Tuesday, November 27, 2012

FCMAT » Cali Education Headlines Tuesday, November 27, 2012

FCMAT » Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team:

LAUSD NOT A RACE TO THE TOP 2012 FINALIST, JOHN DEASY REACTS




Education Headlines

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Civil rights groups raise concerns about Novato charter school plan

In the latest twist in a contentious debate over a proposed Novato charter school, two San Francisco civil rights groups have entered the fray, arguing the school could isolate minorities and poor students.

Galt high school district administrator Audrey Kilpatrick takes new job

Audrey Kilpatrick, who has served as Galt Joint Union High School District's chief business official since 2007, began a new job Monday in Placer County. She is Western Placer Unified School District's new assistant superintendent for business and support services.

District uses test scores to spotlight students, teachers

Without apologies or much controversy, the Chula Vista Elementary School District has been crunching test-score data to identify and honor its most effective teachers for the past six years.

Freedom High School rumors offer a cautionary note on social media

Like many powerful tools, social media can be used for good -- or can wreak havoc. The unrest that struck Freedom High School over the course of four days late last month, after rumors of impending violence on the Oakley campus went viral, illustrates just how much trouble social networks like Twitter and Facebook can cause when they run amok.

Barnidge: Salary hikes for Antioch teachers are a tough sell

It's easy to understand why Antioch teachers are demanding a pay hike in their next contract. They've gone four years without a raise, even as costs for health coverage have taken greater bites out their paychecks.This is not exactly a unique predicament -- in fact, it sounds eerily familiar to some of us -- but it provides context for their discontent. What makes the teachers' position a difficult sell is the timing of their demands and the irony of their argument.

Inglewood superintendent returns to turn schools around

Kent Taylor hopes to stabilize the insolvent district that he says set him on his course through life. But not everyone is rooting for him.

EdSource: Four CA districts make Race to the Top finals

The U.S. Department of Education passed over California’s largest school districts in selecting finalists for the Race to the Top district competition. Out of 17 districts that applied for a share of the nearly $400 million in federal grant money, only four made the cut to the finals: Galt Joint Union Elementary, Lindsay Unified and New Haven Unified school districts, along with Ánimo Charter Schools, a division of Green Dot Public Schools.

California ranks in bottom half of states in graduation rate

California ranked in the bottom half of states in the overall high school graduation rate in the 2010-2011 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Monday, November 26, 2012

School books give way to tablets

All over the country, and here in Kern County, thick, heavy textbooks are going by the wayside, replaced by electronic tablets such as iPads.

Lodi Unified administrator set to step down

Art Hand said he felt like Don Quixote chasing a windmill when he was hired to be Lodi Unified's assistant superintendent of facilities and planning in summer 2006. It was a job he never thought would be there for him, his dream job since he first started as a Tokay High School janitor in the early 1980s.

Stockton USD credits 24-7 policing for large pot bust

In the space of a few weeks in October and early November, Stockton Unified's police force was thrust into the news after incidents involving guns at three of the district's campuses. Less high-profile, however, is the force's role earlier this month in a drug bust that netted more than $100,000 worth of marijuana and resulted in the arrest of a 17-year-old Edison High School student.