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Divided LAUSD board elects Richard Vladovic as president

Education Headlines

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Grand jury faults Oxnard Union for school construction delays

The Oxnard Union High School District has been too slow to fulfill the promises of a bond measure approved by voters in 2004, according to a Ventura County grand jury report.

Simi Valley Unified superintendent says she has not resigned

Amid rumors and a published account that she was resigning at the end of the year, Superintendent Kathy Scroggin with the Simi Valley Unified School District said she has not resigned.

California Supreme Court ruling energizes opponents of Davis school parcel tax

When Davis voters passed a parcel tax extension last fall, Davis Joint Unified School District leaders hailed the victory as a lifeline that kept their schools whole. Now a California Supreme Court decision in an Alameda case has energized parcel tax opponents who say the Davis measure should be voided, and with it millions of dollars in school funding.

Stockton Unified launches revamp of special ed programs

With details still being fine-tuned only five weeks before the start of the new school year, Stockton Unified is embarking on a multiyear effort to standardize and improve its special-education programs.

Oceanside: Trip funds had to be spent

Back from Washington’s Gaylord National Resort, Oceanside schools officials on Monday explained why they spent more than $100,000 in federal money earmarked for the education of low-income students to take 61 administrators and teachers to a four-day conference.

Redlands school officials delayed telling police of sex allegations

Redlands school district officials waited six weeks to tell police about allegations of a sexual relationship between a student and a teacher who later gave birth to his baby, according to records.

Divided LAUSD board elects Richard Vladovic as president

Signaling a seismic shift in focus, the Los Angeles Unified school board on Tuesday elected teachers union ally Richard Vladovic as its president, ending the six-year tenure of reformer Monica Garcia.

Oakland: American Indian Model Schools can remain open for now

In a dramatic turnaround for a high-performing charter school ordered to close by the Oakland school district after an audit found its former director funneled $3.8 million in school funds to companies he owned, an Alameda County judge said the school could stay open while it appeals to the state Board of Education.

Lawsuit alleges Mt. Diablo school district brushed off past complaints about Concord teacher charged with molesting 11 students

A lawsuit filed against the Mt. Diablo school district alleges that administrators ignored complaints of misconduct by Concord elementary schoolteacher Joseph Andrew Martin years before police began investigating him for child molestation.

LAUSD summer school a 'sorry' experience with limited offerings

"Sorry, we're not offering Spanish." "Sorry, algebra is full." "Sorry, your name's not on the list." "Sorry ..." "Sorry ..." "Sorry ..." And so it went early Monday at Chatsworth High School, where a couple hundred students had lined up by 8 a.m. in hopes of securing one of a handful of open seats in Los Angeles Unified's bare-bones summer school program.

City College of S.F. trustees lose power

State officials stripped authority from the elected Board of Trustees for City College of San Francisco on Monday and installed a "special trustee" with unilateral powers to try and save the school from losing accreditation in one year.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Students build job skills, earn diplomas

Joe White leaned over the shoulder of a young man using a power saw to slice a hole into the wall of a garage. White is a construction teacher for YouthBuild, a Kern County Superintendent of Schools office program that helps high school dropouts earn diplomas while receiving paid, on-the-job training doing construction-related community service work.

Schools laud new education funding formula

The state budget the governor just signed pumps some much-needed money to schools that have taken a financial beating since the recession, but local districts are guarded about the impact on their beleaguered finances.

Significant changes at top of Stockton USD

When Dan Wright's demotion from assistant superintendent to K-8 principal became official one month ago, the longtime Stockton Unified official provided a succinct explanation. "The superintendent is building his Cabinet," Wright said, referring to Steve Lowder. "He wants his own people."

Debate over state windfall at Lodi Unified could get heated

Lodi Unified classrooms will open in the fall with a few minor tweaks to class sizes and the addition of teachers in some schools that have combination classes. To put it simply, things will look similar at school this coming year. The boardroom, however, could get heated.