LOCAL EDUCATORS DECRY PUSH TO RELAX HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE REQUIREMENT
By KERRY BENEFIELD | THE SANTA ROSA PRESS-DEMOCRAT | http://bit.ly/zOYt7P | Spencer Owen, left, Karl Nimtz and Ed Compton perform an experiment to determine the effects of drinking an energy drink on blood pressure during their IB Biology class at Montgomery High School on Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Christopher Chung / PD Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 1:15 p.m. | Modified: Monday,
1 Question/4 Answers: SHOULD WE SWITCH TO WEIGHTED STUDENT FUNDING AND DO IT NOW?
a TopEd forum | http://bit.ly/z6FisB Merrill Vargo, executive director of Pivot Learning Partners, Eric Hanushek, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution John Affeldt, managing attorney of the nonprofit law firm Public Advocates Gary Ravani, vice president of the California Federation of Teachers. In next year’s budget, Gov. Jerry Brown
FORMER ORVILLE WRIGHT PRINCIPAL SPEAKS OUT ABOUT HIS PUNISHMENT; Intensity of community outrage at his demotion remains high
BY GARY WALKER | The Argonaut | Westchester | http://bit.ly/xl6Qf1 Jan. 26, 2012 :: Westchester has weathered a vast amount of upheaval from an educational standpoint in recent years. An aborted autonomy effort from the Los Angeles Unified School District, a dip in student enrollment and a controversial change from a traditional high school to a fulltime magnet. But the demotion of Dr.
Transitional Kindergarten: CALIFORNIA EDUCATION CUTS COULD HIT YOUNG STUDENTS THE HARDEST
By: Amy Crawford | San Francisco Examiner Staff Writer | http://bit.ly/A2081y SF Examiner file photo 01/17/12 4:00 AM :: While current kindergartners became eligible if their fifth birthday occurred by Dec. 2, by 2014 that date will be Sept. 1. Kindergarten teachers and advocates for early education are protesting Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to defund a kindergarten program that would
STATE AUDITOR QUESTIONS SPENDING OF FEDERAL STIMULUS ON EDUCATION: CDE hasn’t adequately pursued corrective action from school districts and has no control over monitoring system used to track education funding
By NICK MCCANN | Courthouse News Service | http://bit.ly/y9JxDl Monday, January 30, 2012 | Last Update: 2:20 PM PT :: SACRAMENTO (CN) - The California State Auditor found room for improvement when it comes to spending federal stimulus dollars on education and health care. The annual report details how the Departments of Education, Health Care Services, Community Services and
Simitian: ‘UNCERTAINTY’ REMAINS IN EDUCATION SYSTEM + SAVING KINDERGARTEN
Record turn-out for the state senator's annual education forum where he spoke about upcoming proposals and a number of funding-related issues. By Avni Nijhawan | Cupertino Patch | http://bit.ly/zAbn9B 30 January 2012 | 2:46 pm :: The two overflow rooms for state Sen. Joe Simitian's weekend education forum said it all. Saturday's record turnout at the Palo Alto school district
L.A. SCHOOLS STRUGGLE TO MAKE HEALTHY MEALS POPULAR
By CHRISTINA HOAG, Associated Press - from the Silicon Valley Mercury News | http://bit.ly/z77vxQ 1/28/2012 12:35:12 PM PST :: LOS ANGELES — Students at Roosevelt High School have declared a food fight to win back peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Fed up with new, healthy cafeteria cuisine that features dishes like ancho chili chicken with yakosoba edamame and tortellini with butternut
VALLEY, WESTSIDE PARENTS FIGHT SCHOOL CUTS
by Bill Boyarsky • LA Observed | http://bit.ly/xiKNyz January 28 2012 4:18 PM :: A big parental revolt is shaping up in the San Fernando Valley and the Westside as federal budget cuts reach deep into the Los Angeles Unified School District. At issue is the school board’s 6-1 vote in December to take federal poverty funds away from 23 schools, a number of them in middle class Valley and
Doug McIntyre: LAUSD MUST HEAL BREACH OF TRUST WITH THE PUBLIC
by Doug McIntyre, columnist | LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/zlRdsD 1/28/2012 05:20:26 PM PST :: John Deasy is no pushover. Neither are the taxpayers of Los Angeles. Put them together in one room and you have an explosive town hall meeting like last week's Daily News-sponsored "Thrilla in Woodland Hilla" at El Camino Real Charter High School featuring Los Angeles Unified school board member
®EFORM, INC. + CHARTER SCHOOLS ASSOCIATION RALLY PLANNED: Parents to be bused in as the unusual suspects strike back!
California Charter Schools Association Press Release Thousands of LA Parents Will Rally for “Schools We Can Believe In” on Feb. 4: Parents Tell Elected Officials to Put Students Before Politics at a Citywide Rally for Excellent Schools WHAT: Way too many students in Los Angeles aren't getting the education they deserve, with only 56% of students in LAUSD graduating high
Esther Duflo: GOOD THINKING INSIDE THE BOX
by smf for 4LAKidsNews Sunday Jan 29 :: There is a radio programme on the BBC World Service called The Forum where intellectuals publicly think aloud and dare us to follow along: “Prominent international thinkers debating big ideas”. This morning The Forum had a feature with Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute
Diane Ravitch Speaks Out: "NCLB HAS BEEN A DISASTER, AND THE WAIVERS ARE A POISON PILL"
EdBrief Interview |http://www.educationmediagroup.com [as of this posting the EdBrief website is down – this version was sent to 4LAKids by a reader – Thank you Jack!] January 26, 2012 :: Diane Ravitch, noted education historian and prominent critic of federal education policy, made time for a wide-ranging, 30-minute one-on-one interview with EdBrief editor Jeff Hudson on January 20,
Underwhelmed: SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF OBAMA’S EDUCATION RHETORIC + two updates
Dana Goldstein | The Nation blogs/Education, health, women's issues and politics | http://bit.ly/zcp29B January 25, 2012 - 12:14am ET :: In general, I was underwhelmed by the education sections of President Obama’s State of the Union address, which were long on platitudes and short on honest talk about the difficulties of implementing school reform. Most notably, the president made an odd
Labels: “®EFORMERS” or “POST REFORMERS” or “POST-POST-REFORMERS”
from notyet LAUSD | http://bit.ly/w0SE8x Saturday, January 21, 2012 :: Reformers® love their label but people with other views seem to need some help with labels. I propose Post-Reformer® to umbrella all views…and even include Reformers. Reformers are a group of people seeking a package of changes to how we do education in this country. They are capable of only working in dichotomies and
USING TEST SCORES TO EVALUATE TEACHERS IS BASED ON THE WRONG VALUES
By Carol Corbett Burris | New York Times Schoolbook Blog | http://nyti.ms/Ag2SXh Jan. 25, 2012, 12:17 p.m. :: I should be a cheerleader for the New York evaluation system for educators known as the Annual Professional Performance Review system, or A.P.P.R. I am the principal of a very successful high school where students get great test scores. I have a wonderfully supportive superintendent. My
