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Tuesday, September 17, 2013

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Education Headlines

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Ventura police aim to improve safety by monitoring live video feeds from schools

In what may be the first such arrangement statewide, police soon will be able to view live video footage from five of Ventura’s largest schools in the hope of responding faster to and being better prepared for a campus shooting or other emergency.

Local schools lead state in personal belief vaccine exemptions

Health experts say the Sacramento region’s large immigrant population is one factor in the growing number of parents declining to get shots for their children. The number of children in Yolo, Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado counties starting kindergarten without vaccines jumped 30 percent, or by 350 children, in the last school year, according to new data from the California Department of Public Health.

School taxes concentrated in wealthier areas

Lowering the vote threshold for California school parcel taxes likely would allow more of them to pass but probably would not have a significant effect on school funding statewide, according to a report released Monday from the Public Policy Institute of California.

SD Superintendent continues to revamp administration

Superintendent Cindy Marten continues her reorganization of the San Diego Unified School District administration, calling personnel changes she said will direct more attention and resources to teaching and learning.

Study: Lowering school parcel tax threshold to 55% would not encourage more districts to seek them

Lowering the threshold for school parcel taxes -- from the currently required two-thirds majority to a 55 percent vote -- would not necessarily encourage more school districts to try to pass them, according to a report released Monday.

Adams: School finance reform prompts dispute over counting low-income students

Two months into the rollout of the reforms, which Gov. Jerry Brown praised as a victory for the neediest students, two of the largest districts – Los Angeles Unified and Fresno Unified – are in a dispute with the state over a last-minute change in how children who receive free meals are counted. I

Fensterwald: Brown not backing away from decision to suspend state standardized tests

In remarks Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown defended the state’s decision to suspend state standardized tests this year and instead offer students a practice test in the Common Core standards that’s now being developed. And he gave no sign of steering away from a collision with the federal government over this issue.
Monday, September 16, 2013

S.J. educators welcome testing shift

California educators who have anxiously awaited a transition from well-worn standardized K-12 tests to a new system that measures student achievement through Common Core standards are cheering a new bill that could make for a longer, but smoother, testing transition.

Former Bassett school board member denied teaching position within school district

The Bassett Board of Education accepted the resignation of Art Sandoval, minutes before denying him the job he left the board to take.

Walnut Valley Unified’s virtual teaching could foreshadow future of education

Walnut Valley Unified is trying virtual teaching this semester in an interesting experiment that could foreshadow the future of education.

Long Beach charter school teaches intellectual virtues

The school, founded by two philosophers, opened its doors to students for the first time on Sept. 4 at Grace Brethren Church of Long Beach. IVA will eventually be home to students in grades 6 through 8 but kicked off its launch with just the sixth grade, a class of 56 currently.