Saturday, May 25, 2013

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 5-25-13


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

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

Children’s Health: IGNORE EVIDENCE. DENY SCIENCE. MINIMIZE PROBLEMS. CRY “FREEDOM!” + smf’s 2¢

Companies Say the Darnedest Things As They Try to Avoid Regulation by email from The Prevention Institute 22 May 2013  ::  Tobacco. Leaded paint. Junk food. Sugar-laced soda. Seems like every time communities or states try to pass laws that would help protect families and children from unhealthy products, a public relations effort is unleashed by the makers of those products and their allies.

PEARSON AGREES TO $75 MILLION SETTLEMENT OF U.S. E-BOOKS CASE + smf’s 2¢

Kate Holton and Nate Raymond of Reuters/from Chicago Tribune | http://trib.in/Z0emRp 11:43 a.m. CDT, May 22, 2013  ::  LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - British publisher Pearson's Penguin unit said on Wednesday it would pay $75 million in damages plus costs to U.S. states and consumers as part of an agreement over alleged price-fixing in the e-book market. Pearson, which will take an extra provision

MORE THAN YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT inBLOOM, SOONER THAN THEY WANTED YOU TO KNOW IT

Be afraid, be very afraid: “inBloom, the non-profit started with a hundred million dollar investment from the Gates Foundation, is planning to create a digital record which, barring catastrophe, truly could be a permanent record of every K12 student, from their first interaction with the schools to the last. “ inBloom’s

JACKIE GOLDBERG ENDORSES MONICA RATLIFF: “We all need to help her win this very important race for the school board!”

  a letter to AALA members from the AALA Update of Week of May 20, 2013 | http://bit.ly/12FLezB by  Jackie Goldberg, former member of the LAUSD Board of Education, LA City Council  and past Education Chair of the State Assembly. I endorsed teacher Monica Ratliff for LAUSD School Board, Seat #6 because my "Kitchen Cabinet" (teachers, administrators, friends and personal advisers) and I were

NO MORE WILLFUL DEFIANCE

Themes in the News: A weekly commentary written by UCLA IDEA on the important issues in education as covered by the news media - Week of May 13-17, 2013 | http://bit.ly/12FGppQ 5-17-2013   ::  This week, Los Angeles Unified became the first district in California to ban “willful defiance” as grounds for suspension. The nebulous category, which could include students being out of uniform, talking

LAWMAKERS REMAIN SKEPTICAL OVER LCFF; BROWN IGNORES LAO, STANDS PAT ON HIS PROP 39 FUNDING PLAN

Lawmakers remain skeptical over Brown's Local Control Funding Formula By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/10OZWkF Brown ignores LAO warning, stands pat with distributing $1b in Prop. 39 funds By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report |http://bit.ly/17S7cDX Thursday, May 16, 2013  :

LA TIMES & ED WEEK ON THE MAY REVISE; Capitol Dems, Sacramento Bee and Center for Oral Health weigh-in …+ John Deasy tweets on the wonderfulness thereof

Read the Governor’s May Revision proposal at www.ebudget.ca.gov. Even with added revenue revised plan for all spending is $1.2 billion less than the one he put forward in January If they can get out the votes, Legislative Democrats theoretically have both a Republican-proof and Governor's-veto-proof supermajority. L.A. TIMES: Gov. Jerry Brown unveils cautious budget for deficit-free

Los Angeles City Elections 2013: A CITY AGENDA FOR L.A. SCHOOLS?

If public officials in the more than two dozen cities served by L.A. Unified want to do something to help kids succeed, there are plenty of things within their purview. OpEd in the LA Times By Bennett Kayser | http://lat.ms/142Ykas Mayoral candidates Wendy Gruel, left, and Eric Garcetti , right, following their candidates forum at Macedonia Baptist Church. (Los Angeles Times / May 13,

L.A. UNIFIED BANS SUSPENSION FOR ‘WILLFUL DEFIANCE’

Zero tolerance policies adopted after Columbine lower achievement and disproportionately affect African Americans, supporters say. By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/18L4sHf Los Angeles mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel, right, gets a high-five from Community Coalition member Jorge Hernandez after voicing her support of the proposal to make L.A. Unified the first

PARENT TRIGGER GROUP GETS ‘THUMBS-UP’ FROM LAUSD

"Someone on our staff is talking to Parent Revolution, and we need to know who it is," Boardmember Lamotte said.  4LAKid’s nominee for ‘someone’; is Superintendent Deasy. By Beau Yarbrough, LA Newspaper Group from the San Bernardino County Sun | http://bit.ly/YJjYPN 5/14/2013 06:36:57 PM PDT  ::  LOS ANGELES -- A group of Watts parents have successfully ousted an

‘Working Hard, Left Behind’: CLOSING CALIFORNIA’S EDUCATION GAP

As the overall education level declines, the state faces not only social ills but also major economic problems. OP-ed By Michele Siqueiros in the LA Times |http://lat.ms/13f6sBR Students wait in a line for financial aid on the Santa Monica College campus. (Los Angeles Times / September 11, 2012) May 13, 2013  ::  California has proved to be a land of opportunity where hard work delivers

BROWN SET TO RELEASE “MAY REVISE” BUDGET PROPOSAL

  Some Democrats and interest groups call for some of the deepest budget cuts in recent years to be restored.  But H.D. Palmer with the governor's Department of Finance says that won't happen. "The governor's budget assumes that the spending reductions that we've made over the last several years are ongoing in nature - that they will continue," he says.

U P D A T E D: LAUSD BOARD COULD BAN SUSPENSIONS FOR ‘WILLFUL DEFIANCE’ + smf’s 2¢

Backers of the resolution say 'zero tolerance' is harming kids. 'Instead of punishing students, we're going to engage them,' says one supporter. By Teresa Watanabe, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/ZUKoeQ David Chinchilla, 15, of Augustus Hawkins High School in South L.A., was suspended for interrupting and cursing at a teacher. But he and the teacher also engaged in a "restorative

A MESSAGE FROM DIANE RAVITCH :|: A MESSAGE FROM MONICA RATLIFF

By Diane Ravitch from her blog | http://bit.ly/11wgwMp May 12, 2013  ::  Here we go again. Another local school board race where the a billionaire a boys Club and Michelle Rhee create a massive war chest to beat an underfunded candidate. Monica Ratliff is a fifth-grade teacher. Please help her. Monica Ratliff for Board of Education 2013 –       The first official endorsement by

AN OPEN LETTER FROM ONE UTLA TEACHER TO THE UTLA BOARD OF DIRECTORS: “I am totally befuddled by your school board endorsements”

AN UTLA Teacher/4LAKids reader wrote the UTLA Board – and asked 4LAKids to publish the concerns. The letter included the sender’s  name and return address (they know whom he or she is)  but asked that it be deleted from publication Sat, May 11, 2013 5:32 pm Subject: Your School Board Endorsements Dear UTLA Board of Directors (and other UTLA officers), I have been a teacher (and UTLA member)

CA TAX COLLECTIONS OFFICIALLY UP $4.6 BILLION, MAKING NEXT WEEK’S MAY REVISE MUCH ROSIER

  By Tom Chorneau, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/13qSMak Friday, May 10, 2013  ::  It’s official. State Controller John Chiang confirmed earlier this week projections that other agencies were making about the significant increase in tax collections so far this spring, reporting gains that outpaced projections by $4.6 billion. Led by a jump in personal income taxes, the state’s revenue

STATE BOARD OF ED CHALLENGES SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY MESAUREMENT, LOOKS FOR OPTIONS

By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/13baET8 Thursday, May 09, 2013  ::  California’s State Board of Education raised some major red flags Wednesday over changes being considered to the state’s K-12 school accountability system, leaving in question the next steps for updating the system. Mike Kirst, board president, even questioned whether a revised API could continue to

LAUSD FIGHTING FOR ZERO-TOLERANCE ON TEACHER CHEATING

The school district says a decision by a state panel — determining there was test-score cheating but the teacher shouldn't be fired — sends the wrong message. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times |http://lat.ms/YONCFG "The panel found the person guilty of cheating," L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy says, "and found it appropriate to put the person back in the classroom. It's completely beyond my

SIR KEN ROBINSON FROM TED TALKS EDUCATION

“It’s a short plane ride from Los Angeles to America.” “The real role of (educational) leadership is climate control, creating a climate of possibility. And if you do that, people will rise to it and achieve things that you completely did not anticipate and couldn't have expected.” aired on PBS May 7, 2013 |  http://bit.ly/YOEMHX Transcript: Thank you very much. I moved to

PRINCIPAL TAKES FIFTH, ATTORNEY ACCUSES 11-YEAR-OLD OF TESTIFYING FOR MONEY AT DE LA TORRE MOLESTATION HEARING

Principal takes Fifth in teacher molestation case By Brian Charles, Staff Writer, Daily Breeze/L.A. Newspaper Group | http://bit.ly/12okcet 5/10/2013 08:08:39 PM PDT  ::  A retired Wilmington elementary school principal invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination Friday at a court hearing for a former teacher accused of molesting children at the school. Irene Hinojosa, who