In This Issue:
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WHO WILL BE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED'S NEXT SUPERINTENDENT? |
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ARNE
DUNCAN ATTENDS PTA MEETING, ANNOUNCES FREE PRESCHOOL + AFFORDABLE
COLLEGE DEGREES ARE “FAMILY+PARENT RIGHTS” + ISSUES PRESS RELEASE |
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IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST? Are minority students overrepresented or underrepresented in Special Ed? |
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TREATING KIDS LIKE HAMBURGERS, PEARSON EXEC ‘FESSES UP’ |
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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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Dylann Roof, driven to racism+insanity by the sight
of the Confederate stars-and-bars flying on the statehouse lawn packed
up his Glock 41 and headed to Mother Emanuel Church to start his race
war.
That isn’t how it happened.
First: the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia is not the
‘stars-and-bars’. Indeed that flag was never the national flag of the
Confederacy …and it had little-to-nothing to do with the Civil War
fought in South Carolina.
Second: Roof came to his racism the same way every bigot ever has: He was taught it.
These pages rarely quote show tunes – but Rogers+Hammerstein said it true in South Pacific:
“You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.
“You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
“You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!”
Roof came to his racism the way impressionable young Muslims come to the
Islamic State or naïve teenagers from Minnesota enter the sex trade: He
was lured+self-radicalized on the internet – seduced by big-lie
techniques – and Nutella and kittens. http://wapo.st/1LuWCp3 | http://nyti.ms/1NnassE
That flag is a symbol. It may be a symbol of racism – or of a glorious
lost (and wrong) cause …or just a sticker on the roof of a ’69 Dodge
Charger Hot Wheels Car. It is only as important as we allow it to
become. If we take it down and some belittle the symbolic political
correctness of the taking-down-of-it, we all lose.
[See Carl Jung or Rene Magritte on symbols.] I am conflicted here; as a
compulsive mixer of simile+metaphor I am a lover of verbal symbolism.
It’s a lifelong infatuation – but wordplay ain’t the real thing! Racism
is Ignorance – and those two impostors together are the warp+woof of the
fabric of evil. We are educators+lifelong-learners; if we are not
agreed that ignorance is the enemy we are wasting our time and these
children’s lives.
• Dylann Roof is a high school dropout.
• You must be a high school graduate to take up arms and join the armed services.
• Using the “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security
of a free state…” constitutional language maybe one should need to be
have a diploma to possess a gun? It’s a thought.
THE GRACE the president preached and sang about Friday came to the
author of that hymn slowly+late in a wretched life. John Newton was a
slave ship captain who sailed the middle passage and saw The Light - and
over time became an Anglican cleric and ardent abolitionist – living to
see abolition in the British Empire. He wrote his epitaph: “Once an
infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich
mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored,
pardoned and appointed to preach the Faith he had long laboured to
destroy”.
Newton surely delivered Africans into slavery in Charleston in what the
president called this nation’s Original Sin; recent events possess a
exquisite irony the most secular agnostic can call Grace.
We have been living on hope in this country long enough; we can use some
grace. And as the president said: “To settle for symbolic gestures
without following up with the hard work of more lasting change – that’s
how we lose our way again.”
THE MOST MOVING MOMENT AT TUESDAY’S BOARD MEETING wasn’t the genuine
outpouring of respect for Bennett Kayser (and certainly not the quoting
of this page’s earlier Bennett tribute http://bit.ly/1NnaWz9).
It was not the fact the superintendent was visibly moved-to-tears in
his presentation of his budget plan …along with his stated intent to
leave after another six months. It wasn’t that brief mistaken moment
when we thought all the RIFs were rescinded. No, the most moving moment
came when the small coterie of about a dozen-or-so Hearing Impaired
Adult English Language Learners (easily the smallest special interest
group heard from in a $7.8 billion budget plan) were informed that their
program was being saved. Supported by sign language interpreters they
are not a vocally demonstrative group; but their joy and their smiles
were overflowing and infectious. Superintendent Cortines wept that there
would be no more gifts under the Christmas
tree – but for them June 23rd was the first+best day of Christmas ever –
and the joy+promise of learning, though mute, filled the
room.
The second-best-moment came after a RIFed teacher announced he was
taking his daughter on a planned European trip this summer even though
he didn’t know if he’d have a job to come back to …because they both
needed the vacation and it was the right – if impractical – thing to do.
Someone pressed $200 into his hand to help with the trip. Such is grace
in small places. Bon voyage, père et fille.
THE REST OF THE NEWS IS THE REST OF THE NEWS. Obamacare is saved. Gay
folk can marry nomatterwheretheylive. Mr. Justice Scalia thinks
Californians are granola: the ones that aren’t fruits are nuts and
flakes. The state has a budget. MediCal will treat undocumented kids. If
the governor signs it everyone who can be vaccinated shall be
vaccinated. Adult Ed and Voc Ed have not been saved. SLRDP has not been
saved. 328 teachers’ jobs have not been saved. Arne Duncan (whom we love
to disagree with) says Free Preschool is a Parent’s Right; Governor
Brown (with whom like to agree) is improbably with Scalia that this too
is extra-constitutional jiggery-pokery! And Rafe Esquith is still in
teacher jail.
THIS IS THE LAST ISSUE OF 4LAKids for the 2014-15 fiscal and school
years. I know 2015-16 Summer School has already begun – and thanks for
not waiting! The new year offers new opportunity with a new budget and
new board members and new local supes; new classrooms with different
teachers; new curriculum with new opportunities, new friends met and old
friends down the hall. Change can all be good if that’s what we choose
to make of it.
And everyone can now start playing Fantasy Superintendent Search!
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
WHO WILL BE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED'S NEXT SUPERINTENDENT?
By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1IhZEMq
Posted: 06/24/15, 5:44 PM PDT | Updated: 6/26/15 :: While the Los
Angeles Unified school board has yet to take steps to find a replacement
for Superintendent Ramon Cortines, there’s no shortage of possible
candidates.
In an unexpected announcement, Cortines told board members at Tuesday’s
meeting he would leave the district in six months — midway through the
upcoming school year and six months before his contract is set to end.
The time frame only leaves board members next week’s meeting to talk
about finding his replacement, before they recess for seven weeks over
the summer.
Board member Monica Ratliff criticized the school board for not making
the search a priority sooner and called for “transparency” in the
process that picks Cortines’ successor.
“I admire his announcement, because it makes it very clear that the
board cannot continue to put off its duty of finding his successor,”
Ratliff said in a written statement.
Board President Richard Vladovic’s office did not return calls and emails seeking comment.
It took more than seven months from the time the school board started a
national search for superintendent in February 2006 until it picked
former Superintendent James Brewer in October of that year.
But in more recent years, the school board has decided to pick familiar faces.
Cortines, who twice before held the district’s top spot, was secretly
picked to lead the school district in October. His appointment and
former Superintendent John Deasy’s resignation were both sought behind
closed doors and without public knowledge.
When Deasy was tapped in 2011, the school board skipped a formal vetting
process. Deasy was then working as a deputy superintendent, a job he
took after holding the top spot at the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified
School District and Prince George’s County Schools in Maryland.
Cortines’ current second-in-command, Deputy Superintendent Michelle
King, volunteered to serve as interim superintendent when news of
Deasy’s departure broke in October. Ruth Perez, LAUSD’s head of
instruction, is another high-ranking administrator with experience. She
worked as superintendent of neighboring Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School
District before being hired by LAUSD in August.
Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana is second-in-command of LAUSD’s
after-school program. She formerly headed Pomona Unified and one of the
state’s larger school systems, Santa Ana Unified in Orange County.
Additionally Melendez served as an assistant secretary in the U.S.
Department of Education from 2009 to 2011.
Even within the school board, two members have worked as top staffers.
George McKenna served as superintendent of Inglewood Unified, while
Vladovic headed West Covina Unified in the San Gabriel Valley.
Outside the district and within California there may also be options.
The second-in-command of California’s sixth-largest school system was
looking to change jobs earlier this year. But Guadalupe Guerrero still
works for San Francisco Unified after losing his bid for superintendent
of Boston’s public schools.
ARNE DUNCAN ATTENDS PTA MEETING, ANNOUNCES FREE
PRESCHOOL + AFFORDABLE COLLEGE DEGREES ARE “FAMILY+PARENT RIGHTS” +
ISSUES PRESS RELEASE
●●smf: . . . but hey, it’s a slow news cycle
(ACA+Same Sex Marriage Decisions /Charleston Memorial/CA Vaccination
Law) …and rights are established in photo ops and press releases by
cabinet secretaries, aren't they?
from Politico Morning Education | http://politi.co/1QXmpuU:
26 June 2015 :: Speaking of Duncan, he's headed to the National Parent
Teacher Association Convention and Expo in Charlotte, N.C., this
morning where he'll make an announcement "about the importance of
parent, family and community engagement," the Education Department said
in a release. Duncan will "emphasize the importance of meaningful
involvement in a child's education - from federal, state and local
policymakers, to parents, families, teachers and school leaders." It's a
familiar subject for Duncan, who attends all parent-teacher conferences
for his children and is in regular contact with their teachers, a
department official said.
__________________
U.S. Department of Education http://1.usa.gov/1LKbDBr
U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY ARNE DUNCAN ANNOUNCES A SET OF RIGHTS TO HELP PARENTS SEEK HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION FOR THEIR CHILDREN
June 26, 2015
Contact: Press Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today released a set of rights
that outlines what families should be able to expect for their
children's education.
"I want to describe educational rights that I firmly believe must belong
to every family in America — and I hope you'll demand that your leaders
in elected or appointed offices deliver on them," Duncan said during a
speech to the 2015 National Parent Teacher Association Convention and
Expo in Charlotte, North Carolina. "They come together as a set of
rights that students must have at three pivotal stages of their life, to
prepare them for success in college and careers and as engaged,
productive citizens."
To help prepare every student for success in life, families have the right to:
Free, quality preschool;
High, challenging standards and engaging teaching and leadership in a safe, supportive, well-resourced school; and
An affordable, quality college degree.
The announcement complements work by the Education Department to reach
out to parents—from the Dual Capacity-Building Framework for
Family-School Partnerships, to tools that can help families and students
select the best colleges for their needs, to support of Parent Training
and Information Centers and Resource Centers.
Parents are critical assets in education. Beginning in 1990, Dr. Tony
Bryk and his team conducted a 15-year study across hundreds of
elementary schools in Chicago where he discovered five features of a
school that determine whether or not learning can thrive: a clear vision
for instruction; a staff with the capacity to see that vision through; a
student-centered learning environment; skilled leadership; and active
and engaged parents. Schools that contained all five features at once
were 10 times more likely to improve than schools that didn't. Dr. Bryk
also identified a "special sauce" that emerged whenever you mixed all
five features together thoroughly: a deep wellspring of trust between
parents and educators.
When it comes to making the set of rights announced today a reality for
every child, few voices will be as powerful as those of parents. Often
parents want to be involved in their child's education, but they aren't
sure of the best ways to support their child, or the right questions to
ask to ensure their child is getting the education she deserves. The set
of rights is meant to help empower parents to demand a world-class
education for their children.
Free quality preschool
All children need access to high-quality preschool to prepare them for
kindergarten and to close opportunity and achievement gaps. According to
the Department's recent report, A Matter of Equity: Preschool in
America, of the approximately 4 million 4-year olds in the United
States, about 60 percent — or nearly 2.5 million — are not enrolled in
publicly funded preschool programs, including state preschool programs,
Head Start, and programs serving children with disabilities. Even fewer
are enrolled in the highest-quality programs. The Obama Administration
has made significant investments in early learning through the Early
Learning Challenge and the Preschool Development Grants programs. The
grants lay the groundwork for states to be prepared for the proposed
Preschool for All program. The Administration has asked Congress for an
increase of $500 million for Preschool Development Grants as part of the
President's FY16 budget request to expand this program to serve more
children.
High standards, engaging teaching and leadership in a safe, supportive, well-resourced school
Every child deserves to attend a school that will prepare them for
success in college and careers. That means parents have the right to
know whether their child is on track to success, with an accurate
measuring stick, and assurance that their child is held to the same,
high-expectations regardless of where they live in the state. In
elementary and secondary school, our nation's students also have a right
to high standards and engaging teaching and leadership in a safe,
supportive, well-resourced school. And, across the country, we're making
important progress. This year, more than 40 states are moving forward
with high academic standards and next-generation assessments that can
better help teachers and parents understand what students are learning.
Graduation rates are at an all-time high. Parents can play a critical
role in ensuring that we continue on a path to increase access to an
excellent education for every student. Every parent wants to ensure that
their child is
engaged in learning and supported, and that means teachers and
principals need ongoing feedback and support. States have developed
unique plans to ensure that their schools improve the quality of
instruction, increase equity, and close achievement gaps. Duncan has
called on Congress to replace the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act, also known as No Child Left Behind, with a strong, bipartisan law
that delivers on the promise of equity and real opportunity for every
child.
Affordable, quality college degree
As they prepare to graduate from high school, students need access to
affordable, quality post-secondary education or training. Creating a
clear path to the middle class and ensuring our nation's economic
prosperity means opening the doors of higher education to more
Americans. Today, three-quarters of the fastest-growing occupations
require education and training beyond a high school diploma. A
generation ago, America led the world in college attainment of young
adults; now, we rank twelfth. The Obama administration is committed to
restoring our world leadership in college completion and ensuring that
every student has access to an affordable and high-quality postsecondary
education.
IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST? Are minority students
overrepresented or underrepresented in Special Ed?
● FROM THE AUTHORS: “Our findings indicate that federal legislation and
policies currently designed to reduce minority over-representation in
special education may be misdirected.”
● FROM THE STUDY: “Minority children were consistently less likely than
otherwise similar White, English-speaking children to be identified as
disabled and so to receive special education services. From kindergarten
entry to the end of middle school, racial- and ethnic-minority children
were less likely to be identified as having (a) learning disabilities,
(b) speech or language impairments, (c) intellectual disabilities, (d)
health impairments, or (e) emotional disturbances. Language-minority
children were less likely to be identified as having (a) learning
disabilities or (b) speech or language impairments.”
▲ IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST?
Op-Ed in the New York Times By PAUL L. MORGAN and GEORGE FARKAS | http://nyti.ms/1GOr9el
JUNE 24, 2015 :: MORE than six million children in the United States
receive special-education services for their disabilities. Of those age 6
and older, nearly 20 percent are black.
Critics claim that this high number — blacks are 1.4 times more likely
to be placed in special education than other races and ethnicities
combined — shows that black children are put into special education
because schools are racially biased.
But our new research suggests just the opposite. The real problem is
that black children are underrepresented in special-education classes
when compared with white children with similar levels of academic
achievement, behavior and family economic resources.
The belief that black children are overrepresented in special education
is driving some misguided attempts at policy changes. To flag supposed
racial bias in special-education placement, the United States Department
of Education is thinking of adopting a single standard for all states
of what is an allowable amount of overrepresentation of minority
children.
If well-intentioned but misguided advocates succeed in arbitrarily
limiting placement in special education based on racial demographics,
even more black children with disabilities will miss out on beneficial
services.
Black children face double jeopardy when it comes to succeeding in
school. They are far more likely to be exposed to the gestational,
environmental and economic risk factors that often result in
disabilities. Yet black children are less likely to be told they have
disabilities, and to be treated for them, than otherwise similar white
children.
About 65 percent of black children, compared with about 30 percent of
white children, live in families with incomes below 200 percent of the
poverty line. From 1985 to 2000 about 80 percent of black children grew
up in highly disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by widespread
unemployment, racial segregation, poverty, single-parent households and
welfare.
Thirty-six percent of inner-city black children have elevated levels of
lead in their blood. The figure for suburban white children is only 4
percent. Black children are about twice as likely to be born prematurely
and three times more likely to suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome.
In a study published today, we report that the under-diagnosis of black
children occurs across five disability conditions for which special
services are commonly provided — learning disabilities, speech or
language impairments, intellectual disabilities, health impairments and
emotional disturbances. From the beginning of kindergarten to the end of
eighth grade, black children are less, not more, likely than white
children with similar levels of academic performance and behaviors to be
identified as having each of these disabilities.
In fact, our study statistically controlled for many possible factors
that might explain these disparities. Examples included differences in
children’s academic achievement, behavior, gender and age, birth weight,
the mother’s marital status and the family’s income and education
levels. In contrast, many previous studies reporting overrepresentation
have not adjusted for these factors. Instead, these prior studies have
relied on school- or district-level data that did not adequately control
for differences in risk factor exposure between black and white
children.
It may be that black children are less likely to be identified and
treated for disabilities because of a greater responsiveness by
education professionals to white parents. Low expectations regarding
black children’s abilities may also lead some professionals to ignore
the neurological basis of low academic achievement and “problem”
behavior. Even those black children who do receive a diagnosis are less
likely to receive help. For example, despite being more likely to
experience symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, black
children are less likely than white children to be given a diagnosis of
A.D.H.D. And even among those who are given an A.D.H.D. diagnosis, black
children are less likely than white children to receive medication to
treat the condition.
The last thing we need is to compound these widespread disparities in
disability diagnosis and treatment by making school officials reluctant
to refer black children for special-education eligibility evaluations
out of fear of being labeled racially biased.
Pamphlets describing a school district’s disability eligibility
procedures are often written in dense legalese that may be hard for many
parents to understand. Revising them might make it easier for parents
to advocate for their children during the eligibility evaluation
process. Community outreach programs can also help overcome cultural
barriers to identifying children with disabilities.
Such programs have already been shown to reduce racial disparities in
children’s health and health care access. We should be trying to
identify children with disabilities and to provide them with an
education adapted to their individual academic, physical or behavioral
needs.
● Paul L. Morgan is an associate professor of education at Pennsylvania State University.
● George Farkas is a professor of education at the University of California, Irvine.
____________________________
►NEW STUDY CHALLENGES PREVIOUS RESEARCH ABOUT SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDENTS
By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC 89.3 | http://bit.ly/1GxHqC5
26June2015 5:30AM/updated 8:48AM:: A national study by Southern
California and Pennsylvania researchers is raising questions about
previous reports that identify which students end up in special
education.
Earlier research that looked at students nationwide suggest minorities
are more likely to be placed in special ed programs compared to white
students.
George Farkas, an education researcher at the University of California,
Irvine, said that's not the case, at least not nationally. Countrywide,
minority groups are less likely to be placed in special ed and less
likely to be diagnosed with a disability than otherwise identical white
students, he said.
The findings were published in the current issue of Educational Researcher.
California differs from what researchers found nationally. In this
state, the numbers match the common view, and prior studies, that
minorities make up the majority of special ed students.
The largest group students served by California special education
programs are those in the “specific learning disability” category, which
includes students with problems speaking, reading, writing or doing
math, state data shows. Hispanic students make up 65 percent of students
in this category while African-American students make up 10 percent of
the group.
Both Hispanic and African-American children are overrepresented in
comparison to their numbers in the general student population — and that
could pose a problem for the state.
Overrepresentation of minority groups is a concern of many, from
policymakers in Washington, D.C., to local school principals. They
question if minority students are too often labeled as needing special
education, which could take them out of mainstream classes and deny them
a normal track through school and onto college.
But the study by Farkas and his colleagues challenges whether there is
indeed minority overrepresentation in special education nationally.
“African-American kids, and in fact other minority groups, are less
likely to be placed in special education and less likely to be diagnosed
with a disability than otherwise identical white students,” he said.
“Otherwise identical” is the key.
For example, a white student would typically be enrolled in a higher
performing school. So if he is performing in the lowest third of the
class, that would trigger special ed services.
A black or Latino student, Farkas said, would typically be enrolled in a
lower-performing school where scoring in the lowest third on test
scores may be more of the norm. Those students wouldn’t stand out for
special education services as readily. The result: more white students
than minority students receiving special ed services.
“I think this is ground-breaking research,” said Carl Cohn, former Long
Beach Unified superintendent who chairs the Statewide Special Education
Task Force. If minority students are underrepresented in special
education as the study suggests, Cohn said it would compel school
administrators to shift their thinking and more readily give those
students special education services.
The study comes as the federal government is considering a limit on the
number of minority students in special ed classes when they are
overrepresented compared to the general student population.
“Our findings indicate that federal legislation and policies currently
designed to reduce minority over-representation in special education may
be misdirected,” said study co-author Paul Morgan of Pennsylvania State
University in a news release.
“These well-intentioned policies instead may be exacerbating the
nation’s education inequities by limiting minority children’s access to
potentially beneficial special education and related services to which
they may be legally entitled.”
For California and other states, such limits could have serious impact
if they lead to fewer minority students receiving special education
services that they need.
____________________________
►Abstract: MINORITIES ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY UNDERREPRESENTED IN SPECIAL EDUCATION
LONGITUDINAL EVIDENCE ACROSS FIVE DISABILITY CONDITIONS
Paul L. Morgan1
George Farkas2
Marianne M. Hillemeier1
Richard Mattison3
Steve Maczuga1
Hui Li1
Michael Cook1
1Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA
2University of California, Irvine, CA
3Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA
Abstract
We investigated whether minority children attending U.S. elementary and
middle schools are disproportionately represented in special education.
We did so using hazard modeling of multiyear longitudinal data and
extensive covariate adjustment for potential child-, family-, and
state-level confounds. Minority children were consistently less likely
than otherwise similar White, English-speaking children to be identified
as disabled and so to receive special education services. From
kindergarten entry to the end of middle school, racial- and
ethnic-minority children were less likely to be identified as having (a)
learning disabilities, (b) speech or language impairments, (c)
intellectual disabilities, (d) health impairments, or (e) emotional
disturbances. Language-minority children were less likely to be
identified as having (a) learning disabilities or (b) speech or language
impairments.
TREATING KIDS LIKE HAMBURGERS, PEARSON EXEC ‘FESSES UP’
by Alan Singer, Social studies educator, Hofstra University/Huffington Post Contributor | http://huff.to/1KiVKog
6/25/2015 2:56 pm EDT :: You can't make this stuff up.
On June 23, 2015 the New York Times reported on Pearson mass Common Core
grading centers where a college degree but no special knowledge is
required to grade tests and temporary employees make between $12 and $14
an hour plus small bonuses if they "hit daily quality and volume
targets." [4LAKidsNews:Grading the Common Core: NO TEACHING EXPERIENCE
REQUIRED http://bit.ly/1KaaC8l ]
According to the article, Pearson insists "strict training and scoring
protocols are intended to ensure consistency, no matter who is marking
the tests."
Pearson advertised for people to grade the Common Core aligned tests on
Craigslist and Facebook and hired about 14,500 temporary employees. To
ensure "quality," already grading exams were sorted in with new exams to
see if the graders come up with the same score. It is not clear what
happens if they don't.
Bob Sanders, vice president of content and scoring management at Pearson
North America compared the scoring of high-stakes standardized Common
Core-aligned exams to making hamburgers at McDonald's. "McDonald's has a
process in place to make sure they put two patties on that Big Mac. We
do that exact same thing. We have processes to oversee our processes,
and to make sure they are being followed." Mr. Sanders, of course, has a
degree from the University of Iowa in business and has never been a
teacher. According to his Linkedin page, he cares about children and
considers himself a "A respected dynamic leader, strategic thinker, and
creative problem solver within technology, retail, and the educational
assessment industries."
Comparing Common Core grading with McDonald's is certainly a great
analogy. A Big Mac combo meal (Big Mac, large fries, and 32 oz. Coke)
has a total of 1,330 fatting calories, about 65% of a recommended daily
calorie intact, with almost no nutritional value. You also get 54 grams
of fat, 83% of the recommended daily intake, and 1,320 mg of sodium,
more than half of the normal daily allowance, and 85 grams of sugar,
double the recommended daily dosage.
This year about 12 million children in grades three through twelve took
Common Core aligned tests and were processed like hamburgers at
McDonald's.
Thank you Mr. Sanders and Pearson for so aptly describing the value of the Common Core diet.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
Editorial: DITCH THE SCHOOL RESERVE CAP http://bit.ly/1BZfcE3
FEDERAL ED UPDATE: New Federal Grant Regs, Ed Funding Bills OKed, Senate to Debate ESEA/NCLB, 8 NCLB Waivers OKed http://bit.ly/1ea4bnX
WESTCHESTER CHARTER v. LAUSD: Court of Appeal Affirms District's Discretion to Locate Charter Schools Under Prop 39
http://bit.ly/1JddGxt
TREATING KIDS LIKE HAMBURGERS, PEARSON EXEC ‘FESSES UP’
http://bit.ly/1Iix1yO
IS SPECIAL EDUCATION RACIST? Are minority students overrepresented or underrepresented in Special Ed?
http://bit.ly/1Ii5Wfa
THE NEXT LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT? What about the next Board President?
http://bit.ly/1GOn0Hi
LAUSD BOARD PRESIDENT EXPECTS LENGTHY AND TRANSPARENT SEARCH FOR NEXT SUPERINTENDENT
http://bit.ly/1GOhc0v
CALIFORNIA VACCINATION BILL CLEARS ASSEMBLY: What’s next?
http://bit.ly/1Hkn8Sq
ARNE DUNCAN ATTENDS PTA MEETING, ANNOUNCES FREE PRESCHOOL + AFFORDABLE COLLEGE ARE “FAMILY+PARENT RIGHTS”
http://bit.ly/1HkPPMY
Poll: WHAT DO YOU WANT MOST IN THE NEXT LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT?
http://bit.ly/1KeHHAa
SOME CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICTS FIND WAYS TO SUPPORT LOW-INCOME INFANTS AND TODDLERS
http://bit.ly/1eJ20sy
3 stories: THE LONG GOODBYE, THE NO GOODBYE, THE BUDGET, THE LAYOFFS + THE TEARS
http://bit.ly/1LCUl9i
AB277: YOUNG LEUKEMIA SURVIVOR WHO SUPPORTS VACCINES DELIVERS PETITION WITH 32,000 SIGNATURES TO GOVERNOR BROWN
http://bit.ly/1fCI7n4
2 stories: JERRY BROWN SIGNS $167.6 BILLION STATE BUDGET
http://bit.ly/1fCkuep
District Attorney: BURBANK SCHOOL BOARD VIOLATED BROWN ACT DURING SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH
http://bit.ly/1CtK1v4
SCHOOLHOUSE ROCKY: A profile of Oakland Unified Superintendent Antwan Wilson
http://bit.ly/1CtGAEK
LA TIMES’ HOWARD BLUME: Cortines is leaving LAUSD in six months …in 140 characters or less
http://bit.ly/1BB9KXx
LAUSD Headlines: $7.8 BILLION BUDGET RAISES SALARIES, LAYS-OFF 328 TEACHERS, CORTINES TO LEAVE IN 6 MONTHS
http://bit.ly/1CsJPMH
Not exactly a "Broadie": CAMI ANDERSON IS OUT AS NEWARK SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT
http://bit.ly/1GmKJMt
Grading the Common Core: NO TEACHING EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
http://bit.ly/1KaaC8l
The Esquith Saga continues: TEACHER FILES CLAIM AGAINST L.A. UNIFIED, BLAMES CONTROVERSY ON JOKE http://bit.ly/1SGZMZ1
LCFF ACCOUNTABILITY: State board gets extra year to create measures of school progress + smf’s 2¢ http://bit.ly/1TLoDfN
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Scott Folsom @4LAKids Jun 22
GATES’ $223M SPENT ON COMMON CORE:
CCSS works.
We just know it does.
And teachers want it.
We just know they do.
The day that Gates gets tired of CCSS and decides that it is no longer a
funding priority for his foundation will be an interesting day. But for
now, CCSS appears to be Bill’s favorite educational toy.
http://bit.ly/1Cp7iyj
Video: SCHEDULE SLIPS ON ESEA/NCLB REWRITE; News on Federal Ed Spending http://bit.ly/1J0EIbm
Opinion: CALIFORNIA VOCATIONAL ED IN DANGER. Schwarzenegger pulled it back from the brink; Jerry Brown …not so much
NEARLY 14% OF LAUSD STUDENTS IN SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS http://bit.ly/1GvKJc3
FIRST TEST SCORES... NOW GRADES? Atlanta Schools launch review of grade changes over last three years
http://on-ajc.com/1eEoL0y
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
WEDNESDAY, July 1, 2015 :: ANNUAL BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
OATH OF OFFICE CEREMONY will commence at 10:00 a.m. at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center.
THE MEETING ORDER OF business will reconvene following the ceremony, at 1:00 p.m. at the LAUSD Headquarters.
Order of Business:
• Election of Board President
• Appointment of Vice President
• Adoption of Board Meetings Schedule
• Election of Board Member Representative to the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association
• Election of Board Member Representative to Vote in Electing Members to
the County Committee on School District Organization (Education Code
35023)
• Election of Board Member Representative to the California School Boards Association
• Appointment of Board Representative to the Council of Great City Schools
• Appointment of Board Representative to the National School Boards Association
• Public Comment on Items to be Discussed at this Meeting
The public can address the Board prior to action on any item that will be approved by the Board at this meeting.
*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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