In This Issue:
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The Great LAUSD Search Kerfuffle -or- WHEN YOU TRY TO KEEP A SECRET SOMEONE’S ALWAYS GOING TO TRY AND FIGURE IT OUT |
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WHY THE NEW EDUCATION LAW IS GOOD FOR CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND |
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THE BLOATED RHETORIC OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND’S DEMISE: What replacing the despised law actually means for America’s schools |
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MOVING FORWARD ON CLIMATE CHANGE FOR OUR CHILDREN |
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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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Ray Cortines has left the building.
His exit email says:
Serving the students and the LAUSD community has been one (of) the most
challenging, enthralling, and most rewarding endeavors of my career. I
take with me the wonderful memories of our schools, students and staff
that I will reflect upon on smile about often.
All the best,
Ramon C. Cortines
I went by Beaudry Friday afternoon to extend best wishes and say thank
you to Superintendent Cortines, on behalf of his lifetime of kids –
children who, Garrison Keillor says,”…seem not to notice us, hovering,
averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them
is never wasted."
I also wanted to extend my personal thanks for Ray Cortines’ past
fifteen months of service, far above+beyond, to the LAUSD Community in
pulling us out of a death spiral and renewing our faith in ourselves and
our mission.
Good job.
After I visited the superintendent’s office I wandered down to the floor
where the Bond Oversight Committee offices are; the office was closed –
with staff off doing something else. Hopefully something productive.
But half the floor was vacant and the lights were off – with files and
desk contents boxed-up and blueprints rolled for some sort of move to
some other sector of the building. Even my friend Alix’s office was
boxed up – and my parents knew Alix’s parents before there was a Scott
or an Alix!
“WTF?” I muttered. Or an acronym to that effect.
Heraclitus (535-475 BCE) said there is nothing permanent except change:
change alone is unchanging. And lots of other folk, from Socrates to
Margaret Mead to Gandhi to Kennedy to Barack Obama have said other
deep+meaningful things about change.
“It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will.”
- Sam Cooke
SO THIS WEEK’S NEWS is about changing the LAUSD superintendent.
And changing No Child Left Behind
And changing Climate Change.
Heraclitus also said that bigotry is the sacred disease:
'ONE MORE' FOR SINATRA, WHO TOOK A STAND IN GARY, INDIANA
Commentary by Scott Simon | NPR/Weekend Edition Saturday | http://n.pr/21XWtSP
Saturday, December 12, 2015 :: Frank Sinatra was born a hundred years
ago today. Even if you think his music just isn't your music, it's hard
to get through life without uttering what I'll call a "Frank Phrase"
from one of his songs at telling times in our lives.
"So set 'em up, Joe ... Fly me to the moon ... I've got you under my
skin ... My kind of town ... I did it my way ... I want to wake up in a
city that doesn't sleep ..." And that wry elegy for lost loves and
lonely nights: "So make it one for my baby, and one more for the road."
Sinatra called himself a saloon singer. He ran with mobsters and could
be a bully; he coveted other men's wives and could be brutish to his
own, and other women and men.
But today, I'd like to recall a moment when Frank Sinatra was truly
magnificent. Not in Las Vegas or New York, New York, but Gary, Indiana.
November, 1945. A lot of white students had walked out of Gary's Froebel High School when it opened up to black students.
A citizens' group asked Frank Sinatra to come to their school because he
was a teenage heartthrob, but also a performer with principles. Sinatra
had always insisted on playing with integrated orchestras. He was the
best, and wanted to play with the finest: Count Basie and Duke
Ellington. Sinatra wanted to sing with Ella Fitzgerald.
November 5, 1945, Richard Durham of the Chicago Daily Defender described
Frank Sinatra's appearance at Froebel High in Gary this way:
"Sinatra, blue-suit and red bow-tie, five feet ten inches tall and 138
pounds, the heavyweight in the hearts of the teenagers, stepped to the
stage amid weeping, some fainting, much crying, and said, 'You should be
proud of Gary, but you can't stay proud by pulling this sort of
strike...'
"When he described his own racial background and told how he was called a
'dirty little Guinea,' the students yelled in horror, 'No, no, no,' and
listened quietly when he told them to stop using the words..."
Well, Sinatra used words we don't say on the air these days.
"The eyes of the nation are watching Gary," Frank Sinatra told the
students. "You have a wonderful war production record. Don't spoil it by
pulling a strike. Go on back to school, kids."
"When he sang 'The House I Live In,'" wrote The Defender, "a strange
silence fell upon his normally noisy worshippers and for once they
screamed only when the song ended."
“The house I live in, a plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher, and the people that I meet
The children in the playground, the faces that I see
All races and religions, that's America to me”
- Words by Lewis Allan, Music by Earl Robinson
In 1945 the Donald who was always wrong was a duck.
Maybe Francis Albert can teach The New Donald something besides doing it “My Way.”
Probably not, but there is always hope. Because Hope = Change+Progress.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
The Great LAUSD Search Kerfuffle -or- WHEN YOU TRY TO
KEEP A SECRET SOMEONE’S ALWAYS GOING TO TRY AND FIGURE IT OUT
“If They Say –‘Why, Why,’ Tell 'Em That Is Human Nature” – words+music by Steve Porcaro & John Bettis
• The White House’s Special Investigation Unit, nicknamed the
“Plumbers,” was established by John Ehrlichman to prevent information
“leaks” from the White House and were also involved in various
activities perpetrated against Democrats and antiwar protesters. Their
most famous mission was the break-in at the home of former Pentagon
employee Daniel Ellsberg, where they unsuccessfully attempted to prevent
further “leaks” of confidential information. – Wikipedia
►SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATES EMERGE AS L.A. UNIFIED SEEKS TO KEEP JOB HUNT A SECRET
by Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1OZtveh
Dec 10, 2015 9PM :: The Los Angeles Board of Education is immersed in
the biggest job it has: choosing the next leader of the nation's
second-largest school system.
Starting on Sunday, the seven-member board began interviewing candidates
and weighing options. Insider or outsider? Former insider? Business
executive? Educator from a much smaller city?
Although top district officials have gone to great lengths to keep the
process confidential, the names of top contenders are emerging through
sources close to the Los Angeles Unified School District, people who
know some of those under consideration and individuals in other cities.
Among those who are considered to be in the running and who have been or
are expected to be interviewed: San Francisco Supt. Richard Carranza,
L.A. Unified Deputy Supt. Michelle King and Fremont Unified Supt. Jim
Morris, who formerly worked for L.A. Unified.
Others who have been part of the board's discussions and may be
interviewed include: Miami schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho, St. Louis
Supt. Kelvin Adams, Atlanta Supt. Meria Carstarphen, business executive
Jim Berk, nonprofit director Dixon Slingerland and former senior L.A.
Unified administrator Robert Collins.
This list is not complete, some insiders said, and L.A. Unified's interest is not necessarily reciprocated.
Efforts by The Times to speak with each of these individuals have been
unsuccessful over the last two weeks. Carranza has not responded to
interview requests. King and Morris declined.
The board hopes to make a selection by the end of the month. Current
Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, 83, is retiring. The veteran educator has led
L.A. Unified on three separate occasions, most recently after Supt. John
Deasy resigned under pressure last year.
The next leader faces daunting challenges: a looming budget shortfall,
declining enrollment and lagging student achievement. There's also the
challenge of an outside plan to rapidly expand the number of
independently operated charter schools, which could threaten the
solvency of L.A. Unified if enough students enroll in them. The schools
chief also must bring together a Board of Education with different
beliefs and conflicting political backers.
Altogether, the situation is enough to persuade one well-regarded former superintendent to steer clear.
"There is no way I would go to Los Angeles. It's a total mess," said
Joshua Starr, who recently headed the district in Montgomery County,
Md., with 156,000 students, for nearly four years and who attracted some
attention for the job in Los Angeles. "I would want to be in a job that
you had a chance to be successful."
Nonetheless, a large field has emerged, compiled by an executive search
firm hired by the board. And although a dark horse may surface, the
front-runners appear to be Carranza and King, with Morris close behind.
Carranza, 49, has led San Francisco Unified since 2012, where his focus
has included expanding technology and reducing suspensions, two issues
of importance in Los Angeles. He previously worked as that district's
deputy superintendent for instruction, innovation and social justice. He
also served as a senior administrator in Las Vegas' schools.
San Francisco is less than one-tenth the size of L.A. Unified; about 60%
of students are from low-income families — a substantial percentage,
but lower than in Los Angeles. Carranza recently signed a three-year
extension, starting at $315,000 a year.
The leading inside candidate, and probably the only one, is King, 54,
the top deputy to Cortines. She also served in that capacity under
Deasy. King has built a positive reputation, distinguishing herself as a
loyal figure who mostly stayed in the background.
One exception was in April 2014, after a fiery bus crash in which 19
district students and others were en route to visit Humboldt State. Ten
died, including one L.A. Unified student. Because Deasy was out of town,
King went to the scene, 500 miles away in Orland, with counselors. She
displayed a calm demeanor as the district helped families establish
contact and arrange travel home.
But the former Hamilton High principal hasn't played a central role in
handling political pressure or in guiding district instruction.
Morris, 56, worked his way up through L.A. Unified for nearly 30 years,
holding the posts of senior regional administrator, chief operating
officer and chief of staff to three superintendents. He was generally
well-liked by principals.
In 2010, Morris became superintendent in Fremont, a rapidly growing Bay
Area district with 34,000 students, an enrollment that is diverse but
more prosperous than that of L.A. Unified.
Another group of individuals have, according to sources, been part of
the discussion, but The Times has not been able to verify with certainty
that they have been interviewed or agreed to apply.
Leading that group is Carvalho, 51, from Miami-Dade County Public
Schools, whom board members clearly wanted on the short list, according
to sources who could not be identified because they are not authorized
to speak about the matter.
But he has said he's not interested in leaving south Florida. Still, his
strong personality and a portfolio of aggressive school improvement
efforts would make him a top contender.
"There is no amount of money that L.A. could pay to take me to
California," Carvalho said to his school board, according to a Dec. 2
article in the Miami Herald.
He might interview in Los Angeles, but for now, he's expected by some
district watchers to accept a pay raise to stay where he is.
A former district insider, Collins, 69, heads the board of the National
Dropout Prevention Center/Network at Clemson University in South
Carolina. Collins' biography also lists him as the founder of a company
that consults with districts about career and technical education. He
held senior posts in Los Angeles before leaving to become schools chief
for Grossmont Union High School District in San Diego County for about
three years, ending in 2010.
Another educator of interest is Adams in St. Louis. The 59-year-old
administrator has received praise for making progress over seven years
in a school system with challenges similar to those in Los Angeles.
Atlanta's Carstarphen, 45, also has attracted attention — she is African
American and speaks fluent Spanish. But she has only been in Atlanta
since July 2014. She previously headed school systems in St. Paul, Minn.
and Austin, Texas.
A less traditional prospect is Berk, 54, head of the executive board for
UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, which is an unpaid
position. According to his biography, he is the former CEO of
Participant Media, which released 55 films during his tenure, including
"Waiting for Superman," which portrays charters, including those in Los
Angeles, as being preferable to traditional public schools. He has also
pursued other business ventures. And early in his career, he taught
music and helped start the arts magnet at Hamilton High, later becoming a
principal.
Another out-of-the-box possibility is Slingerland, 46, executive
director of Youth Policy Institute, a nonprofit group with an annual
budget of $57 million, according to the organization. The institute
operates one middle school in L.A. Unified as well as two local charter
schools. In all, the group says it serves more than 100,000 students and
adults at a total of 125 program sites. Slingerland is well connected
politically, both with Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Obama administration,
which awarded the institute a $30-million federal Promise Neighborhood
grant to oversee a range of services to promote education and combat
poverty.
Attempts to reach Carvalho, Collins, Adams and Carstarphen were not
successful. Through UCLA, Berk said he was currently unavailable and
Slingerland declined to be interviewed.
The board has set aside more time for interviews Sunday.
___________
►ZIMMER CRITICIZES LA TIMES SPECULATION OVER POSSIBLE FINALISTS
Posted on LA School Report by Mike Szymanski | http://bit.ly/1Rhc8ZM
December 11, 2015 :: 10:05 am Steve Zimmer is not happy.
In a highly unusual move, LAUSD school board president Steve Zimmer
issued a statement late last night, criticizing the Los Angeles Times
for speculating who might become the district’s next superintendent.
“We hope that the speculation on the part of the LA Times in an article
published this evening does not cause harm or controversy for any of the
individuals named in the article,” Zimmer said in the statement sent
out after 10 p.m. “We have committed to the individuals whom we will
interview that we will maintain confidentiality around their possible
candidacy. We hope the LA Times will honor that commitment moving
forward.”
Zimmer was reacting to a story that once again threw out names of
potential candidates for the top spot at LA Unified. It was the second
time the paper posited a list of potential successors to Ramon Cortines,
following a November story that identified 43 potential candidates,
ranking them according to their perceived chances.
But now, timing is crucial. The school board is in the process of
winnowing the list of candidates to a final few from a starting pool of
about 100, and it’s all being conducted in secret even though a few of
the school board members had expressed interest in making the entire
process public. The number of people involved in this part of the
selection process is believed to be fewer than a dozen, including the
seven board members, district lawyers and the board secretariat.
It’s also the last full week for Cortines, 83, who has been privately
saying good-bye to staff and departments over the past month, and even
faced a surprise party.
Zimmer has remained protective of the secret search process, rebuffing
persistent media inquiries seeking confirmation of potential candidates
and inquiries about the search’s closed sessions. The seven-member
elected board is holding a meeting this Sunday at 9:30 a.m. and another
on Dec. 15. Last week, the interviews were held in a downtown office
building to protect the identities of potential candidates coming to
speak to the board.
The board could announce a selection as early as the 15th but more likely after a two-week winter break, in early January.
In his statement, Zimmer emphasized that the board “is committed to
finding the best leader to guide our school district in the coming
years. We request that the media and the community honor the decision to
conduct a confidential search and allow us to do the job that we were
elected to do on behalf of the students, families and school communities
of LAUSD and the residents of our district.”
He added, “The purpose of conducting a confidential search was to ensure
the best possible candidates could apply to lead what we believe to be
the most important school district in the nation.”
________________
►L.A. SCHOOL OFFICIAL CRITICIZES AND SEEKS TO LIMIT LEAKS ABOUT SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH
by Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1M9EBsr
Dec 12, 2015 7AM :: An important drama involving the Los Angeles
Board of Education -- selecting its schools chief -- is playing out in
private, and officials this week said they are determined to keep it
that way, even though some details are getting out.
Exactly nine district people know precisely which individuals are being
considered for the job, according to L.A. school board President Steve
Zimmer and others, and he, for one, seems confident that they are
keeping mum.
Despite this pact of secrecy, word has spread about some people being
considered. They include San Francisco Supt. Richard Carranza, L.A.
Unified Deputy Supt. Michelle King and Fremont Unified Supt. Jim Morris,
who formerly worked for L.A. Unified.
These three and all others contacted by The Times have declined to be interviewed.
The problem for school board members is that no matter how diligently
they try to close the circle, there are documents visible to others,
travel arrangements to be made and astute observers in other places and
even other cities. And friends, colleagues and family members in L.A.
Unified or other districts are under no vow of silence.
The issue matters to board members because they want applicants to
aspire to the L.A. job without putting their current position at risk.
“The purpose of conducting a confidential search was to ensure the best
possible candidates could apply to lead what we believe to be the most
important school district in the nation,” Zimmer said in a statement
after The Times revealed some of those under consideration.
In an interview, Zimmer said he wants applicants to know that people
involved in the selection process had nothing to do with the leaks.
“People need to know that they can trust us,” said Zimmer.
The nine district people in the know are the seven school board members,
district general counsel David Holmquist and board executive officer
Jefferson Crain. Also participating is lead search-firm consultant Hank
Gmitro.
Managing confidential matters is a regular part of the job for Holmquist
and for Crain, who handles documents, meeting schedules and legal
compliance for the board.
Current L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who plans to retire this
month, said he lacks complete knowledge about potential candidates and
has tried to stay out of the process.
He’ll forward to the board a name that is suggested to him, he said, but
he’s trying to avoid aspirants who want to meet. He does not want to be
seen as endorsing anyone or playing favorites.
Even getting boilerplate comments from board members has been difficult.
On Tuesday, board newcomer Ref Rodriguez froze, speechless, when asked
for a comment of any sort regarding the superintendent search.
(He also was clearly exhausted after nearly 14 hours of meetings, nearly
half that time in closed session related to the superintendent search.)
His colleague, veteran board member Richard Vladovic, came to the rhetorical rescue.
“Selecting a superintendent is the board’s most important job,” Vladovic said. “We’re doing what’s necessary to pick the best.”
When similarly pressed, board member Scott Schmerelson paused
thoughtfully then offered, “We’re working closer and closer every day.”
No outsiders, apparently, have learned the full list of those with a
shot at being hired. But the effort is attracting national attention.
When Atlanta Supt. Meria Carstarphen surfaced as a potential candidate
in an article in The Times on Friday, the Atlanta school system
responded immediately.
“Supt. Carstarphen is one of the nation’s most outstanding public
education leaders,” said Jill Strickland Luse, executive director of
Communications & Public Engagement.
“It is no surprise that her name would come up in a superintendent
search. We are all flattered by the consideration. We continue to
appreciate and admire the great work Dr. Carstarphen is doing to make
Atlanta Public Schools a high-performing district that prepares students
to graduate ready for colleges and careers of their choice.”
The board’s next private session for the superintendent search will be Sunday…
●●smf’s 2¢: …when the SPECIAL MEETING ORDER OF BUSINESS
Including Closed Session Items
At 333 South Beaudry Avenue, Board Room
From 8:30 a.m., Sunday, December 6, 2015 was:
Recessed to 8:00 a.m., Tuesday, December 8, 2015 then:
Recessed to 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 8, 2015 then:
Recessed to 9:30 a.m., Sunday, December 13, 2015
CLOSED SESSION ITEMS (Purpose and Authority)
A. Personnel (Government Code Section 54957)
• Public Employment: Superintendent of Schools
• Employee Evaluation: Superintendent of Schools | http://bit.ly/1Nij0SO
Speculation is that the new superintendent will be announced on
Thursday, Dec 17th. And such speculation is based wholly on hearsay,
rumor, gossip and innuendo.
Hint-hint. Nudge-nudge. Say no more.
WHY THE NEW EDUCATION LAW IS GOOD FOR CHILDREN LEFT BEHIND
By DAVID L. KIRP Op-Ed Contributor, The New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1OZUiXV
DEC. 10, 2015 :: THE No Child Left Behind law will soon be consigned
to the dustbin of history. With a rare display of bipartisanship,
Congress has overhauled federal education policy. The law’s successor,
the Every Student Succeeds Act, is headed for the president’s desk, and
he has signaled his intention to sign it. (●●smf: He did!)
Good riddance to a misbegotten law. Will its replacement be any better?
No Child Left Behind, on the books since 2002, was supposed to close
achievement gaps for disadvantaged students (racial and ethnic
minorities, low-income students, youngsters with special needs and
English learners) and to eliminate what President George W. Bush decried
as “the soft bigotry of low expectations.” The goal was audacious — by
2014, the law decreed, 100 percent of students would perform at grade
level.
Instead, things have gotten worse by almost every measure. SAT scores
have declined, as have the scores of American students, compared with
their counterparts in other nations, on the PISA (Program for
International Student Assessment) exam. The rate of progress on the
National Assessment of Educational Progress, the nation’s report card,
was actually higher, both over all and for specific demographic groups,
during the decade before No Child Left Behind than after it was passed.
At the same time, the law’s aspiration morphed into a high-stakes target
for accountability — not for the politicians, with their unachievable
demands, but for school officials who were given an impossible burden of
meeting annual testing goals. Under the law, schools that didn’t make
“adequate yearly progress” faced ever more draconian sanctions,
including wholesale reorganization and closings.
As a result, public schools have turned into pressure cookers. Teachers
are pushed to improve test results. A vanishingly small amount of time
is spent on art, music and sports, because they aren’t part of the
testing regime. Students have become test-taking robots, sitting through
as many as 20 standardized exams a year.
The Obama administration initially acted as if the miracle of 2014, with
every student proficient in math and reading, would come to pass. But
in 2012, when it became clear that the achievement gap wasn’t about to
vanish, the Department of Education started giving waivers to states
that wanted to devise their own definition of adequate yearly progress.
While almost every state has gotten an official permission slip, federal
bureaucrats retained the final word on whether a state’s plan would
pass muster, and those waivers were conditioned on commitments to adopt
administration-approved education reforms. In effect the department has
been relying on waivers to rewrite No Child Left Behind.
The Every Student Succeeds Act shifts, for the first time since the
Reagan years, the balance of power in education away from Washington and
back to the states. That’s a welcome about-face.
No longer can the Department of Education deploy the power of the purse,
as it did with “Race to the Top” challenge grants, to prod states into
adopting dubious policies like using students’ standardized test scores
to judge teachers or expanding the number of charter schools. Now those
decisions are left to the states.
The dread “annual yearly progress” requirement is gone, as are the
escalating series of consequences inflicted on school districts that
don’t measure up. States must intervene to help the weakest 5 percent of
all schools, high schools that graduate fewer than 67 percent of their
students on time (the national norm exceeds 80 percent) and schools
where a subgroup of students “consistently underperforms.” But the
states, not Washington, determine how to turn things around. That’s
accountability with a needed dollop of flexibility.
While states are still required to test students annually in reading and
math from third to eighth grade, and at least once in high school, they
have a freer hand in designing those tests. What’s more, those
standardized tests count for less in evaluating schools. At least one
other measure of academic improvement, like graduation rates and, for
nonnative speakers, proficiency in English, must be included. And a
student performance measure, like grit or school climate, has to be part
of the evaluation equation. This multipronged approach should make it
easier for educators to replace some drill-and-kill memorization with
more hands-on learning and critical thinking.
Civil rights groups have been tepid in their support for the legislation
because they fear that some states will revert to the neglect of
minority students that drove Congress to pass No Child Left Behind. They
have history on their side: “Leave it to the states” was disastrous for
minority students. Will this time be different? The new law maintains
the old requirement that test scores be made public and that those
results be disaggregated. As a result, we’ll know where the most
vulnerable students are. There will be still be fights over
accountability, but those will be at the state level, and advocates will
need to keep up the pressure for equity.
Hope springs eternal in school reform, only to be followed by
disappointment. (Announcing his education bill, Lyndon B. Johnson
declared his education plan the “passport from poverty.” Clearly, that
didn’t work.) Rewriting the standards of evaluation and giving states
freer rein in bailing out weak schools, as this law does, is a good
day’s work inside the Beltway, but it’s no guarantee that the quality of
teaching and learning will change. Making those improvements will take
hard work on the part of committed educators and parents. Stay tuned.
• David L. Kirp is a professor of public policy at the University of
California, Berkeley, and a senior fellow at the Learning Policy
Institute.
THE BLOATED RHETORIC OF NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND’S
DEMISE: What replacing the despised law actually means for America’s
schools
by Alia Wong | The Atlantic | http://theatln.tc/1OZhTtp
Dec 9, 2015 :: How does the Every Student Succeeds Act reverse the
course of K-12 education in the United States? The headlines say it all:
It “Restores Local Education Control.” It “continues a long federal
retreat from American classrooms.” It “shifts power to states.”
According to a Wall Street Journal editorial, it represents “the largest
devolution of federal control to the states in a quarter-century.” The
Every Student Succeeds Act, according to The New York Times, represents
“the end of an era in which the federal government aggressively policed
public school performance, and returning control to states and local
districts.”
But for all the breathless hype, the legislation seems unlikely to produce many changes that are actually visible on the ground.
The Senate on Wednesday approved the Every Student Succeeds Act, the
bill that will reauthorize the nation’s 50-year-old omnibus education
law and make the “pretty-much-universally despised” No Child Left Behind
obsolete. The legislation, which has already gotten the Obama
administration’s tacit approval, is being touted by observers and
policymakers from both the right and left as a product of rare
bipartisan compromise. “I think this has turned out to be a textbook
example of how to deal with a difficult subject,” Republican Senator
Lamar Alexander, who co-wrote the legislation, told Politico. “When we
come to a bipartisan consensus like this, I think the country accepts it
a lot better.” Democratic Senator Patty Murray, another architect of
the act, tweeted: “It’s not the bill I would have written on my own,
it’s not the bill Republicans would have written. That’s compromise.”
Related Story
‘No Child Left Behind’ Is No More
The most conspicuous manifestation of that bipartisan give-and-take is
what’s being highlighted by news outlets and pundits across the country:
Schools will still be held accountable for student performance, but
states can determine the nuances of how that will take place. They’ll
have to use “college-and-career ready” standards and intervene when
those expectations aren’t met, but states will get to design their own
standards and intervention protocol. They’ll still be required to
administer annual testing in certain grades, ensure at least 95 percent
of students participate, and disaggregate data based on students’ race,
income, and disability status, but they can use other factors on top of
testing to assess student performance, and the details of how the
testing happens and how the scores are interpreted are up to states.
The overthrow of No Child Left Behind, which has been up for
reauthorization for years, is certainly cause for excitement. The George
W. Bush-era law required schools to administer annual tests in certain
grades in an effort to identify and elevate the achievement of
underperforming youth. It was also loathed for its one-size-fits-all
approach to education reform, its promotion of teaching-to-the-test, and
its harsh system of sanctions. Republicans grew to despise it for how
much it allowed the Department of Education to micromanage states and
school districts (especially when Obama rose into office). And given how
little power the Every Student Succeeds Act gives to the federal
government, it may feel, particularly among those on the right, as if
the nation’s schools are about to experience a major makeover—as if the
next era of public education will mark a major, much-anticipated
divergence from the status quo.
In reality, schools may not see much on-the-ground change.
But in reality, schools may not see much on-the-ground change. Forty-two
states and the District of Columbia already have waivers from No Child
Left Behind’s “most troublesome and restrictive
requirements”—flexibility granted several years ago by the Obama
administration in exchange for states’ commitment to “setting their own
higher, more honest standards for student success.” This means that most
of the country’s students have already been learning under a system
that eschewed much of No Child Left Behind’s most obvious and onerous
aspects—and looks a lot like the system envisioned in Every Student
Succeeds. States with waivers were essentially allowed to set their own
goals for raising achievement, come up with their own strategies for
turning around struggling schools, and design their own methods of
measuring student progress.
“I don’t think a parent is going to notice any difference when they take
their child to school next year that their school is somehow operating
under a new federal law,” said Tamara Hiler, the policy advisor for
education at the think tank Third Way, in an email. “The only thing they
are likely to notice is that their state or district may spend time
reducing the number of tests they have been layering on over the past
few years”—a problem that, contrary to belief, wasn’t really a federal
one to begin with.
In many ways, what most conservatives seem to be rejoicing about the
Every Student Succeeds Act is that it’s replacing Obama’s waiver system.
At a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in
early 2013, Alexander was quoted as saying: “This simple waiver
authority has turned into a conditional waiver with the [Education]
Secretary having more authority to make decisions that in my view should
be made locally by state and local governments.” Indeed, some of the
most controversial elements being overturned or prohibited by the Every
Student Succeeds Act were implemented not under No Child Left Behind but
through the waiver system. It was through the waivers (and the Race to
the Top grant program) that the Obama administration mandated
test-score-based teacher evaluations. And it was through the waivers
(and the Race to the Top grant program) that the administration all but
required participating states to adopt the Common Core. (The Every
Student Succeeds
Act makes it clear that the federal government can’t mandate teacher
evaluations or
standards.)
“If anything, this bill really takes the air out of the political footballs that have been Common Core and overtesting.”
“What this bill doesn’t change specifically in substance it does change
in rhetoric,” Hiler said. “I think if anything, this bill really takes
the air out of the political footballs that have been Common Core and
overtesting … Hopefully the passage of this new bill will lesson the
tension around these issues for the foreseeable future.”
The new law does contain lots of novel elements that are worth
highlighting, many of which haven’t gotten as much attention. For
example, the law for the first time ever seeks to expand access to
preschool by including $250 million in annual funding for
early-childhood education. “The fact is, a child’s education begins long
before kindergarten, and this bill reflects that,” Kris Perry, the
executive director of the First Five Years Fund, said in a statement. It
also authorizes funding for a program that will scale up evidence-based
strategies for improving student outcomes and other initiatives that
promote innovative reform.
But amid all the applause and whoops and back-patting, some experts are
warning that the Every Student Succeeds Act has, as The Washington Post
put it, “big problems of its own.”
“As far as I can tell, it’s a brilliant piece of political posturing ...
that doesn’t seem likely to provide educational opportunity for
underserved kids,” wrote Conor Williams, a senior researcher in New
America’s education-policy program, in a recent op-ed. “It’s a clear
system that serves the political needs of most members of Congress and
protects a variety of special interest groups. It combines a thin veneer
of civil rights equity with excruciating complexity and uncertain
accountability. It takes a relatively simple federal accountability
system, removes the teeth, and layers on a bunch of vague
responsibilities for states … Just because something is a compromise
doesn’t mean that it will do good things for children.”
MOVING FORWARD ON CLIMATE CHANGE FOR OUR CHILDREN
by Roy Lander in The Huffington Post | http://huff.to/1SUACW9
Updated: 12/11/2015 3:59 pm EST :: Today was the day -- our group of
10 Education Ambassadors went to the U.S. Embassy in Paris to deliver
messages from our students, sharing their fears and hopes around climate
change, to President Obama's Science Advisor Dr. John Holdren. My fifth
grade students at The Galloway School in Atlanta created postcards that
express their concerns about climate change, and how these changes
affect their world. The whole of our middle school also drafted position
statements to call for action on climate change. For all of us
Education Ambassadors, this was a fantastic opportunity to share both
our interest and our students' passion about the earth system and its
long-term health.
Dr. John Holdren, who is also the Director of the White House Office of
Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), graciously received our group and
discussed some of the latest developments in climate science and policy.
He assured us that our messages would be shared with the Obama
administration. I passed along three messages from my fifth graders
today:
●First, Mekai shared that he is "worried about climate change because
places that have a lot of ice, like Alaska, are flooding now that the
ice is melting. I hope that this COP (COP21 [“Conference of Parties’]
The United Nations Climate Change Summit in Paris) turns out better than
previous times and I hope the Earth will continue to thrive." One of
the many types of disasters that Dr. Holdren discussed was the severe
flooding that has been occurring around the globe recently.
●Second, Nia shared that she is concerned about climate change and did
not want anything to happen to our animals. She continued by stating "I
don't want anything to happen to our planet. I know that climate change
is a perplexing problem, but we need to try our best to help." Dr.
Holdren agreed that both climate change science and climate change
solutions are challenging!
●Finally, Stella is worried about climate change "because it will create
a lot of natural disasters, and that will lead to drought, famine,
floods, wildfires and more! That will be awful! It will mess up our
world." These fifth graders obviously "get it," but they are also
hopeful that national and world leaders can make progress towards
solutions.
Will our leaders set aside their differences to move towards solutions?
If we cannot move towards solutions, we consign our planet to a state of
slow and painful decline. At that point, it will not matter how much
money we have, how educated we are, how many tanks we own or how much
food and water that we have. Can we move forward on climate change for
the children? By elevating the voices of my students, I hope we can
motivate our leaders to do the work that must be done.
• Minneapolis-based nonprofit, Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy,
is leading a delegation of 10 Education Ambassadors to COP21 through
their Window Into Paris program, December 5-11. These 10 teachers --
representing diverse subject areas, grade levels and school communities
from Denver, Atlanta, upstate New York, western North Carolina and
Minnesota -- are connecting their students to climate policy in action,
helping to build both climate literacy and the relevance of this issue
in their students' lives
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not necessarily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
LAUSD Search Kerfuffle goes Hollywood: FORMER STUDIO EXEC LONGSHOT FOR LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT + smf's 2¢
http://bit.ly/1lWUdu0
FYI: LAUSD Adult Misbehavior Updates
http://bit.ly/1NpiFvb
The Great LAUSD Search Kerfuffle -or- IF YOU TRY TO KEEP A SECRET SOMEONE’S ALWAYS GOING TO TRY AND FIGURE IT OUT
http://bit.ly/1QbF7OK
STILL IN THE FIGHT: Enrollment is down+scores are flat, but principal won’t give up on Westchester High School
http://bit.ly/1mhgoLZ
Updated: CORTINES SAYS BROAD IS “ILL-ADVISED”, CALLS ON WARRING FACTIONS TO WORK TOGETHER FOR L.A. STUDENTS
http://bit.ly/1M5DRVj
WITH FEDERAL BUDGET DEAL EXPIRING IN FOUR DAYS, WHERE DOES K-12 SPENDING STAND? http://bit.ly/1M9YCz5
Breaking: #ESSA - The bipartisan bill to #fixNCLB just passed the Senate. @POTUS will sign it tomorrow.
CBS Studios donates $60,000 to make the music happen at North Hollywood High | LAUSD Daily
http://bit.ly/1TzLjxD
BIG DAY FOR ESEA: Senate will start considering ESSA, the bill expected to replace NCLB, at 10 a.m. this morning
http://bit.ly/1ICRfp5
C.O.R.E. DISTRICTS BREAK NEW GROUND WITH NEW INDEX ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE …but will CORE exist after ESAA passes?
http://bit.ly/1RCu5kF
ESEA REWRITE DRAMATICALLY INCREASES PRE-K SUPPORT
http://bit.ly/1IS5rVS
Attempt to organize teachers = "UNION POWER GRAB DISRUPTS GREAT LOS ANGELES CHARTER SCHOOLS" - OpEd in US News http://bit.ly/1NgaW2D
ACTIVE SHOOTER DRILLS AT SCHOOLS NORMALIZE ATROCITIES
http://bit.ly/1QtCMwJ
Updated :: Great Public Schools Now: NEW GROUP NAMES 28 L.A. SCHOOLS – MORE OF THEM CHARTERS – AS MODELS
http://bit.ly/1M1dUGj
L.A. SCHOOL BOARD TO HOLD SECOND ROUND OF INTERVIEWS FOR SUPERINTENDENT
http://bit.ly/1lrBhnE
EVENTS: Coming up next week...
December 13, 2015 - 9:30 a.m. SPECIAL BOARD MEETING -
- Including Closed Session Items - Recessed from 12-6-15 - 8:30 a.m.
CANCELLED - Tues. December 15, 2015 - 10:00 a.m. -- BUDGET, FACILITIES AND AUDIT COMMITTEE
*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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