In This Issue:  | | • | FRANKLIN HIGH'S ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAM IS FIRST TO COMPETE AT STATE TOURNAMENT | | | • | LAUSD PLANS TO STOP MOST INTER-DISTRICT STUDENT TRANSFERS NEXT YEAR | | | • | Welcome to St. Anne's: THE COMMUNITY MEETING OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS RE: COMPLIANCE REVIEW OF ELL PROGRAM IN LAUSD | | | • | BERLIN'S CHILDREN GET REPRIEVE FROM NOISE POLICE: Children can now be legally noisy in Berlin, prompting comparison of childhood rules in major cities | | | • | HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources | | | • | EVENTS: Coming up next week... | | | • | What can YOU do? | |
Featured Links: | | | | IF ONE WERE TO LIVE UP TO THUMPER'S FATHER'S EXCELLENT ADVICE: "If you don't have something nice to say don't say anything at all" – one would write short unread blogs about public education in L.A.
That said, 4LAKids leads with the story of Franklin High School's Academic Decathlon Team. Franklin was my daughter's home high school. It's a school that tries hard and is getting better, but she and her parents exercised our choice to go elsewhere. Despite what everyone says there has always been choice – though following stories will describe how the current LAUSD regime is decreasing rather than increasing the options. Luck will have nothing to do with Franklin's chances in AcaDeca – but we wish Franklin and all the other teams great skill and success in this weekend's competition.
IN THE CONTINUED INTEREST OF KINDNESS I point out the photograph of UTLA President A.J. Duffy by Times photographer Jay Clendenin from Saturday's Patt Morrison's interview. The picture (not yet online) is Annie Liebowitz quality; warts-and-all, compelling, biographical - 1000 words – only two of which are pugnacious and dapper. The interview [http://bit.ly/dijoUJ] is good too. Duffy accepts the challenge undertaken by teachers in their operation of so-called Public School Choice schools as being "put up or shut up time": They've got what they wished for - now its up to them to transform public education in L.A. Duffy – usually portrayed as combative – comes across as introspective and well in touch with his "Well, that's just Duffy" persona. Who knew he came from a well-off family? ...or that he was a heroin addict for years?
Duffy's repeating of AFT's Randi Weingarten's "Good for teachers, good for kids" is worrisome. It reminds meof of the 50's Secretary of Defense/former GM CEO Edwin Wilson's infamous "What's good for General Motors is good for the country.". Wilson [http://bit.ly/9LsSSE] thought he could hold on to his GM stock and still serve in government; it may be Wilson whom Eisenhower had in mind in his farewell when he warned of the Military Industrial Complex. Today the GM/USA polarity is reversed, but the irony is magnetic.
NOT ASKED AND OR ANSWERED: Does the victory of teachers mean UTLA's legal challenge of the PSC giveaway is off? Was giving up those schools to teachers rather than charter operators what it took?
THE JURY IS NOT YET EMPANELED on the US Department of Ed/Office of Civil Rights Compliance Review/Investigation/Witch Hunt of English Language Learner programs in LAUSD. Stay tuned while the OCR takes a remedial history course.
THE MONTH-OLD DUMB MOVE OF THE WEEK: LAUSD's bully-boy inter-district permit attendance policy. In the interest of saving money the district has pulled the rug out from under:
1.10,000 children
2.…their parents...
3....and the Santa Monica-Malibu School District and many more neighboring small school districts.
Whatever happened to the pretense of parental school choice, so important as recently as last week?
And how can this policy possibly be justified as being what's best for kids? Unless one is to subscribe to "What's best for LAUSD is what's best for kids."
Onward?
- smf
LAUSD SHOULDN'T FORCE IT
Daily Breeze Editorial | http://bit.ly/bcZkYC
March 14, 2010 – With its decision to stop offering most inter-district transfers, the Los Angeles Unified School District has essentially decided to hold students hostage.
The ransom: The average daily attendance money that will be injected into the district when the 10,000 students affected - more than a third of them at South Bay schools - enroll at LAUSD campuses.
The board's decision is an urgent measure for an urgent time. The move could provide the LAUSD with an additional $51million as it faces a $640million budget deficit in the next school year. Early this month it approved nearly 5,200 layoffs.
But that urgency can also be applied to parents' decisions to enroll their children elsewhere. And if those districts will have them, that should be a parent's prerogative.
The transfer ban won't be easy on those other districts, either. South Bay districts, also struggling to bridge multimillion-dollar deficits, have approved layoffs for hundreds of employees in recent weeks and could be hard-pressed when the ADA money they receive for LAUSD-zoned students is redirected. If it seems unfair that they can enroll them and collect that money in the first place, consider that ADA money is allocated by student - it is for them.
Pulling these students back will also strain an already contentious relationship with a frustrated community. That could be catastrophic as schools become more and more reliant on the community and parents to help make up for
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the services schools can't afford to provide, whether it be supply donations, parcel taxes (L.A. voters will consider another one in June) or tutoring.
We hope the LAUSD can use any new resources from this decision to make a noticeable difference in its schools. Though that still won't make it right. Families should be able to make their own decisions about the best schools for their lifestyles, and as a result, where they want the money invested in their children's educations to go. And that's through ADA funds or tuition, to public schools, charters or private institutions. It's a choice open to students at the community-college level; there's no reason younger students shouldn't have it as well.
Force isn't the answer. If the LAUSD wants to boost enrollment, funding and community support, it should work on its powers of persuasion and convince parents that it can provide what their children need.
FRANKLIN HIGH'S ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAM IS FIRST TO COMPETE AT STATE TOURNAMENT
THE NINE-MEMBER TEAM, WHICH REPRESENTS A SCHOOL THAT HAS STRUGGLED ACADEMICALLY AND FACED GANG PROBLEMS, SURPRISED MANY WITH ITS SUCCESS AT THE LAUSD COMPETITION IN FEBRUARY.
By Nicole Santa Cruz | LA Times | http://bit.ly/diQigy
March 14, 2010 – People around school think of them as the smart kids, but they never thought they'd be known for that. Thanks to photos of their faces plastered on the walls of Franklin High School, members of the nine-member Academic Decathlon team are being recognized by their peers and teachers.
And for good reason: This is the first group in school history to make it to the state competition that began Saturday and continues Sunday.
They are competing against 61 other teams in the grueling contest that tests students' knowledge in 10 areas, including language, literature, economics, art and science -- with a focus on the French Revolution .
"This is huge for them," said Samuel Kullens, the Franklin coach. In recent years, Kullens has had to beg students to join the team. He doesn't have to do that anymore.
Students have been studying since last May, giving up summer and winter breaks to do so.
It has paid off.
Accustomed to the same schools winning again and again (Marshall High and El Camino Real), coaches and students were surprised when Franklin placed first in speech, second in essay, third in music and third in the popular Super Quiz portion of the Los Angeles Unified School District competition.
Coaches and students could be heard asking "Who's Franklin?" at the competition awards in February.
"It's about time that we can be at the table with the big boys," said Principal Luis Lopez, a 1984 graduate of the Highland Park school.
Franklin isn't known for academics. It has a decades-long gang problem, and last March fewer than three-quarters of its students passed the California High School Exit Exam. In 2008, the four-year dropout rate was almost one in five, according to state data.
The school's Academic Performance Index, which rates schools on a scale of 200 to 1,000, was 640 this year. The state's target score is 800.
Although the team members are solid, hardworking students, many have never accomplished anything like this before. Most said they couldn't speak in front of a class before joining the team. Now they're confidently giving speeches.
Some will be the first in their families to attend college, and others balance school with part-time jobs. Many speak a language other than English at home. When they flew to Sacramento, four had never before been on an airplane.
Raymond Rivera, 17, joined the Academic Decathlon team as a freshman. He quit the same day, overwhelmed by the demands. He was sure he couldn't learn seven subjects cold, give a speech, keep his cool during an interview and write a coherent essay.
"I thought I couldn't do it," Raymond said.
But he rejoined.
"Now, to be one of the smart people," said Raymond, who will be the first in his family to attend college, "I guess it's kind of special."
But Mayra Fuentes of South Los Angeles said the team's performance doesn't come down to brains. "It's not because we're smart," said the 16-year-old junior. "It's more about time and dedication."
Mayra is no stranger to dedication: She is bused in each morning to Franklin, a magnet school, and has a two-hour Metro train and bus ride after decathlon practice.
For the team's top scorer, Juan Cuadra, the regional competition was one he'll never forget.
"That was the first time my father told me he was proud of me," said the 17-year-old junior.
When the team read Charles Dickens and William Blake, Kullens said, the works were culturally foreign to the students and had to be deciphered.
Most of the students had never analyzed art, so Kullens took them to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Some had never listened to classical music.
"They said 'This all sounds the same,' " Kullens said.
During practice Monday, however, Omar Carrillo could not only pick out Beethoven's "Gott! Welch Dunkel hier!" but also declared it his favorite, bobbing his head along with the music.
"After doing decathlon, every class seems so much easier," said Omar, 16, who said he's stunned when students or teachers praise him.
"You realize, 'Wow, I'm doing something for this school,' " he said.
On Tuesday, the team was comfortably sitting at desks, some clad in their signature blue decathlete T-shirts with yellow lettering. Many wrote notes and ate vanilla creme cookies that Kullens distributed. French classical music played while Andy Vuong, 16, a football-turned-intellectual athlete, guided the study session.
"Know the difference between a homogenous and heterogenous solution," he said.
No matter what happens at the state competition, team members said they will do their best. They include Jossue Vega, 18, Ruby Escalante, 17, Klariobaldo Zavala, 18, and Richard Cao, 17.
Some of the boys will be wearing suits for the first time. But they're bent on looking classy -- ready to compete in crisp navy suits with gold ties -- Franklin's school colors.
LAUSD PLANS TO STOP MOST INTER-DISTRICT STUDENT TRANSFERS NEXT YEAR
By Melissa Pamer and Douglas Morino Staff Writers | Daily Breeze
03/12/2010 -- Thousands of children attending South Bay schools on special permits face the prospect of returning to their neighborhood campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District under a policy change quietly approved by board members.
The financially beleaguered Los Angeles district says it plans to stop offering about 80 percent of its inter-district transfers next year, a move expected to affect nearly 10,000 students, more than a third of whom attend South Bay schools.
The Board of Education approved the policy change at a meeting last month, but the action drew no public comment and generated only a brief discussion among members, who were largely enthusiastic about welcoming students back to LAUSD.
In an internal memo sent last month, Superintendent Ramon Cortines estimated the resulting enrollment boost could bring the district $51 million in new funds next year. The 618,000-student district, already reeling from funding cuts over the last two years, is facing a $640 million shortfall.
The new revenue for LAUSD will mean lost income for nearby school districts, which are likewise struggling with massive state budget cuts and declining enrollment.
On average, about two-thirds of school districts' budgets come from enrollment-based state funds, which are based on average daily attendance or ADA.
South Bay districts - which are surrounded by Los Angeles Unified territory from Westchester to Gardena, Carson, Lomita and down to the Harbor Area - could have a lot to lose.
Torrance Unified accepts more LAUSD students than any other district in the county. According to LAUSD's figures, almost 2,200 of its students transfer to Torrance schools, accounting for nearly a tenth of the South Bay district's enrollment.
Torrance school board President Mark Steffen said the loss of those students could end up costing the district up to $9 million.
"It's really concerning," Steffen said. "Permit kids bring dollars into our schools. It just means more cuts, higher class sizes and less teachers."
Other South Bay districts that could potentially lose a substantial number of students are Manhattan Beach Unified, El Segundo Unified and Wiseburn.
LAUSD has not yet made an official notification of the new policy to other districts. Neither has it told parents, some of whom are bound to panic.
But the news is starting to get out on Internet message boards and by word of mouth.
"I'm sick to my stomach," said Susie Rhodes, a Playa del Rey resident with an 8-year-old son in his third year at Anza Elementary in the tiny, Hawthorne-based Wiseburn School District.
"If I have to tell him he has to go back to an L.A. Unified school, he'll be devastated," Rhodes said. "I just didn't like what I saw there. There's a huge difference in the care he receives now."
LAUSD officials argue the district has recently improved its educational offerings and academic achievement. And they said parents should be attracted to pristine new schools provided by the district's $20 billion construction program - though there's only one new campus open and just four planned in the South Bay and Harbor Area.
"The superintendent's position is: We have a variety of programs in this district. He's made a concerted effort to improve the quality of our schools and offer options," said Rene Gonzalez, assistant superintendent of student health and human services.
"He believes that students who reside in the Los Angeles Unified area should be attending our public schools," said Gonzalez, who oversees transfer operations.
There will be some exceptions to the policy change.
Children who have "senior status" - meaning they will be in fifth, eighth or 12th grade next year - will still be issued permits. Another exception is students whose parents work in other school districts; they'll still be allowed to continue to attend those districts.
A provision of state Education Code that is set to expire in 2012 attempts to make it easier for children to attend schools in the area where their parents work, in certain circumstances.
At the same time, complicated portions of the code allow most districts the ability to limit the number of outgoing transfer students.
Districts may cap the number of permits that they give out to 1 percent of their enrollment. But the law says districts are generally required to offer permits up to that cap, according to Bill Lucia, policy director for Sacramento-based education reform advocacy group EdVoice.
"It's questionable whether LAUSD can apply these restrictions, unless these caps specifically apply," Lucia said.
Furthermore, a provision of recently enacted Race to the Top legislation - which introduced reforms so California would be eligible for new federal funds - will make it easier for parents to transfer out of the state's 1,000 lowest-performing schools, Lucia said. That list, which is sure to include plenty of LAUSD campuses, has yet to be issued.
"It'll be a game changer - by putting parents in charge of finding the best public school for kids, instead of school bureaucrats or ZIP codes making that determination," Lucia said.
LAUSD officials said their new policy would remain in line with state law.
"This is in alignment with our policy change. We will continue to grant permits that are employment related," Gonzalez said in a brief e-mail.
Parents will be able to appeal initial decisions to LAUSD officials. If turned down, they can then appeal to the seven-member Los Angeles County Board of Education, which is preparing for a significant increase in such cases.
Still, LAUSD officials expect to bring back four-fifths of the 12,249 students that are out on inter-district permits this year.
The move comes on the heels of an attention-generating decision by Beverly Hills Unified School District to curtail a long-standing program that lets outsiders attend its high-achieving campuses.
Nearly 950 Beverly Hills students come from Los Angeles schools, according to LAUSD records.
At the Feb. 9 meeting where the LAUSD board approved the policy change - obscurely labeled on the agenda as "delegation of authority for inter-district attendance agreements" - the Beverly Hills situation came up.
"They're going to chase everyone out. I would certainly hope they chase everyone to L.A. We'd love them," said board member Richard Vladovic, who represents the Harbor Area and part of the South Bay.
"They're certainly welcome," Cortines responded.
Unlike Beverly Hills, other school districts that accept LAUSD transfers may not be so willing to part with those students, who bring in significant attendance-based revenue from the state. (Beverly Hills Unified has planned to change its funding strategy and will soon be less dependent on enrollment-based state dollars.)
More than 4,000 students from Los Angeles Unified attend South Bay districts, with another 1,667 going to Culver City schools, according to LAUSD data.
LAUSD's figures show that almost 2,200 of its students transfer to Torrance schools, accounting for about 8.5 percent of enrollment at the South Bay district. Torrance officials put the figure at fewer than 2,000.
(Other districts likewise reported some discrepancy in the numbers of transfer students that LAUSD data showed.)
A spokeswoman for Torrance Unified said the impact would be small, and Superintendent George Mannon declined an interview request through her.
"The effects of LAUSD's decision will be minimal to our district," wrote spokeswoman Tammy Khan in an e-mail.
But Julie Shankle, president of the Torrance Teachers Association, said she's worried about the new policy. She suspects North and Torrance high schools will be especially hard hit, as they're relatively close to LAUSD territory.
"If we don't get the permit kids, we're going to have a greatly reduced student population. That will affect the number of teachers," said Shankle, who at one time obtained a permit for her child to attend school outside LAUSD. "School districts are so desperate for money they're going to do whatever they can, even if it means flaunting the spirit of choice."
Last year, the Hawthorne School District took a course similar to LAUSD's by barring most outgoing transfers. Superintendent Donald Carrington said the backlash from parents was palpable. The county Board of Education sided with about 85 percent of parents who filed an appeal, he said.
"In these economic times every child matters in a variety of ways," said Carrington, who was not surprised by LAUSD's decision. "We believe our programs are good, if not better than most. But parents have the right to place their children anywhere they choose, based on their needs."
Hawthorne's transfer policy remains in effect.
Other local school officials said they were concerned about the loss of students and subsequent financial hit, but expressed optimism that a majority of appeals would be upheld.
In the 2,300-student Wiseburn School District, nearly a third of the district's transfer students come from LAUSD.
"We're getting calls from our parents - they're nervous," said Alicia Galindo, Wiseburn's permit coordinator.
Charter campuses, including Wiseburn's new Da Vinci high schools, will not be affected by LAUSD's decision.
Parents living in LAUSD boundaries with children in South Bay schools this week voiced frustration about the decision.
"It's frightening for us because we feel El Segundo is our home away from home," said Westchester resident Cathy Lindsay, whose eighth-grade daughter is on a permit and hopes to attend El Segundo High School next year. "The loss of money for the school district will be even more of a lurch. It's an upheaval on many levels."
Lindsay, whose husband works in El Segundo, said she hopes her permit will not be affected by the decision.
Some parents take a different view of Los Angeles schools.
Kelly Kane, who co-founded the Westchester/Playa Education Foundation in 2004 to help improve local schools and try to persuade more parents to send their children to them, said many residents are unnecessarily scared off by Los Angeles Unified's poor reputation.
"Every parent should check out their local district school. That should be their first option," Kane said. "There's a lot of bad news about LAUSD. But it doesn't affect every school, particularly at the elementary level."
With the advent of Kane's foundation and the rise of an innovative Loyola Marymount University partnership with seven local schools, more parents are interested in sending their children to Westchester's public campuses, Kane said.
Though she's been a booster for local schools, she said she recognizes plenty of parents may want other options.
"Having gone and visited your public school and feeling it's not right for your child, that's different," Kane said. "Then you should look for other schools. There are lots of other choices. There are magnets within the district; there are charters."
LAUSD's Gonzalez said the district would seek to provide information about alternatives within LAUSD.
"We'll certainly educate them on the options that might be available to them. We can't guarantee a program to be there," he said.
The district is expecting a good number of appeals to be filed, Gonzalez said.
LAUSD will officially communicate the policy change to school districts this month. But Los Angeles school officials have not yet decided how to tell parents, a notification that Gonzalez said is not required.
Parents can begin filing permit requests after May 1, and they'll get answers within three to four weeks, he said.
After internal appeals are exhausted, parents have 30 days to ask for a review by the county Office of Education.
Last year, officials there reviewed about 200 cases, with about half getting resolved at a meeting between the parties involved. The other half were heard before the county Board of Education, said Victor Thompson, director of the county's division of student support services.
More districts are limiting outgoing transfers in the past two years because of the state budget climate, he said. This spring and summer, the county plans to double the number of staff working on appeals, as an influx is expected.
Thompson stressed that each case was decided individually on its merits, based on a variety of criteria such as student interest in a particular program, or a transportation-related hardship.
He said the hearings can be trying for both parents and students.
"Parents commit themselves to the process because they're trying to do what's best for their child," Thompson said. "It's an emotional time."
Welcome to St. Anne's: THE COMMUNITY MEETING OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS RE: COMPLIANCE REVIEW OF ELL PROGRAM IN LAUSD
by smf for 4LAKids
Founded in 1908, and officially sponsored in 1941 by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, St. Anne's first opened its doors as a maternity hospital for pregnant, unwed, young mothers. At that time St. Anne's was regarded as a hiding place for young women to come in secrecy and to conceal their pregnancies from the community and their families. - from http://www.stannes.org
March 10, 2009 – Tonight's community meeting at St. Anne's Conference center was an interesting event. St. Anne's is an interesting place. A century ago ...and half a century ...and even recently: a place for young women and their families to hide themselves and their shame away. Now St. Anne's has reinvented itself for the twenty-first century: a residence hotel and school for that same clientele – who check in and out of the dorm rooms and eat in the pleasant little cafe. There's the crucifix here and there, a statue of St. Francis in the courtyard – but the gates are open – the hiding and the shame are gone; the habits and the wimples are few and far between. And the big conference room is a money making attraction.
I spoke to a youngish political consultant at the meeting (at my age everyone not an AARP member is youngish) – who confessed his mixed feelings. This was his first visit to St. Anne's since he was born there.
The "New Village Charter High School" seems to be a continuation of the old Franciscan Sisters' girls school. But charter schools cannot be denominational or parochial ...so it isn't!
Others have questioned the propriety of the School District and/or The US Department of Ed renting – or even meeting – in Catholic space; we try to be original here at 4LAKids so I'll leave that argument to them. There was no praying – and no pledge of allegiance either – so church and state were kept separated. ...but dating.
THE EVENING BEGAN HALF AN HOUR LATE (but ended on time) with the usual self-interested activist organizations represented and introduced: Alliance for a Better Community (ABC - which has an office at St. Anne's), Inner City Struggle, MALDEF, Families in Schools, UTLA – leading to the main event: A speech by Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights Russlynn Ali. And her speech was a masterpiece of the "We're not here to attack, or allege or even point the finger, we're just here to find The Truth" genre ...followed by the soft attack, mild allegation and crooked if not pointed finger. Her words led one to believe she and Secretary Duncan picked poor LAUSD for scrutiny from a hat in a lottery.
But the meeting handouts told a different story: brochures in English, Spanish, Korean, Armenian and Tagalog: HOW TO FILE A DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT WITH THE OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS – inviting complaints based on discrimination or failure to provide access on the basis of race, color,national origin, sex, disability and age ...or (I'm not making this up) violations of the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act. I was one once, the BSA enjoy special protection – they can discriminate against gays but no public school or public agency can discriminate against them! It's a federal crime.
LAUSD IS THE SECOND LARGEST SCHOOL DISTRICT IT THE COUNTRY, it has the largest number of English Language Learners. I saw a statistic that said 10% of the ELL students in the nation are in LAUSD – and 4LAKids is living proof that the can't uit on the internet if it isn't true! That - the fact they were looking for a stage ...and Superintendent Cortines let them in – is why they're here. They've come to L.A. to take names, assign blame and kick butt. And it may be a good thing they are.
Secretary Ali seized the teachable moment and made the most of it, just as Duncan did on Monday when kicking off this crusade at the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma Alabama – where better to talk about Education Being the Civil Rights Issue of the Twenty-first Century? Ali said she was at Duncan's side when he kicked off the English Language Learner campaign on the bridge 45 years after Bloody Sunday – and then went into a passionate description of the horrors of Bloody Sunday on March 9, 1965 when, she said with quiet resolve and hushed determination: "... people died on that bridge.that day"
The world changed, but nobody died on The Edmund Pettis Bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965. Look it up. Mistelling the story belittles the event.
Ali hadn't been born yet on March 9, 1965, Duncan was three months old; they crossed the bridge in 2010 in a photo op. They cannot be blamed or faulted for their youth ...but they are – or present themselves as - educators.
THAT SAID, we dispersed for breakout sessions with the real investigators, not their political leaders. There some real dialog happened, real thoughts and experience were shared. Oh sure – there was the usual bombast about billions in waste fraud and abuse, documented in spreadsheets that don't add up – but actual English Language Learners shared ...and actual parents and actual teachers shared actual experiences,
It also turns out that this great proactive compliance review by the Civil Rights Office will only focus on Local Districts 1 (West Valley) and Local District 6 (The cities of the Southeast) – both areas not really representative of Los Angeles and spectacularly underrepresented tonight.
This school district doesn't serve its ELL population very well and it should. It doesn't serve its Special Ed population very well and it should. It doesn't serve its African-American population very well and it should. It doesn't serve its Disabled population very well and it should. It doesn't serve its Gifted population very well and it should. It doesn't serve its Parent population very well and it should.
This is a subject and a conversation that continues. Maybe we are well begun. Hopefully.
HERE IS AN ISSUE FOR THE OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: In Southern San Diego County Minutemen routinely patrol PTA Meetings ...to be sure only citizens get in.
BERLIN'S CHILDREN GET REPRIEVE FROM NOISE POLICE: Children can now be legally noisy in Berlin, prompting comparison of childhood rules in major cities
BERLIN RECENTLY BECAME THE FIRST OF GERMANY'S 16 FEDERAL STATES TO ALLOW CHILDREN TO LEGALLY MAKE A NOISE. BBC'S JOANNA ROBERTSON, CURRENTLY BASED IN BERLIN WITH TWO DAUGHTERS, COMPARES THE VARYING ATTITUDES TO CHILDREN SHE HAS ENCOUNTERED IN BERLIN, PARIS, NEW YORK CITY AND ROME.
By Joanna Robertson | BBC News | http://bit.ly/dzIQjx
March 4, 2010 – In the beginning, it was the telephone.
"Frau Robertson?" "Yes?"
"I know your daughter's up there. She's playing, isn't she?"
Then came the doorbell.
Neglecting, for once, to peep through the spy-hole I opened the door, all unawares.
There she stood, square in the hallway, the neighbour from the third floor.
A successful detective novelist with a penchant for Parisian murders, she muscled her way in and could not be muscled-out again for quite some time.
The problem? My three-year-old daughter, Miranda - weight: under three stone; footwear: soft bedroom slippers - was allegedly making a noise. Only she was not.
For my own and other families in our quiet, solid apartment building, Berlin's concession to the sounds of childhood comes as an immense relief.
“ The reward for keeping quiet in class? The teacher gives out a balloon filled with freezing water, to burst upon the head of a fellow pupil of one's choice ”
Children may now officially be children at least from Monday to Saturday, 0900 to 1900.
For parents, there will at last be some protection from harassing neighbours.
"Excessive child noise," warranted a police call-out to our building for the crying of a newborn baby and, one Saturday afternoon, a group of cheerful 12-year-olds playing a game of Monopoly.
Berlin leaves me baffled. True to the spirit of the Brothers Grimm, childhood here is filled with wonders, but is unexpectedly grim.
TWO-FACED
There are toyshops by the hundreds. And puppet theatres. Sweetshops. Playgrounds with terrific slides. Ice creams scattered with gummi-bear jelly sweets. Sledging in winter, cycling in summer, tree-climbing and swimming in lakes.
But should a little child fall off her bike, passers-by will laugh out loud.
No mercy will be shown to a young child who has lost his ticket on the train, and beware like Hansel and Gretel children, those tempting German sweets.
Your teeth must be brushed three times a day, or Croko the Tooth Cleaning Crocodile might just gobble you up.
Take my elder daughter, Lilli's, junior school. The reward for keeping quiet in class?
The teacher gives out a balloon filled with freezing water, to burst upon the head of a fellow pupil of one's choice.
An ancient history lesson included a film so gorily violent that even the toughest 10-year-olds covered their eyes.
"That's what life is like," they were told.
There is the science mistress who carries a long cane to "tap" wayward pupils.
Recent school outings have included an unscheduled visit to a nuclear bunker, and a film about the struggles of an abandoned girl given up for international adoption.
CHILDHOOD CONTROLS
Back in middle-class Paris, such issues were censored. Childhood was strictly controlled.
Small playgrounds, kept neat. Climbing frames with minimum age restrictions.
Parks with formal lawns and avenues of white gravel, perfect for grazing children's knees.
The school system drilled the nation. From kindergarten upwards, Lilli was told when to sit, when to stand, when to go to the toilet.
She practiced, with her pen, curls and loops and has handwriting the same as everyone else in France.
There was speech therapy to perfect French children's French vowels. Lilli struggled home under the weight of her book-brimming schoolbag, sat almost daily tests and three times a year brought-in a school report that said little about her, but listed her marks and her position in class to the second decimal place.
In the two-hour lunch break in a small, bleak courtyard no books were allowed, and there was certainly no playing football with the boys.
PARENTAL ANGST
Life in Manhattan was all "developmental milestones".
By the sandpit (or "sandbox"), parents' talk was anxious.
Would Maxwell master his pencil-hold, and get into that preschool?
Why was two-year-old Ashley not doing better at maths?
On the health front, the obsessions were hyper-activity, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, and dyspraxia, all largely ignored in France, where all anyone talked about was bronchitis.
“ In Rome, it was paramount to cover one's child, even in hot weather, in case a breeze or a sweat should lead to a sudden chill ”
Here in Germany, I have discovered it is bowels, whereas back in Italy, it was chills.
In Rome, it was paramount to cover one's child, even in hot weather, in case a breeze or a sweat should lead to a sudden chill.
Ice-cream was never eaten on a cold day (something German children would find extraordinary), and never in one's Sunday best clothes, in case of spills.
In a culture where the child was so often the centre of attention, it seemed that messy clothes were the only taboo.
Lilli would happily rebel, making mud-pies, and fishing for tadpoles on the banks of the River Tiber.
Confused by so many conflicting cultures the other day, I booked a telephone appointment with an international parenting counsellor from Washington State in the US, and obediently got up at 0400 GMT to talk.
A soothing, disembodied voice from the Pacific North West recommended I immediately remove my children from school, that we all sleep together on cushions on the floor and switch to unpasteurised milk.
I rang off, and remembered my sensible, Scottish roots.
When it comes to one's children, I reminded myself, mother always knows best.
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources
SANTA MONICA-MALIBU SCHOOL DISTRICT TO FACE ANOTHER BUDGET CHALLENGE …due to LAUSD policy change: from the Santa ... http://bit.ly/dDuuaV
Memo: CHANGE IN DISTRICT’S INTER-DISTRICT PERMIT POLICY: http://bit.ly/9enAXU
LAUSD PLANS TO STOP MOST INTER-DISTRICT STUDENT TRANSFERS NEXT YEAR: By Melissa Pamer and Douglas Morino Staff Wri... http://bit.ly/bff9vs
FUNDING SQUEEZE SPURS STUDENT BACKLASH: By Matthew Garrahan in Los Angeles | Financial Times of London March 12 2... http://bit.ly/bvH4QC
10 LAUSD TEAMS PARTICIPATE IN STATE ACADEMIC DECATHLON CHAMPIONSHIP: 6:09 a.m. | KPCC Wire Services | KPCC 12 Ma... http://bit.ly/bKkfYv
SOUTHEAST CITIES SCHOOLS COALITION, AKA SAN ANTONIO USD: George Cole's dirty fat hands now in the cookie jar of c... http://bit.ly/cU4hKu
Free UCLA IDEA Workshop - EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES: ACCESSING DATA FOR DEMOCRACY: http://bit.ly/aPioB7
NEW LAUSD PERMIT POLICY COULD HURT SANTA MONICA SCHOOLS: by Nick Taborek | Santa Monica Daily Press | Marc... http://bit.ly/bxohNg
STATE BOARD OF ED FINALIZES LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS LIST: Some Administrators Say Process Of Making List Unfair: K... http://bit.ly/deuSJf
CONTROVERSIAL SCHOOL LIST LINKED TO STATE’S QUEST FOR FEDERAL FUNDS: Corey G. Johnson | California Watch Blog M... http://bit.ly/9u0m5q
U.S. PUBLIC EDUCATION NEEDS A BAILOUT: Robert Reich says deciding who studies what and in what grade is well wort... http://bit.ly/aiqdiV
Maintenance of Effort: $200 MILLION IN STIMULUS ON HOLD: By John Fensterwald in The Educated Guess March 9th, 20... http://bit.ly/9tBBPz
Note from the Board Member: MONEY IN, MONEY OUT: from Galatzan Gazette -the weekly e-newsletter of School Board M... http://bit.ly/aOiPLP
IN KANSAS CITY, SCHOOL’S OUT: The closure of almost half of Kansas City's schools shows what can happen when the ... http://bit.ly/dwjqs4
L.A. COLLEGE BOARD TO NAME INSPECTOR GENERAL: The decision is reached after the disclosure of misspending on the ... http://bit.ly/cF2t5D 7
PANEL RELEASES PROPOSAL TO SET U.S. STANDARDS FOR EDUCATION: By Sam Dillon/New York Times 03-10-2010 - Culminat... http://bit.ly/arzPwd
11●Mar●10: THIS MORNING’S LAUSD NEWS: Federal probe, Charters vs. Insiders, The list of failing schools: from ... http://bit.ly/aGpr8B
Welcome to St. Anne's: THE COMMUNITY MEETING OF THE US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, OFFICE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS CONCERNIN... http://bit.ly/ay0Zkp
PTA SACRAMENTO UPDATE Match 2010: Volume 34, Number 4 http://bit.ly/cKt79h ... http://bit.ly/cfxd88
US DEPT OF ED PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Education Department Announces Civil Rights Review of English Learner Students ... http://bit.ly/bphiP2
RAE BELISLE: Schwarzenegger withdraws nomination to state school board: posted to CapitolAlert, the SacBee blog b... http://bit.ly/cuysco
SUPERINTENDENT'S WEEKLY UPDATE 3/5/10: LAUSD Superintendent's Weekly Update Ltr 030510 http://bit.ly/9w7TcC
CGCS: CUTTING FUNDS FOR URBAN SCHOOLS + URBAN DISTRICTS USE STIMULUS FUNDS TO ENGAGE PARENTS + NEW STEM SCHOLARSH... http://bit.ly/9zvDRz
FEDS EXAMINE LA SCHOOLS’ ENGLISH LEARNER PROGRAM: By The Associated Press from the San Jose Mercury News Posted: ... http://bit.ly/aImmMt
LAUSD: PAY CUTS OR 6300 LAYOFFS: LAUSD expects to lay off 6300 workers this summer Contra Costa Times - Connie Ll... http://bit.ly/baoZOf
'RACE’ MONEY: letters to the LA Times| Re “State out of running for school funds,” March 5 3/9/10 -- AIG gets... http://bit.ly/b13uz3
SANTA MONICA-MALIBU SCHOOLS GOING MAIL-IN ROUTE FOR PARCEL TAX ELECTION: By Nicole Santa Cruz | LA Times ... http://tinyurl.com/ybnhprr
Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools: STATE RELEASES LIST OF ‘WORST’ SCHOOLS + Addl. Coverage, LAUSD List & CDE P... http://bit.ly/bWpDkc
Final Report: LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF LOS ANGELES | LAUSD PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ADVISORY VOTE: prepared by nancy ... http://bit.ly/a3Z1Kq
PROPOSITION 98 FIGHT AT CORE OF STATE BUDGET DEBATE: By Capitol Weekly Staff 3/04/10 12:00 AM PST | When Californ... http://bit.ly/ayEaXy
Compliance Review?: COMMUNITY MEETING IN L.A. ON WEDNESDAY W/ ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF EDUCATION FOR CIVIL RIGHTS RE... http://bit.ly/9HHueQ
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
*Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________
• SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:
http://www.laschools.org/bond/
Phone: 213-241-5183
____________________________________________________
• LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR:
http://www.laschools.org/happenings/
Phone: 213-241.8700
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Nury.Martinez@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! • 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 Schwarzenegger: 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.
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