In This Issue:
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¿SELECT OR ELECT? |
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Bad News x3: BAD TEACHERS MEET BAD LAW, BADLY PRACTICED BY BAD LAWYERS, BAD ADMINISTRATORS AND BAD BUREAUCRATS |
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LEARNING CURSIVE IS A BASIC RIGHT |
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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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the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain
the empty desks of 20 children marked absent
today, and forever.
Too many things have been said over the past year, too many words written about those
twenty empty desks. And not enough done. By me and others and Congress.
Not for a second do I believe we can pass laws to end the madness. Or
the madness of madness, clinical or societal. We don’t bring back the
twenty-six children and educators forever absent from their own future –
or resurrect the eighteen dead and make whole the twenty-six injured in
the twenty-five school shootings since. Words alone – neither in
entreaty, anger, frustration or rhyme , nor hand wringing and
surveillance cameras and security aides in orange vests or teachers
packing heat - whatever we choose from the impossible vocabulary - do
not suffice .. Those desks are forever empty and until the “never”
trumps the “again” of “never again”, we are all part of the
do-less-than-nothing-congress.
THE BOARD OF ED MEETS TUESDAY, HEAVY HEARTED. Short a voice, short a compass point, short a color in the rainbow.
The superintendent has postponed action on the next phase of iPadry –
leaving that decision to another day. VOTE DELAYED TO JANUARY ON L.A.
UNIFIED’S iPAD PROGRAM | http://bit.ly/1k4bv3q
►BUT WAIT – THIS JUST IN!: Monica Garcia + Tamar Galatzan, The ®eform
Twins, are trying to force it back on the agenda - claiming urgency!
[NEXT PHASE OF LAUSD iPAD PLAN IS BACK ON SCHOOL BOARD’S AGENDA | http://bit.ly/1fvLVBC]
This is certainly provocative-if-not-incendiary; it reeks a bit of the
old Villaraigosa-Deasy Weekend Surprise Strategy – and it remains to be
seen whether the Common Core Technology Project Team has come to a
conclusion as to how many iPads are actually needed and when. Or can
create a spreadsheet where the math adds up.◄
The board will mourn a bit as it should, and celebrate a life well
lived. It will look upon an empty chair and wonder what to do. Call an
election? Appoint an interim?
The democratic thing to do is to call an election. The expedient and
inexpensive thing to do is make an appointment. The right thing to do is
begin the dialog among the board members and the community – all the
community: parents, educators, students, voters, taxpayers, everyone.
The wrong thing to do is to waive board rule #72 and decide on Tuesday
after only hearing from (but not listening to) a smattering of public
speakers and a squeaking of a few public officials, pundits, bloggers
and editorial boards.
I believe in democracy but I also believe in representation – and an
election will leave the seat vacant and the First Board District until
June with too many issues – including the2014-15 Budget and the iPads
and the Local Control Funding Formula and a thousand other things to be
decided. It’s still going to take four votes to decide ANYTHING and I
can anticipate a lot of three-to-three ties going forward …probably
commencing Tuesday.
I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t already been identifying and
evaluating potential candidates; that game of parlor politics has been
played since a week ago Thursday morning.
I believe the First Board District would be best served with the
elected board carefully deliberating, listening to the people of the
First District and filling the vacancy. But nobody in the First District
voted for any of the six board members and it won’t take much a
political cartoonist to paint them as six versions of George the Third!
Of course saying “the elected board filling the vacancy” and avoiding
the word “appointment” is pure political spin and framing, directly out
of the Karl Rove Playbook. The reality is that the board has the power
to appoint. And the exercise of power – something this board has been
loath to do – is what they were elected to do.
THE LATE GREAT JACK MOSCOWITZ LEFT US MONDAY EVENING – and left an
overflow audience at Mount Sinai Memorial Park filled with family and
friends and colleagues on Thursday. If you knew Jack, you know –and if
you didn’t know Jack the sentence ends itself.
Jack left us shocked and empty and laughing. He left the District at a
time when we probably need him most. A mentor to many, an encouraging
word, a joke in an email, a curmudgeonly comment, a restaurant review –
Jack was first+always+ever an advocate for students and educators and
social justice.
Over the past week I have been fielding emails and Facebook posts: “Jack
was my Driver’s Ed Teacher.’ “Jack was my Principal at University High
School.” “Jack taught me how to be a Principal.” Last Sunday Jack
emailed me: “Being poetic…and angry becomes you!! Stay the course!!!!”
Assignment accepted.
On Thursday one of Jack’s elegists told of how he turned to Jack to express doubt a month after being transferred to Beaudry.
“Don’t worry,” said Jack. “This is only the beginning.”
Let me channel that advice to the six surviving members of the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles.
¡Onward/Adelante!
…and Godspeed Jack
- smf
¿SELECT OR ELECT?
►LAUSD BOARD SHOULD APPOINT SUCCESSOR TO MARGUERITE LAMOTTE … AND DO SO SWIFTLY
Guest commentary By Bennett Kayser in the LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/1j0aUlp
12/12/13 :: It is with a very heavy heart that I must assert that the
Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education should appoint
an interim board member to fill the now vacant seat of Marguerite
Poindexter LaMotte, and do so swiftly.
Ms. LaMotte was a friend and colleague, one who I know would demand that
her communities be represented and that the critical business of
governing this district be done. As a member of the elected Los Angeles
Charter Commission and one who has sworn to uphold the Constitution of
the state of California, I believe it is incumbent upon this board to
act rapidly and decisively, knowing full well that we will be roundly
criticized regardless of our decision whether to appoint an interim
member or go to an election.
The constituents of LaMotte's District 1 deserve to have a voice at the
table as soon as possible. To leave the seat vacant while awaiting not
one but most likely two elections, a general and a runoff, will
disenfranchise 641,236 residents, 303,966 voters, and approximately
100,000 students at more than 150 schools.
LaMotte, more than anyone, would ask that her democratically elected
colleagues take on the responsibility and challenge of filling that seat
until the end of its term in July 2015.
Over the next few months, critical issues such as implementation of the
Common Core Curriculum, adaptation of the Local Control Funding Formula,
the iPad issue and the district's 2014-15 budget will be decided.
By the time an election process is complete and someone sworn in, the
constituents will have been without representation for far too long.
Furthermore, the entire board is less likely to accomplish much without
the potential tie-breaking odd-numbered vote, in this case, the seventh
seat.
As recently noted by Daily News reporter Rick Orlov ("The high cost of
special elections"), the cost to taxpayers of so-called special
elections to fill vacated seats is no bargain. The governing agency must
bear the burden of election costs to the entire universe of registered
voters, most of whom will not participate.
Given the predictably low voter turnout, special elections become
exorbitantly expensive. As noted, the cost per vote cast in the 54th
Assembly District election was $139. LAUSD Board seats are much larger
and one could expect both a primary as well as a runoff totaling into
the millions of dollars. As the district struggles to recover from the
recession, every penny must be wisely spent.
Furthermore, it is folly to think that any truly "independent" candidate
can quickly start a campaign from scratch. Forget about volunteers
going door-to-door talking with voters.
As we have seen in recent school board elections, it is the largely
unrestricted, well-funded independent expenditure campaigns that are
most capable of reaching a large number of voters through expensive
media buys. In other words, were it to happen, this election will be
left to the billionaires.
As we saw in June, a mayor from another city saw fit to drop a million
dollars into the last Los Angeles school board race, barely keeping pace
with other billionaires such as Eli Broad and Walmart's Walton family -
hardly an idealist's truly "democratic" election.
Were this board to promptly name an interim replacement, it would
indicate stability, cohesion and decisiveness, often perceived as
lacking in the past. LaMotte fought on the side of children to protect
public education.
As the LAUSD family continues to mourn our significant loss, I ask only
that this board accept its painful responsibility to her legacy, her
constituents, her students, and to the entire school district and the
many communities within, and promptly name a successor.
- Bennett Kayser is the Los Angeles Unified School District board member for District 5.
______________
►SELECT OR ELECT BOARD MEMBER MARGUERITE P. LAMOTTE’S SUCCESSOR?
AALA Update Week of December 16, 2013 | http://bit.ly/1dz9ffL
Dec 12, 2013 :: The members of the Board of Education must decide
whether to appoint her replacement or fund a special election. Either
choice has grave implications, both political and social. The entire
school community needs to be a part of the dialogue that leads to the
decision. It cannot be a backroom, political deal that is based on
compromises to benefit those individuals with aspirations to higher
office and to the detriment of students and families. The unions that
represent the employees, parent groups and the public have a right to
provide their input.
As we head into the second week after the passing of Board Member
Marguerite LaMotte, a burning question is looming: How shall her seat on
the Board be filled? The Board of Education has to make the decision
whether her successor should be elected by a vote of those residing in
District 1 or appointed by her fellow Board Members. This will not be an
easy decision as there are strong arguments for each choice. In either
case, the chosen person will sit on the Board until June 30, 2015,
making key decisions regarding the Common Core Curriculum, Local Control
Funding Formula, iPads and the District’s 2014-2015 budget.
Board Member Bennett Kayser has already released his opinion—advocating
strongly for the Board to immediately appoint someone to represent
District 1 in the interim before the next general election in 2015. He
argues that the constituents of District 1 (641,236 residents, 303,966
voters and approximately 100,000 students at over 150 schools) need to
have a voice at the table immediately, saying, “By the time an election
process is complete and someone sworn-in, the constituents will have
been without representation for far too long.” This is a very valid
concern, particularly since without the seventh vote, the Board could
easily become deadlocked with 3-3 votes Another point in favor of
appointment is that the cost of special elections (a general and perhaps
a run-off) will run into the millions of dollars, a burden the LAUSD
would have to bear as it is trying to recover from the recession. Mr.
Kayser also feels that a special election would lend itself to undue
influences
from well-funded outside sources. This is, in fact, another very salient
point, because we well remember how former New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg, Eli Broad, the Walton Foundation and others tried to buy the
last election for members of the Board of Education.
However, appointment is fraught with problems. It immediately lends
itself to behind the scenes maneuvering, as pointed out in a Los Angeles
Times editorial. Ms. LaMotte strongly supported the employee unions and
often was at odds with the Superintendent and his reform agenda. Would
the current members of the Board of Education appoint someone who shared
her views, someone who generally would join the opposing side or
someone who claims to be independent? Those doing the appointing were
not elected by the constituents in District 1 and are unfamiliar to
them, so the natural inclination would be to be suspicious of the
appointee unless the person is established and respected in the
community and has knowledge of the issues facing LAUSD. However, Board
Members notably represent the whole district and are responsible for
approving budget, policy and programs.
If the Board Members decide on an interim appointment, it would
certainly show sensitivity to the needs of the community and respect to
Ms. LaMotte to select a veteran educator. Yet, opponents to an
appointment say that it gives that person an advantage when the general
election takes place in 2015, placing him/her in a more favorable
position.
An appointment process can obtain from elected officials past and
present the criteria to be used in selecting the best person for the
position.
This issue will probably arise at the meeting of the Board of Education
on December 17, 2013. We hope that the discussion will provide time for
input by the various stakeholders in LAUSD and that the Board Members
will make a deliberate, wise and well-informed decision.
___________
►LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE
By Betty Pleasant / The Soulvine/Opinion | Contributing Editor Los Angeles Wave | Los Angeles Wave | http://bit.ly/1ddZ7Zr
Thursday, December 12, 2013 11:59 am :: Now that Marguerite LaMotte
has died, the Los Angeles Unified school board members who remain face a
choice that will reveal the depth of their commitment to LaMotte’s
legacy of community-based leadership and parental participation in the
education process. Or will they ignore the principles for which she
stood and tirelessly fought during her 10-year tenure as the only
African-American on the school board?
The question, then, is will the LAUSD board members appoint a person of
their choosing to fill LaMotte’s unexpired term on the board or will
they put the decision back into the hands of her constituents who
elected her to a third term in 2011 with 74 percent of the votes. In
fact, LaMotte garnered the highest winning percentage of any candidate
seeking election to any office in the region during the 2011 election.
Why? Because her constituents loved her and trusted her advocacy
leadership and appreciated her strong, but lonely, voice for equality,
accountability and basic fairness for all families in the school
district. In the eloquent words of Assemblyman Sebastian-Ridley-Thomas:
“Casting her lot with those who have the biggest personal stake in the
LAUSD, LaMotte forged a path for the next generation of leaders who will
need to guide the school district into a future that holds promise for
very student.” Therefore, the board should let the people decide who
will replace her.
►From today’s Sunday Times: 3 L.A. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS FAVOR SPECIAL ELECTION TO REPLACE LAMOTTE: By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.... http://bit.ly/JuKJn6
Bad News x3: BAD TEACHERS MEET BAD LAW, BADLY
PRACTICED BY BAD LAWYERS, BAD ADMINISTRATORS AND BAD BUREAUCRATS
COMPARE+CONTRAST …OR BAD VARIATIONS ON A BAD THEME by smf
●●I don’t want to be judgmental this close to the holidays; those who
will get lumps o’ coal will know who they are by the contents of their
stockings hung by the chimney with care n hopes that Saint Nicolas soon
will be there.
Suffice it to say that The Current Leadership of The District (TCLoTD) has a habit of conflating:
● Bad Teachers (those who molest children)
with
● Bad Teachers (Those who in the opinion of the leadership teach ineffectively as measured by Standardized Assessments)
…and would like to fire ‘em all and let God (or the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and/or the LA Times) sort ‘em out.
I have no love for any flavor of Bad Teacher – but I have no love for
the Current Leadership or Scandalized Assessment/Academic Growth Over
Time/etc. and so it is.
●The First Story, with its twists and turns and missteps almost generates sympathy for TCLoTD. Almost.
●The Second Story demonstrates how the courts can be used to void Union
Contracts negotiated in good faith by one’s predecessors (or one’s self)
and/or Ed Code enacted by elected officials. (“The Contract made me do
it.)
●The Third Story shows how to throw the appeal of the Second Story to
the Court of Public Opinion via the ballot box. (”Who will vote for ‘bad
teachers’?”)
►Bad Teachers i: NEVADA TEACHER CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING ONCE WORKED FOR L.A. UNIFIED.
MAN RESIGNED AFTER STUDENTS MADE SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS; L.A.
SCHOOLS CHIEF SAYS CASE SHOWS DISMISSAL PROCESS SHOULD BE FASTER.
By Stephen Ceasar, LA Times | http://lat.ms/IWcAvw
8:47 PM PST, December 11, 2013 :: A former Nevada teacher charged with
kidnapping a 16-year-old girl was previously an instructor in the Los
Angeles Unified School District — which had moved to fire him and sought
to have his teaching credentials revoked after allegations of sexual
misconduct with students surfaced.
Melvyn Sprowson, 45, appeared in a Las Vegas court this week on charges
of kidnapping, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and
obstruction after authorities found a missing teenager living at his
home. He is being held in lieu of $650,000 bail.
Authorities allege that Sprowson, who had developed a relationship with
the girl online and through text messages, took her from her parents'
house without their consent. He and the teenager allegedly lived
together for two months, authorities said.
Sprowson's attorney, John Momot, declined to comment.
Sprowson, who taught at Magnolia Elementary School in the Pico-Union
neighborhood for eight years, resigned in 2011 after the L.A. Board of
Education began the process of firing him in response to allegations
that he inappropriately touched six of his students, records show.
In November 2007, the Los Angeles Police Department began an
investigation into those allegations. The district removed Sprowson from
the classroom; he reported to a district office while the probe was
underway. During the investigation, one of the students recanted her
story, prompting prosecutors to decline to file charges against him, the
district said.
That student would later settle a lawsuit against L.A. Unified related
to the alleged misconduct by Sprowson for $50,000, according to L.A.
Unified officials.
The district then launched its own investigation, finding that Sprowson
fondled two female students, forced a student to touch his body and
genitals and showed a pornographic video in the classroom, among other
things. Sprowson resigned after the district moved to fire him.
L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy said the district recommended to the state
Commission on Teacher Credentialing that it revoke Sprowson's license
to prevent him from teaching elsewhere. The district presented its
findings to the commission, but the agency declined to take action
against him.
The decision reignited Deasy's displeasure with the handling of teachers accused of misconduct in California.
The superintendent has stated repeatedly that the dismissal of such
teachers should be faster, less expensive and, preferably, under the
local school district's control. State officials, in turn, have faulted
L.A. Unified for not meeting its obligations to report misconduct.
"It is appalling that even when the LAUSD recommends revocation of
credentials, as we did in this instance, a teacher is allowed to remain
in front of students," Deasy said. "Although law enforcement didn't move
forward with a criminal case, we concluded beyond any doubt that this
teacher shouldn't be in a classroom."
Anne Padilla, a spokeswoman for the Commission on Teacher Credentialing,
declined to comment specifically on Sprowson's case, citing privacy
laws.
Sprowson went on to receive a teaching license in Nevada and was hired by the Clark County School District in April 2012.
He received a state license despite questions on the application that seek information about previous teaching credentials.
The state form asks if the applicant has ever had a professional license
"revoked, suspended, restricted, or under review" in any other state
and if the applicant has resigned pending action by any other school
system or been subject to an investigation by another district.
The Clark County School District was unaware of any allegations of
misconduct in Los Angeles until after the arrest, said district
spokeswoman Melinda Malone. Sprowson passed all background and
fingerprint checks, she said.
During the hiring process, officials contacted as a reference an
individual who Sprowson had listed as his last supervisor, Malone said.
She would not identify that person, citing confidentiality rules.
L.A. Unified was contacted separately to confirm the dates of his employment.
Sprowson was dismissed after he failed to show up for work for six days after his arrest, Malone said.
►Bad Teachers II: VERGARA v. CALIFORNIA: TRIAL ONE STEP CLOSER FOR LAWSUIT CLAIMING TEACHER JOB PROTECTIONS HARM STUDENTS
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1hTFNq9
December 12th, 2013, 6:47pm :: A tentative ruling Thursday by a Los
Angeles County judge helped clear the path for to trial for a statewide
lawsuit that seeks to undo major protections for California’s 270,000
teachers, claiming they harm students.
Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu ruled that Vergara vs. State of
California should be argued in court. The lawsuit claims protections -
such as permanent status for teachers after a year and a half, teacher
job protections greater than other public employees, and last one
hired-first one fired rules - are depriving students of a
constitutionally guaranteed adequate education.
These protections, the lawsuit claims, allow ineffective teachers to
remain on the job and hurt low-income schools during layoffs because
there are a lot of new teachers in those schools.
The non-profit Students Matter helped file the lawsuit a year and a half
ago. The group was founded by wealthy Silicon Valley entrepreneur David
Welch, who has also supported a statewide charter school start-up
group.
The main defendants are the State of California and its education
officials. In September, their lawyers asked Treu to dismiss the case.
The California Teachers Association was allowed to intervene for the
defendants. In response to the lawsuit, the union’s president said there
are very few ineffective teachers in the state.
In his tentative ruling, the judge declined to decide the case on paper,
saying critical issues in the lawsuit need to be argued in court. That
trial is set for next month.
►Bad Teachers III: BALLOT MEASURE FILED TO SPEED UP DISMISSALS OF
TEACHERS CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT, ABUSE. AFTER BILLS TO STREAMLINE
THE DISMISSAL PROCESS FOR ABUSIVE TEACHERS FAILED TWO YEARS IN A ROW, A
SACRAMENTO-BASED NONPROFIT WANTS TO PUT THE ISSUE TO VOTERS.
By John Fensterwald | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/19K4ehD
December 12th, 2013 :: The advocacy organization EdVoice has submitted a
proposed ballot measure with the arresting title “Stop Child Molesters,
Sexual Abusers and Drug Dealers From Working In California Schools Act”
to the attorney general for review. EdVoice intends to gather
signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
“It shouldn’t take a legion of lawyers, endless paperwork, millions of
taxpayer dollars … to address the challenge of dismissing the
perpetrators of egregious misconduct to school children and other school
staff,” EdVoice Chief Executive Officer Bill Lucia wrote in an email.
“We helped in the filing of the proposed measure on behalf of
individuals and groups frustrated that the Legislature cannot seem to
solve a problem that unfortunately exists in school districts throughout
geographic regions of the state.”
Two years ago, a bill sponsored by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-San Fernando
Valley, was bottled up in the Assembly amid fierce opposition from
teachers unions; the California Teachers Association said that SB 1530
went too far in tearing up teachers’ legal protections. Last year, a
bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, passed the
Legislature, only to be vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Although the
dismissal-tightening provisions in Buchanan’s AB 375 would have applied
to far more cases, organizations representing school administrators and
school boards argued it didn’t go far enough to simplify and clarify the
dismissal process. Lucia also strenuously opposed it.
EdVoice’s ballot proposal more closely resembles Padilla’s bill in key
respects. It would apply only to “egregious” cases of misconduct –
sexual crimes against children, child abuse and drug crimes, with some
exceptions – and would not change the law governing the bulk of
dismissal cases: efforts to fire administrators and teachers for poor
performance. It would eliminate dismissal hearings by a three-person
Commission on Professional Competency and replace it with a hearing
before an administrative law judge alone. The commission consists of an
administrative law judge and two experienced educators, one chosen by
the school district and one by the accused teacher or administrator.
Like both Padilla’s and Buchanan’s bills, the proposed ballot measure
would remove the four-year limit on keeping charges against teachers and
administrators in their personnel files and allow charges against them
during the summer.
But it also would go further than Padilla’s and Buchanan’s bills in
speeding up trials and building a case against accused teachers by:
• Making the ruling by the administrative law judge final, subject to
appeal in Superior Court. Padilla’s bill would have made the hearing
judge’s determination advisory, subject to a school board’s decision;
• Applying many of the provisions also to classified or non-teaching jobs at the district;
• Requiring that hearings on “egregious” charges be the top priority of an administrative law judge and be kept on track;
• Allowing the unlimited introduction of evidence and ability to amend charges at any time;
• Prohibiting school districts from cutting a deal – or agreeing to “gag
orders” – with teachers to remove evidence of egregious misconduct from
employee records (unfounded allegations could be removed but only by a
vote of the school board);
• Requiring the party that loses on appeal to Superior Court to pay legal fees;
• Enabling districts to recover any back pay and pension costs that the
district paid out to teachers between the time that formal dismissal
charges were filed and the finding of guilt.
Districts now have the authority – and in some instances are required –
to place teachers on leave after allegations of egregious and other
serious misconduct. And much of the expense that districts face in
salary and other costs is during the investigation by the district and
the police before dismissal charges are filed.
But districts also have complained that the hearing process before the
Commission on Professional Competence is too drawn out and expensive.
That has led some districts to cut deals with teachers to get them to
resign, including $40,000 that Los Angeles Unified paid elementary
teacher Mark Berndt not to contest his dismissal. (Berndt pleaded guilty
last month to molesting two dozen of his students. The district has
paid out $29.5 million to settle suits filed by families so far.)
This week, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent John Deasy reiterated his
call for changes in the dismissal law after a Nevada teacher was charged
with kidnapping a 16-year-old girl who had moved into his home without
her parents’ consent. The teacher, Melvyn Sprowson, 45, had taught in a
Los Angeles Unified elementary school for eight years before resigning
in 2011 after the district moved to dismiss him following accusations
that he fondled two female students and showed a pornographic video in
the classroom, among other allegations, according to the Los Angeles
Times. Deasy told the Times that the district presented evidence to the
California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to revoke Sprowson’s
teaching credential, but that the Commission failed to do so. Sprowson
apparently lied on his application for a teaching position in Nevada,
and L.A. Unified didn’t provide information that would have tipped off
the Nevada district as to why Sprowson had resigned.
In a fiscal analysis that it prepared for the attorney general, the
Legislative Analyst’s Office concluded that the ballot measure, if it
passed, would have a minor impact overall. There would be a negligible
impact on the state, and school districts could see small potential
savings through lower legal expenses and the recovery of wage and
pension costs paid to dismissed teachers.
Since the EdVoice initiative has not yet been approved for circulation,
the California Teachers Association declined to comment at this point.
However, a spokeswoman told the Sacramento Bee, “Our members are the
last ones who want child molesters in the schools.”
The CTA fought hard to kill the Padilla bill in the Assembly. However,
spending money to defeat an initiative claiming it would help keep
molesters out of the classroom will pose a big dilemma for the union.
LEARNING CURSIVE IS A BASIC RIGHT
By Abigail Walthausen, The Atlantic | http://bit.ly/1jZKEp6
On the back cover of a 1967 album by Robert Pete Williams, beneath a
photo of the Mississippi blues musician, appears a signature rendered
illegibly in a strained combination of print and script. The lines shake
with a careful effort which yields results only a step better than his
the X his sharecropper father likely made. Takoma records trumpeted
Williams’ illiteracy—with the printing of the signature they signaled to
the audience the thrill of a hardened criminal life and raw emotion of
the primitive musician. But the single line of scrawl is more deeply
emblematic of the evils of the segregated society.
The signature, the ability to sign one’s own name with grace and
confidence, has long been an essential marker of society. Today more and
more I meet high school students who, though they can read, sometimes
well and sometimes poorly, are ashamed whenever they are confronted with
the need to sign a document. Students are sometimes too embarrassed to
admit that they can’t read a piece of an important historical document
or the comments of a teacher who writes in script. Script is not seen by
students as some quaint relic of the past. Even among kids for whom
academic achievement is hardly “cool,” students recognize the pedigree
that the knowledge of the cursive alphabet and the ability to write it
fluently represent. Cursive has become a status marker.
The mid-sized parochial school where I work provides an interesting view
into this phenomenon because the feeder junior highs are so varied. The
students who come from the Catholic elementary schools all know script
and write it automatically because that is what was required of them.
They possess a neater penmanship in both print and script. And as
someone who has looked at a great many notebooks, I have observed that
they have much greater mastery of the page and they are more astute with
the spatial needs of good notetaking. In addition, they do not appear
to have sacrificed learning other important skills—they are just as
academically competent as their peers and just as likely to know typing.
The students who do not know script come from public schools, most often
those designated as “failing.” The Common Core has left the teaching of
cursive off the standards, but the trend to pass over penmanship
instruction has been building for years. Many of the students who I
teach had workbooks for learning cursive that were rarely used and never
completed. Sustained instruction in handwriting was put off to the side
and because script was not required for everyday classwork, students
never had a chance to practice. I have a student in a remedial reading
class so eager to learn script that she has had friends bring workbooks
in for her to use. Another student, a college-bound junior, made it a
personal goal to learn script before heading to college. While these
autodidacts may be a bit unusual, they exemplify the feeling that
students are denied something of value. Most likely these sacrifices
were made in favor of are the inordinate emphasis is placed on
testing—enough to
cut out all kinds of enrichment and even whatever basics are not
tested.
If we are thinking about standardized testing, it is important to note
that cursive is in fact included in it. On the SAT section for student
information, all students are required to copy an oath that they have
not cheated, and they must copy it in script. Many students at my school
must be instructed to print the sentence first and then connect each
letter with their pens. The results look even more terrible than those
who struggle through the best pigeon script they know. Now, of course,
the students are not graded for the look of their writing, but the
ordeal is a terrible note on which to begin a high-stakes test. It sets
kids unjustly up for failure to force them to try on illiteracy just
moments before beginning a test that is notoriously culturally loaded.
Students who struggle through a single sentence feel inadequate. They
feel intimidated.
It seems like an especially terrible thing to deny kids, because so many
enjoy mastering it. Script not only adds speed to writing, but it adds
the intimacy of the personal mark to the writing process and adds
interest for students who are artistically inclined or visual learners.
Edward Tenner argues that it aids cognitive development and builds
character. One of my ninth graders, a very weak student who lacks
confidence in all facets of communication, written and spoken, but he is
also one of the most careful printers I have ever seen. His letters are
embellished with delicate curls. He never learned cursive, but I am
sure that would have been a great, confidence-building opportunity for
him.
It is easy to assume that occasions for copying oaths and signing
documents by hand will soon be gone, but the fact is that they are not
yet. Before getting rid of script, it is important that computers are
actually integrated into the classroom to the point that typing does
replace handwriting. Many of the first schools to jettison script do so
because of external pressures to improve standardized test scores. They
are also the “failing” schools that are too poor to support regular,
sustained, one-to-one computer use. So many students must still write by
hand, just with fewer tools than ever before. Students who are already
facing educational disadvantages must not be made to feel that they are
living in a netherworld where the most important communications they
must make are in series of bubbles, with marks heavy and dark.
●●smf: I was only including this article out of bemused amusement – we
Neanderthals mourn the extinction of the dinosaurs! (I have such lousy
handwriting I can’t make it out 24 hours later.) Then I read the
comments on The Atlantic site [http://bit.ly/1jZKEp6] and realized how seriously folks take this subject …and serious it is!
Not only is penmanship not being taught in our public (and private) schools – but touch typing is being ignored also!
Gentle readers: If we lose Spenserian Script , The Palmer Method and
D'Nealian script AND the Qwerty keyboard - will not civilization
decline to OMG and :) in a single millennial generation? For your
safety please keep your arms and hands inside the handbasket throughout
the entire decent!
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
WHO DECIDES WHAT IS TAUGHT IN OUR SCHOOLS? Will
California History be taught in the Fifth Grade once the Common Core
sets in?
●●smf’s 2¢ - Here’s my question: I’m an old guy and for as long as I can
remember – and I went to school in the fifties – California History was
taught in the fifth grade – with the flour, salt and water bas relief
map of the Golden State and with the California Missions Project, Where
does that fit in the Common Core State Standards – which are de facto
national standards? As it it is, History and Social Studies are
forgotten stepchildren in the English Language Arts/Math focus – with a
bit of Science thrown in because eventually that will be tested.too!
Geography? Please – that’s as dead as Penmanship, Arts and Music!
The National Governors Association and Bill Gates and Arne Duncan and
the testing companies and textbook publishers are the advocates for the
Common Core. Which of those are going to argue for Fr. Serra and the
Californios and Juan Cabrillo? …for Tiburcio Vásquez and Pio Pico and
the Pabladores and Johannes Sutter or James Marshall? Who will speak for
Emperor Norton and every California kid’s right and duty to build a
scale model of the California Mission of their choosing? | http://bit.ly/19Km8AI
3 L.A. SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS FAVOR SPECIAL ELECTION TO REPLACE LAMOTTE: By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.... http://bit.ly/JuKJn6
They’re baaaaack!: NEXT PHASE OF LAUSD iPAD PLAN IS BACK ON SCHOOL BOARD’S AGENDA: By Howard Blume, Los Angele... http://bit.ly/1fvLVBC
VOTE DELAYED TO JANUARY ON L.A. UNIFIED’S iPAD PROGRAM: The death of school board member Marguerite Poindexter... http://bit.ly/1k4bv3q
STEERING CLEAR OF THE TEXTBOOK: Using History to Invigorate Common-Core Lessons: By Sam Wineburg | Education ... http://bit.ly/1dBLh3A
HISTORY OF IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS POINTS TO EARLY YEARS AS KEY: Letter to the Editor of Education Week | http://... http://bit.ly/1dBJHi2
BLACK TO SCHOOL?: By Erin Aubry Kaplan / CityWatchLA/ Published by the LA Progressive | http://bit.ly/1 ... http://bit.ly/1dBpdWR
GUESS WHO REALLY WANTS COMMON CORE NOW? PRINCIPALS! ¿Really?: by Mercedes Schneider / deutsch29 | http://wp... http://bit.ly/Jl3HMr
Tweet: the impossible vocabulary of sorrow that won’t explain/the empty desks of 20 children marked absent/today,and forever http://bit.ly/JqEgtx
Tweet: SANDY HOOK/1 YEAR LATER: As of this morning there have been 25 school shootings since that morning. 18 dead. (cont) http://tl.gd/n_1rtjjfa
Tweet: SANDY HOOK/1 YEAR LATER: Nobody remembers what the “Do Nothing Congress” of 1947-49 didn’t do.
Tweet: SANDY HOOK/1 YEAR LATER: 26 Dead. 20 six-year-olds who will never be seven/6 educators who will never teach (cont) http://tl.gd/n_1rtjje9
Pearson Foundation: EDUCATION PUBLISHER’S CHARITY, ACCUSED OF SEEKING PROFITS, WILL PAY MILLIONS + smf’s 2¢:... http://bit.ly/1bLPDq2
Bennett Kayser: LAUSD BOARD SHOULD APPOINT SUCCESSOR TO MARGUERITE LAMOTTE … and do so swiftly: Guest commenta... http://bit.ly/1dtBJYj
ACROSTIC: a 4LAKids reader writes: L ogical A nd U seful S olutions D iscouraged | http://bit.ly/1dqIaez
Q. Do I need to purchase new computers just for the Smarter Balanced Assessment? A. No: from the Smarter Bal... http://bit.ly/J6XBPE
SMARTER BALANCED TESTS EASE ACCESS FOR DISABLED: by Tom Chorneau | SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/1kA ... http://bit.ly/1dqsrMB
PARENT SUPPORT, FOOD KEY TO STUDENT SUCCESS: Commentary By Stephen Fong /| EdSource Today http://bit.ly/1e5GQ ... http://bit.ly/J6HYI5
GOOGLE CHROMEBOOKS GET THE NOD OVER iPADS IN SOME SOUTH BAY SCHOOLS: By Rob Kuznia, LA Daily News | http://bit... http://bit.ly/1kzLK8w
GODSPEED JACK MOSCOWITZ: Jack Moscowitz passed away on December 9, 2013.
He went into the hospital and had a procedure and everything was fine
and then it wasn’t. He was a father and husband and grandfather and
uncle and friend. He was a teacher and an administrator and union honcho
at AALA and ACSA. Maybe he was a fixer; certainly he was a mensch. | http://bit.ly/1fjYBey
SERVICES FOR LAUSD BOARD MEMBER MARGUERITE POINDEXTER LAMOTTE: LA Times Thursday, December 19, 2013 ... http://bit.ly/1iVrmDx
CHARTER SCHOOL GROUP WRITES REPORT THAT SAYS REGULAR SCHOOLS SUCK - 6 months later newspaper reports it as news | http://bit.ly/1jM0h3l
LA Times Editorial: ELECT, DON’T APPOINT, TO REPLACE MARGUERITE POINDEXTER LAMOTTE: Despite the cost of a spec... http://bit.ly/1jIDOV3
FILLING LAMOTTE SEAT BY ELECTION OR APPOINTMENT? BOARD IS DECIDER: by Jamie Alter Lynton, Publisher, LA SCHOO... http://bit.ly/1iT4XXs
Todays #LAUSD BdofEd meeting POSTPONED. Also Thursday's
Curriculum+Instruction / Budget+Facilities &
EarlyED+ParentEngagement Committee Mtgs
L.A. SCHOOLS WANT ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE iPADS: The Los Angeles Unified School District wants to triple its... http://bit.ly/1bzNIF2
TEACHERS PROTEST LAUSD MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION PROCESS, ‘TEACHER JAILS’: Teachers protest L.A. Unified's proc... http://bit.ly/1fgiPpC
[CORE] CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS FEAR LOSING MILLIONS FOR LO-INCOME SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢: District officials say having... http://bit.ly/1fgcYkb
SAN JOSE UNIFIED REWARDS LONG-TERM EMPLOYEES WITH RETURN OF FURLOUGH PAY: By Lillian Mongeau | EdSource Today... http://bit.ly/1jEps7U
ARE AMERICA’S STUDENTS FALLING BEHIND THE WORLD? In a word: “No!” + smf’s 2¢ more: Testing to the test? Thoug... http://bit.ly/1iQ5s4g
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
• Regular BOARD OF EDUCATION MEETING
Tuesday December 17, 2013 (Rescheduled from 12/10/13)
Start 1:00 pm http://bit.ly/19qDgz5
Revised Agenda: http://bit.ly/1b80o1B
• BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE MEETING
Wed. 18 December 2013 | 10AM
check http://www.laschools.org/bond/meetings for Agenda
Both Mtgs in the LAUSD Board Room
333 S. Beaudry Ave.
*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
Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382
Monica.Ratliff@lausd.net • 213-241-6388
Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385
Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387
...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress,
senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • Find
your state legislator based on your home address. Just go to: http://bit.ly/dqFdq2 • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600
• Call or e-mail Governor Brown: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/
• Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these
thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school.
• Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it!
• Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child.
• If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE.
• If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE.
• If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. THEY DO!.
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