4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT
Board District 3: TWO CANDIDATES FILE TO SEEK GALATZAN SCHOOL BOARD SEAT …AND THEN TAMAR DOES TOO!
Two candidates file to seek Galatzan school board seat by Michael Janofsky, L.A. School Report | http://bit.ly/1fBhfgN Posted on April 24, 2014 11:30 am Whether LA Unified board member Tamar Galatzan runs for reelection or not, voters in her District 3 will have two other candidates to consider in the 2015 board election. Carl Petersen, Director of Logistics for a Glendale manufacturing
WHAT THE L.A. UNIFIED iPAD INVESTIGATION COULDN’T FIND
The Inspector General couldn’t find the scoring sheets …but had no problem locating the bungling bureaucracy. By Karin Klein, L.A. Times Editorialist, http://lat.ms/1mLvB5M April 24, 2014, 3:57 p.m. :: The most troubling aspect of an internal Los Angeles Unified School District report on its purchase of iPads for its students isn't what it found out, but what it couldn't find out
L.A. Teacher Wins Job Back After Removal For Science Projects
By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1jLjDCE 7:20 PM PDT, April 24, 2014 :: A Los Angeles high school science teacher is returning to the classroom two months after being suspended over concerns that two students had assembled "dangerous" science projects under his supervision. Both projects overseen by teacher Greg Schiller were capable of launching small objects. A staff mem
L.A. Unified Doesn’T Have To Release Teacher’S Names With Performance Ratings
A state appellate court panel tentatively finds a stronger public interest in keeping the names confidential than in publicly releasing them. By Teresa WatanabE, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1rsTbng Kyle Hunsberger explains a problem to Robert Gunter as he teaches his pre-algebra Math 7 class at Johnny Cochran Middle school in Los Angeles. He participated in L.A. Unified's controversial
L.A. Unified Battles Lawyers Over Miramonte Disclosures, Lausd Accused Of Destroying Evidence
L.A. Unified battles lawyers over Miramonte disclosures By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1il0c2j April 23, 2014, 6:42 p.m. :: The litigation over sexual misconduct at Miramonte Elementary has resulted in a struggle over which documents should be part of the public record. This includes testimony that a former teacher had alerted her principal about sexual misconduct by Mark Berndt,
APR 24
Science Teacher Returning To School
Published on United Teachers Los Angeles (http://utla.net | http://bit.ly/PzcKvY Back in the classroom 24 April 2014 :: Greg Schiller, the LAUSD science teacher who was removed from his school in February—in a flap over science fair experiments, will be back at Cortines School of Visual & Performing Arts tomorrow. Schiller has been languishing in “teacher jail” since February, unable to
Media Alert: SCIENCE TEACHER GREG SCHILLER RETURNS TO HIS CLASSROOM TODAY FROM TEACHER JAIL
to 4LAKids by email from Esther & Gerald Schiller Sent 10pm Thursday April 24, 2014 Hi Scott - For your information:TO: Assignment Editor Media News Alert Please consider covering a student celebration at Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts tomorrow, April 25 from 8 am to 8:45 am.Where: 450 N. Grand Ave. Los Angles, 90012 (Cesar Chavez Avenue between Grand Ave. and HIll StreetWhat:
Ex-Lawyer On A Mission To Keep Schools Fair
Sally Smith knows California law and is challenging districts across the state that charge students for basic supplies and activities. One official calls her 'an irritant.' BY STEPHEN CEASAR/ PHOTOGRAPHY BY GLENN KOENIG | LA Times Column One | http://lat.ms/1rp71Hj Sally Smith speaks at a San Diego Board of Education meeting in January. She focuses her attention on illegal school fees
CHARTER OF VAN NUY’S CHAMPS IN JEAPARDY OVER STAFFER’S $27,000 CREDIT-CARD MISUSE + smf’s 2¢
By Thomas Himes, San Bernardino Sun | http://bit.ly/1fa4qPp 4/22/14, 1:03 PM PDT | UPDATED: 4/23 :: Charter High School of the Arts officials have 10 days to convince Los Angeles Unified they’ve fixed mismanagement that let a former staffer rack up $27,000 in personal expenses on her school charge card and quit without repaying it. LAUSD’s board Tuesday unanimously voted to send Van
APR 23
THE COMMON CORE MAKES MATH MORE COMPLICATED. HERE’S WHY. + Stephen Colbert explains it all for you
by Libby Nelson | Vox.com | http://bit.ly/1f5FY1O A teacher goes over fractions in a fourth grade math class in Takoma Park, Maryland. Fourth and fifth grade math teachers in the state are training themselves to teach to Common Core standards.Linda Davidson / The Washington Post via Getty Images April 20, 2014, 8:30 a.m. ET :: You might not know what a number sentence is. Neither does
Lawmakers Reject Brown’S Online Learning Proposal
by Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet | http://bit.ly/1lEB2PQ APRIL 23, 2014 (Calif.) :: A key budget panel on Tuesday rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest plan to revamped the K-12 independent study program and create more opportunities for students to use modern technology as part of their academic day. The Assembly Budget
Republican Governor Hopeful Neel Kashkari Proposes Major Education Overhaul
The GOP candidate for governor would throw out much of the education code, send funds directly to schools rather than to districts and let most public schools run like charters. By Seema Mehta, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1ifabpE April 22, 2014 :: Saying that better schools are critical for California's prosperity, GOP gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari proposes changing the way education
L.A. ETHICS COMMISSION SUSPENDS AGGREGATE CONTRIBUTION LIMITS IN CITY+LAUSD ELECTIONS IN THE WAKE OF McCUTCHEON v. FEC
by email from the Ethics Commission What this means is that individuals can now give up to $1,100 to each and every candidate in an election, rather than a limit of a total of $1,100 to all candidates in an election. Billionaires, PAC’s, Special Interest Groups and Scrooge McDuck will still figure out a way to give kazillion$ of dollar$ to whomever they want! AGGREGATE
APR 22
Updated coverage: DISTRICT ATTORNEY SAYS NO CHARGES WARRANTED OVER L.A. SCHOOL’S iPAD CONTRACT + smfs’s 2¢ …x2!
The district attorney's office acts after reviewing an internal L.A. school district report on the iPad contract that is said to raise issues on the handling of the bidding process. By Howard Blume, L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/1recIrz 10:00 PM PDT, April 21, 2014 :: The Los Angeles County district attorney's office has reviewed an internal L.A. school district report on its iPad contract
APR 21
AcaDeca: GRANADA HILLS, EL CAMINO REAL HIGH SCHOOLS PREPARE FOR NATIONAL DECATHLON IN HAWAI’I
By Brenda Gazzar, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1tvPLSG El Camino Real High School student Brandon Slater studies at school Thursday for the national Academic Decathlon championship in Hawaii that will take place April 24-26. Michael Owen Baker — Staff photographer Granada Hills Charter student Mayson Lee prepares for the United States Academic Decathalon Championships April
inBloom: SCHOOL ®EFORM’S NSA ‘BIG-DATA’ DATA MINER, BUBBLES UNDER
THE DANGER REMAINS: “London- and New York City-based Pearson, for example, offers the PowerSchool student information system, which currently stores information on roughly 13 million U.S. schoolchildren.” inBloom to Shut Down Amid Growing Data-Privacy Concerns By Benjamin Herold, - Education Week Digital Education | http://bit.ly/1i4P5PS
DISTRICT ATTORNEY REVIEWS LAUSD INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT ON iPAD CONTRACT; ELECTS NOT TO PROSECUTE
By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1lyzF9T Students try out iPads provided by L.A. Unified early in the school year. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) April 21, 2014, 2:27 p.m. :: The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has reviewed an internal L.A. school district report on its iPad contract and concluded that criminal charges are not warranted. The report, which has
APR 20
“Obamacore”: REPUBLICANS SEE POLITICAL WEDGE IN COMMON CORE
By JONATHAN MARTIN | New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1nhrkqJ “You have this unlikely marriage of folks on the far right who are convinced this is part of a federal takeover of local education, who have joined hands with folks on the left associated with teachers unions who are trying to sever any connection between
L.A. Nonprofits Get Nearly $1 Million To Train Parents To Advocate For Their Kids’ Education
Deepa Fernandes | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1i2eYRd Ashley Myers-Turner/KPCC | A preschool aged boy uses his recess time to play with a word puzzle. April 17th, 2014, 1:13pm :: Two Los Angeles area non-profit groups received grants of about $900,000 from theW.K. Kellogg Foundation to train families of young children in the Los Angeles Unified School District to advocate for
Academic Advantage: TUTORING CENTER PUSTED FOR SCAMMING MILLIONS IN FEDERAL DOLLARS
by Vanessa Romo, LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1niswtK April 18, 2014 11:56 amA tutoring company billing itself as “The trusted name for specialized tutoring” may not be so trustworthy after all. Unless, that specialty is in defrauding the federal government. The Academic Advantage, whose website is endorsed by The Governator himself —Arnold Schwarzenegger – and former LA Unified
APR 18
Field Poll: 3 out of 5 OF CALIFORNIA VOTERS SUPPORT UNIVERSAL PRESCHOOL FOR 4-YEAR-OLDS
News stories/Follow the links: Majority of California voters support universal preschool for 4-year-olds -- Most California voters think the state should increase the availability of preschool for the state’s 4-year-olds, according to a Field Poll conducted in partnership with EdSource. Lillian Mongeau EdSource -- 4/18/14 Californians support state-funded preschool for 4-year-olds, survey
Cartoon: THE 20 STAGES OF READING
by Lynda Berry | The Washington Post | http://wapo.st/Rw7RWt Sep 13, 2013 - If there are stages of grief and steps to recovery; isn't the act of reading a complicated, evolving thing over time?
Serious Reading Takes A Hit From Online Scanning And Skimming, Reseachers Say
By Michael S. Rosenwald, The Washington Post | http://wapo.st/Rw0z4U smf: This article, and the cited book Proust and the Squid comes recommended by former Superintendent Roy Romer. [see this] Romer and I suggest you read it deeply – and in a not-so-subtle message from the author: Proust and the Squid is not available
Same Fight, Another Arena
By smf for 4LAKidsNews April 18, 2014 :: Apparently the way to fund a school bond campaign to relieve overcrowded conditions and fix aging facilities is to pack too-many like-minded potential donors into a too-small room, give them wine and cheese and canapés (and diet Coke) – tell stories about the glory days of yesteryear and shake ‘em down for checks. So it was Thursday night in when
