliminating the elected Bridgeport school board altogether. It was replaced with a board of mayoral appointees that hired Vallas.

The state Supreme Court ruled that eliminating the elected board was unconstitutional. So reformers took their cause to the ballot instead, asking the citizens of Bridgeport in a referendum last November to approve the elimination of board elections. The initiative had big money behind it, including nearly $200,000 from Rhee’s Students First and $25,000 from New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. But opponents painted it as an undemocratic power grab, and it failed by a two-to-one margin.

Meanwhile, the reform opponents have made steady gains in board elections, which are held in odd-numbered years. Connecticut’s complicated rules reserve three board seats for a minority party; once pro-Vallas Republicans, all three are now anti-Vallas Working Families Party members. Together with the three anti-Vallas Democrats who won last week’s primaries, they will constitute a 6-3 majority if nothing unexpected happens in November.

And though they plan to use their new majority to oust Vallas, it may not be necessary. The superintendent has simultaneously been dogged by a challenge to his academic credentials: State law requires someone in his position to have an education degree, but his master’s was in political science. The state gave him an exemption allowing him to take a shortened certification course; that, too, was challenged, and the state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the case at the end of the month. Vallas has previously derided the challenge, saying the degree requirement was “like saying Michael Jordan can’t coach basketball because he doesn’t have teacher certification.”

For the Working Families Party, a liberal, union-based coalition active mainly in New York and Connecticut, the hope is that last week's victory is a sign of things to come. The education-reform movement remains beloved of corporate interests, hedge funds, and centrist beacons like Bloomberg, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and Newark Mayor and New Jersey senator-in-waiting Cory Booker. But it’s come under attack in increasingly acrimonious policy fights across the country.

Unions’ attempts to reverse what they see as Vallas’s privatization of the New Orleans schools have failed. In Denver, a district once run by now-Senator Michael Bennet (the brother of Atlantic Editor in Chief James Bennet), reformers have beat back several waves of well-funded union challenges. On the other hand, unions have flipped school boards in San Diego and Washington, and were seen as the winners of last year’s Chicago teacher strike.

Now, in Bridgeport, they have struck another blow. “This was a repudiation of the corporate-reform model, a repudiation of Paul Vallas, and a call for community control of education,” Joe Dinkin, a national spokesman for the Working Families Party, told me. “There are major fights over the future of education going on in a lot of bigger cities than Bridgeport. I hope people in those places will see this and take heart. The [corporate reformers] have gone close to undefeated in expanding their agenda for the last couple of decades. But this shows they can be beaten.”


HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources
The Nowhere Man:
Aquino.
¿Aqui?
¡No!

MY LAUSD JOURNEY, a farewell message by Jaime Aquino: from L.A. Schools Report | 13 Sep... http://bit.ly/1eXerwg

Is Dr. D Next? - AQUINO’S RESIGNATION TURNS THE SPOTLIGHT ONTO DEASY: Analysis by Hillel Aron, L.A.School Report... http://bit.ly/1gq0Ds7
__________

VERGARA v. CA: LAUSD dropped as defendant in ®eform suit that challenges teacher tenure, job security & seniority.| http://bit.ly/1fq7wvJ

From the AALA Newsletter: AALA PRESIDENT ADDRESSES BOARD RE: COMMON CORE BUDGET + AB 484 and COMMON CORE TESTI... http://bit.ly/1gO0jDH

'Tens of 1000's of parents, teachers+®eform orgs' (PRev/Educators4Excellence&TeachPlus) ask Gov Brown to veto AB 484-http://bit.ly/16pz1ha

DID A LITTLE ELECTION IN BRIDGEPORT, CT. STRIKE A BIG BLOW TO EDUCATION ®EFORM?: Progressives and unions sa... http://bit.ly/15cEqst

HOW ARE THE SCHOOLS DOING? THIS YEAR, DON’T ASK - or - Jerry Brown’s George Wallace moment: By Peter Schrag, S... http://bit.ly/1eZjfUk

LCFF: A WHOLE NEW BUREAUCRACY. Teacher, two superintendents to hold key positions on funding law’s new agency:... http://bit.ly/14qtTwx

U P D A T E: LAUSD RESPONDS TO EL SERENO TEACHER MOLESTATION CLAIMS: Leo Stallworth, KABC News Team | ... http://bit.ly/1gIg7HX

ARREST LED TO NO CHARGES IN AGAINST TEACHER NAMED IN MOLESTATION SUIT: A former El Sereno Elementary teacher n... http://bit.ly/1fhWMQ7

NO CHILD LEFT UNTABLETED: By CARLO ROTELLA, Opinion in the New York Times sunday Magazine | http://nyti... http://bit.ly/14q4QtD

The ACLU explains it all for you: IT IS UP TO PARENTS AND STUDENTS TO MAKE SURE LCFF FUNDS ARE USED RESPONSIBL... http://bit.ly/15bsLtU

U P D A T E: LAWSUIT ALLEGES EL SERENO TEACHER ABUSED UP TO 15 CHILDREN | http://bit.ly/1dsBihC

Cyberbullying: FEDERAL COURT BACKS STUDENT DISCIPLINE FOR OFF-CAMPUS E-THREATS: By Kimberly Beltran | SI&A Cab... http://bit.ly/1gDGtLh

Testing Impasse - EDUCATION SECRETARY DUNCAN’S THREATS MAY BE MORE BLUFF THAN BULLY: “Virtually no chance of a... http://bit.ly/19jN21F

FUTURE OF CAHSEE (California High School Exit Exam) UNCLEAR AS STATE REVAMPS TESTING REQUIREMENTS | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/1eUMUy5

DONT FEAR COMMON CORE + smf’s 2¢: With the curriculum, coming soon to California, students and teachers are di... http://bit.ly/1fct9zx

CHILD ABUSE CASES SURFACE AT EL SERENO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AS DISTRICT CONTINUES TO SETTLE MIRAMONTE LAWSUITS: 3... http://bit.ly/18cVm62

Big Schoolmarm is watching: GLENDALE’S CYBER-NOSEY SCHOOLS: School officials' motives in having students' cybe... http://bit.ly/1fcdIra

Editorial: LAUSD BOARD GETS LOW GRADE FOR WORK HABITS + smf’s 2¢: Los Angles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1aM1T ... http://bit.ly/1f9eK7l

Squabbling? Paralysis? – FEDS SAY NO TO CALIFORNIA TESTING SUSPENSION; GOV. BROWN STANDS HIS GROUND: Brown not... http://bit.ly/16nPCCX

Squabbling? Paralysis? Conflicts? Dysfunction? Chaos? – Call it What You Will. WELCOME TO ADULTS OUT OF ‘LOCAL... http://bit.ly/18A4sWS

4 articles in 140 characters or less: MORE TALKING THAN SOME WOULD WISH. BUT LAUSD BOARD OKs COMMON CORE BUDGE... http://bit.ly/18A3LNg

LAUSD Committee of Whole meets, un-televised - Monica G+Tamar absent. What happens in the room stays in the room. Transparency ...or ether?

Retweet: Steve Strieker Reviews "Reign of Error" http://wp.me/p2odLa-5TU

Tweeted from the Boardroom: The LAUSD Board/Bored of Ed is 1 hr 30 minutes late in starting. How tardy do you have to be before you're absent?

L.A. MAYOR GARCETTI BACKS JOHN DEASY, SEEKS TO END FEUD BETWEEN LAUSD LEADERS, BOARD + smf’s 2¢: By Barbara Jo... http://bit.ly/16hgSTz

Opinion: NO WAY TO RUN A SCHOOL BOARD + smf’s 2¢: L.A. Times Editorial: The new board needs to figure out its ... http://bit.ly/1gtnZgg

¡Keep on eye on Michelle! : MERROW GIVES UP ON GOING AFTER RHEE/FORMER UNION POLITICAL DIRECTOR JOINS HER IN C... http://bit.ly/1eXGJqk

HOW TO IMPROVE LOS ANGELES SCHOOLS? KIDS SAY MORE SPORTS, BETTER LUNCHES, REPRESENTATION ON THE BOARD OF ED +... http://bit.ly/18qdjKC

MORE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN L,A, COUNTY TAKING LESS PUNITIVE APPROACH TO TRUANCY: By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles D... http://bit.ly/1eIbYYR

U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY EASES ON THREAT TO WITHHOLD FEDERAL FUNDS FROM CALIFORNIA OVER TESTING: By Howard Blu... http://bit.ly/196wnhO

A SHOWDOWN ON COMMON CORE TESTING: Neither California nor Education Secretary Arne Duncan can claim the high g... http://bit.ly/18pUFCG

LAUSD SEEKS TO END CONFUSION AND FIGHTS OVER PARENT TRIGGER LAW: School board votes to require public informat... http://bit.ly/181yDd7


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
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!.


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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