4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT
Because the only things that matter are money and test scores: TRUANCY COSTING CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS BILLIONS
Based on that false premise, truancy is saving taxpayers billions! Truancy costing California schools billions, report says Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle | http://bit.ly/1xZYQrI Updated 5:21 pm, Friday, September 12, 2014 :: Truancy and chronic absenteeism rates across California cost school districts billions of dollars in state funding each year,
COUNTY APPROVES LA SCHOOL’S CONTROVERSIAL BUDGET + smf’s 2¢
Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1qMZyTZ stay frosty Jack Lyons/flickr Creative Commons September 11 2014 :: The Los Angeles County Office of Education approved L.A. Unified's $7.3 billion budget this week after county officials raised concerns the district may be misrepresenting its financial figures. This school year, L.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy is channeling more
Strained Ties Cloud Future Of Deasy, Lausd
Deasy “…is questioning whether he should step down.” By Teresa Watanabe, Howard Blume | L.A. Times | http://lat.ms/YH5rrA Supt. John E. Deasy says he and the L.A. Unified Board are no longer “united on the same mission and in the same way to accomplish this mission as when we started.” (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) Sept 13, 2014 :: The controversy engulfing Los Angeles Unified's $
@ THE LAST MINUTE IS SOMETIMES EXACTLY THE RIGHT TIME- Today Sat Sept 13 9AM-1PM- THE MT. WASHINGTON SCHOOL PANCAKE BREAKFAST & MARKETPLACE
The Annual Mount Washington Scholl Pancake Breakfast is a fundraiser and Membership Kickoff for the Mt Washington PTA – but mostly it’s is a community get together at the school for a community centered on the school – a high performing prize winning school that produces high test scores and bright engaged well-educated young people. It may be the excellent teachers+staff or the demographics or
L.A. Unified Should Rescind Plan To Delete Year-Old Emails
“ The District's email rule might not be intended to hide district shenanigans, but it certainly could prove a useful tool for doing so. „ Editorial by The L.A. Times Editorial Board | http://lat.ms/1BzXuCn 12 Sept 2014 :: It's possible L.A. Unified's plan to delete emails after a
Congressional Research Service Says Common Core Not Coercive
by JCM from the Brustein & Manasevit Federal Update, by email 12 Sept 2014 | Washington DC :: A new report from the research arm of the Library of Congress supports arguments that the Common Core State standards are voluntary and do not constitute a violation of legal standards which prohibit the federal government from setting curricula. In this document, researchers from the Congressional
Deasy Lawyers Up
From the bio page of Deasy’s lawyer, Harvey I. Saferstein | http://bit.ly/1tITRoL Harvey Saferstein Member “Harvey has also represented persons and companies alleged to have been involved in criminal price fixing.” and under “Representative Matters”: “Currently representing a company in a bid-rigging investigation in Los Angeles County”
4LAKids Sports Page: DEASY PLAYS HARDBALL? …OR GOES FISHING? LAUSD superintendent’s request for board members' emails opens a new front in battle over iPad plan
By Howard Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1tPJKCp John Deasy, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, is requesting records of contacts between board members and tech companies. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times) 12 Sept 2014 :: LAUSD Supt. Deasy is requesting records of contacts between board members and tech firms L.A. Unified leaders request for board members'
SEP 11
LA School Report: UTLA/LAUSD NEGOTIATE ABOUT COMPUTERS, NOT SALARIES; GARCETTI ENDORSES TORLAKSON, MiSiS MEETS NORM DAY …AND THE (BRIEF) RETURN OF MARTIN EDEN
Reps for LAUSD, teachers union talk about computers, not salaries Garcetti endorses Torlakson in state superintendent race LAUSD outlines backup plans as MiSiS work continues LA School Report has been censoring (OK deleting the correspondence from) Martin Eden to wit: Martin Eden on September 8, 2014 3:56 pm at 3:56 pm said: I couldn’t help but notice that
Updated: LA SCHOOL BOARD TO RECONSIDER ITS EMAIL ARCHIVING POLICY
by Annie Gilbertson| 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1owOzcV School board member Monica Ratliff in her former classroom at San Pedro Street Elementary. Rebecca Hill/KPCC September 10, 06:11 PM :: The Los Angeles Unified School District said Wednesday the board will revisit its email archiving policy. The announcement came a day after the board approved the purchase of new software
Did Lausd Scheme To Silence Teachers At Crenshaw High? Judge To Decide
By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1BuwCnm Posted: 09/10/14, 9:39 PM PDT :: A judge will decide whether the Los Angeles Unified School District created a scheme to silence teachers and union opposition at Crenshaw High in judicial proceedings that started Wednesday. One dozen teachers claim Superintendent John Deasy led the retaliatory effort that sent them looking for
UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES HEARING OPENS ON CRENSHAW TEACHERS' CLAIMS OF ANTI-UNION BIAS: UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl is among teachers saying they were targeted by L.A. Unified
by Steven Ceasar- LA Times http://lat.ms/1rMzEfIa UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl says he wasn't rehired when Crenshaw became a magnet campus as punishment for his union activities. (Katie Falkenberg, Los Angeles Times) Sept 10, 2014 4:40PM :: Twelve former Crenshaw High teachers alleged during opening arguments in a labor hearing Wednesday that the Los Angeles Unified School District
The Patt Morrison Interview With Alex Caputo-Pearl
Should L.A. schools be run like businesses? Here's what the new UTLA chief says Patt Morrison, LA Times Columnist | - LA Times http://lat.ms/1lWlOur Alex Caputo-Pearl is the new head of United Teachers Los Angeles. (Katie Falkenberg / Los Angeles Times) 10 September 2014 :: If kids aren't getting a good education, says UTLA head
An incomplete joke on the day before ‘Norm Day’: THE MiSiS CRISIS CONTINUES AT LAUSD
Student Recovery Day postponed, system a “severe crisis”and/or “a complete joke”, 40,000 students unaccounted-for - but don’t worry: “ …we are continuing to improve.” ●● smf: Why am I worried? MiSiS computer mess could impact college applications By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News } http://bit.ly/1rXIg9b | 9/9/14, 7:53 PM
SEP 09
La School Board Agrees To Destroy Internal Emails After A Year
Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1AwY6GG FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images September 9th, 2014, 6:49pm :: The Los Angeles Unified school board voted Tuesday to buy a Microsoft email archiving service programmed to automatically destroy staff emails after one year. The decision comes less than three weeks after KPCC published two-year-old internal emails that raised questions
Before the RFP: LA SCHOOL’S EARLY TECHNOLOGY PLANS CALLED FOR TRAINING ON PEARSON SOFTWARE
Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1wdAIA0 by Lexie Flickinger via Flickr September 9th, 2014, 3:42pm :: The Los Angeles Unified School District's early technology expansion plan called for all teachers to be trained on textbook publisher Pearson's iPad educational software, according to a document obtained by KPCC. Superintendent John Deasy emailed the plan to Pearson CEO
BOARD OF ED APPROVES PLAN TO ERASE LAUSD E-MAILS AFTER ONE YEAR: Does the name iPadgate ring a bell?
by smf for LAKidsNews Sept 9, 2014 :: At today’s LAUSD school board meeting there were two (count ‘em) two instances where the board and the superintendent skated on the ethical fault line. IN THE FIRST: The board voted to approve a contract with Microsoft – buried in a package of contracts – to automatically and routinely delete District emails from District servers after one year. There
CORRECTION: Credit where credit’s due
by smf In last Sunday’s 4LAKids newsletter I wrote: “Congressperson Maxine Waters argued that this moment demonstrates the victory of the Right Thing over Big Money ….and also the triumph of the collective/united “We” over the politics of “I". And, in a ‘Maxine really didn’t say that, did she?’ moment: ‘The final triumph of We over iPads!’” While Maxine Waters opened the “Triumph of We
LAUSD TEACHERS ARE PAID LESS THAN OTHERS IN CALIFORNIA: Total compensation even when adjusted for LAUSD’s benefits package is $1,403 (1.7%) less than California average
By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1xEfNrx A 17.6 percent raise would bankrupt Los Angeles Unified, Superintendent John Deasy said, adding that the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which has fiscal oversight, would never approve such a budget. (File photo by Brittany Murray/Daily Breeze) Posted: 09/07/14, 4:27 PM PDT :: As union leaders discuss shutting
SEP 07
AFTER RUNNER-UP FINISH IN STATE RACE, GUTIERREZ TAKING ON VLADOVIC + LAUSD board candidate repudiates statements of ex-aide over willingness to fire Deasy
by Michael Janofsky, LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1w4tDSu Posted on September 3, 2014 11:57 am :: The LA Unified school board president, Richard Vladovic, is no longer running uncontested for his seat next year. Lydia Gutierrez, who nearly advanced to the general election in the California Superintendent of Public Instruction race this year, has filed to oppose Vladovic in 2015, when
SEP 05
Trials+Tribulations Of Opening School With Misis
from the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles Weekly Update for the Week of 8 Sept 2014 | http://bit.ly/YihifD AALA thanks a secondary administrator, who wishes to remain anonymous, for providing this article. 4 September, 2014 ::For years, we heard it was coming – an integrated student information system. And then, suddenly, almost without warning, we drop right into the middle of My
Calif. Teachers’ Union Sets Sights On Charters
By Arianna Prothero, Education Week http://bit.ly/YieK0S National Education Association President Lily Eskelson Garcìa poses at the teachers' union's Washington headquarters. Her visit to two recently unionized charter schools in California highlighted charter-organizing efforts in that state. —Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post/Getty September 5, 2014 :: A pair of small charter schools
California Goes It Alone On Special Ed Testing
by Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report :: http://bit.ly/1pTytPK September 04, 2014 (Calif.) :: California is moving forward with a plan to develop and administer its own assessment for cognitively disabled students after learning barely a month ago that it would not be allowed to test drive a new national model being launched this spring. The California State Board of Education took no
WILL COMMON CORE DOUBLE THE HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE? + smf’s 2¢
By Valerie Strauss - The Washington Post | http://wapo.st/1qChqzG September 4 at 3:34 PM :: The nonprofit Carnegie Corporation of New York, which has supported the Common Core State Standards, published a report in 2013 with some startling information that was little noticed in the education world until recently: that the high school dropout rate could double as a result of the Core
Teachers Union Submits Initial Contract Demands To La Unified + Utla’S Initial Bargaining Proposal
by Vanessa Romo, LA School Report | http://bit.ly/1lLMJt3 September 4, 2014 2:12 pm :: After months of bargaining talks with LA Unified, the teachers union, UTLA, today submitted its first contract demand within the course of current negotiations. In a document submitted to the board this morning, the union called for discussions of various subjects, including salaries, teacher
CELERITY EXA CHARTER SCHOOL SURRENDERS ITS CHARTER AFTER BEING CLOSED BY PASADENA FIRE MARSHAL + smf’s 2¢
By Sarah Favot, Pasadena Star-News | http://bit.ly/Zaq0ga ***STAFF FILE PHOTO***First graders work together in groups on an "Eradicate Hunger Project" at Celerity Exa Charter School in Pasadena Friday, September 28, 2012. The project based K-5 school, which opened this year in the former Hodges Childrens Center, includes dance in their curriculum. (SGVN/ Photo By Sarah Reingewirtz) 9/
