In This Issue:
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L.A. UNIFIED TO GET $6.4 MILLION IN SETTLEMENT OVER IPAD SOFTWARE |
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CHARTER SCHOOLS’ TEST SCORES: THE REAL STORY |
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CAMPAIGN ADDRESSES CONSEQUENCES OF SEXTING: L.A Unified takes on sexting with education campaign, not punishment |
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WHY HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS DROPPED EVERYTHING TO PAY TRIBUTE TO A HAMILTON HIGH TEACHER |
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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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“Listen Up. I’ve got nothing to say …and I’m only going to say it once!”
- attributed to Yogi Berra (1925-2015)
___________
NEWS STORY: The mayor and city council propose to spend $100 million to address homelessness in Los Angeles. | http://nyti.ms/1LDxBcc
NEWS STORY: Eli Broad and others propose to spend $490 million to convert half of LAUSD schools to charter schools. | http://bit.ly/1gVuqQ3
That’s a lot of money either way. What exactly is the Return on
Investment? How does either impact us now and moving forward? Is one for
the greater glory of The City of Our Lady Queen of the Angels …and the
other for the greater of glory of Eli Broad+Friends?
WWPFD? What would Pope Francis do?
“Education cannot be neutral. It is either positive or negative; either
it enriches or it impoverishes; either it enables a person to grow or it
lessens, even corrupts him. The mission of schools is to develop a
sense of truth, of what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a
rich path made up of many ingredients. This is why there are so many
subjects — because development is the results of different elements that
act together and stimulate intelligence, knowledge, the emotions, the
body, and so on.”
“If something is true, it is good and beautiful; if it is beautiful; it
is good and true; if it is good, it is true and it is beautiful. And
together, these elements enable us to grow and help us to love life,
even when we are not well, even in the midst of many problems. True
education enables us to love life and opens us to the fullness of life.”
- Pope Francis: Address with Italian school teachers, parents,
educators, pupils and other workers, May 10, 2014
I AM NOT JEWISH, but my wife is. I was raised a Unitarian …and I’m not
sure if even that stuck. For a while we were members of a Jewish
congregation and we raised a Jewish child. On that clear September
eleventh day, my sixth-grader daughter’s second day in middle school,
she and I ate Apple-Cinnamon Cheerios and watched on TV and as the
second plane flew into the second tower.
On Friday I watched the interfaith prayer service conducted with Pope
Francis from the Ground Zero/911 site. When the cantor sang the
Mourner’s Kaddish I found myself in tears. Maybe it’s the chemotherapy
…but I think not.
“By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down,
Yea, we wept,
When we remembered Zion.”
ON FRIDAY the District announced a tentative settlement in its dispute
with Apple over the Pearson content in the Common Core Technology
Project (iPads for All) fiasco. L.A. UNIFIED TO GET $6.4 MILLION IN
SETTLEMENT OVER IPAD SOFTWARE (follows). I am already on record about
my concerns over the misbegotten CCTP and this woebegone settlement.
However, IF the District was a party to alleged shady-dealing and
contract-fixing (“The bidding process that led to the original contract
is the subject of an FBI investigation”) then this settlement may be the
best LAUSD can expect. If there was mal-or-misfeasance at Beaudry I
don’t see how LAUSD has much of a leg to stand on against Apple and
Pearson.
GODSPEED MR. KAPLAN (1955-2015): "People don't show up 20 and 30 years
later to pay tribute to teachers who helped them do better on
standardized tests. We are here because Alan Kaplan did what all great
teachers do. He clarified, he inspired, he awakened; he worked in ways
that are unquantifiable.”
I TOUCHED ON THIS LAST WEEK, but this week it became manifest. As
charter proponents claimed otherwise the truth came out in a Board
Informative from Superintendent Cortines and a data spreadsheet:
CORTINES SAYS (+ THE DATA PROVES): “OUR LAUSD MAGNET SCHOOLS
OUT-PERFORMED CHARTER SCHOOLS AT ALL GRADE LEVELS” http://bit.ly/1L77M5s + L.A. UNIFIED HIGHLIGHTS MAGNET SCHOOL PERFORMANCE COMPARED WITH CHARTERS | http://lat.ms/1iDd3ov + CHARTER SCHOOLS’ TEST SCORES: THE REAL STORY [following]
I think we all know by now that testing isn’t everything and that we are
being data-driven to distraction. All these children in our schools -
traditional, magnet or charter - are not data-points or
cells-on-a-spreadsheet; they are the living/evolving future …and nothing
is as anecdotal as the future when children are involved.
There is a hierarchy to information. It goes Data > Information > Knowledge.
And sometimes, when the stars shine just right (or there are that magic number of slides in the PowerPoint) > Wisdom.
Numbers under pressure can be forced to admit anything – as evidenced by
charter schools claim to success – but as you read on you will see what
the data proves and the information evidences: LAUSD magnet schools
out-performed charter schools at all grade levels. That is the
knowledge.
But “Wait!” you say. “Magnet Schools are special schools for special kids!”
All kids are special, but that argument is, politely: Balderdash. While
there are magnet programs for gifted+highly-gifted kids – the majority
of magnet programs and magnet schools are not for gifted students!
Magnet Schools require that parents take an extra step, fill out some extra forms, do some homework, and apply.
But that is exactly what Charter Schools require also!
When we compare magnet schools to charter schools we compare
apples-to-apples; both are schools of choice that attract families who
are looking for what they perceive to be a better option for their
children’s education. OK, non-union apples to union apples or privatized
unaccountable apples to traditional accountable apples.
LAUSD’s Magnet Schools outperform Charter Schools. At all grade levels and in almost all subgroups.
LAUSD’S MAGNET PROGRAM ROCKS!
"And if you listen very hard
The tune will come to you at last.
When all are one and one is all
To be a rock and not to roll."
Before we get too excited, let me pick on LAUSD’s data analysis a wee bit.
• When comparing High Schools, we need to consider that students are
only tested in the eleventh grade. Only 25% of high school kids at any
school get tested in a given year. Kids in High School get tested once
in their high school career; there is no way to measure individual
progress over time.
• In Elementary only second through fifth graders are tested, 2/3rds of the kids.
• In Middle School, everyone gets tested.
For this reason, a statistical anomaly is created for span schools – and
schools like LACES and SOCES (grades 4-12) get really high scores. (I
have two nieces at SOCES; that is why that school rocks over all!)
My point is that it would be helpful if the data were disaggregated by
individual grade level …and then sliced+diced every which way from
Sunday.
And some of the data – especially when crunching numbers involving
Free+Reduced Meals and English Language Learners and Special Ed seems a
bit suspect – things like meal programs don’t really differentiate
between magnet and non-magnet students on a shared campus. And Special
Ed students run the gamut from mobility and vision impaired through ADD
to profoundly challenged Down Syndrome.
And, of course, charter schools – when they share data – might not compile it in the same way.
Superintendent Cortines is absolutely right. While this data shows that
Magnet Programs outperform Charter Schools – we need to be applying the
best-practices+lessons-learned from both to general population
traditional schools. Standard-issue kids need to benefit from all the
wonderfulness!
And I submit that the best way to do this is to expand LAUSD’s
time-proven, successful and popular Magnet Program so that it can serve
more kids in their neighborhood schools. We got kids off of the bus and
the year-round calendar; now we need to get the kids off of wait-lists
for magnet schools and charter schools and into attractive+effective
local Magnet Programs.
And if the billionaire philanthropists want to help us they are welcome.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
L.A. UNIFIED TO GET $6.4 MILLION IN SETTLEMENT OVER IPAD SOFTWARE
By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1YHO9VL
Sept 25, 2015 8:05PM :: The Los Angeles Unified School District has
reached a tentative $6.4-million settlement over curriculum from
education software giant Pearson that the school system said its
teachers barely used.
The pact is the latest fallout from an aborted $1.3-billion plan to
provide an iPad to every student, teacher and campus administrator in
the nation’s second-largest school district.
The Board of Education is expected to vote on the settlement in October.
The bidding process that led to the original contract is the subject of
an FBI investigation.
Under that contract, Apple agreed to provide iPads to L.A. Unified while
Pearson provided curriculum on the devices as a subcontractor. As a
result, the settlement was with Apple, even though the dispute concerned
the Pearson product.
Under the agreement, Apple will pay the district $4.2 million. Another
computer company, Lenovo, also had charged the district for Pearson
curriculum. The district won’t have to pay $2.2 million for laptops
recently purchased, according to the settlement.
“That amount of money doesn’t make up for the damage to the district’s
reputation or compensate for the amount of time lost by students and
educators in this misbegotten project,” said Scott Folsom, a member of
the independent committee that oversees school modernization and
construction bonds.
The deal avoids protracted, costly legal wrangling with Apple and Pearson.
L.A. Unified bought more than 40,000 iPads with the Pearson curriculum
at a cost of $768 apiece. The district used bond funds to make the
purchases.
Nearly all the money from the settlement will be used to buy computers through a competitive district grant program.
“There are many schools that have not received devices, but that
nonetheless have a need for instructional technology and innovative
ideas for how to use it,” said Supt. Ramon C. Cortines in a memo this
week to the Board of Education. “The $6.4 million in proceeds represents
an exciting opportunity to invest in such schools and to promote
collaboration among campuses.”
The deal with Apple, reached in June 2013, was part of a bold initiative
— and an exclusive deal with the company — to use school bonds to pay
for industry-leading tablets. The deal with Lenovo came later, after the
district decided to include devices from other manufacturers and to
slow down a technology rollout that was beset with problems.
At the time of the pact with Apple, Pearson was supposed to provide all
the math and English curriculum for the school system. The contract with
Apple included a three-year license for the Pearson curriculum that
added about $200 to the cost of each computer.
During the first year of the license, Pearson provided only sample units
of curriculum, rather than a finished product. The contract allowed for
the partial curriculum.
Teachers received limited training on the devices. The district later
accused Pearson of providing an underwhelming product beset by technical
glitches. Consultants concluded that few teachers even used the Pearson
software.
Pearson has defended the quality of its work, noting that other school systems continue to use its online courses.
The district had threatened to sue over the Apple/Pearson contract. A
district spokesman on Friday praised the work of all involved in the
negotiations.
Representatives of Apple and Pearson could not be reached late Friday.
L.A. Unified, which has about 1,000 schools, has provided computers for
every student at about 100 campuses. At others, students are getting by
with fewer devices.
To win the technology grants, schools must submit proposals showing they
are ready to use computers and they also must set aside some of their
own funds to pay for a portion of their plan. The school’s funds could
pay for software or extra staffing, for example.
A proposal is more likely to win funding if it has the potential to
yield academic gains. Schools that collaborate with others are eligible
for more generous grants. The district wants to encourage elementary
campuses to coordinate with middle and high schools to improve
instruction.
Gregory L. McNair, a senior attorney with L.A. Unified, said one goal is
to make sure schools are ready to use technology before they receive
it.
Cortines first mentioned the broad outlines of the settlement at a
recent public meeting of a technology task force, which was reported on
by L.A. School Report.
CHARTER SCHOOLS’ TEST SCORES: THE REAL STORY
From the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update Week of September 28, 2015
AALA (+4LAKids) thanks Alan Warhaftig, Fairfax HS Magnet Coordinator, for providing this analysis.
Sept 24, 2015 :: On September 9, 2015, the California Charter Schools
Association (CCSA) issued a press release [CCSA Press Release | http://bit.ly/1FmqAvt],
comparing the performance of charter schools and traditional schools on
the 2015 Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) Common Core Math
and English Language Arts Assessments.
The press release begins by stating, “Charter public schools performed
better than the state averages on math and English language arts while
serving a diverse population of students.” The second table indicates
that charter schools and traditional schools tied in the percentage of
students who met or exceeded the SBAC math standard but that 46% of
charter school students met or exceeded the SBAC ELA standard compared
to 43% of traditional school students.
The press release claims, “Charter schools accomplish these results
while continuing to serve a highly diverse student population,” and it
follows with a chart that demonstrates this diversity:
The chart compares 2014-15 Charter Enrollment as a percentage to 2014-15 Traditional School Enrollment as a percentage:
• African American Students are 9% in Charters/6% in Traditional
• Latino Students are 49% in Charters/54% in Traditional.
• Asian Students are 5% in Charters/9% in Traditional.
• White Students are 30% in Charters/24% in Traditional.
• Other Students are 7% in Charters/7% in Traditional.
• English Learner Students are 17% in Charters/23% in Traditional.
• Free+Reduced Lunch are 56% in Charters/59% in Traditional.
The significance of a 46% to 43% “win” diminishes when one considers
that the enrollment of traditional schools includes 6% more English
learners, who presumably would be at a disadvantage on the SBAC English
language arts assessment (though they were apparently not at the same
disadvantage on the SBAC math assessment). In addition, the traditional
schools have a slightly higher percentage of students who qualify for
the federal free or reduced-price lunch program. Finally, the chart DOES
NOT include the percentages of special education students—who would
have difficulty with both SBAC assessments—enrolled at charter and
traditional schools.
The reality is that LAUSD magnet schools out-performed charter schools at all grade levels.
In fact, in a memo to the Board of Education, Superintendent Cortines
pointed out that fifteen LAUSD schools and magnet centers had 90 percent
or more of their students meeting or exceeding standards in ELA, higher
than any charter school.
Given this, the analysis presented in the CCSA press release is
sophomoric–advocacy at the expense of rigor. Serious comparisons may
only be made between schools with similar socio-economic status. For
example, it might be appropriate to compare Sherman Oaks Center for
Enriched Studies (SOCES), a LAUSD magnet school, with Granada Hills
Charter High School because the percentages of their students that
qualify for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program are
approximately the same (53% for SOCES and 52% for Granada Hills
Charter). While Granada Hills Charter is, no doubt, a fine school, it
comes off badly in the comparison: 58% of the students at both schools
met or exceeded the SBAC math standard, but 87% of SOCES students met or
exceeded the SBAC ELA standard compared to 76% of Granada Hills Charter
students.
It would not, however, be appropriate to compare Granada Hills Charter
with LAUSD’s Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet or Fairfax Visual Arts
Magnet, 82% of whose students qualify for the federal free and
reduced-price lunch program (compared to 52% at Granada Hills Charter).
The comparison wouldn’t work well for CCSA, as Bravo Medical Magnet
outscored Granada Hills Charter on the SBAC ELA by 87%-76% and Fairfax
Visual Arts Magnet outscored Granada Hills Charter by 84%-76%. Granada
Hills Charter prevailed on the SBAC Math, however, outscoring Bravo
Medical Magnet by 58%-52% and Fairfax Visual Arts Magnet by 58%-38%.
In addition to matching for demographic/socioeconomic factors, it really
only makes sense to compare charters with magnets, as both are schools
of choice and attract families who are looking for what they perceive to
be a better option for their children’s education. This might backfire
for the CCSA, as close examination of the SBAC magnet and charter scores
might result in a call for more LAUSD magnets, not more charters.
Please follow this link, [SBAC-Comparative | http://bit.ly/1Ve0q4O]
to see a chart that shows rankings of LAUSD magnet schools, LAUSD
charter schools, and high schools in neighboring districts, such as
Glendale, Culver City, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, among others.
CAMPAIGN ADDRESSES CONSEQUENCES OF SEXTING: L.A
Unified takes on sexting with education campaign, not punishment
By Teresa Watanabe | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1iCePpZ
Sept 22, 2015 :: Two Los Angeles high school students are hanging out
when a friend arrives with gossip: Someone texted a naked picture to a
classmate and it was soon forwarded "all over the place."
When one of the students expresses skepticism, another takes her friends
on a journey of discovery about "sexting." Educators, an attorney and a
police officer lay out the consequences of sexting – public
humiliation, loss of educational and job opportunities, possible
criminal violations -- and hammer home a message:
“THINK TWICE. WHAT YOU DO NOW MATTERS LATER.”
The scenario is featured in a video unveiled Tuesday as part of the Los
Angeles Unified School District’s new campaign against sexting.
Officials have asked principals at about 900 elementary, middle and high
schools to incorporate information from its "Now Matters Later" website
page, which offers the video, lesson plans, posters, bilingual tip
sheets for parents and other resources. [http://bit.ly/1OZ1If6]
"What we're trying to accomplish is to educate kids today so they have a
clear understanding that sexting is against the law," L.A. Unified
Police Chief Steven Zipperman said at the school police headquarters
Tuesday. "This program will reach out to our students, our parents, our
staff and our community...and hopefully eradicate this dangerous trend."
Zipperman has said the campaign was not directly sparked by the Venice
High case this year in which 15 boys were arrested on suspicion of
sexual assault after a sexually explicit photo of at least one of the
two suspected female victims was widely circulated on social media.
Prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges against the boys, based
on insufficient evidence.
But Zipperman said that sexting is "serious stuff" that students and their families should understand.
A 2012 study of more than 1,800 L.A. Unified high school students found
that 15% of those with cell phone access surveyed said they had texted a
sexually explicit message or photo of themselves and 54% knew someone
who had. The study by researchers from USC, Clark University and
elsewhere found that those who sexted were more likely to be sexually
active. Non-heterosexual students were more likely to sext and have
unprotected sex.
As teens' access to social media grows – 92% report going online daily
and three-quarters have access to smartphones, according to a 2015 Pew
Research Center report – sexting has proliferated. Across the nation,
police and prosecutors have charged teens with criminal offenses and
more than 20 states have enacted legislation to deal with sexting.
In the L.A. Unified video, a school police officer tells students that
sexting sexually explicit photos of those under 18 – even themselves –
is considered child pornography. City Atty. Mike Feuer also appears in
the video, saying that sending, forwarding or possessing child
pornography could result in a criminal record and lifelong registration
as a sex offender.
But Zipperman said school police have handled only a "handful" of cases so far.
Deputy City Atty. Tracy Webb, who speaks about cyber safety to as many
as 20 schools a month, said the vast majority of students she encounters
say they sext to "goof around" or as part of a romantic relationship,
often involving breakups. She said Los Angeles prosecutors generally try
to handle cases with education.
"We can't arrest and we can't prosecute our way out of this problem," Webb said.
Mileidy Maldonado and Alexandra Hernandez, high school students at the
Roybal Learning Complex, said sexting wasn't that widespread - but both
knew girls who had been victimized by it. In one case two year ago,
Alexandra said, a boy texted nude photos of his then 15-year-old
girlfriend that went viral, following the victim from one school to
another until she finally had to be home-schooled.
"She was bullied and called names," Alexandra said. "It was horrible."
Holly Priebe-Sotelo, the district's intervention coordinator, said
educators will be asked to incorporate the new materials into the
current required lessons on bullying and sexual harassment. Lessons in
cybersafety will be offered to younger children, with middle school
students taught about safe online chatting. More explicit material on
sexting will be presented to high school students.
Bilingual materials for parents, such as cybersafety tips and suggested
questions to start conversations about the topic, are also available on
the website.
Much of the material was provided by Common Sense Education, a nonprofit
focused on media and technology, and the National Center for Missing
and Exploited Children.
WHY HUNDREDS OF STUDENTS DROPPED EVERYTHING TO PAY TRIBUTE TO A HAMILTON HIGH TEACHER
by Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times | http://t.co/Y0n4UJ05Na
27 Sept 2015 :: One week ago, very early Sunday morning, Harvard
University graduate student Jimmy Biblarz boarded a plane and flew from
Boston to Los Angeles to attend a memorial service.
He knew he would have to fly back to Boston later that evening, which
made for a grueling day, but Biblarz never had a second thought about
making the trip.
The provocative, maddening, abrasive, endearing, passionate,
controversial Hamilton High School teacher who tormented, challenged and
ultimately inspired him, had died. So Biblarz and hundreds of other
students who got the same treatment from history and philosophy teacher
Alan Kaplan crowded into the un-air-conditioned school auditorium on a
blistering afternoon to pay their respects.
"Each of us spends our time on this Earth trying to ensure we are
remembered in death. Mr. Kaplan, you won," Biblarz said in his eulogy.
"You produced hundreds of activists, organizers, scholars, therapists,
teachers and thinkers. Your effects are exponential."
I never met Kaplan, 60, who became ill this summer and died Aug. 29. But
from everything I've heard about him and his work in Hamilton's
humanities magnet, I wish I had a teacher like him when I was in school.
"People don't show up 20 and 30 years later to pay tribute to teachers
who helped them do better on standardized tests," fellow Hamilton High
teacher Barry Smolin said at the service, a tape of which was made
available to me. "We are here because Alan Kaplan did what all great
teachers do. He clarified, he inspired, he awakened, he worked in ways
that are unquantifiable."
As I watched the tributes, I was reminded that from Los Angeles to New
York, we have endured years of bare-knuckle battles but reached no
consensus on how to improve public schools. Public education is
shamefully underfunded, some say, while others insist money is not the
answer. You can find equally rabid supporters and critics of charter
schools, and the new Common Core curriculum is either a breakthrough or a
curse.
But wherever you stand on any of that, we can all go to school on how a
teacher managed to touch so many lives in such profound ways, loyal to
both his convictions and his students even as his stubborn independence
drew critics and even landed him in trouble at times.
Some students were intimidated by Kaplan. Some administrators and fellow teachers found him irritating.
He flat-out refused to teach Advanced Placement history, arguing that
the curriculum was a memorization drill that allowed for neither true
teaching nor learning.
I'm not as brave as my father, who died in misery
His text was a manifesto — Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the
United States," a fist to the face of robber barons and exploitative
institutions.
And some black parents thought he was out of line with his provocations
on race, so much so that they wanted something done about it.
And yet when Kaplan passed away, more than 500 students — from classes
dating back to at least 1999 — dropped what they were doing. They came
from near and far to pay tribute in the auditorium of the school where
Kaplan implored them not to believe everything they thought they knew
about one another, the world or themselves.
"I knew he was a force to be reckoned with," said Camila Lacques-Zapien,
whose older brother warned her there was no sliding and no hiding in
Mr. Kaplan's classroom. The guy was dead serious.
But even that didn't prepare her. Kaplan confronted and cajoled. He
knocked students off-balance, forcing them to find some truth to hold
onto. He called on students randomly and put them on the spot, all the
while holding forth, part preacher and part performer, on race, class,
power and justice.
"It's hard to articulate," said Lacques-Zapien, a UCLA graduate, "but
there was a sense of purpose and high stakes in his class because there
was no B.S.… You better show up and be honest and be yourself or you
might get called out. He will recognize you and you will be seen."
Lacques-Zapien set up a tribute page on Facebook and it drew hundreds of
mournful comments and fond reminiscences from former students, some of
whom became teachers because of him.
He had been their confidant, their rabbi, their therapist. He taught
critical thinking. He demanded conceptual clarity. You needed a seat
belt in his class because he might jerk you from the American Revolution
to President Obama to Vietnam and back again.
"You were and still are my hero."
"I live my life according to, 'What would Kaplan say.'"
"A man that intimidated me so much … also pushed me to be better than I expected."
The comments were from students of all colors, which is worth noting
because in 1999, administrators and the media investigated claims by
some black parents that Kaplan was a racist. They said he degraded black
students by asking why no one sympathized with the slave masters.
The L.A. Weekly assigned a young African American reporter to check out
this menace to public education, and she found an entirely different man
than the one described by critics.
"Alan was teaching in his own way, very in your face, challenging everybody — black and white," says the reporter.
She understood the concerns among parents, because Kaplan was blunt
about race. He would tell students, for instance, that statistically
speaking, "All you black kids are going to do worse than white kids."
But the reporter, who went by the name Erin Aubry at the time, reported
the story deeply enough to understand what Kaplan, a Jewish kid from the
San Fernando Valley, was doing.
He was challenging students of all colors to be honest and open about
race and about history itself. He had been shocked into a permanent
state of moral outrage by the inequalities he witnessed in his first job
at a middle school in a poor neighborhood, Kaplan said, and he taught
with urgency and conviction.
That reporter not only understood Kaplan, she married him, and Erin
Aubry Kaplan was with her husband to the end. In an essay after his
death, she wrote that while they knew love across the color line, "race
was always present," and getting along sometimes meant negotiating with
history.
Back when he was a student in Mr. Kaplan's class, Biblarz was negotiating with his own identity.
"I was a kid trapped in the closet in high school," Biblarz said in his
eulogy. He recalled that when California's proposition to ban same-sex
marriage was in the news, Kaplan talked about how he had nervously
visited a gay bar, only to be welcomed and made comfortable.
"He told us that experience made him check his own homophobia and that
the more seemingly uncomfortable situations we put ourselves in, of
being the minority, the more empathy and understanding we would gain,"
Biblarz said. "Nothing could have made me feel better or more loved."
If there is one last lesson from Mr. Kaplan, for all of us, it's that in
the end, the type of school doesn't matter, the curriculum is but a
guide and students are hungry to learn.
It's the teaching that makes the difference and there is no higher order
of business than to recruit and nurture talented and passionate
instructors, give them the freedom to challenge themselves and their
students, and let creativity and imagination run wild.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
A PARENTS GUIDE TO AP CLASSES
http://lat.ms/1Jx1IMc
THE L.A. PLAN TO CRUSH PUBLIC EDUCATION
http://bit.ly/1iz99wS
Cortines says (+ the data proves): “OUR LAUSD MAGNET SCHOOLS OUT-PERFORMED CHARTER SCHOOLS AT ALL GRADE LEVELS”
http://bit.ly/1L77M5s
L.A. UNIFIED’S BULLYING TACTICS WOUND ABUSE VICTIMS AGAIN
http://bit.ly/1NRKOjj
Updated: $490-MILLION PLAN WOULD PUT HALF OF LAUSD STUDENTS IN CHARTER SCHOOLS
http://bit.ly/1PpAP1O
X minus 10: FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WATCH
http://bit.ly/1NI9xEW
SEATTLE TEACHERS APPROVE NEW CONTRACT
http://bit.ly/1OMkMgC
"THE GREAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS NOW INITIATIVE" sounds like something embroidered on Donald Trump's hat!
http://bit.ly/1FbM1z5
From the folks who brought you Deasy, iPads+FBI hauling off boxes of files: THE GREAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS NOW INITIATIVE
http://bit.ly/1FbM1z5
NY Times/Page One: A FIRING AT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES FOCUSES DISCONTENT
http://bit.ly/1L1pzLj
The Great Public Schools Now Initiative: WE WANT ½ OF LAUSD STUDENTS IN CHARTERS IN 8 YRS REPORT SAYS + full report
http://bit.ly/1FbM1z5
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
Nothing scheduled this week
Upcoming Events:
CURRICULUM, INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATIONAL EQUITY COMMITTEE MEETING – Tues. October 6, 2015 - 10:00 a.m.
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND PARENT ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE - Tues. October 6, 2015- 2:00 p.m.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING - Tues. October 6, 2015 - Williams Valenzuela Textbook Sufficiency - 4:00 p.m.
REGULAR BOARD MEETING - Tues. October 13, 2015 - 10:00 a.m. - Including Closed Session Items
*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:
Scott.Schmerelson@lausd.net • 213-241-8333
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Ref.Rodriguez@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, county supervisor, state
legislator, 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 at http://registertovote.ca.gov/
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. THEY DO!
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