Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, October 13, 2012

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 10-13-12



4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit


CHICAGO SCHOOLS CHIEF STEPS DOWN AFTER 17 MONTHS THAT ENDED WITH TEACHER STRIKE

    ALSO SEE: Another Broadie Fails+Falls: BRIZARD OUT IN CHICAGO |http://bit.ly/WYNePM By STEVEN YACCINO, New York Times |http://nyti.ms/RE8xms October 13, 2012  | CHICAGO::  Just three weeks after a teacher strike here that kept 350,000 children from their classrooms, the head of the city’s public schools system has chosen to step down, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said at a news conference on Friday

Updating the Update: WORKING CONDITIONS + ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! PARTS I + II

“ Many [administrators] tell us that they routinely work 60-hour weeks, but still can’t keep up. Saturdays and Sundays have become regular workdays and their health is being affected. ” From the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update, Issues of October 8 and October 15, 2012 http://bit.ly/

OBAMA+ROMNEY: Not much difference in Education Policy + The experts weigh in

Obama, Romney have similar basic views on education By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/QsRPpY Both candidates want test scores to be part of teacher evaluations, support extra pay for effective instructors and back the growth of charter schools. One difference is Romney's support for vouchers. Chicago teachers rally outside school district headquarters last month on the first

2 Stories: L.A. SCHOOLS IMPROVE BY STATE STANDARDS, NOT ENOUGH BY U.S. YARDSTICK

Just like across California, campuses are at their highest-achieving level yet, but they aren't keeping pace with rapidly rising federal targets. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/RfcltC The Jordan Downs housing projects sit just beyond the fence of the Watts high school's track and football field. (Mariah Tauger/ Los Angeles Times / October 12, 2012) October 12, 2012  :

Letters: A CASUALTY OF L.A. UNIFIED LAYOFFS

Letters to the editor of the LA Times | http://lat.ms/Tdlinp October 12, 2012 Re "Layoffs claim a teacher who turned novices into champs," Oct. 9 | http://t.co/DqXFwCDS Those of us at Fairfax High School suffering the loss of marching band director Ray Vizcarra's talents are not blaming this kind of stupidity on union-management agreements that protect teachers, and therefore students, from

ALONG CAME MOLLY: THE IRONY OF CALIFORNIA’S BUDGET MEASURES …in which two community college honchos blame Prop 38 for not solving their budget woes

Spoiler Alert: There are no magic bullets. Props 30+38  don't solve high gas prices or the war in Afghanistan either!   Op-ed by Pamela T. Luster, Ed.D.& Anthony E. Beebe, Ed.D, Huffington Post | http://huff.to/OYvTXA 10/12/2012 11:26 am| San Diego  ::  Molly Munger flew into town Thursday night to explain the virtues of California Proposition 38 to about 50 of us at the Jacobs Center

L.A. UNIFIED RATINGS RISE, TWO SCHOOLS LOSE SCORES

by Howard Blume, LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/RSqLml October 11, 2012 |  7:15 pm   ::  California's largest school system recorded gains in academic achievement, according to state results released Thursday The Los Angeles Unified School District registered a strong increase of 16 points on the state’s Academic Performance Index, which is used to rate California schools, school districts and

BIDEN HITS RYAN FOR EDUCATION CUTS IN VP DEBATE

By Alyson Klein, Ed Week/Politics K-12 |  http://bit.ly/Qo8Fq1 October 11, 2012 11:44 PM  ::  Vice President Joe Biden attacked GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan at Thursday night's debate for cuts in Ryan's proposed budget that Biden said would that kick 200,000 children out of the Head Start early childhood program. The vice president also said at one point that the Ryan budget would

One Broadie Fails+Falls/Another Slips Right In: BRIZARD OUT IN CHICAGO/BYRD-BENNETT IN

Posted by Duke to the Jersey Jazzman Blog |http://bit.ly/W9DToZ Thursday, October 11, 2012  8:54 PM EDT::  On the night of the VP debate, right at the end, this story breaks: Chicago Public Schools chief exits WGN News Desk  | http://bit.ly/VXE341 9:29 p.m. CDT, October 11, 2012  ::  The CEO of Chicago Public Schools, Jean

JOHN GREENWOOD: Former LAUSD Board Member, and President of Coro Southern California - A Gentleman at Heart, an Impactful Legacy

by Edward Munoz, Coro Board President, by email     John Greenwood served as a member of the Board of Education for Los Angeles Unified School District representing South Los Angeles and the Harbor area (1979-87) and served as L.A.U.S.D. Board President (1983-85). 11 Oct, 2012  ::  It is with

Editorial: SUPPORT BOTH PROP. 30 and PROP. 38 FOR EDUCATION

SF Examiner Editorial | http://bit.ly/QUmH50 10/09/12 10:50 PM  ::  Voters in California are being asked to consider two competing tax measures on the November ballot, propositions 30 and 38. If both are approved, the one with the higher percentage of votes will prevail. But to avoid confusion, the best strategy is to vote yes on both measures. The propositions, if approved, would send more

LAUSD SCORES DOUBLE-DIGIT GAINS IN STATEWIDE SCHOOL SCORES FOR 5TH STRAIGHT YEAR + Over half of California schools hit academic score + CDE Press Release

By Barbara Jones Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/OWzVjf Updated:   10/11/2012 11:12:23 AM PDT  ::  For the fifth consecutive year, Los Angeles Unified scored double-digit gains on a key measure of student success, with more than one-third of its schools surpassing the statewide target for academic achievement, according to results released Thursday. California's largest school

Details emerge: L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF GETS ONE-YEAR CONTRACT EXTENSION, NO RAISE/NO BONUS

Supt. John Deasy did not achieve ambitious goals regarding third-grade reading scores, graduation rates and ninth-grade algebra that would have earned him a bonus. His salary remains at $330,000. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/Ql6gfu L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy, chatting with student David Paredes at Figueroa Street Elementary School earlier this year, has

LAUSD ARTS FUNDING CUT 76% IN FIVE YEARS: Immediate guarantee of new “Arts at the Core” initiative is only that next year will not be cut further

By Tami Abdollah, KPCC Pass/Fail | http://bit.ly/UJi95a L.A. Unified Octo 10, 2012 | 3:20pm  ::  In the last five years, funding for arts education at L.A. Unified has dropped from a budgeted high of $78.6 million in 2007-8 to $18.6 million this year. The district has committed to returning funds to the 2007-8 levels. In the last five years, funding for arts education at L.A. Unified has

API SCORES: An educational horse race that will soon change

By Tami Abdollah, KPCC Pass/Fail | http://bit.ly/T6u06K L.A. County Fair Oct 10, 2012  | 3:13pm ::  The California Department of Education will release the Academic Performance Index numbers Thursday in an annual tradition that is perhaps the closest equivalent to educational horse racing — parents and schools obsess over the scores and districts work to make them higher. The California

ACTION ALERT-IT’S TIME THE VOTERS AND TAXPAYERS OF NORTHEAST LOS ANGELES GET THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE WE VOTED FOR …AND ARE PAYING FOR!

Email from the Van de Kamps Coalition http://www.vandekamps.org ACTION ALERT-Time to Demand Proper EIR for Van de Kamps & How you can get on the official notice list 10 October 2012  ::  For the last three years, the LACCD has used threadbare excuses to avoid opening the Van de Kamps Satellite Campus to offer a meaningful and coherent slate of community service and academic classes to serve

LAUSD BOARD APPROVES ONE-YEAR CONTRACT FOR SUPERINTENDENT JOHN DEASY IN SECRET SESSION + smf’s 2¢

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/PocKOB Updated:   10/10/2012 11:53:46 AM PDT  :: The Los Angeles Unified school board voted 6-0 late Tuesday to grant a one-year contract extension to Superintendent John Deasy. The board vote took place about 7:30 p.m. in executive session, which came after a lengthy board meeting. Board member Richard Vladovic had been called away

HOW SERIOUS ARE WE ABOUT EARLY LEARNING?

Commentary By Barbara O'Brien, Education Week | http://bit.ly/T5Sj4A —Luis Diaz Published Online: October 9, 2012  ::  We have eight years in the life of every child to help him or her get ready for school, thrive in school, and love reading by the end of 3rd grade. The question is: How serious are we about doing this? Knowing that reading is fundamental to learning, this year 14 states

Prop 38: A LETTER TO OUR TEACHERS from California State PTA President Carol Kocivar

from CAPTA | http://bit.ly/T5P8Ki     ______________________________________________________________ 2327 L Street, Sacramento, CA 95816-5014 916.440.1985 • FAX 916.440.1986 • E-mail info@capta.org • www.capta.org I believe a great strength of the PTA is spelled out in our name: Parent TEACHER Association. Unlike new reform groups who pride themselves in “taking on the teachers” and

30 + 38: Compare+Contrast

Rift widens between backers of ed initiatives 30 and 38 By John Fensterwald and Kathryn Baron, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/QSysZS Munger-funded “compare and contrast” ad criticizes Prop. 30 By John Fensterwald, EdSource today | http://bit.ly/R8VPLD Update below: PTA issues a

NEW DATA SHARING AGREEMENT WITH LAUSD LAUNCHES RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP TO IMPROVE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT IN LOS ANGELES …if research institute can raise more money!

  For Immediate Release    Contact for LAERI:   Kyo Yamashiro, Executive Director Phone: 310-963-2409  Email: kyo@laeri.org October 9, 2012 - LOS ANGELES, CA  ::  The Los Angeles Education Research Institute (LAERI) today announced that it has signed a unique

COMPTON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WALK OUT OF CLASS

By Vanessa Romo, KPCC Pass Fail / http://bit.ly/VM4UQL Oct 9, 2012  ::  About 70 students marched out of Compton High School shortly before lunch Tuesday. They protested recent budget cuts that have led to a failing school system that graduates students who can barely read and write. Topping their list of demands: hire more teachers and reduce class size. Some students report that the teacher

EXECUTIVE WORRIES ABOUT SCHOOLS “GOING OFF THE CLIFF”

Larry Vanden Bos, a member of the Palos Verdes school board, values education and says recent funding cuts convinced him to support Gov. Brown's and Molly Munger's measures.     By Steve Lopez, LA Times columnist, http://lat.ms/OorRGC Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown's tax-increase proposal, would raise about $6 billion, mostly for K-12 public schools, colleges and universities. (

Arts+Music Ed: LAYOFFS CLAIM L.A. BAND TEACHER WHO TURNED NOVICES INTO CHAMPIONS + ironic guest appearance by Herb Alpert, Fairfax HS, ‘53

Ray Vizcarra resurrected Fairfax High's band, teaching students to play instruments from scratch. They soon won all-city competitions. But L.A. Unified had to cut jobs, and he lacked seniority. By Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/PSVsUu At his new job in Beverly Hills, Ray Vizcarra shows students how to play a stringed instrument. He was one of thousands of teachers

DEASY GETS AUTHORITY OVER APPROVING OUTSIDE CONTROL OF PARTNERSHIP SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢: A “done deal” for co-mismanagement of Mayor Tony’s + Megan Cherin’s schools?

by Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/TtNrvt The Master Memorandum of Understanding between LAUSD and its partnership school operator/partners was blanket approved by the board in what one schoolboard member protested was a “done deal” for an additional five years yesterday See:  HOW TO TELL IF YOUR DISTRICT IS INFECTED BY THE

CAN ARNE DUNCAN LOSE THE PRESIDENCY FOR BARACK OBAMA?

by Peter Goodman/Ed In the Apple | http://bit.ly/VZlStb   great moments from the debate Mitt Romney: “I agree with Secretary Arne Duncan, he's -- some ideas he's put forward on Race to the Top, not all of them, but some of them I agree with and -- and congratulate him for pursuing that.” October 10, 2012 :: Four years ago two competing

STUDENTS DESERVE REAL SEX ED

  by Christopher Pepper |  Edutopia Education Trends | http://bit.ly/TtOwDm Image credit: karloff via flickr October 9, 2012  ::  Health education includes a lot of topics -- nutrition, fitness, substance use, mental health, violence prevention and communication skills, to name a few -- but the one that always gets the most attention is sex ed. And lately

LAUSD BOARD APPROVES NEW ADMINISTRATOR EVALUATIONS …BUT PRINCIPALS OBJECT TO WORKLOAD + ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, Part I + smf’s 2¢

by  Howard Blume, LA Times/LA Now |http://lat.ms/QbI1RO Photo: L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy at a Los Angeles School Board meeting in Feb. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times October 9, 2012 |  3:43 pm  ::  School officials on Tuesday formally approved a one-year agreement for evaluating principals in the Los Angeles Unified School District, but the head of the administrators union also

THE LA FUND FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION LAUNCHES "ARTS MATTER" CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT ARTS EDUCATION …w/Justin Bieber, a tweet and a hashtag!

SOURCE LA Fund for Public Education (PRNewswire) http://bit.ly/PPMCXM from the twitterverse John Deasy ‏@DrDeasyLAUSD :  #ArtsMatter to me because it's fundamental to being a good citizen. smf: …but do we care enough to put the taxpayers’ school district money where our he[art] is?  Or do we pay teachers and fund the fundamental with charity?

LIFT BEGINS ON NEW MATH FRAMEWORKS, FRET REMAINS OVER MONEY TO USE THEM

By Kimberly Beltran SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/TjM9D6 Monday, October 08, 2012  ::  Educators charged with creating the blueprint for how California schools will teach new math standards tied to the common core jumped late last week into the bulk of that work – an exercise that while widely anticipated remains frustrated by the lack of funding for districts to ultimately take advantage

Insight: IN CALIFORNIA, THE MUNGERS HAUNT JERRY BROWN

Dan Levine and Peter Henderson Reuter from The Chicago Tribune | http://trib.in/ONd2yF Civil rights attorney and Prop38 supporter Molly Munger poses for a portrait at The Athenaeum in Pasadena (MARIO ANZUONI, REUTERS / October 2, 2012)   7:54 a.m. CDT, October 3, 2012  ::  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown has a problem. Call it the Munger problem. They're scions of

SCHOOL DISTRICTS WARNED ABOUT MILLIONS IN EXPIRING TECHNOLOGY FUNDS, INCLUDING $10.5 MILLION FOR LAUSD

BY hOWARD bLUME | la tIMES/la nOW | http://lat.ms/SVDLVb Image: Screenshot of Education Technology K-12 Voucher Program website. October 7, 2012 |  1:05 pm  ::  State officials have urged school districts and charter schools to use $66 million in vouchers to buy technology before they expire next year. The warning, issued Friday, pertains to funding remaining from an antitrust settlement with

LAUSD MOVES UP DEADLINE FOR MAGNET SCHOOLS: PUBLISHES LAST YEAR’S DEADLINE ON WEBSITE

Applications for Los Angeles Unified's 172 magnet programs are due on Nov. 16 because of the academic year's early start By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/SGCmHw Venice High School is one of the campuses expected to get a new magnet school. (Michael Robinson Chavez, Los Angeles Times) October 7, 2012, 5:59 p.m.  ::  The Los Angeles school district's popular magnet

Los Angeles: THE PROVING GROUND OF EDUCATION ®EFORM

By Catherine Cloutier, fellow, News21 - The USC/Annenberg School of Communications |  http://bit.ly/R4ocOA SCHOOL ED: The Price of Education Reform Deep-Pocket Spenders: The Shadow Secretaries of Education Interactive: Big Education Spenders The Proving Ground for Education Reform Mapping L.A. Schools

SOUTH LA SCHOOLS TEAM UP TO FIGHT RECONSTITUTION

By Vanessa Romo, KPCC Pass-Fail | http://bit.ly/PZTTGL     “Reconstitution and turn around  never works.  Only fresh squeezed works-- there is $10 billion in failed turn around work nationally. That would be a lot of new high quality schools at $500k a piece.” - former LAUSD school board president/Charter school champion Caprice Young