Illegal school fees continue despite settlement, whistleblower says
Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union settled a lawsuit accusing the Schwarzenegger administration of allowing school districts to charge students illegal fees for classes and extracurricular activities. The agreement with the state was touted as a victory for parents and the poor.
Yet a key parent advocate and whistleblower against the fees says school districts are simply changing their tactics to continue collecting fees. In a letter sent last week to Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, attorney Sally Smith says she's learned that San Diego Unified's Mira Mesa High School blocked ceramics students from firing clay art pieces unless they had paid a "material donation" charge of $20. Mira Mesa and others, according to documents reviewed by California Watch, are requiring students and parents to sign accountability contracts
Brown appoints ousted schools chief to state board
In one of his first appointments, Gov. Jerry Brown has chosen Bill Honig, a once nationally acclaimed education leader who was effectively frozen out of the reform movement in the state for nearly 20 years, to serve on the State Board of Education.
Long before the era of term limits, Honig was elected to three four-year terms as state superintendent of public instruction, starting in 1983, but was forced to resign in 1993 as a result of one of the state's nastiest legal battles involving a statewide elected official – one that he and many supporters believed was politically motivated.
In an outcome that few expected, he was convicted on several conflict-of-interest felony charges and forced out of office. Those charges were later reduced to misdemeanors by the same judge who originally sentenced him.
