FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Thursday, July 5, 2012

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Education Headlines

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Former principal's lawsuit claims she was demoted for reporting alleged death threats

When a teacher at Stowers Elementary School in Cerritos allegedly made death threats against two other teachers, then-principal Eileen Blagden thought she was doing the right thing by reporting the incident to police.

Sacramento students identify energy-saving projects for schools

In an innovative program, the Sacramento City Unified School District is relying on its students' expertise to make its schools more energy efficient. The school district asked its students of all ages to become the experts by conducting "green audits" of their school facilities.

West Contra Costa school district sued over site

A Richmond school that is supposed to provide last-resort help to troubled students is housed illegally in two decrepit trailers without adequate light, sanitation, desks, working bathrooms or trained teachers, civil rights groups charged Monday in a lawsuit.

John Swett school district's intense intervention shows in vastly improved graduation and dropout rates

Instead of sleeping in and lazily enjoying the summer, about 130 teens in the John Swett school district are taking online classes so they can graduate on time with their peers.

Getting to the core of Oakland Unified School District superintendent

As a white man who talks about white privilege and institutional racism, the superintendent of Oakland's school system is not your typical school administrator.

California Assembly bill to alter teacher firing process dies

Legislation to expedite the process of firing teachers for sex, violence or drug offenses involving children was killed late Wednesday by an Assembly committee after sparking strong opposition from the state's largest teachers union.

Rosenblatt: The myth that only furloughs can balance school budgets

There are indeed some areas where government can learn from business, and one of them is regarding the unique, very strange, but all too common public sector cost-cutting approach called “furlough days.”

Fensterwald: Report lauds leadership focus in Sac City, Fresno

Fresno Unified and Sacramento City Unified are among the five districts nationwide highlighted by the Education Trust for creating environments in high-poverty schools where teachers can thrive and stay. T

Frey: Los Angeles Unified cuts adult school by half: That’s good news

The reaction to Los Angeles Unified’s decision to cut the budget for adult school in half for the 2012–13 school year underscores the tenuous existence of adult education programs in California.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

The story behind school superintendent's dubious degree

In July 1996, FBI agents raided a nondescript office building beside a church in Mandeville, La., a small town near New Orleans. That long-ago raid, half a nation away, came home late this spring when questions were raised at a school board meeting about the educational attainment of Columbia Union School District Superintendent John Pendley.

SF Superintendent Carlos Garcia ends 37-year career

For a city accustomed to a school district plagued by scandal and a school board prone to histrionics and hissy fits, the five-year term under Superintendent Carlos Garcia by comparison has been one big San Francisco snooze fest. The retiring Garcia, who officially ends his 37-year career in public education Tuesday, has arguably been one of the most boring school chiefs this city has ever seen.

Castro Valley schools face $4.3 million deficit

Castro Valley Unified School District faces a $4.3 million structural deficit for the coming school year. Superintendent Jim Negri said the shortfall is a result of the district not receiving the money it should be getting from the state.

Second year of science remains a mandate

Advocates of strengthening – or at least not weakening – the teaching of math and science won a partial victory in the final budget that Gov. Brown signed last week. A second year of science for high school graduation remains a state mandate, at the Legislature’s insistence, contrary to Brown’s proposal to make it optional.