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Tuesday, August 14, 2012

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Education Headlines

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Five school districts place bonds on November ballot

Four Kern County school districts have placed general obligation bonds on the Nov. 6 ballot, and one other has placed a parcel tax bond, Kern County Elections Division records show.

Fensterwald: Thursday deadline for resolving teacher evaluation bill

The Senate Appropriations Committee has given Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes three days to figure out how to pay for and, if possible, mollify critics of his bill to redesign teacher evaluations.

Bereaved mother turns grief into action on school-bus-stop safety

Harvard-Westlake student Julia Cukier Siegler, 13, was killed in a school-bus-related accident in 2010. Ever since, her mother has been working for changes.

Playa Vista baby boom leads to a new school

Playa Vista Elementary opens its doors Tuesday, serving 200 children in the coastal community. The level of parental involvement is almost unprecedented, an Los Angeles Unified official says.

$20 billion in building has boosted LAUSD elementary student test scores, study finds

A nearly $20-billion effort to reduce overcrowding in city schools has paid off -- at least for elementary school students, according to a new study.

Compton NAACP moves to recall school board member

The Compton chapter of the NAACP has launched an effort to recall Skyy Fisher from his seat on the Compton Unified School District board. In an Internet podcast, Fisher referred to the district superintendent with insulting names and used a gay slur to describe slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin.

Struggling districts, charters awarded exemption from state funding deferrals

A total of 33 local educational agencies and 203 charter schools have been given an exemption from this year’s series of $3.5 billion in state payment deferrals, the California Department of Education announced.

Negotiations intensify around teacher evaluation bill

The author of a bill requiring school districts to implement a teacher evaluation system said Monday he still needs to find the almost $22 million needed to pay for the plan – although there are indications a major policy rewrite could also be in the offing.

Frey: Report indicates new schools boost scores for younger LAUSD students only

Los Angeles Unified elementary students from overcrowded schools earned higher test scores after moving to newly built schools, but students in new high schools experienced no similar bump in scores, according to a policy brief released today.
Monday, August 13, 2012

Solana board member works for district’s law firm

Art Palkowitz serves on the Solana Beach school board as a part-time job, but his full-time job is working for one of the district’s outside law firms. Palkowitz is paid more than $100,000 a year by Stutz, Artiano, Shinoff & Holtz, income that he is required by law to disclose on state forms and didn’t.

Tight budgets driving big changes in Sacramento area schools

Students returning to school in the Sacramento area should expect another year of large class sizes, fewer teachers and reduced resources. But they also can expect new programs including "transitional kindergarten," Internet safety training and new International Baccalaureate programs as districts move forward despite budget cuts.

Woodland school board member ousted for living outside his district

Woodland's school board voted to strip trustee Warren Berg of his district seat Thursday, a week after the panel learned Berg moved out of the district he represents and into another trustee area.