Latest News and Comment from Education

Saturday, August 23, 2014

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit 8-23-14


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

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


  




Poll Finds Growing Opposition To Obama Education Agenda, Common Core
Brustein & Manasevit - Federal Update email | Author: JCM Friday, August 22, 2014 12:22 PM :: A new PDK/Gallup poll tracking the American public’s attitudes toward public education released this week showed growing opposition to the Common Core standards, as well as some of the education policies being pushed by the Obama Administration. Overall, 81% of poll respondents said they had heard

YESTERDAY

Undoing the ‘done deal’: TOP L.A. UNIFIED OFFICIALS WORKED WITH APPLE/PEARSON BEFORE iPAD DEAL
L.A. schools Supt. Deasy was meeting with top execs from Apple – including CEO Tim Cook - and Pearson – including CEO Marjorie Scardino - before iPad deal By Howard Blume | LA Times |LA Times http://lat.ms/1q6p4lx 22 Aug 2014 | 10:21pm  ::  Senior Los Angeles school district officials, including Supt. John Deasy, had a close working relationship with Apple and Pearson executives before
GEORGE McKENNA SWORN IN FOR L.A. SCHOOL BOARD SEAT AT CITY HALL
By Howard Blume | LA Times |  http://lat.ms/1qzb3u7 New L.A. school board member George McKenna is sworn into office by City Clerk Holly Wolcott at City Hall on Friday. (Jenna Schoenefeld) 22 Aug 2014 | 3:16 PM  ::  Veteran school administrator George McKenna took office Friday as the newest member of the Los Angeles Board of Education following a special election that could cost the
Doing the ‘done deal’: INTERNAL EMAILS SHOW LA SCHOOL OFFICIALS STARTED iPAD TALKS WITH SOFTWARE SUPPLIER A YEAR BEFORE BIDS
Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1q6hJCx Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy speaks during a press conference at South Region High School #2 in Los Angeles, California February 6, 2012. Krista Kennell/AFP/Getty Images 22 Aug 2014  ::  Emails obtained by KPCC show Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy personally began meeting with Pearson and Apple to
LAUSD REPORT FAULTS iPAD BIDDING, PLANNING & PROCUREMENT
by Howard Blume, - LA Times http://lat.ms/1qxfCVW STUDENTS explore the possibilities with their new LAUSD-provided IPads. A new report says the district inadequately planned the distribution of an iPad to each student. (Bob Chamberlin, Los Angeles Times) Aug 22 2014  5AM  ::  The groundbreaking effort to provide an iPad to every Los Angeles student, teacher and school administrator was beset
COUNTY EDUCATION OFFICIALS QUESTION LA SCHOOLS’ FINANCIAL PLANS + smf’s 2¢
Annie Gilbertson | 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1sZYWwh Pete/ Flickr Creative Commons 20 August, 2014  ::  The Los Angeles County Office of Education is questioning the L.A. Unified school district's report on how it plans to spend new state funds targeted at disadvantaged youth - asking whether administrators are accurately accounting for past expenses. "The district asserts $700 million

AUG 21

IF YOU GIVE A KID AN iPAD: The ACLU is suing a school district in Massachusetts for letting only low-income kids take home school-issued tablets.
by Annie Baxter Featured in: NPR Marketplace Morning Report for Thursday August 21, 2014 | http://bit.ly/1ljrRJI Brad Flickinger/Flickr Hear Radio Story Thursday, August 21, 2014 - 05:45  ::  As iPads and other technologies make their way into more classrooms, unforeseen consequences are also on the rise. There's the need for more IT workers. There's the need for  bigger security budgets.
7 stories: A bunch of other California Education News…
from Rough&Tumble  21 August 2014 School superintendent with unusually high compensation fired -- The Centinela school board voted Wednesday to dismiss Supt. Jose Fernandez, who came under the scrutiny of the FBI and Los Angeles County district attorney's office this spring for a compensation package that exceeded $750,000 last year. Sara Hayden in the Los Angeles Times$ -- 8/21/14 Cal
Gov. Brown Should Spell Out How He’D Fund School Construction
“The state kitty for school building and modernization is dry …. but, for Brown, this is the year for reelection, not school construction.”   by George Skelton, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/1v1fg0y   L.A. Unified Supt. John Deasy attends the first day of instruction at Baldwin Hills Elementary School in Los Angeles last week. It seems Gov. Jerry Brown doesn't like the idea of
Lcap/Lcff: L.A. County Questions Lausd Spening On Poor Children
Alleged “improper calculation” and conflation of Special Ed with Special Needs students in accountability plan By Thomas Himes,Los Angeles Daily News http://bit.ly/1toT0uu Posted: 08/20/14, 7:37 PM PDT  ::  Los Angeles Unified officials will have to explain how they spent $700 million to help needy children last year, before county education officials approve a proposed three-year plan for
L.A. Unified Teachers Decry New Student Tracking System
Some L.A. Unified schools face packed classes, roaming students as new $20-million student database falters By Stephen Ceasar, LA Times | LA Times http://lat.ms/1ljiKbJ "We don't have anything to gain from exaggerating -- we want the problem fixed," says teachers union President Alex Caputo-Pearl of LAUSD's new student tracking program. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) Aug 21, 2014  ::
NORWALK/LA MIRADA TEACHER’S MESSAGE: “Good luck with that!! …but I don't think she was too terribly bad.
forwarded text message from someone in norwalk/la mirada unified 20 August 2014 :: Yes. Ruth Perez is/was the super. Good luck with that!! Apparently, not what I or others perceived to be super "teacher friendly." I can't really speak with a lot of authority. It was a shock when she got hired about 6 years ago. I heard the board wanted her to bust the union. Union did not like her, but I
NORWALK/LA MIRADA SUPERINTENDENT’S MESSAGE: “The District is about to embark on an exciting year with so many positive changes” …oh …and I’m outta here!
  Norwalk/La Mirada Superintendent’s Message by Ruth Perez, in DowneyBeat.com | http://bit.ly/1ogAP4R Wed, Aug 20, 2014  ::  The lazy days of summer haven’t quite reached the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District as we are all busy at work to gear up for the upcoming school year, which is just around the corner. This summer, the

AUG 20

Norwalk/La Mirada Usd Superintendent Ruth Perez Named Lausd Deputy Supe For Instruction
Dr. Ruth Perez accepts Deputy Superintendent position with Los Angeles Unified School District. By Randy Economy | Hews Media Group-Community News http://bit.ly/1waJf7R Dr. Ruth Perez, the popular Superintendent of Schools for the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District has accepted the position of Deputy Superintendent with the Los Angeles Unified School District, Hews Media Group-Community
COUNTY OFFICE OF ED WITHHOLDS APPROVAL OF LAUSD LCAP, Questions spending on low-income, English learner and foster students
By Louis Freedberg | ED SOURCE TODAY | http://bit.ly/1tpNtD4 August 19, 2014 |  updated at 11:30 a.m.  ::  The Los Angeles County Office of Education is withholding approval of the Local Control and Accountability Plan drawn up by the Los Angeles Unified School District pending clarification of the $700 million the school district says it spent last year on low-income students, English learners

AUG 19

Politco: PUBLIC SOURING ON COMMON CORE …at least as a brand
POLITICO Morning Education - POLITICO.com http://politi.co/1xm12WO 19 Aug 2014  ::  PUBLIC SOURING ON COMMON CORE: A new poll by Education Next finds support for the Common Core has dropped sharply, from 65 percent last year to 53 percent this year. The poll found an even steeper tumble among teachers: A year ago, 76 percent backed the standards; now, just 46 percent do. Outright opposition
2 stories: CALIFORNIA GOP LAWMAKERS PROPOSE LEGISLATION TO REMOVE LIMITS ON SCHOOL RESERVES
California Republicans want to reverse limits on school reserves Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto) wants to eliminate one of the most controversial parts of this year's budget -- limiting the amount of money that schools can put into reserves. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) By Chris Megerian LA Times | http://lat.ms/1texsBS 19 August 2014  ::  California Republican lawmakers
Gloria Romero: ‘PARENT TRIGGER’ LAW SHOT DOWN FOR MANY DISTRICTS + smf’s 2¢
By GLORIA ROMERO / Staff Columnist Orange County Register | http://bit.ly/1pHb0jh DAMIAN DOVARGANES, DAMIAN DOVARGANES, ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: Aug. 18, 2014 Updated: 4:24 p.m.  ::  The “Parent Trigger” law I wrote in 2010, to empower parents to make sweeping changes in failing schools, has been deemed no longer available for parents to use in several California districts, including Los
The MiSiS CriSiS: LOS ANGELES UNIFIED WORKS TO FIX NEW COMPUTER SYSTEM: PROBLEMS PERSIST + LAUSD CALLS FOR PROBE OF COMPUTER SYSTEM
LOS ANGELES UNIFIED WORKS TO FIX NEW COMPUTER SYSTEM: PROBLEMS PERSIST By Thomas Himes, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1oOfmX4 Posted: 08/18/14, 9:01 PM PDT   ::  Although Los Angeles Unified teachers were told Monday they could use a scaled-back version, the district’s new computer system continues to be plagued by problems. For instance, the recently abridged version of MiSiS
7 stories: THE “NEW” LAUSD STUDENT DISCIPLINE POLICY
District breathlessly announces+spins implementation of  policy changes that have been ongoing at least five years LOS ANGELES TO REDUCE ARREST RATE IN SCHOOLS By JENNIFER MEDINA, New York Times | http://nyti.ms/1n6dfZ1 The Los Angeles Unified School District is the second-largest school system in the country, behind New York City, but has the largest school police force, with more
The MiSiS CriSiS: WHEN IS ACCOUNTABILITY GOOD FOR THE GANDER?
  Written by red queen in la in LAUSD, from her blog | http://bit.ly/1pXYPOk Monday Aug 18, 2014  ::  …and isn’t that Buck supposed to have been stopping somewhere? Somewhere other than at the kids’ feet? This past week, the first back in school for LAUSD kids, has seen an absolutely ridiculous mess due to MiSiS, the court-mandated, “Integrated Student Information System” more honestly

AUG 17

Teachers Have Big Hopes For La Schools’ New Arts Leader
by Mary Plummer| 89.3 KPCC | http://bit.ly/1oHwSfo Rory Pullens, the new head of arts education for the Los Angeles Unified School District, speaks to teachers during an introduction meeting at George Washington Carver Middle School. Benjamin Brayfield/KPCC Audio from this story : 3:55 Listen August 15 2014   ::  The standing ovation lasted 35 seconds. Rory Pullens stood in the