4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit
PENSION REFORM: Top-paid administrators to take biggest hit
By John Fensterwald, Ed Source Today | http://bit.ly/T659Dl August 29th, 2012 :: The retirement age for new teachers will be pushed back two years; they’ll have to fork over about another 1 percent of their pay into the retirement system. And their bosses – principals and administrators – will see a ceiling of $132,120 as the portion of their pay used to calculate retirement pay. Those in the
THE SHORT RUN. THE LONG RUN. AND THE RUN AROUND.
Themes in the News by UCLA IDEA, Week of Aug. 27-31, 2012 | http://bit.ly/T3fHV4 "I tried to find classes online, but most of them were full. So I decided to come the first day to find any free space." "It's hard to get into anything. But I'm going to keep trying because I don't want to wait another year." "...there are so many students trying to get classes; it's chaotic."1 8-31-2012
OBAMA AND ROMNEY EDUCATION POLICIES ARE LEFT UNSAID: 8 Questions Americans Need Answered
By Frank HaglerPolicyMic | http://bit.ly/ObMwtG “Romney made his most detailed remarks at a private fundraiser in Florida, where he said he would combine and eliminate federal departments, including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and would either consolidate the Department of Education with another agency or make it a ‘heck of a lot
AB5: CALIFORNIA TEACHER EVALUATION BILL ABANDONED BY LAWMAKERS
Legislative time runs out on the bill that education advocates said would have weakened initiatives in Los Angeles and elsewhere to improve the quality of public school instructors. By Teresa Watanabe and Michael J. Mishak, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/UiB6rA Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez meets with the family of Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) in 2007. After having revived
Study: LOOPHOLE IN TITLE I MEANS MINORITY-MAJORITY SCHOOLS GET LESS FUNDING
Posted on Latino Ed Beat by Katherine Leal Unmuth | http://bit.ly/PSvUKG August 31, 2012 :: A recent report by the Center for American Progress asserts that the promise of equality made by the landmark Brown. v. Board of Education ruling has been broken. Latino and black children tend to be clustered in schools that receive substantially less per-pupil funding than schools with primarily
The results are in: LAUSD MAKES ITS BEST SHOWING EVER ON STAR TESTS; State makes gains in English+Math
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/Rur1DZ 8/31/2012 10:03:35 AM PDT :: Los Angeles Unified students turned in their best-ever performance on statewide achievement tests, with nearly half demonstrating a firm grasp of English and math skills, according to results released Friday. Scores from the Standardized Testing and Reporting program administered in May show that
The First Presidential Debate: MITT vs.. GEORGE ROMNEY ON BLACK-WHITE ACHIEVEMENT GAP, SCHOOL SEGREGATION
By Richard Rothstein from Valerie Strauss Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog (see note) | http://wapo.st/OyGeW5 This was written by Richard Rothstein, a research associate at the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit organization created in 1986 to broaden the discussion about economic policy to include the interests of low- and middle-income workers. This appeared on the institute’s website
Day 17: WHERE IS KENNEDY HIGH COACH MANNY ALVARADO?
by Eric Sondheimer/Varsity Times Insider: Times reporters blog about high school sports across the Southland | http://lat.ms/Rwtt0I August 30, 2012 | 10:59 am :: It's Day 17 in the ongoing Los Angeles Unified School District saga known as "Where is Manny Alvarado?" The longtime Granada Hills Kennedy baseball coach was pulled from his teaching and coaching positions on Aug. 14 and sent to an
Q&A: ARTS EDUCATION - INTERVIEW WITH JOE LANDON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE FOR ARTS EDUCATION
From the Summer 2012 issue California Schools Magazine, published by the California School Boards Association | http://bit.ly/PS2AEc June 28, 2012 :: Joe Landon—executive director of the California Alliance for Arts Education—learned the hard way that being passionate about the importance of the arts isn’t enough to transform an accomplished artist into an effective advocate in the ongoing
YES ON PROP 38: Time to Fix California Schools
The Reporter: Opinion By Paul Boghosian. Op-Ed in the Vacaville Reporter | http://bit.ly/PwK6WI 8/31/2012 01:05:25 AM PDT :: Before billions were cut from California's education budget, schools in my district were always staffed with a nurse to aid sick children, a librarian to help foster ideas and a counselor to point students in the right direction. Now, all of these positions have
CHARTERS DRAW STUDENTS FROM PRIVATE SCHOOLS, STUDY FINDS: The switch from private to public schools has added $1.8 billion to public funding obligations
By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/N3dHKi Jason Espinoza, 10, right, enjoying class at Celerity Nascent Charter School in Los Angeles. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times / August 30, 2012) August 28, 2012, 12:05 a.m. :: Charter schools are pulling in so many onetime private school students that they are placing an ever-greater burden on taxpayers, who must fund an already
KEEPIN’ MUSIC BEYOND THE BELL: A Fun(d)Raiser Event for After School Programs @ The Conga Room on Wed. Eve, Sept 5th!
CYA/THE SMALL PRINT: This event is not presented, endorsed, recommended, supported, approved or sponsored by the Los Angeles Unified School District – though LAUSD legal undoubtedly spent hours of lawyer time crafting this disclaimer. The District assumes no liability for any loss or injury arising out of participation and is merely permitting this material to
NATIONAL PTA REVISES POLICY ON CHARTER SCHOOLS
By Sean Cavanagh, Edweek.org.| http://bit.ly/PSNdZv Published Online: August 28, 2012 :: The National Parent Teacher Association has revamped its policy to make it clear that it supports giving entities other than local school boards the right to approve charter schools, a new position the group argues will increase its ability to shape policy within the diverse and growing sector of
CalPERS HAILS JERRY BROWN'S "SWEEPING CHANGES" TO PUBLIC PENSIONS + CalSTRS RESPONSE
by Anthony York in Sacramento, LA Times | PolitiCal: On politics in the Golden State | http://lat.ms/SVylOG August 29, 2012 | 6:09 pm :: The governing board of the nation's largest public pension system gave positive early reviews to Gov. Jerry Brown's pension deal Wednesday, but said more work needed to be done before they could say how much money the plan would save. The chief actuary for
LAWMAKERS APPROVE TAKEOVER, BAILOUT LOAN FOR INGLEWOOD UNIFIED
By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/N1yCNL Wednesday, August 29, 2012 :: The State Assembly, in a unanimous vote on Tuesday, approved an emergency bailout loan for the Inglewood Unified School District, the ninth California district since 1991 to lose local control to the state. Sen. Roderick Wright’s SB 533 authorizes a loan of up to $55 million and requires
Teacher Assessment: MORE AMENDMENTS COMING TO AB 5, INCLUDING SUNSET CLAUSE …and perhaps an “end-around” the courts?
By John Fensterwald, EdSource today | http://bit.ly/SXRMVw August 30th, 2012 | With the list of opponents mounting, the author of a bill to rewrite the state’s 40-year-old teacher evaluation law rushed Wednesday to amend the bill for third time to try to get it through Senate committees and on to the floor of the Legislature by the end of the session tomorrow. <<AB 5 author Felipe Fuentes
SENATE BACKS ELIMINATING SPECIAL ED BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTION PLAN MANDATE; ONLINE LEARNING, MATH ADOPTION MOVE AHEAD
By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/PQbP7T Thursday, August 30, 2012 :: In a cost-cutting move that has near unanimous opposition from schools, a majority in the state Senate moved Wednesday to back a plan to eliminate most state funding tied to school management behavior issues of special education students. The preparation and management of Behavioral Intervention
100-YEAR-OLD DRIVER HITS 9 CHILDREN NEAR LAUSD SCHOOL WHILE BACKING UP HIS CAR
Ruben Vives in South Los Angeles and Robert J. Lopez, LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/UdDU9l Photo: Preston Carter, 100, sits in a chair after the accident near Main Street Elementary School. Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times August 30, 2012 | 4:02 am :: Victims were being treated at local hospitals after a 100-year-old man backed his car and struck nine children and two adults
John Deasy: THE TAKEOVER ARTIST?
Takeover Artist: from Wikipedia | http://bit.ly/QydlwF “When [a] company gets bought out (or taken private) – at a dramatically lower price – The Takeover Artist gains a windfall from the former top executive's actions to surreptitiously reduce share price. This can represent tens of billions of dollars (questionably) transferred from previous shareholders to the takeover artist. The former
DING, DONG; CONCEPT SIX IS DEAD!
by Hector Villagra. Executive Director, ACLU of Southern California in the huffington Post | http://huff.to/SUcuWd also (8/30) The happy end to Concept 6 -- the year-round tracks at LA Unified schools - LA Daily News http://bit.ly/QDy8yT Posted: 08/29/2012 2:30 pm :: A new school year is set to begin in LAUSD, with all the typical fresh hopes and dreams, but this one will be different. For
Sex scandal, cover-up claims at LAUSD: FORMER SUPERINTENDENT RAMON CORTINES' ACCUSER SPEAKS OUT
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/Ns9S2C Former LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines, seen above in a file photo, was accused of sexual harassment by LAUSD employee Scot Graham. (Dean Musgrove/Staff Photographer) 26 Aug 2012 :: Sometimes, Scot Graham says, even the deepest secrets have to come out. That's the reason the Los Angeles Unified leasing chief is
EVERYTHING YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT FAILING SCHOOLS IS WRONG
Attendance: up. Dropout rates: plummeting. College acceptance: through the roof. My mind-blowing year inside a "low-performing" school. By Kristina Rizga, | September/October 2012 Issue of Mother Jones | http://bit.ly/OdpT8Y <<Illustration by Jon Krause “SPEEK EENGLISH, TACO,” The girl with the giant backpack yelled when Maria asked where to find a bathroom. The backpack giggled as it