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Friday, September 13, 2013

UPDATE: FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Friday, September 13, 2013

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Someone needed to Clean Up The Standardized Testing Mess

Are feds bluffing over school test issue?




Education Headlines

Friday, September 13, 2013

Truancy sweep targets parents/guardians as well as students

San Joaquin County educators, counselors and probation officers teamed up Thursday morning for a truancy sweep of children who are not enrolled in school but should be.

Coast Unified district to get $1.2 million over school's leaky tanks

Coast Unified School District will receive at least $1.2 million to settle a years-old legal dispute involving leaking underground water storage tanks at Cambria Grammar School.

Report outlines problems with foreign student recruitment at Hacienda La Puente schools

An investigation into the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District’s international students program lays out serious problems, including host homes with no heat and inadequate food, students subject to verbal abuse, as well as a board member’s potential conflict of interest.

Displaced Long Beach students walk more than a mile to new campus

For the second academic year, Roosevelt Elementary students are traveling more than a mile away from their home campus to an interim school site as Roosevelt undergoes construction.

Are feds bluffing over school test issue?

Love or hate them, test scores have become an increasingly essential tool for communities — one that could soon take a hiatus in California over the objections of the federal government.

Los Angeles Unified iPad comes to San Fernando Valley school

Having been part of a two-month trial run last year, the students at the arts-based high school could justifiably have been blasé about Thursday’s rollout of the Los Angeles Unified iPad project at their San Fernando campus. Instead, the seniors in teacher Faraaz Qureshi’s homeroom excitedly exchanged tips and offered advice as they tackled their first assignment — snapping “selfies” with the iPad’s camera, then embellishing their portraits to create a collage reflecting their personalities and passions.

Mt. Diablo school board agrees to raise graduation requirements

The Mt. Diablo school board on Wednesday voted unanimously to phase in increased graduation requirements over the next two years, reversing a decision more than three years ago that had reduced them.

Report: Race to the Top isn’t delivering big results

The Obama administration’s signature education initiative, Race to the Top, can’t deliver much educational improvement in America’s public schools because there is a huge mismatch in its mandates and what is actually possible to accomplish with the provided funding and requirements, according to a new report released Thursday.

California study shows school grants targeted toward low-income students get results

The California Teachers Association on Thursday released a report showing that nearly $3 billion in funding targeted toward low-income students statewide has helped improve academic achievement.

Contested teacher dismissal bill heads to Jerry Brown

A union-backed teacher discipline bill is on its way to Gov. Jerry Brown, despite concerns from school districts, the California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators that it falls short of improving the current process.
Thursday, September 12, 2013

Lakeside forced to reschedule bond vote

The Lakeside Union School District has been forced to reschedule a vote on a controversial bond issue in order to avoid triggering the first step in the process of losing control of the district. The vote had been scheduled for consideration on Oct. 8, but now will be taken up at a special board meeting on Sept. 24.

School secretary admits embezzling from Parent Club

A Millswood Middle School secretary has been arrested on two counts of embezzlement and filing a false police report after she admitted to stealing $2,000 from the school's Parent Club, the Lodi Police Department said.

Bassett board member quits, immediately appears on agenda as new hire

Less than 24 hours after an email notified the Bassett Unified’s school board of Art Sandoval’s resignation, Sandoval appeared on a list as a new hire for Nueva Vista Continuation School.