6-16-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District)

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

Why I’m a parent in Vergara v. California teacher lawsuit

Via Sacramento Bee | By Evelyn Alemán Macias “Maybe you’re just not good at math. Some people are good at some things, and others aren’t. Maybe math isn’t your thing.” Those were the words my child, Julia Macias, heard from her second-grade teacher at a San Fernando Valley elementary school when she struggled to learn new math concepts. At the time, I didn’t realize that my daughter was hearing th

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Labor groups split on support for McKenna and Johnson in runoff

Alex Johnson (left), George McKenna (right) The battle for LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat is playing out not only among voters in the district, but also within the city’s labor unions. Both candidates in the Aug. 12 runoff, George McKenna and Alex Johnson, have drawn considerable labor support. But a substantial split suggests that this is the rare election pitting groups normally aligned

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Public gets last chance to shape LAUSD 2014-2015 budget

The revised budget is in the hands of the LA Unified Board of Education, but the public has a final opportunity tomorrow to weigh in on how the district’s $7 billion budget will be spent. The board has set a limit of 30 speakers to address the six members for two minutes each, to advocate for their causes célèbres. But in all likelihood, the budget presented last week by Superintendent John Deasy 

by Vanessa Romo / 6min 

When the LA Unified watchdog watches too closely

Via Los Angeles Times | By Steve Lopez Commentary: If Stuart Magruder knew how to play the game, he might still have his volunteer watchdog job today. But he just had to speak up. The arrogance, the temerity, the insolence. How dare he challenge the leadership of the Los Angeles Unified School District? Exactly what sins did Magruder commit to get bounced last month from the district’s Bond Oversi

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Morning Read: Teachers’ union lambastes US education secretary

Teachers’ union leader blasts U.S. Education secretary over comments American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten sharply criticized U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan last week for his praise of a ruling by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge deeming certain job protections for teachers in California as unconstitutional. The ruling represents a major loss for the unions a

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6-14-14 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):Teachers union planning a salary rally at LAUSD board meetingThe LA Unified board meeting on June 17 might be more crowded than usual. UTLA, the teachers union, is planning a noon press conference outside the district’s downtown headquarters and handing out leaflets to call attention to the board’s demand

by mike simpson / 42min

Vergara v. California: The court’s decision to gut teacher tenure will not improve poor schools.

Vergara v. California: The court’s decision to gut teacher tenure will not improve poor schools.:

Tenure Is Not the Problem

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Teacher protections are not why poor schools are failing. Segregation is.

By Richard D. Kahlenberg

 

Racial segregation continues to bedevil American society and schools.

Courtesy of Shutterstock

On Tuesday, a California court struck down state teacher tenure and seniority protections as a violation of the rights of poor and minority students to an equal education. The decision, which will make it easier to fire bad teachers, who are disproportionately found in high-poverty schools, is being hailed as a great triumph for civil rights. Bruce Reed, president of the Broad Foundation and a former Democratic staffer, suggested the ruling was “another big victory” for students of color, in the tradition of Brown v. Board of Education.

But modifying teacher tenure rules is not the new Brown. The decision in Vergara v. California  won’t do much to help poor kids and is a diversion from the real source of inequality identified in Brown itself: the segregation of our public schools.

Racial segregation continues to bedevil American society and is closely coupled with rising income segregation. Concentrations of poverty have much more to do with why poor and minority students often end up with the worst teachers than do tenure laws. If the plaintiffs were genuinely concerned about connecting great teachers with poor and minority kids, they would go after that problem, not the due process rights of teachers.

Even if tenure reform is successful, there is little reason to think new teachers hired in high-poverty schools will be better.

So why do high-poverty schools have a hard time attracting strong teachers? Because they often provide poor working conditions. When you pack poor kids into environments separate from more affluent students, the schools generally have high rates of discipline problems. Low-income students, who often don’t see much first-hand evidence of the payoff of education,act out more often on average than middle-class students. Low-incomeVergara v. California: The court’s decision to gut teacher tenure will not improve poor schools.:

Agenda for 2014 PAA Leadership Conference | Parents Across America

Agenda for 2014 PAA Leadership Conference | Parents Across America:

Agenda for 2014 PAA Leadership Conference

Schedule for

2014 PAA Leadership Conference

Day 1 – Monday July 28

10 am to 6 pm (optional) – Join BATS march. More info here.

Beginning at 8:30 am (optional) – Meet your legislators on Capitol Hill.

Pick up PAA materials if you have not already downloaded them (location TBA). We will coordinate communications and visits as we get closer to the day.

Anytime after 3:00 pm - Check in at George Washington University Inn (GWUI), 824 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Foggy Bottom, Washington, DC, 20037 – Phone (202) 337-6620. They say they are happy to take your bags and perhaps even check you in early if rooms are available. Hotel registration information here.

6:30 – 8:30 pm: Parent Voice Award dinner honoring PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson at NEA headquarters, 1201 16th Street, NW, Washington DC.

Details and ticket information here.

Day 2 – Tuesday July 29

8 am: Breakfast together at GWUI, welcome and introduction

8:30 – 9:20: Review our mission statement

9:30 – 11:45 Workshops – Learning from each other (Legislative advocacy and other sessions based on attendee preferences)

11:50 – noon: Set up for training on BaseCamp and other internet communication platforms.

Noon: Lunch – sit at Regional tables, begin to discuss possible regional meetings, actions and strategies and chapter support needs

1:00 – 5:00 – Session with Kirwan Institute – taking a deeper look at the racial, ethnic, cultural dynamics in education reform policy discussions.

Dinner on your own or arrange to eat together at a nearby restaurant.

Day 3 – Wednesday, July 30

Breakfast on your own

8:30 – 10:30: Creating PAA position papers

Break into groups to draft position papers on topics based on attendee feedback

10:30 – 11:15: Regional sessions: chapters and affiliates meet again in groups to continue to plan joint activities and ways PAA can support chapters

11:15-noon: Wrap-up and next steps

Noon: PAA Board meeting

Note: There will be 5 rooms set aside at the conference cost for Wednesday night for PAA members needing or wishing to stay over an extra night. If you wish to reserve a room for Wednesday night at the conference cost, please include it when you call in your reservation.

- See more at: http://parentsacrossamerica.org/agenda-2014-paa-leadership-conference/

Time for PAA’s annual leadership conference!

Parents Across America is holding our 2014 Leadership Conference from Monday – Wednesday, July 28-30, 2014, in Washington DC. Please join us!!! The event will begin on Monday night with the first PAA Parent Voice Award Dinner honoring PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson, who led the successful attempt to shut down the student data collection corporation, inbloom. She is a warrior in the battle to protec

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Help us honor Leonie Haimson!

Join Parents Across America at our first annual Parent Voice Award Dinner honoring PAA co-founder Leonie Haimson, leader of New York City-based Class Size Matters. This year, Leonie nearly single-handedly organized parents around the U.S. to oppose the impending commercialization of student information by the inBloom company, which ultimately went out of business after every state on its original

by pureparents / 0min

What’s Wrong with the Recent Court Decision for Teachers:

What’s Wrong with the Recent Court Decision for Teachers

by JIM MILLER on JUNE 16, 2014 · 0 COMMENTS

in CIVIL RIGHTS, EDUCATION, HISTORY, LABOR, UNDER THE PERFECT SUN

BlueRobot / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution

By Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew

Last week’s decision in the Vergara v. the State of California lawsuit that undermined tenure and seniority rights was a profound slap in the face to teachers who have committed their careers to improving the lives of our children. It was yet another significant victory for those who are seeking to impose corporate education reforms by pitting teachers against children in a cynical, destructive, and utterly counterproductive fashion.

As tenured professors in the community college system, union members, and parents of a child in California’s public school system, we have a unique perspective on this matter. Although the “Vergara” decision has no effect on our jobs at San Diego City College, it does affect the professional lives of the educators who teach our son and it will do them, and him, more harm than good.

We have had our kid happily ensconced at a tremendous place–McKinley Elementary School in North Park. This is a traditional neighborhood school that has a staff of devoted, loving, highly skilled professionals, many of whom have dedicated most of their careers to this place.

Our son is terribly sad at the end of every spring when he has to move on to the next grade level and leave his teacher behind. We couldn’t ask for a better school for him. We don’t want to make it easier to fire his teachers, we want to thank them for the fine work that they do. It has helped our son grow and prosper.

Pitting our child against his teachers, as the “Vergara” lawsuit seeks to do, is a fool’s errand. It destroys any sense of community in our schools and heaps scorn on the very people we all want to trust with our children’s futures. The interests of teachers and students are not diametrically What’s Wrong with the Recent Court Decision for Teachers:

6-16-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?:

Wait What? 

AFL-CIO Refuses To Allow Pelto to address Political Endorsing Convention

AFL-CIO Refuses To Allow Pelto to address Political Endorsing Convention The Connecticut AFL-CIO will be holding their 10th Biennial Political Convention starting today at the Omni Hotel in New Haven.  Although Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley and Lieutenant Governor candidate, Penny Bacchiochi will be addressing delegates at 11:00 am today and Governor Dannel P. Malloy and his Democra

by jonpelto / 43min 

6-15-14 Wait What? - Jonathan Pelto: Gubernatorial Candidate and A Really Nice Guy

Wait What?: Wait What? Libraries are so overrated… (Not)My children’s high school has a library and full-time library staff.  Their middle school had a library and a full-time librarian; even their elementary school had a library with a librarian. But as a result of inadequate state funding (and outright stupidity on the part of some of our elected officials), many Connecticut children are attendi

by mike simpson / 19h 

Is the Need for Common Core STEM Education Based on Lies? | Missouri Education Watchdog

Is the Need for Common Core STEM Education Based on Lies? | Missouri Education Watchdog:

Is the Need for Common Core STEM Education Based on Lies?

inShare

What is inSPIRE STEM USA?  It’s an organization supported by Chambers of Commerce, special interests and companies pushing for immigrants to take American STEM jobs because we have been told we don’t have enough Americans who can competently perform the jobs:

It’s a coordinated effort from the Chambers of Commerce and businesses to tout the reason we need Common Core NOW.  While our students become trained in the “critical thinking skills” students weren’t getting from their teachers who apparently couldn’t figure out how to teach without CCSS scripts, we will now outsource and ask immigrants to provide the STEM human capital for those businesses until Americans can develop the “high skills” needed for these jobs.  If you read Minnich’s statement above, you would think CCSSO will be a valuable partner in solving the STEM problem we’ve been told is plaguing businesses.  However, the problem that may be plaguing business is not a shortage of workers, it may be that businesses are able to find overseas workers who will work cheaper for the same work.   Read this from  This IT worker had to train an H-1B replacement:Is the Need for Common Core STEM Education Based on Lies? | Missouri Education Watchdog: