Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, October 19, 2013

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 10-19-13


4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT





Class Calls Meeting With Vladovic ‘Productive”.
by LA School Report | http://bit.ly/UXHVhZ Posted on October 18, 2013   ::  A coalition of community groups known by the acronym, CLASS, finally had a meeting today with LA Unified Board President Richard Vladovic.
ASSEMBLYMAN ASKS WRONG COMMITTEE TO REVIEW LA UNIFIED’S iPAD PROJECT + smf’s 2¢
Annie Gilbertson| Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/15R3CrQ Grant Slater/KPCC  ::  Second graders Mark G. and Brandon C. play educational games on iPads at a charter school in Huntington Park. October 18th, 2013, 6:31am  ::  L.A. Unified School District’s iPad plan has taken a beating: many iPads remain on lockdown, others went missing, security was breached, and now schools are backing
Broad Makes Key Donation To L.A. Arts High School
By Howard Blume,  L.A. Times http://lat.ms/1a0BVP1 Philanthropist Eli Broad designated a $250,000 prize, given Friday in his and his wife's honor, to go to the downtown arts high school. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images / October 17, 2013) October 18, 2013, 5:48 p.m.  ::  Philanthropist Eli Broad has donated $250,000 to the downtown arts high school, officially signaling his influential

YESTERDAY

“I’Ve Never Seen Such Chaos In The District; It’S Never Been So Bad”
from the AALA UPDATE FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 21 | http://bit.ly/1fIDJjz       “…I have never seen such chaos in the District…Dr. Deasy and his senior management team need to rethink their roles and be more supportive of principals. Principals are being worked to death with no consideration from top management. I don’t think the Board, and the public in general, realizes what we face every day
More Teens Drinking Sugary Beverages, Study Finds
By Jane Meredith Adams EdSource Today http://bit.ly/1fIB0a2 A student at Oakland Technical High School enjoys a Slurpee at lunch on Thursday. Credit: EdSource, Jane Meredith Adams>> October 17th, 2013  ::  As the clock ticks toward a 2014 federal ban on the sale of sports drinks at high schools, California teenagers are showing an increasing fondness for the sugary beverages, with
A New Majority: LOW INCOME STUDENTS FROM THE SOUTH
from Fritzwire by email 18 October 2013  ::  A report update released today by the Southern Education Foundation (SEF) finds that low income children are a majority of students in the public schools of 17 states across the nation - and 13 of those states are in the South. The report warns that this continued trend in both the South and the nation raises the prospect of "entrenched,
READ THE LEGISLATION AND ALL IT CONTAINS: The Federal Budget Bill we have been waiting for so long redefines “highly qualified teachers” to include TFA recruits
from Politico via Fritzwine 18 October 2013 ::   Slipped into the budget bill is language that extends "highly qualified teacher" designation to include teachers still in training - such as Teach for America recruits. The provision is seen as crucial for TFA to continue placing its teachers in low-income urban and rural schools across the country. Read the budget bill: http://politi.co/H
Lausd School Board Member Tamar Galatzan’S Motion For A Public Censure Of Lausd School Board President Richard Vladovic
Published by Los Angeles Daily News for action on Nov. 12, 2013 LAUSD school board member Tamar Galatzan's motion for a public censure of LAUSD school board President Rich... from Los Angeles Daily News
Putting the “diss” in dysfunction: BOARDMEMBER GALATZAN INTRODUCES CENSURE MOTION AGAINST BOARD PRESIDENT VLADOVIC
By Barbara Jones, Los Angeles Daily News   http://bit.ly/17y67gj   Original headline: LAUSD board president Vladovic facing censure motion LAUSD school board President Richard Vladovic (File photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News) Posted: 10/17/13, 7:23 PM PDT | Updated: 5:30AM  10/18  ::  Los Angeles Unified board member Tamar Galatzan on Thursday released an unprecedented motion

OCT 17

“Torture numbers, and they'll confess to anything”: STANFORD PROFESSOR FINDS MICHELLE RHEE’S TEACHER EVALUATION SYSTEM WAS EFFECTIVE
By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today http://bit.ly/1euZ6BU Michelle Rhee. Credit: Neighborhood Centers>> October 17th, 2013 ::  Score one for Michelle Rhee and performance pay. A study released Wednesday of the controversial teacher evaluation system that Rhee initiated when she was chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools has found that both its threats of dismissal and
LA TIMES REPORTING ON L.A. UNIFIED iPAD ROLLOUT MARRED BY CHAOS …well, maybe glitches
Howard Blume ‏@howardblume tweets: 11:39 AM - 17 Oct 13 The longer print versions of the two most recent iPad stories were not posted properly online (by The Times). I guess we have glitches, too. Links next— Here's the 1st. Four L.A. SCHOOLS DEFER IPADS, CITING SECURITY, LIABILITY ISSUES http://ow.ly/pV8Yb And the 2nd: L.A. UNIFIED CONSIDERS SLOWER IPAD ROLLOUT IN RESPONSE TO PROBLEMSS
Do Not Watch This Video
Lcff: Potential Weaknesses In New School Funding Law Demand Attention
By Louis Freedberg| EdSource Today http://bit.ly/19UR0U3 October 16th, 2013 |  ;;  There are great expectations that the historic – and necessary – reforms of California’s outdated and opaque school financing system signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown this summer will translate into improved student performance. However, there are several potential weaknesses in the law that could
Letters: iPAD ANGST AT LAUSD
Letters: latimes.com http://lat.ms/1cYKixA October 17, 2013 Re "A tablet, not a cure-all," Column, Oct. 15 Sandy Banks raises very good points about the ill-conceived rollout of Apple iPads to students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. I am not a Luddite, and I definitely believe that students can benefit from technology, but too many executive types (read: Supt. John Deasy) su
With no staff, school libraries fall silent: STUDENTS CAN SEE BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY BUT CAN’T CHECK THEM OUT + smf’s 2¢
Annie Gilbertson \ Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/17vGBbr Annie Gilbertson/KPCC October 16th, 2013, 6:00am  ::  Lorne St. Elementary School parents and students wrote over one thousand letters addressed to Superintendent John Deasy, requesting their library be reopened. Despite increasing school budgets, one victim of years of budget cuts remains: shuttered school libraries. When

OCT 16

iPads: LAUSD PRESS RELEASE RE: PROGRAM RESET & MEDIA REACTION
L.A. schools chief wants to extend iPad rollout by a year By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1ap5re3 4:56 PM PDT, October 15, 2013  ::  The rollout for a $1-billion school iPad program could be extended by a year, doubling the time originally allotted for getting tablets to every student in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The
iPads: LETTER FROM DR. DEASY RESETTING PHASES 2 & 3 OF THE COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY PROJECT
by John E. Deasy to the board of education, via email “We have learned a great deal from this initial phase that will allow us to improve the rollout to additional students if the Board decides to move forward with this initiative.” “The administration is ready to revise our implementation plan …” “…we will not request authorization for the next planned phases of

OCT 15

iPads4Today: WHY LAUSD SHOULD HOPE STUDENTS “HACK” THEIR iPADS
OpEd in the pasadena star-news  By Katherine Mangu-Ward | http://bit.ly/1eo5EC9 10/14/13, 12:53 PM PDT  ::  Last year, 40 tablet computers were delivered to the children of two remote Ethiopian villages. The villagers were 100-percent illiterate — the kids had never seen road signs, product labels, or printed material of any kind. Technicians from the One Laptop Per Child program dropped off
iPads4today: L.A. UNIFIED STAKES REPUTATION ON iPAD PROGRAM
The district risks its credibility with the troubled rollout of the $678 tablets. Some readers voice doubts, while proponents cite the need to aim high.   by Sandy Banks, LA Times columnist | http://lat.ms/1eovJRN 7:22 PM PDT, October 14, 2013  ::  There is more at stake than test scores in the effort to provide iPads to 600,000 Los Angeles Unified students in time for the state's
iPads4Today: FOUR L.A. SCHOOLS DECLINE iPADS IN INITIAL ROLLOUT, ASSEMBLYMAN REQUESTS LEGISLATIVE HEARING
By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/17rJppZ The middle schools still want the tablets, but only after L.A. Unified addresses questions about hacking and responsibility if a tablet is lost or broken. 10:01 PM PDT, October 14, 2013  ::  Four Los Angeles schools, scheduled to receive iPads in this first rollout of the tablets, have pulled out of the initial phase, saying that they
GETTING RID OF BAD TEACHERS: Times editorial board conflates teachers with low test scores with child molesters + smf’s 2¢
Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a teacher firing bill. Fine. But now he should take the lead on this thorny issue. By The LA Times editorial board - latimes.com http://lat.ms/194OmrS October 15, 2013  ::  Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill to streamline the process for firing teachers, saying that he agreed with its goal but calling it an "imperfect solution." Now he should follow up, tak
STUDENTS IN FOSTER CARE FACE ‘INVISIBLE ACHIEEMENT GAP,’ STUDY SAYS + full study
California students in foster care do worse academically and have a higher dropout rate than their statewide peers, study says. By Teresa Watanabe | latimes.com http://lat.ms/167uZjP Foster youths' high school dropout rate in 2009-10 was 8%, more than twice the rate of their statewide peers. (Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times) October 13, 2013, 6:14 p.m.  ::  Thousands of

OCT 13

Steve Forbes says: UNIONS TRAMPLES THE RIGHTS OF TEACHERS. Labor laws require them to support unions they may not agree with. But a court case could change that.
LA Times Op-Ed By Steve Forbes | http://lat.ms/15z0ocD October 13, 2013  ::  The heroic effort of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in 2011 to rein in public employee unions has started to produce results. One of Walker's reforms required a majority of members to vote each year to certify the union as its representative. Since that simple change took effect, 13% of Wisconsin's teacher and public
SCHOOL’S MILITARY-STYLE REBOOT AIMS TO PUSH STUDENTS FURTHER: To boost college-attendance rates, North Valley Military Institute in Granada Hills combines teaching with physical training and a rank structure.
By Stephen Ceasar - latimes.com http://lat.ms/GMz7Kg 8:00 AM PDT, October 12, 2013  ::  On a soggy Granada Hills field, eight platoons stand at attention, poised to salute the American flag as it rises toward a cloudy morning sky. The bugler lifts the brass instrument to his mouth and waits. A short delay betrays the illusion, but then a recording of "Reveille" blares out from stereo spe

OCT 12

STATE BUDGET ALLOCATES $1.25 BILLION FOR COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS. How is that money being applied and accounted for in LAUSD and charter schools under the CCTP?
Common Core State Standards (CA Dept of Education) http://bit.ly/19IjVum Language from education trailer bill, Assembly Bill 86, Section 85 (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2013) of the Budget Act of 2013. (a) (1) The sum of one billion two hundred fifty million dollars ($1,250,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for transfer to
Most Ca. Districts Say They’Re Equipped And Ready For New Common Core Tests
FROM THE REPORT: “Overall, respondents indicated the greatest need for professional development for staff related to technology. A high need for headphones, laptops, and tablets was also identified. Less need was identified for bandwidth, keyboards, and printers.” By John Fensterwald | EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/19ufb7Q < A majority of school districts said they’re ready for online
Brown’S Veto Of Ab 375 Leaves Teacher Dismissal In Legislative Rubber Room, ®Eform Agenda In Disarray
Gov. Brown’s Veto Leaves Teacher Dismissal in Limbo by Hillel Aron, LA School Report  http://bit.ly/1gzSfsT