Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Statewide, just over half of students -- 51 percent -- scored proficient or advanced in math. In English, 57 percent scored proficient or above. That's up by a percentage point in math and three in English over last year.
Three of the four teachers allegedly involved in sexual relationships with students were arrested, and two of them pleaded guilty to criminal charges.
In May, the Corona-Norco Unified School District board cut 17 bus routes for 779 middle, intermediate and high school students to save $645,685, a district report showed. An additional savings of nearly $300,000 was expected from a school boundary change.
Last fall, the Oakland school board voted to close Lazear Elementary School. In a sense, it did. The charter school that opened last week on the same campus, by the same name, hardly resembles the institution that came before it.
With new standardized test scores in hand Friday, San Francisco school officials answered a question long debated in the world of education: Does more money make a difference? The answer was yes.
California schools would be judged less by student test scores under a bill lawmakers are sending to Gov. Jerry Brown. Senate Bill 1458 by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg de-emphasizes standardized tests in evaluating schools, and requires other factors – such as graduation rates, college-going rates, and other measures – to be used in calculating a school's Academic Performance Index.
Legislative time runs out on the bill that education advocates said would have weakened initiatives in Los Angeles and elsewhere to improve the quality of public school instructors.
After failing a class at one L.A. Unified school, three seniors earned the credit at another in days, then returned to graduate. The consequences for the principals trigger backlash at both schools.
What had been one of the lowest-performing, under-enrolled schools in San Francisco was little more than a pile of rubble as workers demolished Willie Brown Jr. Academy in the city's Bayview neighborhood.
Withdrawal of the teacher evaluation bill in the final days of the legislative session last week likely removes an easy path for California schools to relief from federal sanctions under the No Child Left Behind Act, state officials said last week.
Controversy at a San Diego school district over the cost to taxpayers for new borrowing could lead to legislative controls on school bonds, a spokesman for the state treasurer’s office said last week.
A new partnership among Los Angeles city, police and school officials aims to support — rather than punish — students, offering counseling instead of citations.
Public efforts toward school reform have some Democrats questioning the party's support of guarantees that school districts have made to teachers for decades.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Oceanside Unified School District officials called a special meeting with an oversight group Thursday to explain the district's use of a controversial type of borrowing that pushes payments far into the future at a higher interest rate.
With the start of the new school year on Wednesday, middle school students will no longer have campus security officers (CSOs) like Big Mike on school grounds. As part of a round of budget cuts in July, the LBUSD eliminated CSOs at all of its middle schools, cutting about 20 positions.
More and more elementary schools in Lodi Unified School District are locked up behind tall fences and gates to prevent theft, said Art Hand, assistant superintendent of facilities and planning.
Eureka City Schools will be saving taxpayers about $2.7 million over the next 13 years after successfully refinancing general obligation bonds to take advantage of a lower interest rate, officials said.
Teacher in classroom with students (photo: Temari 09 / flickr)