 |
Freedburg: Aggressive public relations campaign amplifies courtroom battle against teacher work rules |
Education Headlines
Monday, February 3, 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.
Truancy sweep nets just one
Police officers bang on a door at the Courtyard apartments in Santa Ana, searching for a child with 24 absences from school since August – missing almost a third of class time. “We’ll see if the kid is home and ask why he’s not in school,” said Kevin Ruiz, an investigator with the Gang Reduction and Intervention Partnership. “If he’s playing video games and watching cartoons, we’re going to get him to school.”Alpine, teachers reach tentative pact
The Alpine Teachers Association and the Alpine Unified School District reached a tentative labor agreement late Friday that appears to have staved off the threat of a strike.Galt high school district classified union contract negotiations at impasse
A neutral third-party mediator will be called into Galt Joint Union High School District in an attempt to resolve differences between the district and the classified union after union leaders declared an impasse in contract negotiations.Safety, religion class, money on Modesto City Schools board agenda
Campus safety, the district’s course on world religions and money matters will be discussed at the Modesto City Schools board meeting tonight.Another Miramonte child abuse case emerges from the shadows
Obscured by the publicity surrounding teacher Mark Berndt is the case of Martin Springer, whose criminal trial is set to begin this week.Bay Area schools suspend fewer students
Under pressure to cut racial disparities in punishment and to keep misbehaving kids in school, California public schools suspended fewer students in 2012-13, with some Bay Area districts posting dramatic drops.California schools have $37 billion in unissued bonds
California's pot of school bond money may be empty, but school and community college districts have more than $37 billion in authorized — but unspent — school-construction bonds, according to a report by the state's debt commission.EdSource: Parent Universities help districts tap into feedback required under funding formula
School leaders are saying that one of the best known ways to involve parents – establishing a “Parent University” program – will be a boon to engaging them in the state’s new funding reforms championed by Gov. Jerry Brown.Freedburg: Aggressive public relations campaign amplifies courtroom battle against teacher work rules
The potentially game-changing Vergara v. California lawsuit, which attacks key aspects of California law on how teachers are evaluated and fired, opened in Los Angeles last week and has been accompanied by an aggressive public relations campaign unmatched by the opposing side – the State of California and its teachers unions.Deasy provides fodder for both sides in lawsuit
Attorneys for the other side suggested the problem was district practices that allowed less-experienced teachers to be clustered at particular campuses. Better management could avoid exposing a school to massive layoffs, they asserted. They also pointed to instances in which Deasy had found ways to exempt teachers from layoffs or to protect certain schools.
Friday, January 31, 2014