Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, April 27, 2013

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 4-27-13



4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit:

4LAKIDS - SOME OF THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT


STUDY WARNS THAT GRAD RATES WILL DIP WITH A-thru-G COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS

By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/17Zsr53 Thursday, April 25, 2013  ::  Requirements that high school students complete college prep courses as a condition of graduation may upgrade the value of the diploma and make some quick inroads on federal goals to produce college and career ready students. But new research released Thursday suggests the benchmark might prove too

BILLS PROMOTED BY LAUSD TO IMPOSE NEW TEACHER EVALUATIONS, LAYOFF RULES DIE IN COMMITTEE

By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report. http://bit.ly/11Hay6n Thursday, April 25, 2013  ::  Efforts to rewrite longstanding rules surrounding teacher evaluations and educator staffing laws fell badly short of success Wednesday before a key Senate panel. First, lawmakers killed a bill that would have given school districts the ability to make teacher staffing decisions based on performance

‘The Battle of Their Lives’ over LCFF: GOV. BROWN PROMISES FIGHT OVER EDUATION OVERHAUL

Jerry Brown says lawmakers will get 'the battle of their lives' if they balk at his plan to give more funds to poor districts and more spending flexibility to all school districts. By Anthony York and Chris Megerian, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/15JQaHm Gov. Jerry Brown walks to a news conference on proposed education spending reforms with Mary Jane Burke, from the Marin County

U P D A T E: LAPD ARRESTS 3 IN CLEVELAND HIGH STABBING

By Eric Hartley Staff Writer, LA Daily News | - LA Daily News http://bit.ly/12nt4ls 4/25/2013 07:29:46 AM PDT  :: Online chatter about a fatal stabbing Wednesday afternoon outside a Reseda high school helped police find three suspects, who were arrested Thursday morning. Kevin Orellano, 18, of Reseda was playing handball at Cleveland High School just before 4 p.m. when two young men, whom Los

Shenanigans in School Board Race: BLOOMBERG DONATES $350K TO ®EFORM CANDIDATE, RUMOR OF DEAL WITH ®EFORMER ROILS UTLA

Michael Bloomberg donates $350,000 to L.A. school board race The New York City mayor's contribution to a political action committee led by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will benefit board candidate Antonio Sanchez. ALSO SEE: The best LA school board the NYC mayor’s money can buy: NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG DONATES ANOTHER $350K http://bit.ly/ZsLl2c By Howard Blume, Los Angeles

TOM BARTMAN 1946- 2013, FORMER LAUSD BOARD PRESIDENT WHO HELPED END MANDATORY BUSING

Article by: Associated Press  from Minneapolis StarTribune.com http://bit.ly/15QugBN Newly elected Los Angeles Board of Education member Tom Bartman is sworn in. In 1981, a majority of board members, including Bartman, voted to end mandatory busing in the school district. (Los Angeles Times / February 25, 1980) April 25, 2013 - 8:42 AM - LOS ANGELES - A man who helped end forced busing for

STUDENT AT CLEVELAND HIGH SCHOOL IN RESEDA FATALLY STABBED DURING ARGUMENT

City News Service from LA Daily News |  http://bit.ly/10CAYuA Updated:   4/25/2013 6:07:52 AM PDT - RESEDA - An 18-year-old adult education student was fatally stabbed at Cleveland High School in Reseda by two males during an argument on the campus Wednesday, authorities said. The victim was approached in the area of the school's handball courts by two males believed to be between 18 and 20

CALIFORNIA SUED ON BEHALF OF FAILING ENGLISH LEARNERS

ACLU Sues California On Behalf of 20,000 Students, Says Schools Are Failing English Learners Adolfo Guzman-Lopez | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/10CtBDh Adolfo Guzman-Lopez - Civil Rights lawyers at a press conference Wednesday announcing a lawsuit against California for allegedly failing to provide mandated help for students who aren't fluent in English. April 24th, 2013, 4:

Expurgated: TWO EXCELLENT STORIES ON THE PARENT TRIGGER: Who ‘they’ are …stuff they don’t want you to know …and how they work to make sure you don’t find it out.

THESE ARTICLES HAVE BEEN REMOVED AT THE REQUEST OF THE AUTHOR Yasha Levine Writes: Thu, Apr 25, 2013 10:23 am  ::  I'm the author of the the two articles you published on your blog. I'm glad you liked them, but we're a paid subscription publication that relies on people reading the site (and hopefully subscribing) in order to be able to

SCHOOL MENTAL HEALTH BILL FALLS VICTIM TO GUN BILL DEFEAT

Capitol Connection Newsletter - ASCD Public Policy http://bit.ly/15NsYaH smf/4AKids: The NRA and their bought-and-paid-for fellow travelers argued that “Guns don’t kill people, people with mental illness kill people”.  But now that they’ve defeated meaningful gun regulation they couldn’t care less about improving mental health services for children. Apr 24,

SB 69: DEMOCRATIC SENATORS OFFER ALTERNATIVE TO BROWN’S FUNDING FORMULA

By John Fensterwald, EdSource Today |  http://bit.ly/12J1IYc April 23rd, 2013   ::  Democratic leaders of the state Senate want to delay Gov. Brown’s sweeping plan for changing how schools are funded by a year and will recommend significant changes to it in a bill that they will reveal on Thursday. In a news release Tuesday, Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg and chairs of the

The best LA school board the NYC mayor’s money can buy: NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG DONATES ANOTHER $350,000 TO LAUSD RACE

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/15I2ibF 4/24/2013 3:10:10/Updated: 4/24/2013 3:40:53 PM PDT  ::  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who contributed $1 million to a slate of reformers in the LAUSD primary election, has now donated $350,000 to support a candidate facing a runoff for a school board seat in May. According to statements filed today on the city

FORMER SUN VALLEY TEACHER ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF HAVING CHILD PORN

Douglas Randolph Collins taught at Fernangeles Elementary School until the issue came to light last fall. By City News Service from North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch | http://bit.ly/13Yv5IY April 23, 2013   3:17 pm  ::  A former fifth-grade teacher at a Sun Valley elementary school was arrested Tuesday for allegedly possessing child pornography. Douglas Randolph Collins was scheduled to

CALIFORNIA RANKS LOW IN DIAGNOSIS RATES OF ATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER

By Jane Meredith Adams, EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/10b8ErD April 22nd, 2013  ::  California has one of the lowest rates of diagnosis in the nation of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children, raising questions about the role of regional, economic and cultural differences in identifying what scientists regard as a brain disorder. Over-diagnosing ADHD and over-prescribing

KOCH BROTHERS TO PURSUE CONTROL IN THE MEDIA

Koch Industries wants to change the way the mainstream media portrays them, feeling that they have been unfairly covered due to their political beliefs. News Analysis By Elizabeth Miller | Nation of Change / http://bit.ly/ZImOl4 Monday 22 April 2013   :: We know the Koch Brothers, Charles and David Koch, as deniers of climate change, billionaire oil moguls, and environment destroyers,

STOP DISSING THE HUMANITIES

Obama loves 'Moby-Dick.' Eric Garcetti reads Borges. Wendy Greuel's husband is a literary agent. But what have they done for the liberal arts lately? Op-Ed in the L.A. Times by David Kipen | http://lat.ms/10u4bb1 "Money spent on the liberal arts does more than feed and clothe the creative class. It creates a heritage of intellectual property that can yield economic and social benefit for

D.C. CHEATING ISSUE CALLS TEST-DRIVEN INCENTIVES INTO QUESTION

commentary by Charles Taylor Kerchner in EdSource Today | http://bit.ly/17e5TfI April 21st, 2013  ::  The smoke surrounding allegations of test score cheating in the Washington, D.C., public schools burst into flame last week. In a 4,300-word blog post, titled Michelle Rhee’s Reign of Error, the veteran educational journalist John Merrow linked the former schools chancellor with documents that

Bill Gates: A FAIRER WAY TO EVALUATE TEACHERS

By Bill Gates, Op-Ed in the Washington Post | http://bit.ly/11EMEHb Microsoft's chairman Bill Gates recently warned against overusing students' standardized test scores in evaluating how well teachers are doing their jobs. (Pius Utomi Ekpei / AFP / Getty Images / April 10, 2013) April 03, 2013  ::  Tom Brady may be the best quarterback in football, but he is also infamously, hilariously slow.

A CURRICULUM CRUNCH FOR CALIFORNIA

The new Common Core State Standards are supposed to be implemented in schools in 2014. But the state is far from ready. By The L.A. Times editorial board | http://lat.ms/10u37nt Teacher Maria Duarte watches from a distance while her students solve fraction problems on the board in her math class at Los Angeles Elementary School. (Los Angeles Times / June 17, 2011) April 22, 2013  :: 

NEW STANDARDIZED TESTS FEATURE PLUGS FOR COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS …adding the © to the ® in $chool ®eform

by Valerie Strauss | Washington Post/Answer Sheet| http://wapo.st/YGatOn April 20, 2013 at 10:53 am  ::  Talk about corporate-based school reform. New high-stakes standardized tests aligned with the Common Core State Standards are featuring plugs for commercial products. And the companies didn’t have to pay a penny. Yes, New York state students who this past week took Pearson-designed

TEST SCORES UNDER INVESTIGATION AT BURBANK SCHOOL

By Kelly Corrigan, la tIMES/la nOW | http://lat.ms/17dRZKk April 21, 2013, 2:40 p.m.  ::  A McKinley Elementary teacher has been placed on administrative leave after a third-grade student reported that the teacher helped a class answer questions on state standardized tests this week. Burbank Unified Supt. Jan Britz, who made the announcement during Thursday's school board meeting, added that

IN L.A. SCHOOL BOARD RACE, SKY-HIGH SPENDING CONTINUES

The contest between Antonio Sanchez, a former mayoral aide, and Monica Ratliff, a teacher, will be decided in May's runoff. Money pours in for their campaigns. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/12BQMeX April 21, 2013, 9:33 p.m.  ::  Record spending will continue in the last remaining race for a seat on the Los Angeles school board, as a political action committee has put

Old news you should know: CA DEMOCRATS TAKE AIM AT EFFORTS TO OVERHAUL EDUCATION, CEQA

  by Torey Van Oot, Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert | http://bit.ly/13N1WAq   smf: Sorry readers, but my personal life the past two weeks got in the way of posting some stories – here’s a bit of catch-up April 14, 2013  | 4:03 PM  ::  California Democrats took aim at efforts to overhaul the state's education system and

MARTIN RICHARDS, 2005-2013 – Killed at Boston Marathon bombing

photo from Facebook via Huffington Post from The Huffington Post: Third grader Martin Richard died Monday waiting for his father to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. His mother and 6-year-old sister were injured severely. Lucia Brawley, a friend of Martin's former teacher, posted a photo on Facebook of the 8-year-old holding a sign with an important -- and now haunting -- message.

Michelle Rhee: TIGER MOM… OR PAPER TIGER MOM …with kids in private school?

following up on MICHELLE RHEE’S REIGN OF ERROR Education advocate Michelle Rhee fends off accusations Head of a group that advocates using student test scores to evaluate teachers, fends off accusations that she failed to pursue evidence of cheating when she ran the D.C. school system. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Timeshttp://lat.ms/1796S0y.

BALDWIN PARK SCHOOL DISTRICT WINS #1 SPOT IN CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP

Deepa Fernandes | kpcc pASS/fAIL  | http://bit.ly/ZD0JEJ Maya Sugarman/KPCC  Sixth grader, Reyna Ugalde, at Foster Elementary in the Baldwin Park School District, highlights in pink the edges of her handmade polyhedron. April 17th, 2013, 1:00pm  ::  Recently we reported on two schools in the Baldwin Park school district that have unique programs: a high school that helps teenage parents stay in

SAL CASTRO: Legendary Los Angeles Chicano rights activist-teacher dies at 79

By City News Service, from the LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/17Mn3SV Sal Castro speaks at CSUN's Aztlan graduation ceremony on May 29, 1999. (Daily News file photo) 04/16/2013 05:24:50 PM PDT  ::  LOS ANGELES - Former LAUSD teacher Sal Castro, who joined his students in East Los Angeles school walkouts in 1968 to protest inequities in educational opportunities for Latinos and whose efforts

ONE WEEK TO APPLY FOR COMMON CORE TECHNOLOGY JOBS IN LAUSD

referred in an email from LAUSD |Procurement | Facilities Contracts News : We are Hiring! Are you interested in joining the Common Core Technology Project team? We currently have several openings for certificated and classified positions. Click on a position to learn more about the role and how to apply. Certificated (administrative or teaching credential required): Director, Common

LAUSD CHIEF JOHN DEASY DRAWS FIRE AS HE PURSUES AGGRESSIVE ®EFORM PLAN

By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/131VuoC Sunday, 4/14/2013 11:50:21 AM PDT  ::  During a recent speech at Loyola Marymount University, John Deasy recalled his promotion from deputy superintendent to chief of Los Angeles Unified two years ago, tasked with turning around a district plagued by failing schools, struggling students and an epidemic of dropouts. "I

TEACHERS: WILL WE EVER LEARN?

  By Op-Ed Contributor JAL MEHTA in the New York Times |http://nyti.ms/156WR5F ^Leigh Guldig April 12, 2013  - CAMBRIDGE, Mass.  :: IN April 1983, a federal commission warned in a famous report, “A Nation at Risk,” that American education was a “rising tide of mediocrity.” The alarm it sounded about declining competitiveness touched off a tidal wave of