TICKETS TO NOWHERE: ROMNEY'S EDUCATION VOUCHERS
Themes in the News by UCLA IDEA Week of May 21-25, 2012 | http://bit.ly/LxcVyB 05-25-2012 :: Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has begun to lay out his education vision. On Tuesday, Romney announced the names of his education policy advisors, whom Diane Ravitch and others see as "a re-run of the George W. Bush administration" (Diane Ravitch blog, Education Week). A
LAUSD TO APPLY FOR PALTRY RttT GRANT
Posted by Michael Dunn, Modern School | http://bit.ly/K189iT Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons Friday, May 25, 2012 3 Easy Tricks to Maximize Profits From the Public Sector 1. Demand low taxes to increase personal income while decimating school budgets, thus making public education look like a disaster in need of corporate management 2. Claim your private enterprise will solve these
BIRMINGHAM HIGH SUBMITS PLANS TO FIX PROBLEMS, KEEP SCHOOL'S CHARTER
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/JkuOAJ Updated*: 05/25/2012 03:34:12 PM PDT :: Birmingham High officials have promised to rework admissions and disciplinary policies, enhance training and improve communication with LAUSD in an effort to prevent a revocation of the school's charter. The proposed reforms are detailed in a 215-page action plan filed
LAUSD AND TWO MORE UNIONS, BUILDING TRADES AND SEIU, REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENTS ON 10 FURLOUGH DAYS FOR 2012-13!
LAUSD Facebook Posting | http://on.fb.me/KNgJ0d May 25 5PM :: Unit E (Skilled Trades Employees) agreed to the unpaid furlough days providing more than $2.6 million dollars to help save jobs. “Again, our valued employees are willing to share the sacrifices necessary to save jobs and services,” said Superintendent John Deasy. Ron Miller, Unit E Business Representative, said, “The Building
EMBATTLED CAL STATE CHANCELLOR CHARLES REED RETIRES
By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez, Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/JCYNd7 Rich Pedroncelli/AP - California State University Chancellor, Charles Reed, right, discusses the effects of past budget cuts. Reed announced Thursday that he’s retiring after 14 years in the university system. 24 May :: California State University Chancellor Charles Reed announced Thursday that he’s retiring after 14 years
ONLY ONE TEACHER DISMISSAL BILL REMAINS ALIVE AT STATE LEGISLATURE
By Tami Abdollah, Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/LoHBTg Bill Ferris/Flickr.com: California State Assembly floor 3/25 - 3:21pm - Only one of three bills recently introduced in the state Legislature that aim to make it easier to dismiss teachers is alive today, and may continue on to change state law. AB2028, sponsored by Republican state Assemblymen Cameron Smyth of Santa Clarita and
STATEMENT BY RAMON CORTINES REGARDING SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS
LAUSD, reblogged from Pasadena Star-News http://bit.ly/Lj6H9M Ex-LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines denies sexual-harassment claim, admits to affair with subordinate Lisa Gritzner is a recognized leader in Southern California’s public affairs arena and brings more than 18 years of government, business, and political experience to Cerrell Associates, Inc. Sean Rossall is on the Account
The Condition of Education 2012: U.S. STUDENTS GET SERIOUS ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL
By Sarah D. Sparks, Edweek.org | http://bit.ly/KLA6H7 Published Online: May 24, 2012 :: High school students work harder and are more focused on school than they were a generation ago, suggests a special analysis in “The Condition of Education 2012,” and the economic downturn may highlight an opportunity to put more of them on the path to college. The National Center for Education
California School Boards Association: VOTE FOR BOTH TAX PLANS - Battle between 'purists and pragmatists'
By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/LMClyB Posted on 5/22/12 • The state PTA backs the tax initiative financed by civil rights attorney Molly Munger; the California Teachers Association and the Association of California School Administrators endorsed the governor’s initiative. This week, the California School Boards Association decided to support both. On Sunday, at the urging
A – G: FAILING TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL
AALA Update: Week of May 28, 2012 | http://bit.ly/KGKBZV The Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) represents Middle Managers in the Los Angeles Unified School District. This year, AALA broadened its scope to now represent classified Middle Managers, as well as certificated administrators. 25 May 2012 :: Now that the LAUSD Board of Education has passed the
PARENTS RALLY TO KEEP PRINCIPAL AT CARPENTER: Joe Martinez commits to stay at school for another year, despite opportunities for a promotion elsewhere.
By Mike Szymanski, Studio City Patch | http://bit.ly/JIRAlr 25 May :: This week, the super-popular principal of Carpenter Community Charter School in Studio City was supposed to give an answer to a higher-paying job offer at another school. The parent volunteers—known for their creative responses to issues at the Los Angeles Unified School District affiliated-charter school—scrambled to
SCHOOL DISTRICTS CUT MORE NURSES
By Tamara Audi, Wall Street Journal | http://on.wsj.com/LmOuVg May 24, 2012, 7:24 p.m. ET :: LOS ANGELES—The battle for shrinking school-budget resources has a new front: the nurse's office. School nurses, a fixture in many American schools for more than a century, are being cut from Philadelphia to San Diego, as public schools struggle to provide basic services while continuing to slash
THE LAUSD SOCIAL MEDIA SURVEY
John Deasy @DrDeasyLAUSD tweets Click here to take the #LAUSD's first Social Media Survey! We appreciate your participation. http://ht.ly/b8vMc smf: So…. We are using social media, in English, to ask how well we are doing at social media? Marshall McLuhan said “The Media is the Message”. Here the Media is the Massage ….and we are massaging the connected. The broadbanded. The WiFi
LATEST LAUSD GRADUATES ‘ARE BLAZING NEW TRAILS’
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/KSJEzA Cesar Chavez Learning Academies' Social Justice Humanitas Academy seniors Daniel Rojo and Vanessa Diaz at the school's San Fernando campus on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. (Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer)>> << Senior Lyndsay Lucas, 18, had cancer, lost her leg and had some learning issues. She has overcome all that
ETHICS ANYONE?
by smf for 4LAKids News May 24 2012 – Lewiston, ME :: THIS AMERICAN LIFE, the NPR produced program from Chicago, did an episode on monogamy (and polyamory) in mainstream America in 1998. [http://bit.ly/KCiF9D] They pointed to a news story largely lost amid the Lewinsky scandal. Roy Romer, governor of Colorado, had an affair for nearly two decades with his family's full cooperation. The NPR
California’s Budget Crisis Part XII: IT'S SUMMER. TIME FOR A CALIFORNIA BUDGET CRISIS + more
Tracy Gordon | Brookings Institution / reblogged repeatedly | http://bit.ly/JUDROH May 17, 2012 12:40pm :: Summer is here and that can mean only one thing – the start of movie season. Well, that and California’s annual budget mess. Like a tired franchise that keeps coming back, it’s the same story year after year, sometimes gussied up with computer generated effects or a surprise cameo
CALIFORNIA WANTS OWN 'NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND' RULES
San Francisco Chronicle Editorial | http://bit.ly/JUB5sG Arne Duncan | T. Rob Brown / Associated Press Wednesday, May 23, 2012 :: The state Department of Education, after saying it wouldn't, is applying for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law that funnels federal money to help students with extra needs to learn. Not the waiver package granted 11 states and under consideration for 27
ROMNEY MAKES HIS CASE ON EDUCATION: Attacks Obama Ed policies, blames teacher’s unions + Randi Weingarten responds
Mitt Romney, in a speech to the Latino Coalition in Washington, attacks Obama's education policies and blames teachers unions' influence for preventing needed reforms. By Paul West, Washington Bureau, LA Times | http://lat.ms/LHqZvM Mitt Romney, with Hector Barreto Jr., chairman of the Latino Coalition, after the GOP presidential candidate addressed the group at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce
FUNDING INCREASES FOR SCHOOL MEALS AMID EDUCATION BUDGET CUTS
By Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/w0MlFb Adolfo Guzman-Lopez/KPCC - Chinese chicken salad with three sides is served to Tustin public school students through a new, federally funded after-school supper program. 23 May 7:12 p.m. | Amid all the bad news about budget cuts to public schools there is a bright spot: More money is now available for free and subsidized
COLORADO IS LATEST TO RECONSIDER ZERO-TOLERANCE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE POLICIES
Shortly after a 6-year-old boy was suspended for singing a pop song to a girl — deemed sexual harassment — Colorado moved to ease disciplinary policies in schools, as other states have. By Jenny Deam and Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/Jdt4Jp 5:00 AM PDT, May 23, 2012 :: AURORA, Colo. — On May 2, D'Avonte Meadows, a 6-year-old with an infectious grin and rambunctious streak
Updated: L.A. UNIFIED TO SETTLE HARASSMENT CLAIM AGAINST CORTINES + Other coverage
The district will pay $200,000 plus benefits worth up to $300,000 in return for Scot Graham's resignation. The ex-superintendent denies harassment but admits 'adult behavior.' By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/KRTMZ6 Retired Supt. Ramon C. Cortines denied any harassment, but acknowledged what he called “adult behavior on one occasion.” (Los Angeles Times / August 25, 2009
SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIM AGAINST EX-LAUSD CHIEF SETTLED FOR $200,000
BY Howard Blume | LA Times | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/cortines-harassment-claim-settlement.html May 23, 2012 | 2:00 pm :: The Los Angeles Unified School District on Wednesday announced the settlement of a sexual harassment claim against retired Supt. Ramon C. Cortines by a senior employee in the facilities division. The claim alleges that Cortines made unwanted
SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIM AGAINST EX-LAUSD CHIEF SETTLED FOR $200,000
BY Howard Blume | LA Times | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/cortines-harassment-claim-settlement.html May 23, 2012 | 2:00 pm :: The Los Angeles Unified School District on Wednesday announced the settlement of a sexual harassment claim against retired Supt. Ramon C. Cortines by a senior employee in the facilities division. The claim alleges that Cortines made unwanted
SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIM AGAINST EX-LAUSD CHIEF SETTLLED FOR $200,000
BY Howard Blume | LA Times | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/cortines-harassment-claim-settlement.html May 23, 2012 | 2:00 pm :: The Los Angeles Unified School District on Wednesday announced the settlement of a sexual harassment claim against retired Supt. Ramon C. Cortines by a senior employee in the facilities division. The claim alleges that Cortines made unwanted
SEXUAL HARASSMENT CLAIM AGAINST EX-LAUSD CHIEF SETTLLED FOR $200,000
BY Howard Blume | LA Times | http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/05/cortines-harassment-claim-settlement.html May 23, 2012 | 2:00 pm :: The Los Angeles Unified School District on Wednesday announced the settlement of a sexual harassment claim against retired Supt. Ramon C. Cortines by a senior employee in the facilities division. The claim alleges that Cortines made unwanted
RACE TO THE TOP: Count LAUSD in; others consider applying + smf’s 2¢
By John Fensterwald - Educated Guess | http://bit.ly/L7CmuJ Posted on 5/23/12 • California school districts will finally be able to seek Race to the Top money without interference and resistance from Gov. Jerry Brown and state officials. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Tuesday announced much anticipated draft criteria for a $400 million competition open to individual districts or
LACCD Scandals: FUTURE OF VAN DE KAMPS FACILITY TO BE DISCUSSED. With their lease with a local charter school terminated, LACCD must now determine how to utilize the historic Van de Kamps facility.
By David Fonseca- Highland Park-Mount Washington, CA Patch http://bit.ly/Lqpyvp May 22, 2012 :: With the site of the former Van de Kamps bakery in Glassell Park scheduled to be discussed during Wednesday's meeting of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Directors, some local activists are hoping the board can be persuaded to pursue their vision of turning the historic
ACTIVISTS LAUNCH RECALL CAMPAIGN OF LAUSD BOARD MEMBER NURY MARTINEZ
By Vanessa Romo | KPCC Pass/Fail | http://bit.ly/w0MlFb clcv/Flickr Creative Commons May 22, 2012 :: Fed up with LAUSD’s continuing budget cuts, angry activists have launched a campaign to recall school board member Nury Martinez (pictured above). Fed up with LAUSD’s continuing budget cuts, angry activists have launched the first phase of a campaign to recall school board member Nury
PROTESTERS GATHER TO OPPOSE CUTS TO ADULT ED: Thousands say adult education is crucial to their economic well being
By Stephanie Elam and Bill French, KNBC News | http://bit.ly/KT0H4S | Tuesday, May 22, 2012 | Updated 10:49 PM PDT :: Hundreds of people gathered outside Tuesday's meeting of the Los Angeles Unified School District board to show their support for adult education. "It's very important for me because I want to get my GED and my diploma and help my children for their education," said
L.A. UNIFIED CAN APPLY FOR FEDERAL RACE TO THE TOP FUNDS: For the first time, the U.S. Department of Education will let districts bypass state officials. L.A. Unified wants funds to alter the teacher evaluation process.
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/LfoNG7 May 23, 2012 :: For the first time, L.A. Unified and other individual school districts can apply for federal Race to the Top grants, bypassing California officials, including the governor, who had objected to the rules for receiving the education-reform incentives. The draft rules, announced Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education,
