Friday, October 8, 2010

L.A. teachers union may fight board decision to halt layoffs | California Watch

L.A. teachers union may fight board decision to halt layoffs

by Corey G. Johnson

A landmark agreement to halt teacher layoffs at Los Angeles schools serving disadvantaged children is now facing opposition from an unlikely source: the biggest local teachers union in the state.

The United Teachers Los Angeles is considering suing to block the layoff-ending settlement made on Tuesday with the L.A. school board, the ACLU and a coalition of other public-interest attorneys, according to the L.A.

College district hires inspector general to review construction

by Erica Perez

Erica Perez

The Los Angeles Community College District has hired an outside firm to set up an Office of Inspector General and a whistle-blower program to review "financial integrity and legal compliance" of the district's $6 billion construction program and to receive any information about "potentially illegal activity, fraud, waste or corruption,” district officials announced this week.

The district hired Altadena-based Policy Masters Inc., and CEO Christine E. Marez will oversee the efforts.

"By employing an inspector general who reports directly to us, the board will be improving our oversight of the

After downturn, California's birth rate predicted to climb

by Joanna Lin

Joanna Lin

Following a sharp decline in births during the recession, the number of babies born in California is expected to grow more than 12 percent over the next decade, according to a recent projection by the state.

The Demographic Research Unit's report, which is used to predict public school enrollment, received little media attention when it was released last month. But the projection shows how the demographics of birth – the age and race of mothers, where babies are born and the state's overall fertility rate – will change in the next 10 years.

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: PROTESTERS MARCH THROUGH DOWNTOWN L.A. ON NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

PROTESTERS MARCH THROUGH DOWNTOWN L.A. ON NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION Laura Walsh, Braden Holly | Staff Reporters | Neon Tommy Blog/USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism | http://bit.ly/bDpExC Thursday's protest (Photo by Laura Walsh) October 7, 2010 - Protesters gathered Thursday afternoon near the Los ...

LOSING MILLIONS IN FUNDING, LAUSD LAUNCES ATTACK ON TRUANCY Diana L. Chapman | MY TURN | CityWatch Vol 8 Issue 80 | http://bit.ly/8ZqDk1 Oct 8, 2010 - Los Angeles Unified School officials, tackling a $1.3 billion deficit over the next three years, revealed the opening of eight new centers dedicated to go ...

LAUSD TARGETS BULLYING OF GAY STUDENTS + LAUSD FIGHTS ANTI-GAY BULLYING AT SCHOOLS CAMPAIGN: District aims to make environment at schools safer By Connie Llanos – LA Daily News Staff Writer | http://bit.ly/cU3tRc Updated: 10/07/2010 08:16:35 PM - In the wake of a recent string of gay teen suicides across the country, Los Angeles ...

LA MAYOR DISMISES TEACHERS UNION CHALLENGE TO SENIORITY CHANGE Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | KPCC | http://bit.ly/atvbp1 Listen (MP3)/Download | http://bit.ly/9CHE5T AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes - Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at podium, announces the city and The Los Angeles Unified School District board will ...

UC Protests Focus on Funding - The Bay Citizen

UC Protests Focus on Funding

Economics Professor David Card was teaching micro-economics to about 90 UC Berkeley students when a group of student protesters burst into his classroom and urged his students to “walk out” and rally against budget cuts to education. ”We’re preparing for a midterm,” Card told them, but added, “Folks, this is Econ 101A, so we’re all about budgets.” He said the shrinking budget had resulted in fewer graduate student instructors for his course, which meant less time for each instructor to grade students’ work and respond to questions about course material. He told his students that, given that information, they could decide whether to walk out or stay in lecture. Card’s students stayed in their seats, but the rally advertised by the protesters drew about

Rise & Shine: Union gets one-year waiver from health care rules | GothamSchools

Rise & Shine: Union gets one-year waiver from health care rules

by Maura Walz

The city teachers union got a one-year exemption from new federal health-care rules. (Post)
P.S. 282’s principal banned some teachers from an award ceremony held there this week. (Daily News)
Members of Congress asked for the city to speed up clean-up of 700 contaminated schools. (Daily News)
Some parents want the city to fire a Brooklyn teacher with a history of shoving students. (Daily News)
Joel Klein, plus 15 other district heads, lay out their formula for school reform. (Washington Post)
New Jersey’s fired ed commissioner blamed Gov. Christie for the states Race to the Top loss. (Times)
Federal grants are helping Chicago charter groups expand despite state budget cuts. (Times)
Michelle Rhee could be offered several top ed posts, but she may not want them. (Washington Post)

The Answer Sheet - Poll: Americans misunderstand learning disabilities

Poll: Americans misunderstand learning disabilities

A majority of Americans think that neurologically based learning disabilities are the result of laziness and cling to other serious misperceptions about the disorders, a new national poll found. Confusion about the definition and causes feeds into a stigma that has long surrounded learning disabilities, and leads to delays in diagnosis and early intervention that can change the course of a child’s life, the report said. Some 2.6 million students -- one in eight in the United States -- have been diagnosed with learning disabilities and receive special education in their schools. Many more are undiagnosed.

Inspiring the Next Generation of Teachers – ED.gov Blog

Inspiring the Next Generation of Teachers

Our nation focused on Education a few weeks ago as NBC transformed Rockefeller Center into a “Learning Plaza” (www.educationnation.com), where attendees walked through exhibits and gained information about the status of education in the United States. The two-day Education Nation Summit spotlighted some of the biggest issues we educators face today. The summit featured a Teacher Town Hall, many panel discussions on important topics regarding the challenges and opportunities of education reform, as well as a Department of Education announcement of the TEACH Campaign (www.teach.gov). TEACH celebrates teaching and offers resources and guidelines on how to enter the teaching profession. Many prominent educational leaders, including Education Secretary Arne Duncan participated in the Summit.

As baby boomers retire and we educate to compete in a 21^st Century global society, our country will need many more outstanding teachers than are being prepared for the profession today. Secretary Duncan recently said that we require about 200,000 new teachers each year in the next 10 years. In addition, we need more Latino and African American males to enter the profession to provide role models and meaningful connections to the increasing numbers of Latino and African American students in our schools. African American and Latino males, for example, comprise less than 4% of our teaching profession. We’d love to hear from you!

How can we inspire and attract talented, accomplished people into the teaching profession? More specifically, how can we recruit more Latino and African American males into the profession?

Please help promote the TEACH Campaign:

www.teach.gov
www.facebook.com/teachgov
www.twitter.com/teachgov

Antero, Edit, Jemal, Jeff, Katie, Laurie, Leah, Linda, Lisa, Nick, Pam, Patrick, Tracey, Stephanie and Steve

Assembly passes main bill in California budget package - San Jose Mercury News

Assembly passes main bill in California budget package

Impasse breaking as Assembly approves first piece of package

Seven candidates seeking three seats on Santa Clara County Board of Education

Settlement of lawsuit by Los Angeles school district could end layoffs by seniority

New LAUSD budget could include layoff of thousands of teachers

Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoes bill to cut language, art requirement for high school graduates

Stanford University opens first new medical school educational facility in five decades

What makes a great teacher

Bill would water down high school foreign language requirement

Newly discovered planet may be habitable

30 teachers of the year to be honored in Santa Clara County

Stanford and Berkeley professors among 'genius grant' recipients

Stanford investments up 14.4%

Whittier sit-in rejects offer by “the genius” Huberman. � Fred Klonsky's blog

Whittier sit-in rejects offer by “the genius” Huberman.

by preaprez

When long-time City Council member Eddy Burke said, “I don’t know what genius at the board of education made this decision, but whoever it is ought to see what it’s like to live overnight in a 35-degree dwelling place,” the genius was he was asking about was CPS boss Ron

Queens Teacher: Stop Scapegoating Teachers

Stop Scapegoating Teachers

by Queens Teacher

Answer No. 1: Stop scapegoating teachers
September 27, 2010
Brian Jones

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

How do we keep the good teachers?

The first thing we need to do is to stop vilifying teachers. Much of what passes for "reform" nowadays is really just a way to attack teachers. Even the blurb I received about the discussion on NBC begins with the following claims:

Research and school-based evidence around the country now confirms that the most important variable affecting the success of the student is the effectiveness of the teacher, and the second most important variable is the

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The California Majority Report // CALIFORNIA’S STUDENTS SHORTCHANGED IN FINAL BUDGET DEAL

CALIFORNIA’S STUDENTS SHORTCHANGED IN FINAL BUDGET DEAL

On top of the astonishing $17 billion in cuts to schools imposed over the past two years, under the new budget agreement expected to be voted on by the legislature today, California’s students will receive $4.3 billion less than they are owed under Proposition 98, the minimum school funding guarantee. The budget agreement also fails to provide any new, stable revenue streams for schools.

Drastic cuts have indelibly changed the face of public education in the state of California, with 30,000 teachers laid off over the past two years, and overflowing class sizes becoming the norm for students. School libraries not only shortened their hours, but many closed their doors entirely as school librarians lost their jobs. Many arts and physical education programs landed on the chopping block, while schools often were forced to scrimp and

What Are These Superintendents Thinking? | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Chile miner rescue” It appears that the rescue of the trapped Chilean miners might be happening quite soon. The Los Angeles Times has a slideshow and article about the developments titled Chile miner rescue. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The ...

“Why Don’t You Sit On The Desk?” Earlier today I wrote about my response to students feeling sleepy in class during the time when they read a book of their choice (see Keeping Our Eyes On The Wrong Prize). As I wrote in that piece, I explained why I let students choose to sit on a ...

What Are These Superintendents Thinking? A group of school superintendents have just published a guest column in The Washington Post titled How to fix our schools: A manifesto by Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee and other education leaders. It’s appalling. One would think that with recent events ...

Chicago News Cooperative - Charter Education Expanding in Chicago - NYTimes.com

Charter Education Expanding in Chicago

By RACHEL CROMIDAS

Published: October 7, 2010

REPRINTS

From a windowless basement office on Chicago’s West Side, Greg White is trying to answer public education’s $2 million-dollar question: What is the top priority for a school in Chicago’s cash-strapped district?

Chicago News Cooperative

A nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization providing local coverage of Chicago and the surrounding area for The New York Times.

The answer for Mr. White, chief executive of the LEARN Charter School Network — which received two $1 million grants from Oprah Winfrey’s Angel Network and the United States Department of Education last month — is to open a fifthcharter school in the network next fall. It is one of 10 charter schools in Chicago that Mr. White said he wanted to open in as many years, which would allow him to hire dozens of

LAUSD targets bullying of gay students - LA Daily News

LAUSD targets bullying of gay students

by By Connie Llanos connie.llanos@dailynews.com, 818-713-3634 Staff Writer

In the wake of a recent string of gay teen suicides across the country, Los Angeles Unified officials joined forces with gay rights advocates Thursday to announce a targeted effort to eliminate bullying of homosexual youth

Teachers union urged to adopt layoff reforms

by By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer

Joined by civil rights lawyers and Los Angeles Unified officials, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa urged the local teachers union Thursday to back efforts to reform layoff procedures or get left behind.

Light Up the Bat Signal Over the Suburbs � Outside the Cave

Light Up the Bat Signal Over the Suburbs

by Stephen Lazar

Let’s be honest, when people talk about the so-called “crisis in American education,” as most recently brought to the public eye through Education Nation, what people are really talking about is a crisis in urban education. The majority of Americans live in the suburbs, and most are quite content with the education their children receive. Despite all its problems, the one thing I will grant Waiting for Superman without reservation is that it challenges the notion that suburban schools serve all of their students well. So while Geoffrey Canada waits for Superman to save our cities, we need a “Commissioner Gordon” to light up the bat signal over the suburbs, because if there is a crisis in education, it extends to all public schools that fail to be the equalizing mechanism democracy requires.

I started my career teaching in one of Washington DC’s more privileged suburban counties. I took a job there

LA mayor: Unions will not stop school reform moves - Boston.com

LA mayor: Unions will not stop school reform moves

By Christina Hoag

Associated Press Writer / October 7, 2010

Text size – +

LOS ANGELES—A sweeping overhaul of seniority-based teacher layoffs and other reforms in the nation's second-largest school district will continue despite teachers union opposition, city and school officials said Thursday.

"There's not an anti-union bone in my body. I'll continue to reach out to them, I want to work with them," said Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a former labor organizer. "But with or without them, we're moving ahead."

Villaraigosa's remarks came a day after United Teachers Los Angeles said it would challenge a proposal to do away with the seniority-based teacher layoff system under the terms of a court settlement.

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