Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Associated Press: US ed secretary's visit to Ala. school draws ire

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama's Legislative Black Caucus on Saturday called on U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to cancel a planned appearance at Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery.

State Rep. Alvin Holmes said the school and its principal publicly opposed the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Selma-Montgomery march in 1965. Holmes said it was "insulting" to King and civil rights protesters that President Barack Obama's top education aide was scheduled to appear at the school Monday.

"If he doesn't cancel, we're going to picket," Holmes told The Associated Press.

Sandra Abrevaya, a spokeswoman for Duncan, said the agency was not aware of the caucus' request and had no immediate comment.

Duncan is scheduled to meet with teachers and students at the school and march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 45th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the violent clash between civil rights protesters and state troopers in Selma.

About 200 people marched to the Alabama Capitol on Saturday, in part to commemorate the anniversary. The marchers, joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, were also taking to the streets in support of electronic bingo jobs in Alabama, saying the debate was a voting rights issue and a matter of economic justice.

Republican Gov. Bob Riley contends electronic bingo machines are illegal

Teachers as reformers - latimes.com

Teachers as reformers - latimes.com:

"L.A. Unified teachers won the right to run several new or underperforming schools. Can they pull it off?"

Los Angeles schools did not undergo the transformation we had expected from the Public School Choice initiative, which in its first year opened more than 30 new or underperforming public schools to outside management. Top-notch charter operators applied for relatively few schools and then were removed from the running at the last minute. The school board once again mired itself in political maneuvers instead of putting students first.

What transformation there was came, more surprisingly, from the teachers. They agreed to allow and create more pilot schools, which are similar to charter schools but employ district personnel. They formed partnerships and, with the help of their union, United Teachers Los Angeles, drew up their own, often strong applications for revamping schools. It would be wrong to underestimate the effort and skills needed to pull this off. The time frame was short and the list of requirements long. Unlike charter operators, which submit such applications as a matter of course, the teachers had no particular background for this work. They met with parents who have long fumed that the schools discourage their participation. They listened. They responded.

This is a tremendous step in a school district where, too often, teachers and their union have not been the agents of change but impediments to it. In fact, had the process worked as it was supposed to, the reform initiative would have served as a much stronger application for federal Race to the Top funds than anything the Legislature came up with.

Pulling together the applications was an intense but short-term task for the teachers, born of a desperate attempt to preserve jobs in Los Angeles Unified, which this week sent out thousands more layoff notices. The harder task lies ahead: carrying out those plans for the next several years. The applications promise radically new efforts at the same time that the district lacks the money to support those efforts. And now, much of the pressure is off. The main competition came from charter operators, which aren't sure whether they want to be full participants in the future. And the board has shown a clear unwillingness to go against the wishes of union lobbyists.

If the district leaders want a worthwhile outcome from this initiative, there are several steps they must take in coming years: Do a better job of educating parents, many of whom didn't fully understand what the options were. Do away with the obnoxious "advisory" votes, which were riddled with misleading campaign tactics and ballot boxes weighted by groups on both sides that brought in their own supporters to vote. And most important, hold all of the new operators -- whether charters, teachers or Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools -- to their promises of meaningful progress for students.

Report: Too many students placed in special education

City doing better reducing numbers

Saturday, March 06, 2010

By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

While complimenting Pittsburgh Public Schools' progress and promise in special education, evaluators from the Council of the Great City Schools said the district needs to work on placing fewer students in special education.
"It was clear to the team ... that too many teachers and staff members were using special education as an escape hatch when they did not know what else to do with students who were experiencing learning or behavioral problems," the report stated.
"This is not an unusual situation in many public school systems across the country, but the Pittsburgh Public Schools has the potential to make a real dent in the problem because of its determined leadership, strong collaboration with its teachers union and its forward momentum."
One sign of progress, the report noted, is that Pittsburgh was one of the few urban districts that met its targets last year for adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind Act, including those for special education students.
While the performance of special education students has improved in some grade levels, it still lags significantly behind that of other students.
In addition, the district has been developing tools -- including curriculum, interventions and professional development -- aimed at better meeting students' needs before a special education placement becomes necessary.
Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, and others from his organization presented the report to the school board this week.

This Week In Education

Weekend Reading: The Problem With Peer Review

by Alexander Russo

Fixing schools by firing teachers Salon: You can't bulldoze a system and call it fixed.

Japanese princess bullied at elementary school Salon: Japan's Princess Aiko, granddaughter of the emperor, has missed several days of classes because of bullying by boys at her elementary school, a spokesman for the royal family said Friday.
Police search for Oklahoma City principal’s attacker NewsOK.com: The man attacked principal Brian Staples about 3:30 p.m. in the school’s parking lot, Oklahoma City School District spokeswoman Tierney Cook said.

Warning: Your reality is out of date Boston Globe: The arc of our educational system is to be treated as little generalists when children, absorbing bits of knowledge about everything from biology to social studies to geology. This might have been useful in decades past, but in our increasingly fast-paced and interdisciplinary world, lacking an even approximate knowledge of our surroundings is unwise.

Turning peer review into modern-day holy scripture Spiked: Often, the colleagues they are reviewing and refereeing are their competitors and sometimes even their bitter rivals. The contradiction between working as a member of an expert community and one’s own personal interests cannot always be satisfactorily resolved.
A rare pact: Teens' double suicide rocks Pa. town Salon: As the high-speed Acela train came thundering down the rails, a teenage girl screamed at her friends to get off the tracks.

Two area colleges to offer three-year degrees | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/06/2010

Two area colleges to offer three-year degrees | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/06/2010

In response to concern about rising college costs, two local universities plan to allow students to earn degrees in three years, saving them up to a year in tuition and room and board, and getting them into the earning market sooner.
Arcadia University in Glenside said yesterday that it would offer three-year degrees in five of its 40 or so undergraduate programs, beginning in the fall. The programs are business administration, communications, international business and culture, international studies, and psychology.
Holy Family University, in the Torresdale section of Philadelphia, will start more slowly, with one three-year degree program in business administration this fall, officials said. There are eight possible majors within the program.
Arcadia and Holy Family are among a growing number of colleges around the country looking to gain a competitive edge with less costly options for students.
At Arcadia, tuition and room and board total almost $44,000 this year, while Holy Family charges about $33,000.
"There's a market out there, particularly since the cost of college has grown so much," said Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity in Washington. "It's starting to get on the radar screen."
Popular in Europe, the three-year degree has been gaining in popularity in the United States in recent months.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), a former U.S. secretary of education and university president, touted three-year degrees in a Newsweek article last fall. Rhode Island in recent months mandated that two of its public universities offer three-year degree options.

For-profit schools look to buy accredited colleges

BOSTON — ITT Educational Services Inc. paid $20.8 million for debt-ridden Daniel Webster College in June. In return, the company obtained an academic credential that might generate a taxpayer-funded bonanza worth as much as $1 billion.

ITT Educational — operator of 105 ITT Technical Institutes — is the third-biggest higher education company in the United States. Its $3.8 billion market value may increase it by 26 percent, or $1 billion, within five years because of the purchase of 1,200-student Daniel Webster in Nashua, N.H., according to Michael Clifford, an investor in Del Mar, Calif., who has participated in the acquisitions of four nonprofit colleges.

At least 75 percent of new revenue would come from access to the more than $100 billion a year in financial aid the U.S. hands out to college students, he said.

Key to tapping that money is Webster's regional accreditation, which is the same gold standard of academic quality enjoyed by Harvard University and helps students transfer course credits from one college to another.

Protesters March to Sacramento - KPSP Local 2 - News for the Coachella Valley and the Southern California Desert - Palm Springs - Cathedral City - Rancho Mirage - Palm Desert - Indian Wells - La Quinta - Indio - Coachella

Protesters March to Sacramento - KPSP Local 2 - News for the Coachella Valley and the Southern California Desert - Palm Springs - Cathedral City - Rancho Mirage - Palm Desert - Indian Wells - La Quinta - Indio - Coachella

Protesters from around California are marching 400 miles to Sacramento, in an effort to chang what they call the "grid-locked political system."
The march began Saturday in Bakersfield. It will take 48 days to complete.
The group wants to raise taxes on corporations and the rich and increase education spending.
Thousands of people of all ages will join in at various stops along the way, but only seven will march the entire length.
It's being organized by the California Federation of Teachers and aided by various unions.

Rules for Student Radicals - Zaid Jilani - Youthful Populism - True/Slant

Rules for Student Radicals

Teachers, Students Take To Streets To Protest Cuts
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Millions of students, teachers and parents are expected to rally in cities and college campuses in California and many other states to protest deep spending cuts to schools and universities.
Demonstrations, marches, teach-ins and walkouts are planned nationwide Thursday in what is being called the “March 4th National Day of Action for Public Education.”
Events are being held on most of California's public colleges and universities to protest budget cuts that have led to canceled classes, faculty furloughs and steep fee hikes.
Students, teachers and school employees are converging in Sacramento to convince lawmakers to restore funding to public schools.
via Teachers, Students Take To Streets To Protest Cuts – KNX.

I’ve always loved a good protest, and the March 4th demonstrations by students and faculty was no different. Hundreds of thousands of Americans got together and protested — with signs and banners, the good old-fashioned American way — the deep cuts in education being experienced all over the country.

Over at Think Progress, I documented many of these cuts in states’ public education systems, not only at the college level but also K-12. Our team put out a great Progress Report on the issue of how progressive and conservative state legislators are tackling their budget gaps, and I encourage you to read it — it’s really telling who’s deciding to balance their budgets in a reasonable way that includes raising taxes on those who can afford it and who’s simply decided to balance their budgets on the backs of the poor, the elderly, and students.

NO CUTS, NO FREEZE, EDUCATION MUST BE FREE! : Indybay

" No Cuts, No Freeze, Education Must be Free!"

Chanting this slogan, thousands of students, teachers and members of different communities all over California and 31 other states turned out for massive protests in different schools and colleges against education cuts, the most recent attack of the ruling class against the people of the United States.

AJLPP UPDATE
March 6, 2010

NO CUTS, NO FREEZE, EDUCATION MUST BE FREE!

Los Angeles-" No Cuts, No Freeze, Education Must be Free!"

Chanting this slogan, thousands of students, teachers and members of different communities all over California and 31 other states turned out for massive protests in different schools and colleges against education cuts, the most recent attack of the ruling class against the people of the United States.

In Los Angeles, more than 3,000 protestors led by the UTLA and supported by different community organizations like ANSWER-LA and Not In Our Name Coalition marched from Pershing Square/Hill St. to the Federal Reagan building down 3rd and Spring and showed their disgust against the state government.

In UC Riverside, hundred of students marched around the campus condemning the cuts. In UCLA,the KPFK reported that 2,000 students massed at the Bruins Plaza and later 600 of them occupied Murphy Hall- the chancellors office. Also in CSULB, hundreds of students and community members walked out

In Northern California

Students and faculty from Berkeley also walked out and UC Sta Cruz did the same. Buses filled with hundreds of demonstrators went to Sacramento to bring the protest to the state capitol. But as usual,the governor and the state legislator played deaf and dumb to people's demand.

In San Francisco, The San Francisco Labor Council and other groups area led the protest at the San Francisco Civic Center.More than 10,000 people filled the Civic Center. The crowd most high school and college turned out and showed their disgust to the system

In Oakland, more than 150 protestors were arrested by the police for shutting the freeway. The same thing happened in UC Davis when police fired pellet balls at hundreds of students who blocked the 880 freeway. One student was arrested.

The KPFK has described the latest attacks on education "unprecedented because it seeks to gut the UC system. The UC system is said to be the jewel of US public education but the ruling class wanted to turn it to a privatized for profit pool.".

The KPFK also described the California mass action as the " first of its kind in being massive nationwide since the Immigrant Upsurge in 2006 where more than 2 million people marched to the

University World News - GLOBAL: Higher education budgets and the recession

University World News - GLOBAL: Higher education budgets and the recession:

"In the midst of the global recession, how have national governments around the world viewed the role of higher education in their evolving strategies for economic recovery? Demand for higher education generally goes up during economic downturns. Which nations have proactively protected funding for universities and colleges to help maintain access, to help retrain workers and to mitigate unemployment rates? And which nations have simply made large funding cuts for higher education in light of the severe downturn in tax revenues?

This essay, part of Research and Occasional Papers series published by the Center for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California - Berkeley, provides a moment-in-time review of the fate of higher education among a number of OECD nations and other countries, with a particular focus on the United States and on California - the largest state in terms of population and in the size of its economy.

Preliminary indicators show that most nations are not resorting to uncoordinated and reactionary cutting of funding and reductions in access, such as we see in the US. Their political leaders see higher education as a key to both short-term economic recovery and long-term competitiveness."

Fix the shortfall yourself, Sacramento

Fix the shortfall yourself, Sacramento:

"California voters are a surly bunch. They don't think an overhaul of state government is needed. They don't want to make it easier for the Legislature to approve a budget. And new taxes to patch a $20 billion shortfall? You can pretty much forget about it."

This angry outlook comes from a disturbing Field Poll released this week. Disturbing because voters are dismissive and furious over the state's political and budgetary gridlock, and they're in no mood to help Sacramento solve the crisis. The results are also a failing report card for government reformers, who are going nowhere in their bid to rewrite the state's decision-making rules.
A string of prior Field polls on the state's direction and political leaders have found much the same sour mood. Voters don't like elected officialdom and don't want dysfunction handed back to them with ballot-box fixes. In this latest poll, respondents show the same fed-up defiance: Sacramento needs to solve its monumental problems on its own with the rules and requirements it already has. Stop the whining, get together and don't ask for help, respondents say.
But the poll - with its blunt choices and five-question format - takes the argument only part way. Half of the respondents want to solve the $20 billion budget shortfall either completely or largely via budget cuts, the poll finds. But do these voters realize what will have to go? With a state's general fund kitty totaling $100 billion, are these voters willing to lop $20 million off the top?
It would mean more cuts for schools and higher education, less spending on road repairs and a heavy hit to social programs in a state with a 12 percent jobless rate. A whack this big goes well beyond any reasonable savings that can be expected from popular war cries about waste, fraud and abuse.
A hard core of 31 percent want cuts and no tax increases, a fair reflection of the minority Republican makeup in the Legislature. About 19 percent wants mostly spending cuts along with limited new taxes, a grouping that produces the 50 percent total aligned against significant tax increases. But 29 percent favor a mix of cuts and new revenues with the balance favoring more taxes or holding no opinion. There may be some room for moderation - that is, cuts plus taxes - but it's ever-so faint.
More than anything, the results display a shredded civic culture. Voters, who doze off at the mention of high-minded governmental reform, want action, no matter the cost. When cuts are announced - such as teacher layoffs or state park closures - they become even more angry, as the Field Poll shows. Solutions to ease this crisis atmosphere go up in smoke.
Reform groups, who've stepped in with suggested changes, aren't getting the job done. Repair California, which wanted a voter-approved constitutional convention to rewrite

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/06/ED6O1C9OS5.DTL#ixzz0hV2XP6EH

Editorial: Dysfunctional thinking on how to balance California's budget - ContraCostaTimes.com

DYSFUNCTIONAL thinking concerning how to solve California's $20 billion budget deficit is not limited to the Legislature and governor's office. Contradictory positions and misinformed assumptions also dominate the views of the Golden State's electorate.

A recent Field Poll revealed that half of the state's voters want the state to eliminate the $20 billion shortfall without any tax increases. Only 29 percent said the state should use an equal mix of spending cuts and higher taxes, and a mere 13 percent preferred balancing the budget mostly or completely with tax increases.

Certainly, opposition to any tax increases is understandable, given last year's $12 billion in tax hikes. Voters also have good cause to be upset with a governor and Legislature that went on a multiyear spending spree when revenues were freely flowing into the state treasury during the housing boom.

But the reality facing Californians today is that there simply is not nearly enough revenue coming in to balance even a diminished state budget.

There have been steep spending cuts, not just reductions in budgets. While more spending cuts can and must be made, there is a limit to just how much California can cut back without undermining basic services such as education, public safety and a minimum of social services.

The Field Poll also revealed that voters are opposed to dropping the two-thirds vote requirement in the

Legislature to pass a state budget.

However, when it comes to specific major budget cuts, there does not seem to be any consensus on where to cut or by how much.

A poll by the Public Policy Institute of California showed that 82 percent, including a majority of Republicans

University World News - US: Students march against funding cuts and fee hikes

US: Students march against funding cuts and fee hikes

07 March 2010
Issue: 114

In an unprecedented day of national protest across all sectors of education, the epicentre proved to be Berkeley - where the seeds of student activism were sown more than 40 years ago, writes Jack Stripling for Inside Higher Ed. With the smell of burning sage and the occasional hint of weed in the air, an impassioned throng of students from the University of California's Berkeley campus marched to protest budget cuts and tuition hikes they say are crippling one of the nation's premier public institutions.

While the five-mile trek to Oakland proved largely peaceful, police arrested as many as 200 protesters once they reached freeways and tried to block them. The arrests mark the continuation of a what many describe as a troubling trend at the University of California, which has seen recent allegations of police brutality, racially motivated discord and an activist movement that at times appears intent on provoking law enforcement.
Full report on the Inside Higher Ed site

Student activists in California and elsewhere took to the streets on Thursday in a national day of protest against rising fees and dwindling services in public higher education, drawing attention to a wave of tuition hikes, budget cuts and furloughs at colleges and universities across the country, write Jenna Johnson and Daniel de Vise for The Washington Post. Organisers said they seek to dramatise mounting frustration as the recession forces deep cuts in higher education budgets, especially in California, whose higher education system is both the largest in the nation and facing the deepest cuts. Colleges across the nation have raised tuition, cut positions and absorbed funding cuts, but not to the extent as in California.
Full report on The Washington Post site

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Arrested student protester in California don't get it

An Oakland police officer escorts a protester after he and a large group attempted to block Interstate 880 following a rally for the national Day of Action against school funding cuts and tuition increases March 4, 2010 in Oakland. (Getty)

It's too bad that a day of passionate but largely peaceful demonstrations in protest of budget cuts to California's struggling public school system will be remembered for the uglier moments.

--A face-off at UC Davis where police used pellet guns and pepper spray to stop about 100 students from blocking freeway traffic.

--Over two dozen protesters at UC Santa Cruz smashed the rear and side windows of a car while the driver was still in it. (He was unhurt).

--And worst of all, because it received the most coverage of all, the more than 150 protesters arrested on Interstate 880 in Oakland who used an exit ramp to walk onto the freeway and shut down rush hour traffic for nearly an hour. Many wore black, identified themselves as anarchists and carried a banner that read, "Occupy everything," according to the San Francisco Chronicle .

One student told local TV, "They'll get on the news. That was the point of today, so they achieved some kind of success, I guess."

Bad guess, kid, which makes me wonder if the fundamental lesson to be gleaned from this intemperate behavior will be lost upon those who need it the most --the students.

The act of protest is in the highest traditions of our nation and it's in the highest traditions of American history, which I hope these students are learning.

Costly pensions under fire - The Daily Breeze

Costly pensions under fire - The Daily Breeze

As state and local governments fight potential bankruptcy, some officials are taking a new look at scaling back billions of dollars in pension benefits for public employees.
The effort could trigger a massive fight with the state's powerful public unions, who have managed to quash previous pension reform efforts.
"Pensions ... are going to be the next 800-pound gorilla that local governments will be facing along with the state," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich, who is pushing for the county to rein in pension costs.
Last week, Antonovich directed county Chief Executive Officer Bill Fujioka to prepare a report on how to address rising pension costs. Even as the county faces a massive budget shortfall, its contribution to its pension system is expected to increase from $804 million now to $1.27billion by 2012-13.
Similarly, Los Angeles city's contribution to its pension system is expected to double from $653 million now to $1.3 billion in four years. The city makes that contribution from its general fund, which already faces a deficit of almost $700 million over the next 16 months.
"The current system is not sustainable," Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana said. "It's our pension costs that are in particular contributing to the deficit that we're facing.
"If our objective is to rein in our deficits, pension reforms have to be part of the long-term plan."

It's not just the Capitol: Billions in red ink drowning California's cities, schools and counties, too - San Jose Mercury News

SACRAMENTO — With even well-managed counties, cities and schools finding themselves in the same budget hole that has swallowed state government, California now confronts a financial crisis that may be unrivaled — though it is also maddeningly difficult to quantify.

In fact, the problem is so expansive that several experts contacted by the Mercury News wouldn't even hazard a guess. So just how broke is California?

A quick, unscientific look around the Golden State suggests that California's collective deficit may be double the state government's $20 billion budget gap. San Francisco must trim $522 million from its budget. San Jose's upcoming balance sheet is $116.2 million in the red. The Los Angeles Unified School District is staring at a $640 million shortfall. Even tiny Dorris, a few miles from the Oregon border (and home to the tallest flagpole this side of the Mississippi!) is contemplating cuts.

Now consider that California has 58 counties, 480 or so cities and nearly 1,000 school districts — plus dozens more special districts, like transit agencies and water boards. Amid California's harshest slump since the Great Depression, officials from one end of the state to another are preparing to close parks, fire teachers and police officers, and heave Hail Mary plans for tax hikes.

"2010-11 will be the worst year we've seen," warns Terry Anderson of the education policy advocate School Services of California. "That

part is clear."

So why, exactly, have budgets gone so sour in so many places?

The simple answer is that local governments have been just as susceptible as state government to the ravages of the recession.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Schools Matter: LA Teacher Discovers Secret to Higher Test Scores!

LA Teacher Discovers Secret to Higher Test Scores!

Letter below to LAUSD superintendent posted at Anthony Cody's website:

Dear Dr. Cortines,

You have decided to make Fremont teachers reapply for their own jobs as part of a "reconstitution," implicitly blaming them for the shortcomings of their school. You have also opened the hiring at Fremont to other aspirants.
I am a teacher at Marshall High. I helped our Academic Decathlon team gain top scores in Art for several years, including a second place finish. Several dozen of my English students have succeeded at the challenging AP Literature test. Virtually all of my students pass the English CAHSEE, including many special education students. I have helped my school meet its AYP/API targets with some consistency.

If you are looking for teachers to spearhead success at Fremont, perhaps my record would recommend me as a promising candidate.

If so, you may be curious to learn why I am not still teaching at Fremont. You see, I taught at Fremont for five years before choosing to leave for Marshall.

I left some time after Fremont was assigned a principal unequal to the task of governing it. When we teachers requested an effective leader, our demands ignited an ugly fight that lead to many months of chaos. I wound up a victim of stress and disillusionment. I left the school over ten years ago when I became convinced that LAUSD either couldn't or wouldn't govern it effectively, and when the anxiety of the fight began to damage my home life.

My experience might be instructive for your efforts.

In the first place, it would seem to show that the shortcomings at Fremont cannot be laid at the door of its teachers. If you judge Fremont's current teachers a failure on the basis of their students' test scores, then by the same criteria I was a failing teacher when I left Fremont. Yet when I transferred to Marshall, my new students attained much better test scores. If you imagine this was due to some personal transformation of my teaching, I invite you to transfer me to a high school whose students have a higher average socio-economic status than Marshall, where I suspect yet another personal renaissance awaits me.

Secondly, my experience might lead you to wonder how Fremont loses so many excellent teachers and potentially excellent new teachers each year, and whether administrative efforts to retain these teachers might be more productive than your current attempt to drive teachers away.

If you are inclined to pursue this possibility, my experience suggests that you are uniquely placed to get results. One thing alone would have sufficed to keep me at Fremont: effective leadership. Consistently excellent leadership would retain many more fine teachers at Fremont. The high turnover of principals at Fremont over the last two decades indicates that LAUSD has failed to lead Fremont effectively in the time since I left. It is your responsibility, not that of teachers, to make sure that Fremont never again lacks for sustained excellent leadership.

Finally, if you follow through with your plan to interview current teachers for their own jobs, you might ask yourself what kind of teacher would both volunteer to teach at Fremont in the first place and also remain there for years. I am a creative, intelligent and capable teacher. I was deeply dedicated to Fremont, and especially to its students. I have deep and fond memories of these students to this day. These traits were not enough for long-term success in the environment LAUSD created at Fremont.

It humbles me to consider what personal qualities I would have needed to have remained. I hope you can summon that same sense of humility as you interview veteran Fremont teachers. Perhaps some of these teachers just feel stuck at Fremont. But you need to know that many more of these veteran teachers have special qualities that keep them at Fremont, and that most new teachers will inevitably turn out to lack such qualities. I wonder if you truly have any idea of what a Fremont teacher needs to succeed in the long term.

I understand that over half of the Fremont teachers have decided to leave rather than interview for their jobs. They are clearly upset at being blamed. If you do not reverse course and regain the trust of these teachers, you will do grievous harm to the institution you are trying to help.

You need the best teachers at Fremont. Who else has demonstrated that they can do the job they do?

Best regards,
Scott Banks

“AWFUL. INDELIBLE. FIXABLE.” jphro.org

jphro.org

Dear Friends,

The Haitian relief effort has been historic— a moving example of nations coming together to help a neighbor in need. As Americans, we should carry immense pride in our hearts of how our country, and particularly how the men and women of the U.S. Military, have answered the call to help Haiti rise from the rubble.

As things stand today, the U.S. military presence is being phased out significantly for a number of political and strategic reasons. The medical and food aid that was responsive to the after-effects of the earthquake has transitioned into preparation for the inevitable rainy season that could start at any moment and ultimately the threat of hurricanes come June. This is an emergency that is just beginning. Flooding and outbreak of communicable diseases are certain if shelter and relocation are not achieved. That has become the job of the NGOs. There are some warehouses stocked with food. There are some medical supplies, and there are some tents.

But as we saw after Katrina, governments alone are not enough to respond to a disaster of such magnitude. And governments alone will not save Haiti. It's going to take countless contributions - no matter how small - from individuals who are either willing to write a check, get their hands dirty, or both.

That is why we created the J/P Haitian Relief Organization. We are drawing on an enormous network of emergency response contacts in government and non-government organizations, as well as support from friends internationally, to deliver immediate results to the people of Haiti. We are working closely with the U.S. Army’s 82^nd Airborne, officials in the Dominican Republic, as well as many local mayors, religious and community leaders, and hospital officials to determine the most immediate needs and service those needs as quickly and effectively as possible.

In less than 6 weeks on the ground, we've been effective as follows:

Our hospital is currently regularly delivers on average 4 births a day and treats on average 150-200 patients a day.
Our Haitian Participation clinics (ran by Haitians, supplied by us) sees well over 300 patients a day.
We treat all medical issues sending out only critical patients or those in need of surgery.
Our Strike team (mobile medical services) sees over 300 people a day treating on average 200. We treat any thing from IV fluid and medication, major wound debreedment, to removal of casts and stitches. We often treat people who had care with in the first couple of weeks after the quake who have never followed up on any medical care.
We are feeding several smaller camps and orphanages ranging from 300 to 4000. We have distriubted well over 40,000 lbs of rice and other food items thus far.
Our camp currently houses 5 clinics (including ours), we are supplying 3 with medical supplies and equipment and
feeding all staff.
We now have several child friendly spaces in addition to our school.
Our doctors have treated more than 40,000 patients on everything from major trauma and communicative diseases to births
We’ve delivered more than 100,000 pounds of medical supplies
We currently serve approximately 2,000 meals a day to earthquake victims
We’ve brought in and distributed approximately 4,000 water filters
We’ve given local hospitals much needed equipment like an X-ray machine, ventilators, and ultrasound machines
We’ve cut through bureaucracy and red tape to bring in large shipments of medicine, antibiotics and anesthetics, which are in short (but much needed) supply
We built a temporary school and emotional trauma center for approximately 300 children and growing
We’ve arranged for numerous critically ill children to be transported and receive treatment in the U.S.
We’ve improved communications and are helping to conduct a census in the Club de Pétionville (Petionville Club) golf course area that has been converted into a tent city and now houses about 50,000 Haitian citizens
We’ve been entirely self-sustainable

For all of our efforts, true recovery seems insurmountable, as the fast-approaching rainy season threatens to un-do all of our efforts and magnify this tragedy tenfold. But we keep calling on a mantra from CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who emailed the following while we were en-route to Haiti after we asked him what life was like on the ground: “Awful. Indelible. Fixable.” The good doctor said. With that, our extraordinary team soldiers on.

Please join our cause. You have our personal pledge and commitment that any and all money donated will be put to good use, swiftly and effectively. You can donate directly here. If you are a doctor, medical student, have experience with disaster relief or want to volunteer, please contact us at help@jphro.org. If you are a corporate sponsor, and would like to talk to us about getting involved, please contact, John Koch at: jkoch@id-pr.com.

Gracias,
J/P HRO
Sean Penn, Director and CEO

Schools Matter: Miller Wants More Segregated, Total Compliance Charter Schools

Miller Wants More Segregated, Total Compliance Charter Schools

Charter schools boost segregation, encourage the hiring of highly unqualified teachers, drain money away from starving public schools, and spend public dollars without public oversight. In addition, only 17% of them nationwide score higher than matched public schools on standardized tests.

Is that enough to recommend them to the Honorable Congressman Miller of California (D)?You bet:

"If our goal is to build world-class schools," Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., said, "we absolutely need to look at high-performing charter schools for research and development and replicate what they are getting right."

Speaker Pérez Discusses His Commitment to Job Creation, Reforms

SACRAMENTO In this Democratic weekly address, Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) says the Assemblys number one priority is to get Californians working again. He also highlights budget and other reforms the Assembly is pursuing. More on this Assembly Access Video.

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