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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

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Teaching Braceros' impact on California



Education Headlines

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Kern schools use call systems for emergencies, information

Neither the California Department of Education nor the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office tracks how many districts have mass messaging systems, but an informal survey of Kern County schools found most everyone contacted has that capability.

Salinas City Councilman Jose Castaneda mum on giving up school board seat

Salinas City Council member Josรฉ Castaรฑeda, also a trustee for the Alisal Union School District, is refusing to say whether he'll give up his seat on the school board.

Stockton USD: Safety always a priority

Though a top National Rifle Association official says "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," Stockton Unified leaders are treading a more measured path toward improving school security in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut.

Bay Area cold on NRA's call for an armed guard in every school

All across the Bay Area, school administrators, law enforcement officials and gun control activists seem uncomfortable with the idea that the first thing children see at school every day should be a person with a gun.

January 2014 completion goal for multistory San Marcos High School

San Marcos High’s main classroom building will be three stories, with a four-story corner science complex. By building a multistory school, the district was able to expand the campus without additional land.

Teaching Braceros' impact on California

A law authored by Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, that goes into effect Jan. 1 authorizes -- but does not require -- schools to offer instruction in the long-gone Bracero Program for grades 7-12.

Shrinking school district budgets expand winter vacations for many school districts

Shrinking budgets have meant more weeks of kids bouncing off the walls during winter break in many California school districts.

Jerry Brown pushes new funding system for schools

His plan has two major objectives: Give K-12 districts greater control over how they spend money, and send more dollars to impoverished students and English learners.

California fails to win waivers from restrictive No Child Left Behind education law

Signaling that California again is marching to its own drum -- perhaps trailing the parade -- the federal government has denied the state’s request for a waiver from a key U.S. education law, thus assuring that schools will have to keep striving to meet what’s generally accepted as unachievable goals, then be punished for missing them.

School districts are lining up against L.A. County's clean water fee

The county's Clean Water, Clean Beaches Measure is meant to clear polluted waters, but educators say the plan will drain millions of dollars from cash-strapped schools.

New website pulls together school data

The California Department of Education released the School Quality Snapshot in October to give people an easy-to-understand look at each public school in the state.

Officials review school security

Security wasn’t even a thought when some Riverside schools were built in the 1950s and ’60s, but officials are reconsidering fences, entry points and the cost for improvements.

Contested UTLA panel elections signal internal fissures

The recent elections, concluded this month, were the most contested in years, by far.

Schools face more penalties as feds reject California waiver

Federal officials have rejected California’s request for exemption from rules that penalize low-performing schools and school districts, state officials announced Friday.
Friday, December 21, 2012

State dings Coast Unified School District over plan for English learners

The California Department of Education has upheld a parent’s claim that the Coast Unified School District hasn’t met all the legal requirements for providing a framework in which parents of English learner students can meet and confer.

Parents seek charter school in Orange Unified

The Orange Unified School District's Board of Education will hear the case for a new charter school next month from a group of parents who want their children to stay with a teacher for more than one year.

Cohen: A teacher’s advice to the Legislature in 2013

Looking ahead to the next legislative session, it appears likely we’ll have a replay of some of the education policy debates of 2012. Here are my recommendations for how the Legislature might avoid pitfalls and advance positive changes in education policy next year.