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Thursday, January 30, 2014

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Suspensions, expulsions rise in Monterey County; down statewide











Education Headlines

Thursday, January 30, 2014
FCMAT provides links to California K-12 news stories as a service to the industry. However, some stories may not be accessible because of newspapers' subscription policies.

Suspensions, expulsions rise in Monterey County; down statewide

Monterey County bucked a statewide trend of fewer public school suspensions and expulsions made in the past two years, according to the latest figures released by the state Department of Education.

Monterey school district to reverse transcript changes

Monterey County's top education official has told the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District to immediately reverse changes made last fall to high school students' transcripts.

Fensterwald: Assembly Speaker vows to tackle challenge of teacher pensions this year

Assembly Speaker John Pรฉrez pledged Wednesday to pass legislation this year to fix the huge deficit threatening the long-term stability of the state pension fund for teachers and administrators.

Frey: New suspension data show drop in use of ‘willful defiance,’ but ethnic disparity remains

Fewer students are being suspended for the controversial category of willful defiance, but African American students are still much more likely than their peers to be suspended for that reason, new data released Wednesday show.

Valley school districts move away from student suspensions, expulsions

The number of school suspensions has dipped sharply at several Valley districts, mirroring statewide trends revealed in a new report on school punishment published Wednesday.

San Juan Unified to look in-house for new superintendent

San Juan Unified School District trustees announced Tuesday night they will search in-house to replace former Superintendent Glynn Thompson, who resigned under pressure last month.

Sac City school district hands trustees the bills for missed meetings

The Sacramento City Unified School District issued $12,000 in checks to eight trustees for board meetings they did not attend dating back to 2011, a new district audit shows.

Denair Unified to vote on teacher, management contracts

Denair Unified School District board members will vote tonight on a contract for their teachers. The newly released contract includes an 8 percent retroactive salary cut for 2013-14, which will save the district $298,700 but take a painful chunk out of the next six months’ paychecks.

Sex abuse at schools: Systems for reporting suspicions lacking in many areas, says federal report spurred by Mt. Diablo case

School districts across the country have different rules on reporting student sex abuse, often hinder investigations, and only about a third require that employees receive training on how to report suspected abuse, according to a federal study released late Wednesday.

City list shows schools vulnerable in an earthquake; district plans response

The Los Angeles Unified School District is drafting a response to reassure parents who saw their children's schools on a newly public list of older concrete buildings that could be at risk of collapse in an earthquake. (You can view the full list of L.A. schools below.)

California sees sharp drop in school expulsions, suspensions

A campaign by civil rights groups and their political supporters to reduce suspensions and expulsion of public school students due to their disproportionate effect on black and Latino youngsters may be paying off.

Few L.A. teachers get bad ratings, trial documents show

More instructors than ever are being evaluated in detail in the Los Angeles Unified School District and only a small percentage are being rated as substandard, according to testimony Wednesday in litigation aimed at reducing teacher job protections.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014

11 students expelled in SoCal high school cheating scandal

A Southern California school board decided Tuesday night to expel nearly a dozen students for a cheating scandal that involved a private tutor who has been missing for more than one month.

Luxury condo's underwater mortgage: Santa Clara County School Board settles suit with ex-superintendent

The Santa Clara County Board of Education and former Superintendent Charles Weis have settled a lawsuit over the downtown luxury condominium and its underwater mortgage, in an agreement thatleaves the board with little more than the title to the home and an underwater mortgage.

L.A. teacher firings spiked but still costly and lengthy, Deasy says

Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy acknowledged Tuesday that teacher dismissals have surged recently, but he insisted Tuesday that state laws still made the process too lengthy and costly.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Fensterwald: In landmark trial, both sides debate whether teacher protection laws fail students

The teacher tenure, seniority and dismissal laws that the nonprofit organization Students Matter wants a judge to overturn are essential to create a “professional, stable workforce” and attract teachers into a profession with low pay and difficult conditions, a state deputy attorney general said Monday at the start of the much-anticipated Vergara v State of California trial.

Proposed changes at Salinas charter school have parents riled

Middle school age students have different developmental needs, says Principal Juanita Perea. It's one of the reasons she's proposing to eliminate seventh and eighth grades from Oasis starting next school year.

Transgender student law brings few changes to local school districts

Local school districts have not replaced gender-specific restroom signs or made any other outward changes since Jan. 1, when so-called transgender