LA Times Editorial: ELECT, DON’T APPOINT, TO REPLACE MARGUERITE POINDEXTER LAMOTTE
Despite the cost of a special election, L.A. Unified should let voters decide who should take her seat. Editorial By The Times editorial board | http://lat.ms/1kvOfbT LAUSD board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, seen above in 2011, died last week at an education conference in San Diego. (Los Angeles Time / December 9, 2013) December 10, 2013 :: The Los Angeles Unified school
Filling Lamotte Seat By Election Or Appointment? Board Is Decider
by Jamie Alter Lynton, Publisher, LA SCHOOL REPORT | http://bit.ly/1aRHhZj December 9, 2013 :: If history is any guide, a school board election is in the offing. As officials at the LA Unified school board scramble to work out options with the city and county on how best to fill the school board seat left vacant last week by the sudden death of longtime member Marguerite LaMotte, they are
L.A. SCHOOLS WANT ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE iPADS
The Los Angeles Unified School District wants to triple its supply of iPads, even while a citizen’s oversight committee wants to hit the brakes. Annie Gilbertson | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1buz7tw Maya Sugarman/KPCC December 9th, 2013, 5:43pm :: Superintendent John Deasy's administration released a request this week, asking for about 100,00 more iPads for students and
Teachers Protest Lausd Misconduct Investigation Process, ‘Teacher Jails’
Teachers protest L.A. Unified's process for misconduct investigations Critics say district's approach to misconduct allegations presumes guilt and results in dismissal for even small infractions. By Stephen Ceasar, LA Times | http://lat.ms/18zpgSM William Pasderin, a teacher at Bravo Medical Magnet High School, demonstrates
[CORE] CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS FEAR LOSING MILLIONS FOR LO-INCOME SCHOOLS + smf’s 2¢
District officials say having to annually verify students' family income to qualify for extra state dollars costs time and money. By Teresa Watanabe | L,A, Times | http://lat.ms/1bTHl0O December 9, 2013, 7:30 p.m. :: Major California school districts fear they will be shortchanged millions of dollars in funding for their low-income students under new state rules requiring them to verify
San Jose Unified Rewards Long-Term Employees With Return Of Furlough Pay
By Lillian Mongeau | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/IB4YyZ December 2nd, 2013 | Long-term employees of San Jose Unified School District received an unexpected bonus payment the day before Thanksgiving to replace pay they lost to five furlough days in the 2010-2011 school year. The one-time payment, a total of $3.1 million, was divided among the nearly 2,400 current employees – 74 percent
ARE AMERICA’S STUDENTS FALLING BEHIND THE WORLD? In a word: “No!” + smf’s 2¢ more
Testing to the test? Though the latest PISA test results indicate faults in the U.S. school system, the test requires skills the Common Core curriculum is aiming to improve. Editorial By The LA Times editorial board | http://lat.ms/18wHami Students take the National Center Test for University Admissions at the University of Tokyo earlier this year. Students from Shanghai, Hong Kong,
Some Sober Words For School Boards Amid Predictions Of Plenty
By John Fensterwald | EdSource Today http://bit.ly/18P7a1V 1 December 8th, 2013 | For the first time since the Great Recession, school districts are getting more money this year from the state; some – big beneficiaries of the new Local Control Funding Formula – are getting a lot. And that increase is expected to be larger next year, in one-time and ongoing money, if the Legislative
Schools And Guns Remain An Issue A Year After Sandy Hook
by Kimberly Beltran | SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet http://bit.ly/19bYnVJ December 09, 2013 As the nation turns later this week to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the mass killing at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, clashes over school safety and Second Amendment rights are becoming increasingly common. What once
DEC 08
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Why should YOU be the only one who knows what’s going on? Friends don’t let friends be under-and/or misinformed! Everything you need to know is not contained in: The Parent Handbook The Teacher’s Edition of the Textbook Pink memos and policy bulletins The principal’s EdConnect
A Teacher’S Goal-Line Stand
When soon-to-be USC coach Steve Sarkisian visited Veronica Bennett's class to check on a star student, she made the right play. By Steve Lopez, LA Times columnist | http://lat.ms/1btqTmh Veronica Bennett is shown in her classroom at Narbonne High School. When future USC football coach Steve Sarkisian tried to talk to a star student in her honors class, she turned him away. The young man
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN HELPS STUDENTS STRUGGLING WITH READING + smf’s 2¢
TIMES HOLIDAY CAMPAIGN: Program aims to help young children, most with Spanish-speaking parents, whose reading scores aren't where they should be. By Paresh Dave | LA Times | http://lat.ms/IUDpAs The Los Angeles Times Family Fund helps to support area literacy programs. (Los Angeles Times) December 7, 2013, 6:04 p.m. :: After each school day, librarian Dinora Arteaga leads a
DEC 07
Black Leaders Speak Out On How To Fill La Motte’S Board Seat
by Vanessa Romo, LA School Report http://bit.ly/1chDllH US Representatives Maxine Waters and Karen Bass Posted on December 6, 2013 :: A day after the death of the LA Unified school board’s only African American member, Marguerite LaMotte, community leaders with ties to her south Los Angeles district began speaking out about how to fill the vacancy and who should fill it. “Unfortunately in
Two Options For L.A. School Board In Filling Marguerite Lamotte’S Seat
L.A. Unified can replace LaMotte by appointment or by special election. Each option comes with varying consequences. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1gNOC1C December 6, 2013, 7:38 p.m. :: The death this week of Los Angeles school board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte will have immediate pragmatic and political implications for L.A. Unified, including the challenge