More on Dr. Jaime Aquino, who resigned from the #2 post -  “LAUSD’s Highest-Ranking Instructional Leader” - at LAUSD today.

Aquino was the point person on the transition to Common Core and the Common Core Technology Program (iPads for All Initiative)

• This material is edited/word-butchered from a piece in California’s Children – ironically an article announcing the departure of Aquino’s predecessor, Dr. Judy Elliot  | http://bit.ly/1axs7LH

Deputy Superintendent Jaime Aquino was hired in April for $250,000, less than two weeks after Deasy took over. Even before Aquino assumed Elliott’s job Elliott reported to Aquino.
Aug 29, 2011 :: Judy Elliott (left), chief academic officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District, resigned at the behest of Superintendent John Deasy. Elliott, who had been an appointee of Deasy's predecessor Ramon Cortines, Elliott was hired by LAUSD in June 2008.
The buyout of Elliott's contract was paid for out of a reserve fund "for such purposes" that some members of the LAUSD school board didn't know existed, according to Howard Blume's story in the Times.
Elliott was instrumental in adopting a new reading program and pushing for rapid and more tailored intervention for struggling students. She also spearheaded a new homework policy that Deasy shelved, according to the Times.
In a letter to board members, Elliott wrote that, “at the request of Supt. Deasy, I have resigned to allow him to 

UFT negotiated and supported the law that ushered in the odious new evaluation system, which has everyone freaked-out. Their advice to freaked-out teachers is "Calm down."  The argument leadership offers in favor of the new system is this--under the old system the principal, alone, determined whether you are satisfactory or unsatisfactory. That was the only measure.

Now, there are multiple measures. 40% is so-called objective measures, and the other 60% is based on observations, artifacts, and who knows what else. The fundamental problem with the UFT argument that this is an improvement is that the principal can still have you rated poorly. If principals holds sway over 60% of your rating (or even 55% after kids take 5) it's a fairly good bet that they can make sure you don't hit the magical 65 that will render you "developing."

On the other hand, you may believe that principals enter rooms with no prejudices or experiences and perfectly apply low-inference observation techniques. Of course if that is the case, I'm not precisely sure why we'd need multiple measures. But let's humor that notion for a moment. Every principal is a paragon of virtue and records only what is actually observable. Thus the 55 to 60 points of observation or whatever will be precise in every way, and will not vary one iota from one principal to the next.

The problem is, if that happens to be the case, there's still another way you can be declared ineffective and be placed on a one-way rail to Palookaville. If you fail the so-called objective measures, your perfect principal will have no power 

This is the definition of Common Core rigor.

Read this blog's Common Core definition of rigor.  From Beyond the “Rigor” Buzz: Myths and Truths about Rigor in Common Core Classrooms:

(MEW's comments are highlighted in yellow and contain links with further information) 

Rigor is a popular education buzzword – especially right now with the implementation of Common Corestandards. Politicians, corporate leaders, and educators at all levels have echoed some version of President Obama’s words from 2009: “It is time to expect more from our students.” Rigor is a key element of CCSS, and as students head back to school over the next few weeks, it’s being discussed in classrooms all over the country.

But what is rigor? Is it higher expectations for achievement? Is it harder questions and more homework?

No. But when many people think of rigor, they’re falling prey to some false beliefs about what rigor means in the classroom.

Common myths about rigor

•Students must do more work. Oftentimes “more work,” including increased homework, really means low-level activities and repetition.
•Students need to solve problems independently. Learning to figure out a problem is important, but that