Saturday, July 13, 2013

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 7-13--13


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

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


YESTERDAY

Groups Defend Deasy After Teachers Give Him Bad Grade
By Howard Blume, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1aAnROE Supporters of L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy responded quickly after the negative results of a union survey of teachers were released. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times / March 13, 2012) July 12, 2013, 9:23 a.m.  ::  Three community groups and a Board of Education member have come to the defense of L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy after the teachers

JUL 11

The results of the UTLA members’ Performance Review are in and…. (drum roll please): FAILING GRADE FOR SUPERINTENDENT!
WHY ARE WE NOT SURPRISED? Supt. John Deasy receives less than stellar performance review 7/11 |  All the little birdies: Howard Blume ‏@howardblume 3h Teachers union to evaluate L.A. schools Supt. Deasy. Don't expect sterling grade: http://ow.ly/mSeDD Los Angeles Times Teachers union to unveil 'evaluation' of L.A. schools Supt. Deasy Continuing its aggressive rhetoric, the
Reporting Suspected Sex Abuse
Re District slow to report sex allegations, July 8, 2013*, 9:21 p.m. Re: Teacher-teen relationship 'ongoing,' teen at baby's birth, police say 07/09/2013, 9:39 a.m. Re: Redlands teacher who bore child pleads not guilty to abusing 3 boys 07/09/2013, 10:18 p.m. smf: This is a sad, pathetic, tragic story – reeking of soap opera melodrama and lost innocence, of adults gone bad …and
£everaging $chool ®eform: HOW TO MAKE BIG BUCKS IN THE CHARTER SCHOOL BIZ
a tip o’ th’ 4LAKids cap to Diane Ravitch for connecting these dots: Sorry, You Missed Today’s Symposium about Cashing in on the Charter Sector By dianerav | Diane Ravitch's blog http://bit.ly/1brtJaM How Charter Entrepreneurs Make Millions with Taxpayer Dollars By dianerav | Diane Ravitch's blog http://bit.ly/1adVthx

JUL 10

“I BELIEVE IN STANDARDIZING AUTOMOBILES. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN STANDARDIZING HUMAN BEINGS.” — Albert Einstein
From The Saturday Evening Post, reblogged by Diane Ravitch | http://bit.ly/MC1riO        “Standardization robs life of its spice. To deprive every ethnic group of its special traditions is to convert the world into a huge Ford plant. I believe in standardizing automobiles. I do not believe in standardizing human beings. Standardization is a great peril which threatens American culture. . . .
L.A. Community Colleges Begin To Deal With Sanctions
By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer | L.A. Daily News | http://bit.ly/13MkxMr 7/9/2013 06:55:33 PM PDT  ::  Los Angeles Mission College President Monte Perez had shut off his smartphone and sat down for a late afternoon movie when he had a bad feeling about the accreditation of his campus. He stepped out of "The Heat" on the eve of the Fourth of July holiday to discover a state accreditation
Common Core: CALIFORNIA TO WEIGH SCIENCE STANDARDS STRESSING EXPERIMENTATION
California Board of Education will consider new science standards that replace memorization of facts with hands-on experimentation. Some say the state needs to improve its education, not its standards. By Teresa Watanabe  |  la tIMES | http://lat.ms/10MM7q7 July 9, 2013, 11:34 p.m.  ::  California schoolchildren would study fewer concepts more deeply and emphasize hands-on investigation

JUL 09

JUDGE REFUSES TO THROW OUT MIRAMONTE LAWSUITS AGAINST LAUSD, Insurance Companies Will Contest Previous Settlements
CBS Los Angeles http://cbsloc.al/13AtgCy July 9, 2013 6:12 PM  ::  WESTLAKE (CBSLA.com) — A judge Tuesday refused to throw out dozens of lawsuits filed by alleged victims’ parents in the Miramonte sex abuse scandal against the Los Angeles Unified School District. Attorneys for LAUSD asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuits, but the judge sided with a group of attorneys representing 61 children
Dodson Middle School Principal, Son Of Lausd'S Richard Vladovic, Under Fire For Cutting Choir
By Rob Kuznia Staff Writer, dAILY bREEZE | (Los Angeles News Group ) http://bit.ly/12gHdiK Students in Dodson's Chorus perform in the Dodson Middle School Spring Concert Thursday evening on campus in Rancho Palos Verdes. (Sean Hiller / Staff Photographer) 7/9/2013 9:21:45 PM PDT  ::  The principal of Dodson Middle School in San Pedro -- the son of Los Angeles Unified school board President
Commission On Teacher Credentialing Considers Dance & Theater Credential
published by CAAE Staff | California Alliance for Arts Education http://bit.ly/12kowyc June 10, 2013 - 2:55pm  ::  On June 13, 2013, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) heard a series of action items that included the Teacher Advisory Panel (TAP) recommendations on how to update and improve teacher preparation in California, one of which was for the creation of a single subject
NCLB, ESEA & ARTS ED: The Congressional Meat Grinder Cranks to Life
Posted by Narric Rome  to the ARTSblog/Americans for the Arts |  http://bit.ly/151tbUgArtsBlog On Narric Rome > June - 24 – 2013  ::  Ever since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) authorization formally ended in 2007, Congress has been trying to reauthorize it, but with very little success. You remember NCLB? It passed Congress with whopping margins of 381-41 in the House and 87-10 in the
Broad misses an important fact: OUR EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM HAS BEEN HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL
Letter to the Editor  of the LA Times  | http://lat.ms/12fV4pD Re "How to train a teacher," Opinion, July 3, and "Teach the children well," Letters, July 5 July 9, 2013 Eli Broad's criticism of American schools of education, as well as the letters commenting on his Op-Ed article, missed an important but apparently little-known fact: Our educational system has been highly successful. When

JUL 08

Day One: LAUSD SUMMER SCHOOL A “SORRY” EXPERIENCE WITH LIMITED OFFERINGS
By Barbara Jones.  - LA Daily News http://bit.ly/13HCvzK Students and parents line up outside the Chatsworth high office Monday morning to try and register for summer school. Summer classes are offered only on a limited basis and kids are often left without the classes they need. (David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News) Chatsworth High School administrative assistant Jamie Murray checks for
“Listen to my song, it isn't very long. And you’ll see before I’m gone that everybody’s wrong.”
by smf for 4LAKids, with apologies to Buffalo Springfield In debating societies the winner of the debate isn’t ’the one who is right, it’s the one who makes the best argument. In British debating societies the correctness of the facts don’t even matter – it’s how well you present them, ersatz or no. Real life isn’t that way. But politics sometimes is. I enjoy it when people I usually disagree
Wahat To Watch For In House ‘No Child Left Behind’ Renewal Debate
By Alyson Klein in Education Week Politics K-12 | http://bit.ly/1aTY9nl July 8, 2013 5:00 PM  :: The House of Representatives is slated to consider a Republican bill to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act very soon. At the moment, it appears likely to go to the House floor next Thursday or Friday, but things can change very, very quickly on Capitol Hill when it comes to
Common Core State Standards: COSTS TO IMPLEMENT NEW STUDENT TESTING SYSTEM STARTING TO PILE UP
By Kimberly Beltran, SI&A Cabinet Report | http://bit.ly/12ScLui Monday, July 8, 2013  ::  Buying and installing a new system of K-12 student assessments aligned to the common core state standards will likely cost California $67 million, according to a report before the board of education this week. For that price, the state would receive test developer Smarter Balanced’s “complete system,”
LAUSD + Nutrition Education: AFTER TRAGEDY, A CLOSE KNIT L.A. FAMILY COOKS UP MORE HEALTHFUL FARE
An L.A. family's dramatic shift toward healthful eating follows the unexpected death of a family member. Now, a daughter's recipe will be served in L.A. schools. By Teresa Watanabe, LA Times | http://lat.ms/15rg7JS Esther Segura, center, holds her nephew, Andy Martinez, as she greets her family after winning a cooking competition in January. She has helped her family shift toward
Third emergency administrator in nine months - DON BRANN’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE YET: SAVING INGLEWOOD SCHOOLS
The former administrator has revitalized struggling school districts before, but he has never faced the massive financial burdens of Inglewood Unified. By Stephen Ceasar | latimes.com http://lat.ms/12mkFw0 Don Brann is the third leader to take the helm after the state's takeover of the financially troubled Inglewood Unified School District. (Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times / July 8, 2013)
AFTER YEARS OF CUTS, LA UNIFIED REVEALS PLAN TO RESTORE ARTS EDUCATION + LAUSD Arts Education and Creative Cultural Network Plan
Mary Plummer | kpcc 89.3 | http://bit.ly/12dd044 Mary Plummer/KPCC | Shana Habel, Los Angeles Unified's Dance Demonstration Teacher, leads a class of teachers at Cortines high school. July 8th, 2013, 6:00am  ::  It's summer break, but classes were still in session at the Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts -- at least for teachers. They packed into the school's classrooms
FOR MANY STUDENTS, COLLEGE MEANS BACK TO MIDDLE SCHOOL + Report: “What Does It Really Mean to Be College and Work Ready?,”
by Kenneth Terrell, the higher education public editor for the Education Writers Association in The Educated Reporter - Commentary on education coverage, writing and a few other things | http://bit.ly/12xmVkX Monday, July 8, 2013  ::  “A large fraction of students are leaving the 12th grade with a high-school diploma, and they’re about to begin a course of studies at the 8th grade level,” said

JUL 06

Q: IS STUDENTS FIRST (a/k/a Michelle Rhee, Inc.) A 501(c)(3) or a 501(c)(4) NONPROFIT? A: YES!
●●smf: A story in LA SCHOOL REPORT (follows) says that StudentsFirst, the education reform advocacy nonprofit founded by  tiger-mom and ®eform darling Michelle Rhee spent $3.7 million in support of political candidates who promote their agenda. Wait a minute….Traditional education-oriented nonprofits such as PTA, ‘friends-of’, school booster clubs and even most charter schools are 501(c)(3) –
Supt. John Deasy Faces Rocky Relationship With New Board President
Deasy threatened to resign over the election of board President Richard Vladovic. Now the two must find a way to work together. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1bfvGam LAUSD Supt. John Deasy, shown at a news conference last December, privately threatened to resign if school board member Richard Vladovic became president. Regardless, Vladovic was elected. (Katie
Uncovered California Kids: AN OBAMACARE INSURANCE EXCHANGE GAP IN CALIFORNIA
The state's new marketplace has adopted rules that work against some parents with young children. ●● What part of pediatric dental care being “essential” is so hard to understand? Editorial by by The L.A.  Times editorial board | http://lat.ms/1becQ3l The state's new marketplace for health insurance policies, Covered California, is barring insurers from including pediatric dental