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Monday, April 22, 2013

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Monday, April 22, 2013

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In L.A. school board race, sky-high spending continues

Endorsements - Monica Ratliff for Board of Education 2013




Education Headlines

Monday, April 22, 2013

Monterey Peninsula USD's choice for superintendent named in sexual harassment lawsuit

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District trustees are confident they picked the right man for the superintendent's job, even though he has been named in a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Palm Springs Unified School District harder on black students

The Palm Springs Unified School District suspends black students almost twice as often as their white or Latino peers, an inequality that has persisted at least a decade.

Racial balance still issue for Menifee, Perris districts

Menifee Union School District's push for unification still faces a number of roadblocks, including securing racial balances, according to a report that Assistant Superintendent Robert Wolfe will present to the governing board Tuesday.

Assistant superintendent leaving Lake Elsinore Unified

Alain Guevara, Lake Elsinore Unified School District's assistant superintendent of instructional support services, is leaving the district to be the superintendent of the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District.

Some furlough days restored in Alvord

Students in Alvord schools will have a full 180-day school year in 2013-14, and teachers will work 185 days, Superintendent Nick Ferguson said Friday, April 19.

In L.A. school board race, sky-high spending continues

The contest between Antonio Sanchez, a former mayoral aide, and Monica Ratliff, a teacher, will be decided in May's runoff. Money pours in for their campaigns.

Program training teachers in West Contra Costa to be school leaders

The sponsor of Emerging Leaders, a New York-based nonprofit, is convinced that strong leaders can help improve struggling schools in low-income neighborhoods.

New standardized tests feature plugs for commercial products

Talk about corporate-based school reform. New high-stakes standardized tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards are featuring plugs for commercial products. And the companies didn’t have to pay a penny.

GED high school equivalency test to get major overhaul, become more difficult

Hundreds of thousands of high school dropouts hoping to earn an equivalency diploma will have to pass a more challenging GED test that is being designed to improve the prospects of low-skilled workers in a high-tech economy.

Adelanto High School opening delayed again

Since a majority of Adelanto's 30,000 residents voted in 2008 to start paying for the state-of-the-art campus, they've eagerly awaited promised openings in August 2012, then January 2013, then August 2013. Now, construction is finally complete, but residents say they're separated from their dream by a chain-link fence and an unsympathetic school board.

Baron: State toughens regs for interns teaching English learners

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing will now require non-credentialed Teach For America teachers and other intern teachers to receive more training in how to teach English learners and to get weekly on-the-job mentoring and supervision.

Kerchner: D.C. cheating issue calls test-driven incentives into question

The smoke surrounding allegations of test score cheating in the Washington, D.C., public schools burst into flame last week.

Test scores under investigation at Burbank school

A McKinley Elementary teacher has been placed on administrative leave after a third-grade student reported that the teacher helped a class answer questions on state standardized tests this week.
Friday, April 19, 2013

Alisal school chief's spending under scrutiny

The personal use of official credit cards by the superintendent of the Alisal Union School District is being investigated on two fronts, officials said Thursday.

San Jose's Metropolitan Education District names new superintendent

The Metropolitan Education District board has named Alyssa Lynch of Campbell as its next superintendent. Lynch replaces Paul Hay, who has been superintendent since 2007 and retires May 31

School Board: Gov. Brown's budget 'will hurt Irvine students'

Members of the Irvine School Board fear that an education funding method laid out in California Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed 2013-14 state budget would underfund Irvine schools in favor of shifting support to districts with a high percentage of English learners and disadvantaged students.