The Educated Guess Governor, State Board to ACLU: We’re on your side

The Educated Guess

Governor, State Board to ACLU: We’re on your side

Posted in Adequacy suit, Equity issues, Tenure

The lawsuit against Los Angeles Unified and the state over seniority-based teacher layoffs and massive cuts to state education funding has taken some strange twists.
Both Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Board of Education – defendants in the case – are taking the position that they agree with the plaintiffs. Their message: Don’t sue us. We’re on the side of kids in low-income schools whose teachers have been handed pink slips in disproportionate numbers.
The latest jockeying – unusual but not unprecedented – may be a sign that an initial settlement is near. A court hearing into a preliminary injunction has been pushed back a week, until Tuesday, at the request of plaintiffs attorneys, in order to conduct negotiations with the defendants.
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By John Fensterwald on May 7th, 2010

Digital textbooks coming, quickly and surely

Posted in Program innovation

Few high schools have yet to put them to use, but free digital textbooks keep on coming.
There are now 27 textbooks, partly or completely aligned with state standards, with two more in the wings, following completion last week of the second phase of textbook review by a state agency, the California Learning Resource Network (CLRN). (Read more and comment on this post)

By John Fensterwald on May 6th, 2010

Cash-strapped districts shift their dollars

Posted in Education Excellence Committee, Equity issues, Program innovation

If triage is the new goal of K-12 education, then school districts can claim success.
A survey by the Legislative Analyst’s Office revealed that districts are cutting programs that the Legislature once considered essential in order to keep core classes going. Districts reported that the flexibility to spend “categorical” money as they choose helped them keep teachers on the job and make their budgets.
Impressed with the first year’s spending flexibility, the LAO is recommending lifting the restrictions on some of the remaining categorical programs, including class-size reduction, which the teachers’ unions will fight to preserve, and school transportation.
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By John Fensterwald on May 5th, 2010