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State Senate approves student testing plan over federal objections |
Education Headlines
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Boy, 8, forgotten on school bus
An 8-year-old special needs student was inadvertently left behind on a Kern County Superintendent of Schools bus for more than five hours Monday.Lakeside school board tables bond vote
In order to have more time to explore other options for paying down its debt, the Lakeside Union School District Tuesday night tabled a vote on a controversial bond issue. The district has more than $10 million in debt coming due in June 2014 and no way to pay it.Fillmore district fails to score a budget hit with sports donations
Contributions from athletes’ families are failing to make up a budget gap faced by the Fillmore Unified School District’s sports program, school board members were warned Tuesday.Union: Flourishing Lodi Unified too cheap
Lodi Unified teachers are going public with demands that the district fully restore pay cuts and rescind furlough days they accepted in 2010 to help bridge multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls.Freedburg: Arne Duncan unsuccessful in 11th-hour effort to block state legislation
Veteran education watchers in California could not recall a presidential cabinet officer ever attempting to block state legislation and certainly not in the heavy handed way U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan attempted to do on Monday night.Walters: California school test conflict heating up
A bill backed by the unions, their perpetual ally, state schools Superintendent Tom Torlakson, and Gov. Jerry Brown would suspend almost all academic testing immediately and then, the sponsors say, reinstate it in alignment with Common Core in a couple of years. Thus, were the legislation to be enacted, everything that stems from testing and that the unions dislike would also be suspended and, it’s widely believed, be quietly killed.Jerry Brown pushes school testing delay despite federal threats
State officials are pushing forward with a plan to suspend mandatory school testing for a year despite U.S. Department of Education threats to withhold federal funds.Moraga to pay $1.8 million to abused student
The Moraga School District has agreed to pay $1.8 million to a former student who accused a science teacher of sexually abusing her, officials said Tuesday.District tries new program to modify behavior
A new way to modify student behavior, pioneered at Hans Christensen Middle School, is being implemented in most Menifee Union School District sites this year. The “Positive Behavior Intervention and Support” program — called PBIS — replaces the age-old rewards and punishments method with critical assessment training to help students make the right choice, regardless of consequences.California schools could lose federal funding over STAR test suspensio
Hesitating to fully embrace a nationwide campaign to bolster schools' accountability, California has turned up its nose at federal carrots and now wants a reprieve from Uncle Sam's stick -- an entreaty that has so infuriated the Obama administration that it is threatening to withhold federal money from the state's schools.LAUSD moves to facilitate screening for parent volunteers
Trying to encourage more parents to volunteer at local campuses, the Los Angeles Unified school board approved a plan Tuesday to make it easier to get necessary fingerprinting and tuberculosis screenings, although the South L.A. representative asked that her schools be excluded from the plan.L.A. school board approves new parent trigger rules
Pioneering guidelines to help Los Angeles Unified school staff and parents navigate the complex and controversial process to overhaul failing schools under the state parent trigger law were approved Tuesday by the school board.LAUSD teacher evaluation system prompts state labor board complaint
The state labor board has issued a complaint charging Los Angeles Unified with implementing a new performance evaluation system without first negotiating key provisions with its teachers union.Fensterwald: Bill reforming process of firing teachers resurfaces with amendments
A highly contested bill that potentially would make it quicker and less costly to dismiss teachers has risen from legislative purgatory with significant changes that could lead to passage by the Legislature this week.LA Unified's plan to implement Common Core standards put on hold
The Los Angeles Unified School District's Board of Education on Tuesday delayed approval of the district's proposed $113 million budget to implement standards for Common Core – California’s new English and math standards shared with 46 other states.State Senate approves student testing plan over federal objections
California lawmakers pushed ahead Tuesday with a new state testing plan despite a threat by the Obama administration to withhold federal education funds unless substantial changes were made.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013