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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

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U.S. secretary of education opposes California's testing plan




Education Headlines

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Fensterwald: Duncan threatens repercussions if California ends state tests for all students

Hours before a key vote in the Legislature, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has warned California not to administer a partial practice or field test on the Common Core standards to some students in lieu of giving the existing tests on state standards to all students next spring – or face consequences.

Ex-San Juan administrator alleges schools chief defamed and bullied her

A former San Juan Unified administrator has become the first to file a tort claim with the school district alleging that a superintendent currently on administrative leave subjected her to harassment, bullying and emotional distress.

Now on school menu: Meatless Mondays

Cafeterias at elementary schools across the San Diego Unified district went vegetarian Monday, eliminating cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets and other popular meaty meals from their menus. They instead offered garden veggie burgers, cheese pizza, salad bars and sunflower-seed butter and jelly sandwiches.

Stockton USD toughens truancy policy

Multiagency cooperation and an influx of new cash are putting teeth into battling truancy in the Stockton Unified School District this year.

Modesto City Schools board to discuss by-area elections

he Modesto City Schools board will take up by-area elections tonight, hearing a presentation by the firm Redistricting Partners on the topic. Area elections are seen as a way to give minority voters better representation on local boards. No member of the Modesto board lives in the dense southwest quadrant of the district, where the majority of its minority voters live.

State labor board challenges L.A. teacher evaluations

California's labor oversight board has issued a complaint alleging that the Los Angeles Unified School District improperly established a new evaluation system for teachers.

Lodi teachers want salaries restored

The teachers union for the Lodi Unified School District announced Monday that it wants a restoration of what union President Jeff Johnston describes as "substantial salary cuts" and 7.5 furlough days since 2010 due to the district's financial problems at the time.

Hayward interim superintendent attacks district's low graduation rate

Stanley Dobbs, Hayward's new interim superintendent, has a plan -- Plan 32, to be exact. It refers to the 32 percent of Hayward's seniors who did not walk across the stage at graduation last year. Dobbs, who previously served as Hayward's assistant superintendent for business, thinks his plan can change that.

Bill inspired by St. Frances Cabrini sex offender fiasco becomes law

Schools will no longer be able to let registered sex offenders on campus without first notifying students' families, under a bill signed into law Monday and inspired by an uproar over an incident at a San Jose Catholic school.

New Mt. Diablo schools chief discusses funding priorities, community involvement and charter schools

Mt. Diablo school district's incoming Superintendent Nellie Meyer is bringing 30 years of experience in education from the San Diego school district, in positions ranging from teacher to deputy superintendent.

Bill limiting 'willful defiance' discipline in schools done for year

A bill to restrict how students are disciplined under the broadly used grounds called "willful defiance" is being shelved for this legislative session.

U.S. secretary of education opposes California's testing plan

The nation's top education official threatened Monday to withhold federal funds if California lawmakers approved pending legislation to revamp the state's standardized testing system.
Monday, September 9, 2013

Oswalt students fly high on MacBook Air in Walnut

Anxious fifth-graders at Oswalt Academy received brand new MacBook Air laptops last week. It’s all part of the Walnut school’s one-to-one laptop learning program. Every student on the Rowland Unified campus has either a laptop computer or an iPod touch.

School district unveils online learning programs

Moreno Valley Unified School District has rolled out two hybrid online learning programs for students of all levels this year, making it one of the latest districts to offer high-tech alternatives to traditional classroom settings.

Charter funding law pays millions to tiny Northern San Joaquin Valley school

The priciest school in California sits far from swank ZIP codes in Malibu or Marin County. It lies a stone's throw from the orchards and fields of the Northern San Joaquin Valley. It's a tiny district that saw opportunity in a charter school funding law and seized the day. But that funding heyday may have passed.

More schools require kids to wear photo ID lanyards

A school security policy that requires students to wear photo identification dangling on lanyards is expanding through west and mid-Coachella Valley schools.