4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT
SCHOOLS OPT OUT OF LAUSD iPAD PLAN, ASKING FOR MORE PLANNING
LA Unified’s iPads pilot phase continues on bumpy road: schools back out, suffer technical glitches by Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1efjSFz Grant Slater/KPCC : A student uses an iPad during class in Huntington Park. October 11th, 2013, 11:42am :: The Los Angeles Unified School District is continuing to experience problems with its iPad project - with
Common Core: N.Y. DISTRICTS WITH MORE SPANISH-SPEAKING STUDENTS STRUGGLE WITH NEW TESTS
Written by Gary Stern, The Journal News/White Plains, NY | http://lohud.us/16Vt5Du Oct. 10, 2013 | Most school districts are trying to come to terms with disappointing results on the new, harder state tests for grades 3 to 8. But districts with large numbers of Spanish-speaking students got absolutely blasted on the new tests and now have to figure out how to move forward. “We have
BROWN VETOES AB 375, TEACHER DISMISSAL BILL + Dr. D’s 2¢
from Brown signs bills to aid veterans, boost community college costs by Chris Megerian and Tony Perry | latimes.com | http://lat.ms/1at957U 10 October 2013 :: The governor vetoed a measure that supporters said would ease the process for dismissing public school teachers. The measure, by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), was backed by Supt. Tom Torlakson, the state schools chief, and
LAUSD TEACHER PLACED ON LEAVE AFTER PROFANITY-LADEN OUTBURST IS RECORDED BY STUDENT + smf’s 2¢
By Rob Kuznia, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/17hAAyX Posted: 10/08/13, 9:06 PM PDT | Updated: 10/9/13 :: An audio clip of a high school English teacher repeatedly dropping the F-bomb during a classroom outburst has gone viral on the campus of Narbonne High in Harbor City. In the clip, which was recorded by a student on Sept. 26, the teacher yells “I know my f--ing s--t. Don’t f--- with that.
OCT 10
School Board President Apologizes For Past Mistakes But Denies Recent Harassment Claims
LAUSD's Richard Vladovic apologizes for outbursts throughout his career but denies recent accusations regarding alleged incidents 10 years ago. By Stephen Ceasar and Howard Blume | latimes.com http://lat.ms/1apHzrH “I violated the district’s civility policy along with the board’s policy; for that I am truly sorry,” Richard Vladovic said in a statement. (Al Seib, Los Angeles Times /
OCT 09
iPads in the Classroom: HOW DID LEWISVILLE ISD IN TEXAS GET IT SO RIGHT AND LOS ANGELES UNIFIED GET IT SO WRONG?
Contrast between LAUSD and Lewisville Independent School District Lewisville is a 51,000 student district (about the size of San Francisco USD) in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs. Guest post in K-12 News Network by Los Angeles resident and edublogger Understanding Equity | http://bit.ly/17XkbDq October 8, 2013 :: Recently, issues surrounding the rollout of iPads to students in LAUSD
LATEST STATE OF CALIFORNIA BOND SALE PROVIDES $300 MILLION FOR SHOVEL-READY SCHOOL FACILITIES PROJECTS – including 19 at LAUSD
By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report – News & Resources http://bit.ly/18PeeI2 Wednesday, October 09, 2013 :: Roughly 118 school districts with shovel-ready construction projects are set to receive badly-needed state support as soon as next week, officials said Tuesday. The State Allocation Board, which oversees the School Facility Program, has called a special meeting Monday to
LA Schools and iPads: BIG PROMISES BUT WHERE’S THE RESEARCH
Annie Gilbertson | | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/GNeqyF Listen to the story [3 min 20 sec] Grant Slater/KPCC | Second graders Mark G. and Brandon C. play educational games on iPads at a charter school in Huntington Park. October 9th, 2013, 6:00am :: Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy has trumpeted his $1 billion iPad project as transformational. As
LAUSD PRESIDENT RICHARD VLADOVIC ISSUES APOLOGY; SEEKING PROFESSIONAL HELP + other coverage
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News , from the Daily Breeze | http://bit.ly/1hC2A5h Richard Vladovic (File photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News) Posted: 10/09/13, 12:26 AM PDT :: A day after Los Angeles Unified released two claims accusing him of harassment, school board President Richard Vladovic admitted Tuesday that he’d violated the district’s “civility policy” and
“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate”: L.A. SCHOOLS’ iPAD EFFORT HAS A TWO-PRONGED IMAGE PROBLEM
Deasy needs to convince the public that poor children deserve iPads and that LAUSD can be trusted to run the $1-billion program wisely. By Sandy Banks, LA Times columnist | http://lat.ms/19joauo King Shelton and Zylan Giles, students at Broadacres Avenue Elementary in Carson, explore an iPad provided by L.A. Unified School District. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times / August 27, 2013
OCT 08
The Complaints: REDACTED REPORTS OF ALLEGED HARRASSMENT BY DR. VLADOVIC
posted online BY [ and a tip o’ th’ 4LAKids HAT to] the LA Daily News Harassment complaint against LAUSD President Richard Vladovic - I (Redacted) Harassment complaint against LAUSD President Richard Vladovic - II (Redacted)
More: LAUSD RELEASES COMPLAINTS AGAINST BOARD PRESIDENT, VLADOVIC DENIES THEM
Complaints detail alleged harassment by LAUSD board President Vladovic By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1ffN5Dm Los Angeles Unified school board President Richard Vladovic denies accusations of sexual and verbal harassment by two former staffers. (File photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News) Posted: 10/7/13,
OCT 07
Update: LAUSD RELEASES COMPLAINTS AGAINST BOARD PRESIDENT + VLADOVIC DENIES THEM
L.A. Unified school board President Richard Vladovic, shown here at his 2011 swearing in, is the target of two complaints that he acted improperly. One employee accuses him of sexual harassment, while another allegeds verbal harassment and retaliation. (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times / July 1, 2011) L.A. Unified releases complaints against school board president
Good Morning L.A. Times
Written by Karen Wolfe for L.A. CityWatch | VOICES | http://bit.ly/1glVILw 08 Oct 2013 :: Let's hope the cup-a-joe to the LA Times Education page is a slowly sipped Latte Venti, not just one shot of espresso. The jolt provided by the digital distractions needs some staying power for other topics. Until now, on any given day, most visits to the LATimes.com education webpage would result in
Charter Schools And The Future Of Public Education
by Stan Karp in Rethinking Schools | Volume 28 No.1 - Fall 2013 | http://bit.ly/1cpPavl Ethan Heitner 7 October 2013 :: Somewhere along the way, nearly every teacher dreams of starting a school. I know I did. More than once during the 30 years I taught English and journalism to high school students in Paterson, New Jersey, I imagined that creating my own school would open the door to
Breaking News: L.A. UNIFIED RELEASES EMPLOYEE COMPLAINTS AGAINST BOARD PRESIDENT
Los Angeles Times | fromnews@e.latimes.com October 7, 2013 | 7:59 PM :: The Los Angeles Unified School District has released two employee complaints school board President Richard Vladovic. One of the complaints accuses Vladovic of sexual harassment; the other alleges verbal harassment and retaliation. Vladovic could not be reached for comment. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing
L.A. STYDENTS GET iPADS, CRACK FIREAWLL, PLAY GAMES
Education officials working to reboot plan as breach raises serious concerns By the Associated Press in the Gulf News [Duba/UAE]* \ http://bit.ly/1ag7D8Q Image Credit: AP | Students Carlos Espinoza and Maria Aguilera were among 650,000 students to receive iPads. Espinoza said he quickly cracked the iPad’s security settings and used it to go on Facebook. Aguilera said officials
THE FILES PROJECT MEETS UNDUE PROCESS: Post Miramonte whitewash, house cleaning, witch hunt …or business as (un)usual?
LAUSD unearths suspected misconduct in search of old personnel files LAUSD firings mount since Miramonte scandal Guilty even when proven innocent The Los Angeles Unified School District has paid out $27 million in claims over alleged molestation at Miramonte Elementary School. LAUSD unearths suspected misconduct in search of old personnel files By
OCT 05
SERVICE WORKERS UNION LOOKING TO EXPAND L.A. UNIFIED ROLE + smf’s 2¢
by Hillel Aron- LA School Report http://bit.ly/1byMuMk October 4, 2013 :: For years, the SEIU Local 99 has been “the other union” in LAUSD. Representing custodians, cooks, bus drivers and other “classified” workers, the union is just as politically influential, if not more so, than the teachers union, UTLA. And yet its voice is rarely heard in policy debates. That might be about to change.
CHARTER SCHOOL OPERATOR SENTENCED TO PRISON AS INDUSTRY GROUP FIGHTS ON HIS BEHALF; Judge critical of California Charter School Association
Annie Gilbertson| Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/192oNX4 Annie Gilbertson/KPCC | Judge Stephen Marcus complained that there were far too many lawyers involved. A total of six spoke during Friday's sentencing hearing. October 4th, 2013, 5:12pm :: At the end of a four hour hearing, a Los Angeles judge sentenced the founder of a San Fernando Valley charter school on Friday to 4 years and
L.A. UNIFIED STUDENTS NEED iPAD KEYBOARDS TO TAKE STATE TESTS
L.A. district officials had said keyboards were not essential, but the new state standardized tests will require them, at a cost of about $38 million. By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1fQoeag Beautiful Morris smiles as she explores her new iPad. Although L.A. Unified originally said keyboards weren't essential, new state tests can't be taken on iPads without them. (Bob
OCT 04
CHILDREN’S HEATHCARE + PUBLIC HEALTH: "Some Things Should Be Beyond the Reach of Politics—Prevention Funding Is One"
by EMail from The Prevention Institute :: Health Reform Rapid Response | http://bit.ly/18YTIW1 How the Government Shutdown Affects Public Health October 4, 2013 :: The shutdown has far-reaching implications for public health agencies and services, from halting the majority of the FDA’s nutrition and safety inspections, to slowing the CDC’s annual seasonal influenza and outbreak detection
DEASY’S S iPAD P.R. PITCH GOES ON
I hope all 4LAKids readers got a chance to see the superintendent’s TV “spectacular” (the title from a tweet from the virtual peanut gallery) on KLCS last night. If it becomes available online I will post a link here. A few questions were answered but more were raised that remain to be addressed. THE FOLLOWING RAISES NEW DOUBTS about the iPad rollout and the charm offensive. I have