Monday, March 25, 2013
Several recent years of March sadness came to a quiet end this month for Stockton Unified and numerous other school districts in California. With the state regaining fiscal health, what had been a deluge of teacher layoffs slowed to a trickle.
Often the cure is worse than the disease. Such may be the case regarding the recent legislative proposals on Capital Appreciation Bonds (CABs). The lack of critical thinking and thoughtful dialog on this issue has been scary, and we are in serious danger of doing more harm than good to both taxpayers and responsible school districts across the state.
Management shakeups continue at Coachella Valley Unified School District, where one assistant principal has quit in protest of leadership decisions and another may lose his position next week.
Educators and policymakers continue to debate whether computers are a good teaching tool. But a growing number of schools are asking students to bring their own smartphones, tablets, laptops and even their video game players to class.
The Sacramento City Unified School District faces a $5.6 million budget gap next school year, smaller than in recent years but still leading to cuts such as the closure of seven elementary schools.
Santa Ana Unified has beefed up staffing and hired private investigators to look into safety concerns at Spurgeon Intermediate, where teachers say teens and pre-teens are accosting adults, turning desks over and smoking marijuana in class.
Cali Olsen-Binks, who has been the superintendent for the 39,000-student district since 2008, is the lone finalist to take over Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District.
Fifty percent agree with the governor's proposal to give more funds to school districts that serve low-income children. A separate Brown plan to give local districts more funding control is favored by 59%.
Despite fears that Los Angeles Unified would have to cancel summer school this year, officials say they'll be able to hold a limited number of credit-recovery classes at 16 high school campuses across the sprawling district.
More than a year of limbo ended Wednesday night when the American Indian Model Schools lost its license to operate, leaving 1,200 pupils and their parents infuriated by the decision to revoke the charter of a program considered to be one of the district's top performers.
The League of Volunteers, a well-known nonprofit group already on the verge of losing its office, now is in danger of folding because of a sizable debt it owes its landlord -- the Newark Unified School District.
A new report shows promise for high school programs called Linked Learning. Five San Diego County school districts are among 63 districts across the state slated for state grant money to strengthen programs that follow this model next fall.
State Board of Education President Michael Kirst and State Superintendent Tom Torlakson expressed support Friday for nine districts’ application for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law.
Los Angeles Unified's 40,000 teachers will be polled next month on their confidence in Superintendent John Deasy and whether they want their union to ratchet up demands for higher pay, smaller classes and an end to many of the district's reforms.
In a new twist to professional development in a post-Sandy Hook world, some teachers in the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District will not only be learning Common Core state standards and classroom management, but also how to handle a gun.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Chancer submitted his letter of intent Thursday to all the employees of the Oxnard district.
Three of the state's highest-performing schools must shut down at the end of this school year after administrators failed to acknowledge and address illegal activity and serious lapses in financial and administrative oversight, the Oakland school board decided Wednesday night.
A formal effort to improve coordination and better align curriculum between San Diego city schools and the San Diego Community College District is entering a third year with officials pushing to expand programs that prepare high school students for college and careers.
Hoosiers Against Common Core
By Mark Naison
By Duane Campbell
