4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT
LAUSD CHARGED WITH VIOLATING UNION CONTRACT IN TEACHER EVALUATION + smf’s 2¢
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/13XkEAL 8/22/13, 9:05 PM PDT :: Los Angeles Unified’s teachers union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the school district, saying administrators failed to negotiate key changes to a controversial performance evaluation system now being used to review educators. Warren Fletcher, president of United Teachers Los Angeles,
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Public Opposes Use Of Test Scores In Teacher Reviews, Poll Shows
By Teresa Watanabe and Marina Villeneuve, L.A. Times, http://lat.ms/175QPBZ August 21, 2013, 8:23 p.m. :: In a reversal of public opinion, a majority of Americans now oppose using student test scores to evaluate teachers and more believe that increased testing has hurt rather than helped improve public schools, a new survey shows. Nearly two-thirds of Americans polled also oppose the public
California Schools Rising From Budget Depths, Report Finds
By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/15csIkt August 22nd, 2013 :: With the passage of Proposition 30 and implementation of a new funding system channeling more money to most districts this fall, the 2012-13 school year will be the base for measuring how well schools recover from the Great Recession. Yet as EdSource documents in a report issued Thursday, there will be a steep
State Supreme Court To Decide Charter School Access To Lausd Campuses
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/16gyyNM 8/21/13, 6:14 PM PDT :: More than 12 years after California voters decreed that independent charters should have access to public school facilities, Los Angeles Unified remains embroiled in a legal battle over how to share its campus space with charters that request it. The district and the California Charter Schools Association
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CALIFORNIA STATE AUDITOR SAYS SCHOOLS SHOULD MEASURE IF ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAMS ARE WORKING: Cites LAUSD as a district that doesn’t
REPORT: Most Local Educational Agencies Do Not Evaluate the Effectiveness of Their Programs, and the State Should Exercise Stronger Leadership By Loretta Kalb, Sacramento Bee | http://bit.ly/15aVVw2 Published: Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013 - 12:00 am |Last Modified: Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2013 - 10:56 am :: California's state auditor, citing recent high-profile tragedies tied to bullying,
L.A. Unified Union, District At Odds Over Best Way To Train Teachers For Common Core
By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/13S4fxk August 20th, 2013 :: Both Los Angeles Unified officials and the union representing teachers agree that the bulk of one-time state money for the transition to the Common Core standards should be spent on teacher training. They disagree over how best to provide it. <
THOU SHALT HAVE HAVE NO GOD BUT COMMON CORE, AND PEARSON IS HIS PROFIT: “Oops!” in Virginia, Clueless in L.A.
More than 4,000 Va. students assigned wrong testing results By Michael Alison Chandler, Washington Post | http://bit.ly/17KO0Eu August 13, 2013 :: Pearson, the world’s largest education and testing company, provided incorrect scorecards for more than 4,000 students in Virginia who took an alternative assessment last school year. That mistake led to many parents receiving news this summer
THREE POLLS SHOW MIXED REPORT CARD FOR EDUCATION REFORMS: Surveys suggest Americans know little about Common Core standards rolling out this fall + 3 Polls
By STEPHANIE SIMON - Reuters, from Politico | http://politi.co/1dtbq64 8/21/13 12:03 AM EDT :: Americans have a decidedly mixed view of the education reforms now sweeping the nation, supporting moves to open up public schools to more competition — and yet wary of ceding too much control to market forces. That’s the message that emerges from a trio of new polls on public education. Taken
MARSHALL TUCK: Former Villaraigosa associate to challenge state Supt. Torlakson
Tuck, who headed Mayor Villaraigosa's education nonprofit, is also taking on the state teachers union, a By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/14jihM5 Marshall Tuck, former chief of Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, confirms that he will run for state school superintendent. (Lawrence K. Ho, Los Angeles Times / October 5, 2010) August 21, 2013, 12:05 a.m. :: Marshall Tuck, the
L.A. School Board Ratfiies Hiring Of Garcetti’S Top Education Aide
By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1dsHW8t Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana was approved as Mayor Eric Garcetti's education advisor. (The J. Paul Getty Trust / August 20, 2013) August 20, 2013, 10:36 p.m. :: The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday ratified the unusual hiring of the mayor’s top education advisor, Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana. Melendez will be brought on as an
School Board Meeting Wrap-up: MORE DISCUSSION THAN VOTES
by Hillel Aron in LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1f29P5l << Whats with That?: LaMotte, Garcia and Galatzan all, oddly, showed up in lime green August 20, 2013 :: What began as a breezy LA Unified School Board meeting on Tuesday turned, not surprisingly, into a long, tedious, sometimes rancorous session, with a host of issues discussed but rarely resolved. A number of key votes were
Protesters Target Lausd Board Meeting Over Plan For Special Needs Students
by Anthony Kurzweil, KTLA-TV | http://bit.ly/1f27HdN 2PM Aug 20 :: LOS ANGELES (KTLA) — Protesters targeted the Los Angeles Unified School District’s first board meeting of the new year to voice their anger over the district’s plan to transfer special-education students to traditional campuses. <
MORE MONEY, MORE PROBLEMS? LA Unified wrestles with influx of cash
Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/12p1XYZ Adolfo Guzman-Lopez - A Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education meeting August 21st, 2013, 6:00am :: Several new funding streams are rushing into Los Angeles schools this year. Even though students hit the books again last week, Los Angeles Unified School District leaders are only now finalizing plans on
Lausd Takes Aim At Reforming Prop 39 Charter Law
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/183qCRq 8/20/13, 8:32 PM PDT | Updated: 5 AM Aug 21 :: After years of battling over the co-location of charter and traditional campuses, the Los Angeles Unified board took steps Tuesday toward seeking changes to the law approved by voters in 2000 that requires districts to give unused space to the independent schools. After a lengthy,
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GARCETTI PICKS SANTA ANA OFFICIAL AS EDUCATION ADVISOR: Mayor picks Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, former head of the Santa Ana district and a former Obama administration official
see for http://bit.ly/13CHcM8 for smf’s 2¢ By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1d2Ahiq Gov. Jerry Brown with education officials including Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, right, who has been chosen as Mayor Eric Garcetti's education advisor. (Rich Pedroncelli, Associated Press / April 24, 2013) August 19, 2013, 9:39 p.m. :: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has chosen a
LAUSD’s ARTS BUDGET TO GET ITS DAY IN THE SUN; Zimmer will present new resolution at upcoming board meeting
Mary Plummer | | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1dpaSyc Christopher Okula/KPCC | Steve Zimmer, board member for Los Angeles Unified School District 4, takes questions one-on-one after a town hall meeting earlier this year. Zimmer will bring a new arts education resolution before the Board Aug. 20. August 19th, 2013, 6:01am :: The Los Angeles Unified School district is pushing
AUG 19
GARCETTI PICKS UP MANTLE FROM VILLARAIGOSA, APPOINTS EDUCATION DEPUTY: Thelma Meléndez de Santa Ana, Broad Superintendent’s Academy, Class of 2006
Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/17Fwbqk Courtesy of ed.gov - Thelma Meléndez of Santa Ana is expected to be named education deputy by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. August 19th, 2013, 2:25pm :: Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti plans to appoint veteran school district administrator Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana as his new education deputy, KPCC has learned. The
L.A. Unified President Pushes Board’S Authority To Set Policy
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1cUwZi6 LAUSD board President Richard Vladovic and Superintendent John Deasy meet at Starbucks in San Pedro to discuss Tuesday's board agenda. (Photo by Barb Jones / Los Angeles Daily News) 8/18/13, 3:28 PM PDT :: The new president of the Los Angeles Unified school board is moving aggressively to reshape the panel’s operation and
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@DianeRavitch tweets “This article summarizes case against Common Core:” COMMON CORE STANDARDS ARE 'CURRICULUM UPSIDEDOWNIA'
Op Ed by George Ball in the San Francisco Chronicle | http://bit.ly/16VpWig Published 10:38 pm, Friday, August 16, 2013 :: Now adopted in 45 states, including California, and the District of Columbia, this federal effort sets uniform standards on how math and English are taught in American schools. A top-down program imposed on states in order to qualify for Race to the Top funds, the curriculum
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S CULTURAL INSTITUTES PITCH IN ON ARTS EDUCATION + smf’s 2¢
The L.A. Phil and Pacific Symphony are among the cultural groups helping supplement beleaguered school districts. By Marcia Adair, l.a. tIMES | http://lat.ms/19se7lT Fourth- and fifth-grade students from Mt. Washington Elementary School participate in one of the sessions during the Los Angeles Master Chorale's 10-week Voices Within in-school residency program during which students learn
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Special Education: CA PRODUCES ONLY HALF THE SPECIAL ED TEACHERS NEEDED + BROWN LINE-ITEM VETOES EQUALIZATION MONEY FOR SPECIAL ED
old news worth knowing from si&a cabinet report CA produces only half the number of special ed teachers needed (Monday, July 22, 2013) :: Even as enrollment in special education programs statewide continues to escalate, California’s teacher credentialing system is turning out only about half the number of fully authorized classroom educators needed to serve students with disabilities. ...
High Achieving Schools Still Ensnared By Open Enrollment Act
By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources http://bit.ly/1cVterW Friday, August 16, 2013 :: The state’s list of the 1,000 low-achieving schools subject to open enrollment was released earlier this month, absent for perhaps the first time the collective groan the announcement has prompted from districts in the past. Adopted in 2009 as part of an effort to convince federal
Leo Tolstoy writes to LA School ®eport: AN OPEN LETTER TO JAIME AQUINO
LA School Report | http://bit.ly/17UQLBW smf: LA Schools ®eport has been going through some changes of late, tossing their founding editor under the bus and changing their layout. Now their comments section is channeling the nineteenth century Russian novelist replying to a puff-piece profile of the visionary and future-predicting Deputy Superintendent of Instruction for LAUSD 4LAKids doesn’t
Keep Calm, Be Courageous And Carry On!
“Dr. Deasy, we would like to advise you that administrators can only remain calm, be courageous and carry on if they are given the tools necessary to carry out your strategic plan.” from the AALA Weekly Update Week of August 19, 2013 | http://bit.ly/1cV7RXN Aug 15, 2013 :: Administrators attended the Superintendent’s administrators’ meeting on Thursday, August 8, 2013, at Hollywood High
AB 1266: BE ADVISED - Re: Transgender students’ rights
from the AALA Weekly Update Week of August 19, 2013 | http://bit.ly/1cV7RXN Aug 15, 2013 :: On Monday, August 12, 2013, Governor Brown signed AB 1266 into law providing more explicit provisions for the protection of transgender students. The new law provides that a pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and
Deasy: $1 BILLION PRICE TAG TO RESTORE STAFF, PROGRAMS TO PRE-RECESSION LEVELS
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1bGNFpl 8/16/13, 7:59 PM PDT :: The battle is expected to begin in earnest Tuesday over how Los Angeles Unified should spend hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue generated by a voter-approved sales-tax hike that will bring a windfall to the district under the state’s new education-funding formula. A trio of school board members
