Tuesday, February 18, 2014

2-18-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Vergara witness says schools can deal with teacher ineffectiveness

Susan Moore Johnson, a Professor of Education Policy at Harvard Plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging state laws that govern teacher employment put their case on pause today, allowing the defense team to call one of its key experts to the witness stand. But it turned out far more challenging than Dr. Susan Moore Johnson, a respected Harvard professor, and the former dean of the Harvard Graduate Sc

3 by Mark Harris / 9min

LA Unified board appoints a ‘liaison’ for vacant district seat

Sylvia Rousseau In a closed session meeting — meaning, it was closed to the public — the LA Unified School Board named Sylvia Rousseau, a professor at USC, as the “liason” to board District 1, starting in March. The board seat has remained unrepresented at school board meetings since Marguerite LaMotte died in December. The appointment is not totally official yet, nor is the position fully define

by Vanessa Romo / 1min

LA Unified Names Ekchian chief labor negotiator

Vivian Ekchain The Los Angeles Unified Board voted 6-0 today to appoint Vivian Ekchian to the newly created position of chief labor negotiator. The district’s chief human resources officer since 2007, she will be responsible for negotiating agreements with all labor unions that hold contracts with the District. She begins her new job immediately. “I congratulate Vivian on her new position,” said S

2 47min

Community meetings ahead on CA school spending plan

via the LAUSD Parent Community Services Branch A series of meetings are scheduled to help LA Unified parents and other community members learn about the new Local Control Funding Formula, the state’s new funding stream. A coalition of advocacy groups known as CLASS, as well as LAUSD board members are holding community meetings to help the public understand the changes. Below is a guide to meetings

by Chase Niesner / 28min

Ridley-Thomas aide, Alex Johnson, files for open board seat

Alex Johnson LA School Report has learned that Alex Johnson, a top aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, has filed papers with the City Clerk’s office, making official what has long been assumed by insiders, that he is running for LA Unified school board in the special election set for June 3. While Johnson has spoken privately with numerous policy-makers and funders about his

24min hide // save

Commentary: When our students are living in a book desert

He was beefy and laconic, rumored to be gang-affiliated. Kids whispered that he stood outside of school in the early mornings selling weed, though we could never catch him at it. He was also brilliant. If you define “intellectual” as a person who takes delight in the process of abstract thinking, Xavier was one of the most purely intellectual young person I’ve ever met. Faced with a complex questi

by Ellie Herman / 18min

Morning Read: FB pushing action on tattered campuses

After Facebook headlines, LA school board takes on crumbling campuses The staff behind the social media campaign to shame the Los Angeles Unified School District into repairing tattered and infested campuses won a first victory. After every local media outlet – and some national ones – reported on the “repairs not iPads” Facebook group, a school board committee overseeing facilities scheduled a di

2 26min

‘Apprentice’ contestant Omarosa bidding for LAUSD board seat

Bringing unusual visibility to the upcoming LA Unified school board special election, Omarosa Manigault, a TV personality best known for contentious her role on The Apprentice, has told LA School Report she is entering the race. She filed papers with the City Clerk on Friday to run for the vacant seat in District 1. The winner will serve out the remaining months of the four-year term of Marguerite

32min

2-17-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): Happy Presidents’ Day!2 22min hide // save2-14-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSDLA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): LA Unified’s education policy is upheld in US district court–Photo by Aaron BlevinsFrancis

1 by mike simpson / 23h

#ResistTFA Tops Twitter Trend in United States | Cloaking Inequity

#ResistTFA Tops Twitter Trend in United States | Cloaking Inequity:

#ResistTFA Tops Twitter Trend in United States

#resistTFA Tops Twitter Trend.

From DianeRavitch.net:

The student-led movement to defend the teaching profession is off to a fast start:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contacts:
Stephanie Rivera
Rutgers University
1.732.485.0508 srrivera92@gmail.com
Hannah Nguyen
University of Southern California
1.408.644.9717 hbnguyen@usc.edu
#ResistTFA (Resist Teach For America) Hashtag Tops Twitter Trend List
February 18 – Chicago, IL – The hashtag, #ResistTFA (Resist Teach For America), topped the Twitter trend list in the United States beginning around 9pm EST on February 17, 2014, and remained there well into the night. For much of the evening, #ResistTFA was more popular on Twitter than “Olympics”, #JimmyFallon, and #TheTonightShow on the night of Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show debut.
Students United for Public Education (SUPE), a grassroots, student-led organization founded by Stephanie Rivera, Rutgers University Graduate School of Education Student & Urban Teaching Fellow, and Hannah Nguyen, University of Southern California Student and SUPE Chapter Leader, organized the #ResistTFA “Twitter Chat” Monday evening as part of SUPE’s “Students Resisting Teach For America” national campaign. The goal of the event was to initiate a public debate around critical issues related to Teach For America’s impact on public education. Teach For America is a controversial nonprofit organization that places high-achieving college graduates in low-income school districts across the country to teach for a minimum of two years after receiving just five weeks of summer training. The timing of the #ResistTFA “Twitter Chat” was selected to coincide with Teach For America’s final 2014 application deadline.
Participants in the #ResistTFA “Twitter Chat” included students, former TFA participants,

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, February 18, 2014

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

Fensterwald: Proposed initiative would give school districts back their property taxes

Education Headlines

Tuesday, February 18, 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.

Voter apathy costs Centinela Valley Union High School District

Election turnout has typically hovered around 10 percent of the more than 50,000 registered voters who live in the district, which encompasses the working-class communities of Hawthorne, Lawndale, Lennox, Del-Aire and nearby areas.

District, teachers duel with website surveys at Rowland Unified

Each side has launched its own online survey asking how the district is performing and how it can do a better job.

Bassett Teachers Association asks for three percent bonus, increased work days

The leadership in the Bassett Teachers Association has presented few demands in this year’s negotiations in the hopes of a pay bump next year.

Long Beach area parents choose cyberschooling for their kids

The Copelands belong to the roughly 200 families in Long Beach with children in California Virtual Academies.

Bellflower teachers lock horns with district over pay raise

Hundreds of teachers, students and parents came to the Bellflower Unified school board meeting Thursday night to request a pay raise for educators as negotiations between the district and union stall.

Centinela Valley breaks silence on superintendent's $663K compensation package

The district’s official response took the form of a letter to the editor, signed by school board President Maritza Molina, spelling out the 54-year-old leader’s accomplishments at the district since he arrived six years ago.

Santa Ana dual-immersion charter school gets some breathing room

In January, dual-immersion charter school El Sol Science and Arts Academy of Santa Ana on 1010 N. Broadway opened its first multiclassroom building. Students in second, fourth and fifth grade moved into the new two-story 19,000-square-foot building after winter break on Jan. 13, said Monique Daviss, executive director of El Sol.

Old disciplines, new tech help top elementary school soar

Math movies. Yoga. Thanksgiving e-books. Don’t expect the typical at Stonegate Elementary, where teachers are told to try anything that might kindle the flame of student success.

Teachers still see need for cursive writing

The latest brewing controversy in public schools isn’t about evolution, creationism, classroom prayer or perceived historical revisionism. It’s penmanship.

California school district sued over tug-of-war lost fingers

Two former high school students who lost fingers in a tug-of-war accident have sued a Southern California school district.

Bill seeks to ban use of school bond money for iPads

A new bill introduced Friday would prohibit California school districts from using voter-approved construction bonds for non-facility related items -- a move spurred by the Los Angeles Unified School District’s $1-billion plan to purchase iPads for every student, teacher and administrator.

Nine-hour school day is the norm -- and a national model -- at Oakland middle school

Thinking bigger is part of the culture at Elmhurst Community Prep, a middle school in East Oakland that has expanded the school day to 5 p.m. with a variety of after-school offerings, such as Ashur Bratt's class on building self-confidence. Students can choose robotics, music or dance.

Fensterwald: Proposed initiative would give school districts back their property taxes

A San Francisco-based parent organization is circulating an initiative for the November ballot that it says would sever budget machinations that have contributed to school districts’ and community colleges’ financial distress since the Great Recession and leave them vulnerable when the next economic downturn comes.

Common Core curriculum now has critics on the left

The Common Core has been applauded by education leaders and promoted by the Obama administration as a way to replace a hodgepodge of state standards with one set of rigorous learning goals. But the newest chorus of complaints is coming from one of the most liberal states, and one of the earliest champions of the standards: New York. And that is causing supporters of the Common Core to shudder.

Fensterwald: Great year for CalSTRS won’t alter need for big increase in contributions

The Assembly committee that will decide how to fix the multibillion-dollar funding shortfall for teacher and administrator pensions will get good – and some sobering – news when it holds its first hearing on the issue this week.

San Diego students adjusting to new expectations for GED

The GED Testing Service, the company that designs the exams, revamped the tests this year to put them more in line new expectations for high school graduates under the Common Core standards 45 states have adopted for math and English.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Solar panels pay off for Scott Valley schools

A recent review showed that the devices are exceeding expectations for energy collection.

Monterey Peninsula USD working through its math problem

Math scores throughout the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District show that students are struggling mightily.

Long Beach charter New City Public Schools avoids California Dept. of Education disciplinary action

New City Public Schools will not be disciplined by the state for failing to meet targets on standardized tests.

Rialto Unified board: Superintendent's fate to be decided soon

The top two administrators in the Rialto Unified School District being out on paid leave for the past five months have cost taxpayers the equivalent of three veteran teachers during that time. But the pair won’t be in limbo much longer, according to board members.

Fresno Unified says teacher contract talks are at impasse, teachers union disagrees

Over the objections of the teachers' union, Fresno Unified School District on Thursday unilaterally declared an impasse in negotiations for a new labor contract.

Teacher put on leave after massage allegations

A veteran third-grade teacher at Salt Creek Elementary School in Chula Vista who was placed on leave for allegedly soliciting massages from her students in exchange for “class dollars” will not finish the school year after more parents complained when she returned to the classroom.

Grossmont school board discusses members' rights

Tension among Grossmont Union High School District trustees was evident Thursday when the board passed a resolution to limit trustees' attendance at meetings of the district's Bond Oversight Committee.

LAUSD food effort makes local farms healthier too

The district is working with local farms that produce vegetables, a program that offers relief as growers switch from fruit over worries about an invasive and deadly citrus pest.

Christie’s ed reform scandal: Principals suspended after questioning charter scheme - Salon.com

Christie’s ed reform scandal: Principals suspended after questioning charter scheme - Salon.com:

Christie’s ed reform scandal: Principals suspended after questioning charter scheme

"Narcissism," "dictatorial" and "totalitarian" tactics by Christie appointee, Newark councilman charges to Salon

JOSH EIDELSON Follow

Chris Christie (Credit: Reuters/Andrew Kelly)

Five days before the now-notorious lane closures in Fort Lee, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie offered a characteristically acerbic answer to reporters wondering if he’d reappoint Newark’s lightning rod superintendent, Cami Anderson: “Yes we do, and we’re going to renew [her contract] because she’s done a great job, and I don’t care about the community criticism. We run the school district in Newark, not them.”

Newark’s school district has been under state control for two decades, and has recently emerged as a top battleground in America’s education reform wars. A $100 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg helped secure the Newark Teachers Union’s assent to a contract that pays teachers based in part on their students’ test scores – after which the union president wasnearly ousted last year. Citing an alleged lack of transparency and consultation, the Newark Public Schools Advisory Board voted unanimously in April to re-name itself the Newark Board of Education and to declare no confidence in Superintendent Anderson. Demanding greater funding and local control, Newark students staged an Election Day school boycott and marched to Christie’s office and Anderson’s house.

Last month, four Newark principals were suspended after attending a forum, organized by Anderson critic and mayoral candidate Ras Baraka, about Anderson’s “One Newark” reform plan. “One Newark” would bring changes to over a third of the city’s schools, including bringing charter schools into district-owned facilities and designating “renew” schools where principals could replace existing staff. While the four principals have been reinstated, one has been reassigned; those four and a fifth suspended principal are now mounting a federal lawsuit against Anderson and the school district, alleging violations of their First and Fourteenth Amendment

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