Miramonte teacher removed from classroom also gets preliminary pink slip | 89.3 KPCC

Miramonte teacher removed from classroom also gets preliminary pink slip | 89.3 KPCC:

Miramonte teacher removed from classroom also gets preliminary pink slip

Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago

As the crowd dissipated today after an emotional march and press conference, one Miramonte Elementary School teacher stood along 60th Street in South L.A. and spoke nervously about what it was like to not only be removed from the classroom but to receive a preliminary pink slip during that time. The teacher, who instructed a fifth grade intervention class, has taught at L.A. Unified for eight years. The last time she was in the classroom with her students was in December, when the track went off for their break. When the students returned in February, they found an entirely new sta... more »

Miramonte Elementary parents and students rally for their teachers

Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago

As Miramonte Elementary School staff members rallied today in front of the unopened South L.A. campus where they have been placed for the last few months, parents and their kids came out to support their teachers Thursday. Maria Guzman, a mother of second and fourth grade girls at Miramonte School, stood along 60th Street. She and her daughters all sported white t-shirts to symbolize the innocence of the staff. Guzman's t-shirt had writing in black marker that said, "We are here to support the innocent teachers and staff from Miramonte Elementary". On the back it read, "They're no... more »

Miramonte Elementary teachers tell their story after nearly three months of silence

Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago

Miramonte Elementary School teachers made their first public comments today during a march and press conference in front of a South L.A. high school where they have been placed for the last three months as officials conducted an investigation into two teachers arrested on charges of misconduct with students. The staff members, fearful that giving their personal accounts would jeopardize their ability to return to their classrooms, collectively voted on three statements written among them to present anonymously. One teacher related feeling "shocked and numb" at having to leave the ... more »

Miramonte Elementary School teachers march to demand return to classroom

Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago

Nearly 100 people including dozens of Miramonte Elementary School teachers, marched alongside parents and students outside an unopened South L.A. high school where the educators have been exiled for months, to demand their return to their classrooms. Wearing the blue and yellow tee-shirts of Miramonte school students, and white ribbons to symbolize their innocence, the teachers chanted "Hey hey, ho ho, where should all the teachers go? Miramonte's where we need to go." They held signs that said "Miramonte is our home" and "Bring back our innocent Miramonte staff" as cars honked in... more »

Community rights group calls for moratorium on school ticketing

Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago

Ticketing a 12 year-old boy for fighting in school may sound reasonable, but researchers argue that type of discipline just leads to future entanglements with law enforcement – and even to eventual drop outs. Those are the arguments students at a Thursday rally against the ticket system have been citing over and over again. Using the court system to address discipline issues like fighting and vandalism damages young students and their educational growth, Manuel Criollo maintains. "There have been national studies that show a young person who has contact with law enforcement on c... more »

Bill Habermehl, Head of Orange County Office of Education, steps down

Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago

The elected superintendent of the Orange County Department of Education announced on Thursday that he’s resigning nearly three years before the end of his term. Superintendent Bill Habermehl says it’s time to hang up his hat after 45 years as a science teacher, football coach and administrator in Orange County schools. The county’s Department of Education board appointed Haberhmehl superintendent in 2001, a position he went on to win election and reelection for three times. Habermehl said he wants his successor to gain some experience on the job before he or she runs for electio... more »

Miramonte Elementary teachers ready to march

Pass / Fail - 5 minutes ago

Dozens of Miramonte Elementary School teachers will be marching around a South L.A. high school at 3:30 p.m. before giving their first public statement in months about their removal from campus where two teachers were arrested for alleged misconduct with students. Half-a-dozen television trucks and other media sat outside Augusta Hawkins High School where the teachers have been placed since Feb. 9 when L.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy ordered the removal of the entire staff as part of an investigation into the two separate cases of alleged misconduct. The staff was replaced ... more »

Compton college spends $600,000 trying to remove three teachers in grades-for-money scandal

Pass / Fail - 16 hours ago

A newly released investigative report states that three professors at El Camino College Compton Center were allegedly caught handing out grades for money -- but administrators say they were unable to do anything about it, and even had to pay two of the teachers to go away. The professors finally did resign in 2010 and 2011, according to the report by California Watch, but only after years of hassle and well over a half-million dollars in legal and investigative fees were spent by the school. Herkie Lee Williams, a psychology professor, stepped down in December 2010 with a month’s... more »

Miramonte Elementary teacher calls LAUSD treatment unfair

Pass / Fail - 1 day ago

Miramonte Elementary School teachers have not spoken publicly for nearly three months since they were removed from their classrooms as part of an investigation into two separate cases of teachers arrested for lewd acts on children. But they have spoken at union events to their peers. KPCC has linked to a video of a statement made by one teacher in March at a meeting of the California Teachers Association's State Council, the union's top policy-making body. The meetings are typically not open to the public. Maria Miranda, a first grade teacher at Miramonte Elementary School, calls... more »

Miramonte Elementary teachers to speak out after months of silence

Pass / Fail - 1 day ago

Miramonte Elementary School teachers who were removed from their classrooms during the investigation into two teachers arrested for misconduct will speak publicly on Thursday, after nearly three months of silence. The "UTLA South Area Action" will be held outside the unopened Augusta Hawkins High School in South Los Angeles, where the teachers have been placed since Feb. 9. A march with posters and chanting will begin at 3:30 p.m. around the campus, and teachers will read anonymous statements from their colleagues about their experience, said Ingrid Villeda, chair of the United Te... more »

CSU employees vote to strike if contract can't be reached

Pass / Fail - 1 day ago

Faculty at the 23 Cal State campuses voted overwhelmingly to authorize an ongoing series of rolling two-day strikes, if their negotiators fail to make a deal with the University. Lillian Taiz, the President of the California Faculty Association, said the 95 percent vote in favor of striking showed that the Cal State faculty are fed up. "The message to Chancellor Reed is absolutely clear, The CSU faculty have run out of patience. It is time to address seriously the issues before us so that our faculty can get back to the business of providing quality higher education to the stud... more »

Teaching the Cambodian genocide to a new generation (video)

Pass / Fail - 1 day ago

On a recent evening, about three dozen Cambodians gathered in an auditorium at Long Beach City College for an event called, “Courage to Remember.” Through a translator, Vishsnanh Cragn told her story of how she survived the genocide. “After that they took my husband and killed him, and then they came and arrested me, they tied me up and took me to the place that they planned to kill me,” she said. This story about Cambodians killing other Cambodians is one that was experienced first hand by about half the people in the audience. The other half, people in their 20s, only know bits... more »