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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

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Education Headlines

Tuesday, April 1, 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

Teacher-tenure debate ends in court; decision likely months off

Attorneys for a group seeking to eliminate tenure protection for California teachers argued Thursday that such iron-clad job security makes it almost impossible to fire an incompetent instructor. Attorneys for the teachers and the state responded that the real problem lies not with bad teachers but with unqualified school administrators.

Administrators tap into student funds

Student activity funds are supposed to be for student use, but two districts in San Diego County began dipping into the funds for something else during the recession — to pay an administrative fee.

Modesto City Schools board to look at safety, 10-year plan update

Modesto City Schools will update its 1988 10-year plan for its 34 school sites. The board also will address traffic safety for young students, in light of the death of a kindergartener hit by a bus last week while running across the street after school at Tuolumne Elementary.

Newark teachers, administrators get 5.5 percent raise

Newark teachers and administrators will get a 5.5 percent raise under a new contract signed with the Newark Unified School District, officials said.Newark teachers and administrators will get a 5.5 percent raise under a new contract signed with the Newark Unified School District, officials said.

Liberty Union High School District settles teacher's lawsuit for $260,000

Liberty Union High School District recently settled a lawsuit brought by a teacher who said administrators were harassing her and discriminating against her.

Superintendent's pay in South Bay district called 'excessive'

The superintendent of the small Centinela Valley Union High School District, Jose Fernandez, made $674,559 last year, far more than the New York and Los Angeles school district heads. 

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s approach to LAUSD draws mixed reviews

Two weeks after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s top education adviser left City Hall, there are no immediate plans to fill the position, a sign of the mayor’s hands-off approach to the nation’s second-largest school district.
Monday, March 31, 2014

Arcadia Unified Superintendent Joel Shawn will retire this year

Arcadia Unified School District Superintendent Joel Shawn announced Friday afternoon he will retire at the end of the school year.

Rialto Unified shows history of dysfunction

With two school board members facing recall, a former accountant charged with embezzling nearly $2 million in lunch money and top officials acknowledging risk management and business services documents have been destroyed without authorization, Rialto Unified School District is clearly in trouble.

More California children unvaccinated due to parental concerns

More than 16,000 California children entered kindergarten this school year without vaccinations because of their parents’ personal beliefs, up 15 percent from the prior year and more than double the number from six years ago, according to new figures from the California Department of Public Health.

School district's refinancing measures saves taxpayers

La Mesa-Spring Valley School District has been able to refinance a portion of the Proposition M general obligation bonds and save taxpayers more than half a million dollars.

After-school program goes out to bid

National School District officials reversed course this week and decided to put out to bid a $1 million contract to replace its before- and after-school program provider.

Modesto school safety patrols step up, but adults have to do their part

The need for someone to help young children cross busy streets as schools let out got a tragic underscoring this week. At some schools, professionals work the crosswalks. At others, staff members do extra duty as the school day starts and ends. But most campuses rely on the nearly century-old tradition of student safety patrols.

Modesto City Schools to weigh administrative help and plans for facilities

The Modesto City Schools board will consider adding administrators and approving the first steps toward a new facilities master plan tonight. Board members will also vote on a basic summer school and discuss after-school programs.

Personal losses fuel El Camino Real Charter decathletes

Under the direction of sixth-year coach Stephanie Franklin, Thasneem Syed and her eight colleagues on the El Camino Real Academic Decathlon team beat out 64 other schools to win the state title last weekend, earning the highest score in the country this year and the chance to compete at the nationals in Honolulu in late April alongside second-place, three-time defending national champion Granada Hills Charter High School.

Should Contra Costa school volunteers be trained to report child abuse?

Contra Costa school employees and possibly even volunteers who deal with students should be trained annually to report child abuse, according to recommendations by the Contra Costa Civil Grand Jury.

Fensterwald: Attorneys give final arguments in Vergara suit challenging laws for teacher hiring, firing

Attorneys in Vergara v. California made their final pitches Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The four hours of closing arguments paralleled opening statements two months to the day and 52 witnesses ago, with diametrically different views on whether teachers’ workplace protections harm  many – or any –  of the state’s most vulnerable schoolchildren.

California students' verdict on new tests: Tech is a breeze, content is tougher

he high-tech successor to California's annual STAR exam has been deployed, and the informal verdicts are in. Mastery of online graphing tools and directional arrows is no sweat, even for students who don't use computers at home. But the content is more challenging -- and at times intriguing.

Teachers union fights new plan by Sacramento and other school districts to address low-performing schools

Even as the district rolls out the plan, the teachers union – which never signed on – is fighting to stop it. The Sacramento City Teachers Association, in particular, objects to a promise that Sacramento City Unified and seven other districts made to link student test scores to teacher evaluations.

Maitre: Oakland Unified considering parcel tax to fund college, career readiness programs

The Oakland Unified School District is studying the feasibility of placing a parcel tax on the November ballot to help fund efforts to expand so-called linked learning, or career pathways, programs at its high schools.