In This Issue:
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THE MAN IN THE TAUPE BLAZER |
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LCFF Report: LAUSD’S SHORT-CHANGED DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS+STUDENTS/LAUSD FALLS SHORT OF GOALS + smf’s 2¢ |
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LA Times: DON'T DROP THE HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM + smf's 2¢ +more! |
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BROWN, LAWMAKERS CONTINUE BUDGET TALKS AHEAD OF DEADLINE |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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“John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of
Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the
archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters,
sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege
subjects, greetings:”
In addition to being the first day of summer school, and the due date of
the State Budget, Monday marks the 800th anniversary of the sealing of
Magna Carta at the meadow of Runnymede. Anybody who knows the stories of
Robin Hood knows what a dastardly dude King John was – and on June
15th, 1215 a group of barons forced John to see the error of his ways
and the pure vision of their own.
The barons weren’t exactly democrats – and their thinking wasn’t really
original …and John’s acquiescence wasn’t entirely voluntary. But that
said, constitutional democracy had to start somewhere-and-at-some-time –
and that June day and that meadow in a bend of the River Thames got the
honor.
4LAKids has limited resources and as much as we would like to cite the
British Museum or the Ashmolean Library, Wikipedia tells us the name
Runnymede may be derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'runieg' (regular meeting)
and 'mede' (mead or meadow), describing a place in the meadows used to
hold regular meetings. The Witan, Witenagemot or Council of the
Anglo-Saxon Kings of the 7th to 11th centuries was held from time to
time at Runnymede during the reign of Alfred the Great. The Council met
usually in the open air. This political organ was transformed in
succeeding years, influencing the creation of England's 13th century
parliament.
The monument on the meadow says: “In these Meads on 15th June 1215 King
John at the instance of Deputies from the whole community of the Realm
granted the Great Charter the earliest of constitutional documents
whereunder ancient and cherished customs were confirmed abuses redressed
and the administration of justice facilitated new provisions formulated
for the preservation of peace and every individual perpetually secured
in the free enjoyment of his life and property.”
Magna Carta says: "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or
stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or
deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with
force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful
judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we
sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."
The 1,400+ year old Ankerwycke Yew, on the left bank of the river, is
also a possible site where Magna Carta may have been sealed. The sacred
tree could have been the location of the Witan council and may well have
been the preferred neutral meeting place of King John and the barons.
Henry VIII is said to have met Anne Boleyn under that tree in the 1530s.
The wood from yew trees was an English military secret weapon in the
latter middle ages; English archers had superior firepower because of
longbows crafted from yew. Shakespeare notwithstanding – the Battle of
Agincourt was not won by bluff King Hal’s superior rhetoric on the morn
of St. Crispian, but by English bowmen. But enough English History for
this week!
MONDAY’S EDITION OF BUSINESS WEEK is a longform essay all about code and
coding – and if your eyes are glazing over and you are already skipping
down to find where the education news starts you are exactly the target
audience! If you were flummoxed by MiSiS or ISIS or iPads and all of
this technology stuff go pick up a copy or read it online. It is well
written and fairly accessible – though parts of it are written in code
and not exactly easy reading.
The article doesn’t tell you everything you need to know – and it
ventures into more than you probably wanted to know …but you need to
know these things.
If you are a member of the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles
or the General Superintendent thereof- or have an office or a cubicle
on the 24th floor of 333 S. Beaudry - it should be required reading. It
will be on the test – a test the Los Angeles Unified School District is
already failing.
Following is the set-up/introduction: The Man in the Taupe Blazer. If it
doesn’t get you interested I’m sorry: There’s a battle outside and it’s
ragin’; it’s already shaking your windows and rattling your walls.
LAST TUESDAY I TESTIFIED IN SACRAMENTO at an Assembly committee hearing [http://t.co/Gyc2S0jv9j]
surrounded by a contagion of children with only red t-shirts and their
parents best intentions protecting them from mumps, measles, rubella,
tetanus polio and pertussis while exchanging texts with a colleague at
the similarly interminable LAUSD board meeting. I’m pretty sure we
reached no conclusion as to which was the greater waste of the most time
– with the only comfort coming from Winston Churchill, safely in his
grave: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the
others.”
THE STATE BUDGET IS SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETE BY MONDAY – or more
correctly: There will be a vote Monday on a $117.5 billion spending plan
that increases social spending for the poor …even though Gov. Jerry
Brown hasn't signed off. ●The two Democratic leaders say it’s a
responsible budget that sets aside money for a rainy day, pays down debt
and boosts schools; but they need to get Brown's blessing to spend an
additional $749 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. ●Brown
is reluctant on new spending on welfare, health care and child care; he
and Republicans are concerned that the state won't collect so much in
taxes. ●That sounds more like wishing+hoping and little like
giving+taking. This means that even if a budget is passed on the Monday
deadline – “negotiations” will continue in the days ahead – as practiced
with the veto pen and the blue pencil.
Superintendent Cortines released his $8 billion budget plan Thursday.| http://bit.ly/1edId4f
Now LAUSD will begin its public budget process in earnest in a couple
special board meetings and a LCAP hearing, all very last minute - as it
has been and shall forever be. The 4LAKids quote o’ th’ week is: “LAUSD
Legislative Liaison Pedro Salcido said the district plans to do a better
job of funneling the money to the students for whom it’s intended”
…whether this draft budget hits-or-misses the mark will be the subject
of the debate.
“Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede, between
Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth
year of our reign.”
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
THE MAN IN THE TAUPE BLAZER
by Paul Ford from Bloomberg BusinessWeek: The Code Issue | http://bloom.bg/1BahhfK
●A message from Josh Tyrangiel, senior executive editor, Bloomberg:
“Software has been around since the 1940s. Which means that people have
been faking their way through meetings about software, and the code that
builds it, for generations. Now that software lives in our pockets,
runs our cars and homes, and dominates our waking lives, ignorance is no
longer acceptable. The world belongs to people who code. Those who
don’t understand will be left behind.
"This issue comprises a single story devoted to demystifying code and
the culture of the people who make it. There’s some technical language
along with a few pretty basic mathematical concepts. There are also lots
of solid jokes and lasting insights. It may take a few hours to read,
but that’s a small price to pay for adding decades to your career.”
6.15.2015 :: You are an educated, successful person capable of
abstract thought. A VP doing an SVP’s job. Your office, appointed with
decent furniture and a healthy amount of natural light filtered through
vertical blinds, is commensurate with nearly two decades of service to
the craft of management.
Copper plaques on the wall attest to your various leadership abilities
inside and outside the organization: One, the Partner in Innovation
Banquet Award 2011, is from the sales team for your support of its
18-month effort to reduce cycle friction—net sales increased 6.5
percent; another, the Civic Guidelight 2008, is for overseeing a
volunteer team that repainted a troubled public school top to bottom.
You have a reputation throughout the organization as a careful person,
bordering on penny-pinching. The way you’d put it is, you are loath to
pay for things that can’t be explained. You expect your staff to speak
in plain language. This policy has served you well in many facets of
operations, but it hasn’t worked at all when it comes to overseeing
software development.
For your entire working memory, some Internet thing has come along every
two years and suddenly hundreds of thousands of dollars (inevitably
millions) must be poured into amorphous projects with variable
deadlines. Content management projects, customer relationship management
integration projects, mobile apps, paperless office things, global
enterprise resource planning initiatives—no matter how tightly you
clutch the purse strings, software finds a way to pry open your fingers.
Here we go again. On the other side of your (well-organized) desk sits
this guy in his mid-30s with a computer in his lap. He’s wearing a taupe
blazer. He’s come to discuss spending large sums to create intangible
abstractions on a “website re-architecture project.” He needs money,
support for his team, new hires, external resources. It’s preordained
that you’ll give these things to him, because the CEO signed off on the
initiative—and yet should it all go pear-shaped, you will be
responsible. Coders are insanely expensive, and projects that start with
uncomfortably large budgets have an ugly tendency to grow from there.
You need to understand where the hours will go.
He says: “We’re basically at the limits with WordPress.”
Who wears a taupe blazer?
The CTO was fired six months ago. That CTO has three kids in college and
a mustache. It was a bad exit. The man in the taupe blazer (TMitTB)
works for the new CTO. She comes from Adobe and has short hair and no
mustache.
Here is what you’ve been told: All of the computer code that keeps the
website running must be replaced. At one time, it was very valuable and
was keeping the company running, but the new CTO thinks it’s garbage.
She tells you the old code is spaghetti and your systems are straining
as a result. That the third-party services you use, and pay for monthly,
are old and busted. Your competitor has an animated shopping cart that
drives across the top of the screen at checkout. That cart remembers
everything customers have ever purchased and generates invoices on
demand. Your cart has no memory at all.
Salespeople stomp around your office, sighing like theater students,
telling you how embarrassed they are by the site. Nothing works right on
mobile. Orders are cutting off halfway. People are logged out with no
warning. Something must be done.
Which is why TMitTB is here.
Who’s he, anyway? Webmaster? IT? No, he’s a “Scrum Master.”
“My people are split on platform,” he continues. “Some want to use
Drupal 7 and make it work with Magento—which is still PHP.” He frowns.
“The other option is just doing the back end in Node.js with Backbone in
front.”
You’ve furrowed your brow; he eyes you sympathetically and explains: “With that option it’s all JavaScript, front and back.”
Those are all terms you’ve heard. You’ve read the first parts of the
Wikipedia pages and a book on software project estimation. It made some
sense at the time.
You ask the universal framing question: “Did you cost these options?”
He gives you a number and a date. You know in your soul that the number
is half of what it should be and that the project will go a year over
schedule. He promises long-term efficiencies: The $85,000 in Oracle
licenses will no longer be needed; engineering is moving to a free,
open-sourced database. “We probably should have done that back when we
did the Magento migration,” he says. Meaning, of course, that his
predecessor probably should have done that.
You consult a spreadsheet and remind him that the Oracle contract was
renewed a few months ago. So, no, actually, at least for now, you’ll
keep eating that cost. Sigh.
This man makes a third less than you, and his education ended with a
B.S. from a large, perfectly fine state university. But he has 500+
connections on LinkedIn. That plus sign after the “500” bothers you. How
many more than 500 people does he know? Five? Five thousand?
In some mysterious way, he outranks you. Not within the company, not in
restaurant reservations, not around lawyers. Still: He strokes his short
beard; his hands are tanned; he hikes; his socks are embroidered with
little ninja.
“Don’t forget,” he says, “we’ve got to budget for apps.”
This is real. A Scrum Master in ninja socks has come into your office
and said, “We’ve got to budget for apps.” Should it all go pear-shaped,
his career will be just fine.
You keep your work in perspective by thinking about barrels of cash. You
once heard that a U.S. dry barrel can hold about $100,000 worth of
singles. Next year, you’ll burn a little under a barrel of cash on
Oracle. One barrel isn’t that bad. But it’s never one barrel. Is this a
5-barrel project or a 10-barreler? More? Too soon to tell. But you can
definitely smell money burning.
At this stage in the meeting, you like to look supplicants in the eye
and say, OK, you’ve given me a date and a budget. But when will it be
done? Really, truly, top-line-revenue-reporting finished? Come to
confession; unburden your soul.
This time you stop yourself. You don’t want your inquiry to be met by a
patronizing sigh of impatience or another explanation about ship dates,
Agile cycles, and continuous delivery. Better for now to hide your
ignorance. When will it be done?
You are learning to accept that the answer for software projects is never.
LCFF Report: LAUSD’S SHORT-CHANGED DISADVANTAGED
SCHOOLS+STUDENTS/LAUSD FALLS SHORT OF GOALS + smf’s 2¢
▼LAUSD’S SHORT-CHANGED DISADVANTAGED SCHOOLS, STUDENTS
By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1SdwEbF
6/12/15, 7:33 PM PDT :: Schools in poverty-stricken neighborhoods have
not been receiving their fair share of state funding from Los Angeles
Unified School District, according to a new report from the University
of California, Berkeley and United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
Out of $820 million in extra funding sent to LAUSD this year, Gov. Jerry
Brown intended for $145 million to be spent on kids who live in poverty
or foster care or are struggling to learn the English language.
The school board then adopted a plan to ensure the dollars reached those
students, ranking campuses based on the number of kids in those
categories and other factors such as violence and financial hardship in
surrounding neighborhoods.
But the yearlong review by UC Berkeley and United Way found LAUSD
officials decided against proportioning the funds in accordance with the
state statutes and district rankings at elementary and middle schools.
“It certainly helped the more middle-class portions of the district, but
it doesn’t isolate those students for the proportionality requirements
in the state statute,” said UC Berkeley Professor Bruce Fuller.
Over the past year, LA Unified officials instead spread the funding
around, rehiring librarians, nurses and other staff at all middle and
elementary schools rather than targeting those in need, said Elmer
Roldan, United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ director of education
programs.
“Without distributing the money in an equitable manner, you continue
this history of real injustice in the way we fund education,” Roldan
said.
The report has been sent to board members, who will vote Tuesday on the
district’s $8.09 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
In the third year of Brown’s funding plan, an additional $161 million
has been earmarked to help the same three groups of disadvantaged
students.
LAUSD Legislative Liaison Pedro Salcido said the district plans to do a
better job of funneling the money to the students for whom it’s
intended.
“As we move forward for ’15-16, the resources are starting to be built
in a way where you see a greater benefit to elementary and middle
schools,” Salcido said.
In ’14-15, Salcido said LAUSD was primarily focused on high schools,
which suffered the steepest budget cuts in the recession. According to
the report, the district did a decent job of allocating resources to
high schools with high numbers of those disadvantaged student groups.
He noted that the district will also address another key finding of the
report, which criticized its failure to create a “coherent strategy” for
spending to spur improvement.
The report found LAUSD “has no way of determining which of the many
strategies it’s mounting are working, or not,” Fuller said in a written
statement.
Supt. Ramon Cortines, who started his third stint in October — after the
current budget was already drafted — has stressed the importance of
accountability in the upcoming year, Salcido said.
There will now be quarterly reports on whether schools are meeting
academic goals and a mid-year evaluation of other measures, including
attendance and suspension, he said. “The superintendent is very, very,
adamant that our school sites must be held accountable to how they
expend their dollars and the outcomes.”
But Roldan remains concerned by the district’s proposed budget, which
doesn’t provide for the academic counselors needed to ensure students
find success. “It’s really difficult for us to see how you can get a
student through school and into college without academic counselors
supporting them all the way,” he said.
Last week, district officials made an 11th-hour move to revive a
decade-old plan that requires students in the class of 2016 to pass
college-prep classes as a condition of graduation.
A majority of the class is currently in jeopardy of being denied diplomas because they have not passed those classes.
_________
▼LA UNIFIED FALLS SHORT OF LCFF GOALS, ACCORDING TO STUDY
Posted on LA School Report by Vanessa Romo | http://bit.ly/1dDPXvs
June 12, 2015 4:52 pm :: California’s new education budgeting process,
known as Local Control Funding Formula, was designed to shrink the
achievement gap among students by funneling more money to schools’
neediest pupils, but a year-long study of LA Unified shows the district
has so far failed to fulfill that mission.
The report by UC Berkeley and Communities for Los Angeles Student
Success (CLASS) coalition is slated for release on Monday and found that
“the bulk of LCFF dollars has seeped into the district’s base budget
with… little apparent regard to the students who generate the new
dollars.”
Under the state formula foster care youth, students living poverty and
those requiring special education programs earn the district additional
funding to supplement their education.
While the board made commitments to distribute those funds — $700
million in 2013-14 and another $145 million in 2014-15 —to an array of
initiatives targeting this student population, the money was largely
invested in special education efforts as well as restoring staff
positions. According to the study, few of those re-hires were directly
tied to instruction, especially at the elementary school level.
Research for the study was gathered through student surveys, focus
groups with pupils, teachers and principals, and analyzed
school-by-school budgets.
Several improvements were made over the current school year. Spending on
new instructional aides for English learners is up; programs benefiting
foster care youth were launched; and funding for restorative
restorative justice programs got a boost.
Other key findings included:
• LCFF “investment dollars” equaled less than 3% of LAUSD’s total budget in 2014-15
• The majority of LCFF investment dollars — $145 million — went to high schools in 2014-15
• Distribution of LCFF investment dollars to elementary schools did not follow the equity formula established by the district
The analysis concludes that the district has no coherent strategy for
how new positions and program dollars supposed to spur discrete
improvements at the school level. Further, district officials have no
method of tracking which endeavors are successful and which need
modifications.
●●smf’s 2¢: Short changing? Falling Short? It isn’t how you play the
game, it’s who keeps score that counts! If Al Capone says Bugsy Siegel
is a bad man, does that make Bugsy a good man?
The report:
IMPLEMENTING THE LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA: Steps Taken by LAUSD in Year Two, 2014-15
Research Findings from the University of California, Berkeley for the
CLASS Coalition and United Way of Greater Los Angeles - June 2015
was commissioned (ie: bought+paid-for) by the United Way of GLA and
their politically community organized partners, CLASS. CLASS was behind
the great “Save Deasy” movement that perpetuated the regime and
prolonged the agony. Once upon a time the United Way was a coalition of
charitable organizations that supported do-goodery like the Boy+Girl
Scouts, March of Dimes, PTA, Salvation Army, etc. – but Mayor Tony
infused them with a political agenda (his) and they are no longer what
they once were.
That said LAUSD has done a very poor job of implementing the LCFF and
engaging the community in the LCAP process - and I don’t doubt that the
UC researchers had much difficulty documenting that fact. My advice is
to take the report’s findings with-or-without a grain of salt: I’m sure
it’s seasoned to someone’s taste!
LA Times: DON'T DROP THE HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM + smf's 2¢ +more!
By The Times Editorial Board | http://lat.ms/1B2tUcO
6.10.2015 :: California's high school exit exam is certainly due for
revision. The test, which requires high school graduates to demonstrate
reasonably proficient reading and math skills to graduate, is out of
step with the newly adopted Common Core standards, and aligning it with
the new curriculum is important. But eliminating it altogether would
devalue diplomas and make new graduates less employable.
Yet the Legislature appears headed toward exactly that, which would be a
major mistake. The exit exam was put in place in 2006 to counter grade
inflation and social promotion, after too many students with high school
diplomas were found to lack the basic skills needed for even modest
jobs. Rising graduation rates are desirable, but only if they indicate a
better-educated populace.
SB 172, which passed the Senate last week, would eliminate the test for
at least three years while an advisory panel examines whether the state
should have any kind of exit exam at all, and if so, what minimum
standards it should set for high school graduation and how a new test
would be designed.
These are all questions worth studying, but that shouldn't mean dropping
the test in the interim — especially since the vague wording of the
bill makes no commitment to reinstating the test after the three years
are up in 2020 and fails to set a firm timeline for even making a
decision.
Even if the panel recommended keeping the test, the state would lose
valuable time. In fact, it would lose more than three years, because
students don't just take the test once but are given many opportunities
to pass it, starting in 10th grade. Even if a new test were to be put in
place in 2020, it couldn't take effect right away because seniors
wouldn't have had those previous chances.
Critics of the test point out that many of the students who pass it
aren't prepared for college courses. That's right. The high school exit
exam was never intended to measure college readiness; its purpose was to
ensure that students were graduating with reasonable literacy and
numerical skills learned in eighth- and 10th-grade courses. Not everyone
is headed to college.
Independent reviews have consistently praised the state's exit exam.
Pass rates have improved markedly since the requirement began, and now
more than 95% of students pass by the end of senior year. The test
prodded schools to give the intensive remediation that kept many
students, especially disadvantaged teenagers in low-performing schools,
from being able to progress in their studies. Despite predictions
otherwise, graduation rates rose.
The existing exam might not measure everything it should. But until that's fixed, it's a lot better than measuring nothing.
●●smf's 2¢: In what world - besides the LA Times Editorial
Boardroom and The CA State Capitol - does a test that tests in the 10th
grade what you were supposed to have learned in the 8th grade measure
your high school achievement?
_______________
►From the Times Letters to the Editor: 6.13.2015 |
Sacramento's heavy-handedness on the exit exam | http://lat.ms/1JQ5N2h
To the editor: The Times is correct to insist that the governor veto or
the state Legislature stop the suspension of California high school exit
exam. While the exam is not state of the art, it does not test even
high school knowledge but rather junior high skills where students only
need to get roughly 60% correct to pass. We should expect our teachers
and students to succeed.
Sacramento, the big school board up north, often swings the pendulum of
curriculum and assessment too much, and we end up with years of no
measurement tools to gauge our efforts on behalf of student learning.
Shifting to the new Common Core emphasis on rigor and deeper assessments
of knowledge should not mean we suspend testing whether students know
when James Madison lived or in which states the Civil War was fought.
Architects still need to measure, and lawyers need to be able to read.
David Tokofsky, Los Angeles
The writer was a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for 12 years.
::
To the editor: Why would you plea to save the exit exam, which you say
should be updated, when you have no idea what reasonably proficient
reading and math skills for students are?
I would suggest replacing that invalid test with the California Basic Education Skills Test (CBEST), which is competency based.
For the CBEST, test takers write two essays, answer questions related to
their reading of a literature segment, and answer math questions based
on matter that's actually taught in high school. This test is low-cost
and is a requirement for all individuals seeking a California teaching
credential. Passing the test would certify a student's competency in
reading, writing and math. If given early in a student's school career,
it would be a valuable diagnostic tool.
The state of California should never bring back the invalid, expensive,
worthless exit exam if it decides to suspend it temporarily. The
students in our schools deserve more.
Ruby L. Trow, Whittier
BROWN, LAWMAKERS CONTINUE BUDGET TALKS AHEAD OF DEADLINE
By JUDY LIN | AP California News/Associated Press | http://bit.ly/1QW7b3U
Jun 12, 7:09 PM EDT :: SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- California lawmakers
have scheduled a vote Monday on a $117.5 billion spending plan that
increases social spending for the poor even though Gov. Jerry Brown
hasn't signed off on that version of the budget.
The Legislature's two Democratic leaders say theirs is a responsible
budget that sets aside money for a rainy day, pays down debt and boosts
schools. They are hoping to get Brown's blessing to spend an additional
$749 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
But Brown, also a Democrat, is reluctant to go along with new spending
commitments in welfare, health care and child care. He and Republicans
are concerned that the state won't collect as much in taxes, leaving the
state more vulnerable when the next economic downturn hits.
This means that even if a budget is passed Monday, negotiations will
continue in the days ahead. Here's a look at where things stand:
---
●WHAT DO THE GOVERNOR AND LAWMAKERS AGREE ON?
There's a lot of common ground between Brown and lawmakers. Both sides
are calling for billions in additional spending for public schools,
setting aside money in the state's rainy day fund, paying down debt and
adopting a new earned income tax credit to help as many as 2 million
Californians.
In-state tuition at the University of California won't rise for most
undergraduates for two years. In exchange, the state will increase the
university's budget by $120 million, or 4 percent, and send more money
to UC's pension fund.
The budget also calls for funding increases at the California State
University system to enroll more community college transfer students and
get more students to earn their bachelor's degrees in four years.
●WHAT ARE THE STICKING POINTS?
Brown proposed a $115.3 billion budget, but Democrats have crafted a
$117.5 billion spending plan by assuming the state will collect more tax
revenues than the governor estimates.
Democrats are using that extra revenue to justify spending $749 million
more next year on programs to help the poor. They want to boost child
care, health care, welfare and higher education, among other programs.
●WHAT'S NOT IN THE BUDGET?
The governor and legislative leaders said they were unable to reach
agreement on how to spend a growing pot of money collected from the
state's landmark effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Taking the
cap-and-trade funding out of the budget will give them more time to
negotiate a way to spend that money.
●WHY IS THERE A VOTE MONDAY IF THERE'S NO DEAL?
Lawmakers want to continue getting paid. Under Proposition 25 passed by
voters in 2010, state lawmakers have to pass a balanced budget by June
15 or forfeit pay.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
PESTICIDE USE NEAR SCHOOLS TRIGGERS A PUSH FOR
STATEWIDE REGULATIONS: Like most states, California has no comprehensive
restrictions on pesticide use near schools. Regulators respond to
parents' concern about pesticide levels near schools | http://lat.ms/1edEy6y
LAUSD DRAFT BUDGET TARGETS STUDENTS IN NEED, BUT FALLS SHORT FOR SOME:
As the Los Angeles Unified School District prepares its spending plan,
advocates say English learners, foster youth and low-income students
aren't allotted enough. | http://bit.ly/1GGcTax
CALIFORNIA LAUNCHES AUDIT Of MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN SCHOOLS | The Sacramento Bee
http://bit.ly/1BbIZZL
KINDERGARTENS RINGING THE BELL FOR PLAY INSIDE THE CLASSROOM | http://NYTimes.com
http://nyti.ms/1ISbKNw
PTA PILOT TO INCREASE PARENTS’ DIGITAL LITERACY
http://bit.ly/1GlwdXq
BROWN, LAWMAKERS CONTINUE BUDGET TALKS AHEAD OF DEADLINE
http://bit.ly/1KOVLPT
Q&A: A Hard Look at L.A.'s Troubled Digital Learning Initiative + smf's 2¢
http://bit.ly/1FSbIyZ
LA Times: DON'T DROP THE HIGH SCHOOL EXIT EXAM + smf's 2¢ | http://bit.ly/1F8x2yA
ENDING $ENIOR YEAR WITH A BANG ISN'T CHEAP AT MANY L.A. HIGH SCHOOLS …though charging for a cap+gown is illegal | http://lat.ms/1QoIeTN
RAISING GRADUATION RATES WITH QUESTIONABLE QUICK FIXES : NPR Ed : NPR | http://n.pr/1Kq2bog
LCFF/LCAP: NEW FUNDING FORMULA TO GET HUGE INCREASE + other Ed Budget news | http://bit.ly/1F8prjN
LAUSD RETREATS FROM 'A-thru-G with a C', SAC CITY USD SETS ETHNIC STUDIES GRAD REQUIREMENT | http://bit.ly/1cLKMsx
Various Stories: VACCINATION BILL PASSES ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE |
http://bit.ly/1HrgSGL
SB 277: ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE OKs VACCINE BILL DESPITE PROTESTS | http://bit.ly/1FQ79V7
Opinion: A SHORTAGE OF TEACHERS HITS HOME | The Sacramento Bee | http://bit.ly/1QlBENG
LAUSD: PROTESTING PINK SLIPS + TEACHERS SUPPORT PARENT TRIGGER AT FISHBURN ES | http://bit.ly/1FOQUaK
REALITY IS MORE THAN A GENRE OF TV ENTERTAINMENT | http://bit.ly/1B3H8pr
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
June 16, 2015: COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE - - C A N C E L L E D
June 16, 2015: Regular Board of Ed Meeting - BUDGET AND LCAP PUBLIC HEARINGS - 2:30 p.m.
*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
George.McKenna@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!
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