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Friday, September 28, 2012

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Mount Diablo State Park

Education Headlines

Friday, September 28, 2012

New superintendent wants to make a difference

Pat Kelley admits he's not an exciting guy. There's no heavy metal music on the radio in his car or real housewives of anywhere on his DVR.

Coach vulgarity complaint shines light on sports culture

Sixteen-year-old Grant Sims says he's never been one to complain about expletives and vulgar language he hears daily at baseball practice. It's to be expected, he says, including from his coaches at Fullerton Union High School. But at a June baseball game, Sims said, head coach Marc Patino went too far.

Marin school district to remove 'heterosexual marriage' policy

The Rev. Lou Sheldon called the Tamalpais Union High School District board to task after learning it plans to remove a policy written 24 years ago by his group, the Traditional Values Coalition. The group's policy, which was adopted in a 1988 state law, requires sex education to emphasize abstinence and teach, among other things, "honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage."

Fensterwald: Once castigated, Commission on Teacher Credentialing is praised

Eighteen months ago, State Auditor Elaine Howle called the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing one of the “worst-run” agencies she had investigated in a comment to the Sacramento Bee. On Thursday, returning to the Commission to close the books on her audit, Howle praised the Commission and staff.

State reported inflated rate of teachers lacking credentials

The rate was startling: Nearly six in 10 teachers at California's lowest-performing schools were not properly credentialed for the classes they led. It's a rate California has worked to shrink for the past six years. It's also a rate that was wrong.

LAUSD, charters win $98 million in grants to boost teacher, administrator pay

Los Angeles Unified and three local charter school networks were among 35 recipients of $290 million in federal grants awarded to boost the pay of effective teachers and administrators, officials said today.

Fensterwald: State Board gets authority to pare back 8th grade math standards

Gov. Jerry Brown evidently agrees that California’s math standards should align more closely with the national Common Core standards. On Thursday, he signed SB 1200, which will allow the State Board to weed out the dozens of California state Algebra standards that were inserted two years ago with the adoption of Common Core as part of an ongoing, unresolved debate over what students should learn in eighth grade.

Oakland schools to get suspension monitor

Facing a civil rights investigation for disciplining black students more harshly than their white peers, the Oakland school board voted Thursday to accept five years of federal monitoring as the district attempts to address the problem.
Thursday, September 27, 2012

Mesa Union names new superintendent

Three weeks after students got back from summer break, Michael Babb, 52, started his first week of school Monday as the superintendent of the Mesa Union School District.

Jittery board cancels arts center plans

The 500-seat performing arts center long promised for the Calaveras High School campus in San Andreas isn't dead - exactly. But following a decision this week by the Calaveras Unified School District Board of Trustees, the chances of the arts center project being built are slim.

County's deputy education chief to retire

Deputy Superintendent Gary Dei Rossi will retire in March, the San Joaquin County Office of Education announced Wednesday.