5-17-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

LAUSD school board candidate drops out, replaced by her twin

Barbara Torres is sworn into office by Local 99 Treasurer Maggie Johnson Barbara Torres, the president of SEIU 99, one of the most powerful unions in the Los Angeles school district, said today she is stepping aside in the 2015 race for school board in District 5, currently held by school board member Bennett Kayser. Torres said she made her decision after a story in LA School Report revealed tha

2 by Vanessa Romo / 8h 

Kayser loses one 2015 opponent (Torres) but gains another (Torres)

Barbara Torres is sworn into office by Local 99 Treasurer Maggie Johnson Bennett Kayser, the LA Unified board member for District 5, thought he had challenger next year in SEIU Local 99 President Barbara Torres. That was true until yesterday. Barbara Torres said today she is stepping out of the race. But that doesn’t mean Kayser is without a challenger. As of today, he has a new one: Barbara Torre

4 by Vanessa Romo / 16h 

Attention District 1 voters: Deadline to register is Monday

This just in from the LA City Clerk’s Office: Monday is the deadline to register for any LA Unified District 1 resident who intens to vote in the June 3 special election. Registrants must be a citizen of the United States, live within the school district, be 18 years old by Election Day and not be in prison or on parole for a felony. Registered voters who have moved or changed their names since th

2 17h 

LAUSD School board candidates are gathering for another forum

School Board Candidates will meet at Holman United Methodist Church They’re baaaaaack. The seven candidates for LA Unified’s open District 1 seat are gathering again tomorrow for another forum to address answer questions  and address issues facing the district. Sponsored by community groups and the host site, Holman United Methodist Church, located in south-central LA, the event will honor the 60t

2 17h 

As write-in candidate, ‘Marilyn V’ says she would ‘not be bullied’

Marilyn Veincentotzs Seventh in a series of profiles of candidates for LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat. With less than a month to go before the LA Unified special election to fill the vacant District 1 seat, write-in candidate Marilyn Veincentotzs is taking a tough stand against the status quo that she says isn’t working in LA Unified. Specifically, she blames Superintendent John Deasy fo

2 by Yana Gracile / 19h 

McKenna, leading in school board race, won’t commit on Deasy

With three weeks to go before the election, George McKenna, a leading candidate for the LA Unified school board representing south LA, is refusing to clarify whether he supports John Deasy, the district’s current superintendent. McKenna’s unwillingness to provide a clear answer comes at an important time for the school district, the second-largest in the country, as it faces contract negotiations

26 by Jamie Alter Lynto... / 19h 

LAUSD finds a sleeker approach for its website makover

The LA Unified School District got a makeover. Well, not the district. Its website. Samuel C. Gilstrap, a district spokesman, said the idea was to move all the various administrative office sites from a dated, non-integrated collection of platforms onto a one-stop-shopping site that is easier to access and navigate. Two key reasons for the upgrade, he said: One, upgrades will improve the quality o

2 by Yana Gracile / 21h 

Mar Vista charter school meets with neighbors to ease tensions

CWC Mar Vista Charter School They came. They ate. They talked. And they came up with a few ideas they say might work. Four people from Citizens of the World Charter School (CWC) and four of its Mar Vista neighbors shared a meal at the school last night and discussed the traffic and parking problems that have angered local residents, causing friction between CWC and its co-located school, Stoner El

3 by Michael Janofsky / 21h 

Morning Read: LAUSD’s Kids Ocean Day beach cleanup a hit

Thousands turn out for LAUSD’s Kids Ocean Day beach cleanup On its 21st birthday Thursday, Kids Ocean Day came full circle as an alumnus returned to clean up the beach with her class of North Hollywood third-graders. Fair Avenue Elementary School teacher Armine Pogosian was a youngster in 1993 when she attended her first Kids Ocean Day, pitching in to pick up litter on the beach and learning about

2 22h 

MAY 15

Protests, threats, violence driving wedge through a co-location

Citizens of the World Charter School (CWC), a K-2 LA Unified school of 160 students in Mar Vista, is inviting neighbors over for dinner tonight. It’s a gesture intended to show that CWC is a better neighbor than some in the area apparently think. The offer to break bread comes at an unpleasant time for the school, which shares a building with Stoner Elementary, a K-5 school of about 360 students.

3 by Michael Janofsky / 1d 

LAUSD candidates agree (!) on value of public charters schools

Click to view slideshow.   The latest forum for candidates running in a special election to fill the vacant seat in South LA’s District 1 produced unexpected agreement last night on some of the most volatile issues in public education. The four contenders who participated – Alex Johnson, Rachel Johnson, Genethia Hudley-Hayes and George McKenna – saw eye to eye on nearly every core issue involving

7 by Jamie Alter Lynto... / 1d 

Morning Read: CA among worst in the nation in school segregation

California among worst in the nation in school segregation As racial separation in education steadily grows, California now leads the nation in children going to school with their own kind, a UCLA study released Wednesday contends. On the 60th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education ruling intended to dismantle segregation, the report by UCLA’s Civil Rights Proj

3 1d 

MAY 14

Commentary: Why aren’t we listening to our teachers?

I’m fed up with the inefficiency of the judicial system! I’m going to become a judge. I may not be a lawyer, but I’ve been a law-abiding citizen all my life, I mean, how hard could it be? I have 20 years of business experience in the TV industry. When I blow into the courtroom demanding accountability, I am going to shake things up! Who needs legal experience when you understand the bottom line? W

42 by Ellie Herman / 2d 

Board defies district, keeps open 2 charters in Watts

Students rejoice at news to keep open New Designs Center in Watts The Los Angeles Unified school board faced long hours of personal and emotional pleas yesterday on a vast array of issues, including how to spend $837 million in money directed to helping low-income students, children in foster care and English learners. A parade of community members addressing the board at the end, each speaking fo

5 by Vanessa Romo / 2d 

Editorial: Doubts about teacher evaluations and test scores

Via The Los Angeles Times | By the Editorial Board A new study out of USC and the University of Pennsylvania finds that value-added measurements — a way of using student test scores to evaluate teacher performance — aren’t a very good way of judging teacher quality. This isn’t the first study to cast doubt on what has become a linchpin educational policy of the Obama administration but there’s an

2 2d 

Morning Read: Brown urges 30-year fix for CA teacher pensions

In revised budget, Governor details 30-year plan to fix teacher pensions Gov. Jerry Brown is predicting that the state will take in $2.4 billion more in revenue in 2014-15 than initially estimated, but highly expectant education leaders won’t get a piece of it to implement the Common Core state standards or make a down payment for universal preschool. They can count on the double-digit spending in

2 2d 

MAY 13

City, LAUSD announce an LA-wide summer learning program

Mayor Eric Garcetti and LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy, along with several private groups, today announced new  citywide initiative to keep youth engaged in learning this summer, the Los Angeles Summer of Learning. The program provides access to 100 learning opportunities online and in person at LA parks and libraries, LAUSD schools and museums and cultural institutions, such as the Getty Ce

49 3d 

School Board Candidate McFrazier wants focus on students needs

Hattie McFrazier Sixth in a series of profiles of candidates for the LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat. Community and union activist Hattie McFrazier, one of seven candidates on the ballot for LAUSD’s District 1 board seat, has worked in LA Unified for more than 30 years, giving her what she believes is a firm grasp on what District 1 needs. As a result, she has a clear message for Superint

3 by Yana Gracile / 3d 

Commentary: LA schools’ health effort should expand

Via the Los Angeles Daily News | By Monica Garcia, Beatriz Maria Solis and Maria Brenes Schools have long served as trusted and safe places for community and families to gather. In addition to being places where parents entrust their children for education, schools have inherent connections to communities as parent centers, polling places, and venues for town halls and other gatherings. The creati

2 3d 

LIVESTREAM coverage of today’s LAUSD school board meeting

Today the Los Angeles Unified School Board tackles a hefty agenda that includes hammering out details of next year’s budget in a meeting that could extend late into the evening. While there’s no vote on the budget until early summer, the board has been hearing from community and labor groups on how to allocate new money from the state. Superintendent John Deasy submitted his version of the budget

5 3d 

Morning Read: LAUSD School taking on spending priorities

LA Schools budget debate: more teachers, custodians, health services The Los Angeles Unified school board is scheduled to discuss Superintendent John Deasy’s 2014-2015 proposed budget at its meeting Tuesday – and it promises hours of debate over long lists of competing wants. Board members commended the superintendent’s $6.8 billion proposal when it was released last month, but are now pushing for

2 3d 

MAY 12

West Adams parents rally for a new charter, and it may pay off

Students and their parents rally for a new charter school Sometimes it takes a rally to get things done. Nearly 200 parents and their children from Bright Star Stella and Bright Star Secondary gathered on Saturday to campaign for a new charter school in West Adams. The families have identified an abandoned facility that they want turned into a new school that would house all of the students under

2 4d 

Where shame is policy: Inside LAUSD’s ‘teacher jail’

Via The Nation | By JoAnn Wypijewski  Iris Stevenson hurt no child, seduced no teenager, abused no student at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles. This is what her supporters say in rallying outrage that this exemplary teacher has languished for months in the gulag of administrative detention known as “teacher jail”: she doesn’t belong there. And she doesn’t. Days before being removed from her mus

17 4d 

In LAT, community groups press LAUSD to help high-need students

More than 40 education and community groups signed a full-page ad that ran in today’s Los Angeles Times, urging the LA Unified school board to provide more support for high needs students in the up-coming budget. The ad appears a day before a board meeting when issues of the budget will be a large part of the conversation. In “An Open Letter to the LAUSD School Board,” the groups who form the coal

11 4d 

Ratliff has a plan for more school custodians but fewer police

Monica Ratliff Anyone attending a recent LA Unified School Board meeting has heard Monica Ratliff talk about “providing a safe and inclusive learning environment for all students” by boosting the district’s custodial staff. Tomorrow she’ll lay out her plan for doing it. Item No. 47 on another loooooong agenda, represents Ratliff’s attempt to hire 108 new full-time custodial employees by cutting th

4 by Vanessa Romo / 4d 

Morning Read: Trial run of CA’s online exams a bumpy ride

State’s new computerized exam tryout plagued by glitches New state standardized exams, given for the first time on computers this spring, really have been a test. But not always a test of math and English. Students had trouble logging on; then many were logged off, sometimes for inactivity while they read lengthy passages. Some devices froze or didn’t save answers. Slow connections caused students

2 4d 

MAY 09

LAUSD’s Marshall High School wins online decathlon

John Marshall High School LA Unified has claimed a second victory in a major academic competition. Marshall High School won the 2014 U.S. Academic Decathlon Online competition, scoring 39,461 out of a possible 48,000 points. The win follows El Camino Real Charter High School’s victory in the 2014 U.S. Academic Decathlon championship last month. Marshall represented California in the Large Schools

7 7d 

Marshall Tuck: ‘We need fundamental and urgent change’

Marshall Tuck Marshall Tuck, a former charter school executive, is challenging incumbent Tom Torlakson to become California’s next State Superintendent of Public Education. The race includes Lydia Gutierrez, a former teacher who also ran four years ago. The three are on the statewide June 3 primary ballot. We caught up with Tuck at a forum last week, and we interviewed him this week. Here’s what h

2 by Vanessa Romo / 7d hide  //  save

Alex Johnson has connections; now he needs the votes

Alex Johnson Fifth in a series of profiles of candidates for LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat. At 33 years old, Alex Johnson is the youngest of eight candidates running for the open LA Unified school board District 1 seat. He has raised the most money of anyone in the field. He has the support of his boss, LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. And his list of endorsements includes an ec

3 by Yana Gracile / 7d 

Program to create college-bound culture in east Los Angeles

Via the Los Angeles Times | By Stephen Ceasar An initiative intended to foster a college-going culture in East Los Angeles will grant guaranteed admission to Cal State L.A. to certain students at Garfield High School and East Los Angeles College, officials announced Thursday. The collaborative program, named “GO East LA: A Pathway for College and Career Success,” promises enrollment at Cal State L

5 7d 

Morning Read: New parent panel struggles with LCAP

LA schools’ new parent advisory group grapples with $6.8 billion budget In a Sammy Lee Elementary’s auditorium in Koreatown, 50 parents are combing through the Los Angeles Unified School District’s proposed budget for next year, a 33-page draft of a document called the Local Control Accountability Plan. Inside, bullet points a swath of complex policy outlining the district’s goals, how its spendin

4 7d 

Stephen Krashen Blog 5-17-14

SKrashen:

The common core: Don't forget what the real problem is.

Sent to the Seattle Times, May 15, 2014I think the common core math standards are lousy on purpose, made lousy so that parents will complain ("2+2=What? Parents rail against Common Core math," May 15).The common core architects will then make some adjustments, enough to stop the most vigorous complaints. Many complainers will then be satisfied and the public will be impressed with how op

1 by skrashen / 1d 

MAY 11

Does Shanghai have the world's best public schools?

Does Shanghai have the world's best public schools?Sent to Newsweek"Lessons from the world's best public school" (May 9) considers Shanghai to be the "world's best education system" (p. 30), because Shanghai's scores on international tests such as the PISA are at the top of the world. As Newsweek notes, however, Shanghai is "one of China's richest cities" (p. 31) and

10 by skrashen / 5d 

MAY 10

Response to Southern Poverty Law Center Statement on the Common Core

Response to: Public Schools in the Crosshairs: Far-Right Propaganda and the Common Core State Standards (Southern Poverty Law Center). http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications/Public-Schools-in-the-Crosshairs-Far-Right-Propaganda-and-the-Common-Core-State-Standards  I agree that the debate about the common core must be rooted in the facts, and that the "propoganda machine on the

61 by skrashen / 6d 

MAY 09

Reading for points vs. reading for pleasure

Sent to the Christian Science Monitor, May 9, 2014The book popularity data from "What are kids reading? Books like 'Hunger Games,' but classics, too," (May 8) comes from reading done in preparation for tests, not reading for pleasure. The data comes from reading done as part of the Accelerated Reader (AR) program. AR sells tests that students take after reading a book. Students are award

37 by skrashen / 7d hide  //  save

MAY 08

12th grade NAEP scores: Does the common core deserve the credit?

Sent to the Hartford Courant, May 7, 2014It is a premature to give the "new academic standards" of the common core credit for Connecticut's good performance on the 12th grade NAEP reading test ("State Students Excel On 'Nation's Report Card'," May 7). First, the improvement was not uniform: Grade 8 scores increased less than grade 12 scores, and grade 4 scores stayed the same a

2 by skrashen / 8d 

MAY 06

Amount of time for testing "just right"?

The headline for "Survey: More Educators Think 'Just the Right Amount' of Time Is Spent on Testing" is deceptive. Yes, a slightly smaller percentage of teachers think there is too much time taken for testing, and a slightly larger percentage think there is "just enough"time taken for  testing compared to two years ago, but 52% of teachers still think there is too much time prep

1 by skrashen / 10d 

5-17-14 With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

With A Brooklyn Accent:

With A Brooklyn Accent Go BATs All Week

Mark Naison EduNews Takes on Teach for America

Here it is!!! Mark Naison EduNews takes on Teach for America!!! http://youtu.be/PREZXh4coIo

by Mark Naison / 2d 

MAY 11

On the "Civil Rights" Defense of Common Core

It is a grave error to portray the Common Core Standards as a Civil Rights measure opposed largely by right wing fanatics seeking to undermine pubic education. Not only does this offend people on the right whose views on education and social policy it caricatures, it offends liberals and people on the left who have view the CCSS as the product of the same undemocratic policies which have been und

10 by Mark Naison / 6d 

MAY 10

An Open Letter to the Southern Poverty Law Center on Common Core and Threats to Public Education

With public schools being closed all over the nation and charter schools being created in their place; with tens of thousands of veteran union teachers, many of them teachers of color, being pushed out of their jobs; with charter schools in inner city neighborhoods practicing zero-tolerance discipline and discriminating against ELL and Special Needs Students, one wonders why the Southern Poverty L

30 by Mark Naison / 7d hide  //  save

MAY 06

The Charter School Hustle by Notorious Phd

There's something goinground,called the Charter SchoolDump,pushing public schoolsdown,And charter schoolsup,When a student actsout,Or bombs on a testThe charters throwhim outSo their numberslook bestAnd the public schoolswho takeCharter refugeesWatch pols use their scoresto Bring them to theirknees.Its all about theBenjamins,And political muscleIt's the Urban Dance theycallThe Charter School Hustl

3 by Mark Naison / 11d 

5-17-14 Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Scathing Purple Musings | Color me purple in Florida, red in Washington, dark sky-blue in Israel and public school in Education:

Scathing Purple Musings 

 Color me purple in Florida ALL Week

Many Florida Districts Underfunded By Convoluted, Unequal FEFP System

So much for that level playing field. From WTSP reporter Noah Pransky: Florida’s Constitution requires the state appropriate funds to school districts in an equitable – but not necessarily equal – way. Since 1973, the legislature has used the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) to determine how much money each district gets from the state. Because the state requires local districts to collec

by Bob Sikes / 1d 

MAY 15

Florida Teachers Union Urges Scott to Veto Voucher Expansion Bill

Governor Rick Scott saw what happened to Charlie Crist when he vetoed SB6, republicans first attempt at imposing a test-based teacher evaluation bill. There’s no chance Scott will veto voucher expansion. But the FEA is doing the right thing by emphasizing in letter to Scott what’s so tragically wrong with the bill, and getting themselves on record as opposing Scott and state republicans. Writes Le

by Bob Sikes / 2d 

MAY 14

Testing Screw-Ups, Fines and We’re Working on It

WTSP reporter Grayson Kamm went looking for more answers about last months FCAT snafu and spoke with education commissioner Pam Stewart. He writes: “Where is the state in figuring out how much money this screw-up cost us?” I asked the state’s education chief after she gave a briefing to educators in Tampa. “We’ve got folks working on that, even as we speak. And we’ll be working with the vendor,”

by Bob Sikes / 3d 

MAY 13

Florida Public Schools Understand the Hyprocrisy Behind Budget Numbers

The narrative that Florida republican legislators and Governor Rick Scott advanced at the end of the legislative session was that public schools were somehow the big winners. Public school officials are collectively rolling their eyes. Preening politicians live in a separate universe than do the educators who make our schools work and run on time. The St. Augustine Record explains: St. Johns Coun

by Bob Sikes / 4d 

MAY 12

Vouchers and Charter Schools Have Cost One Florida District $70 Million

While the school choice crowd says that public school budgets aren’t affected – even a little bit – by Jeb Bush’s privatizations schemes. The superintendent of on the state’s sixth largest districts begs to differ. Writes Jacksonville Times-Union reporter Denise Smith Amos: Rebecca Couch, chairwoman of the Duval school board, said the new (voucher) bill introduces more uncertainty into the school

by Bob Sikes / 4d 

On Voucher Expansion, “Floridians Will Pay For the Legislature’s Sins For Years”

While the propaganda campaign is already underway by Step Up for Students to advance that narrative that more people are for voucher expansion than there really are, the editors of the Tampa Bay Times Extending private school tuition vouchers to the middle class should require a clear vote and thorough debate by the Florida Legislature. So should creating a significant new entitlement for disabled

by Bob Sikes / 5d 

MAY 11

New Budget Leaves Florida 50th of 50 States in Per Pupil Funding

Looks like all that back-slapping by republican legislators and happy talk about public schools being a “big winner” was poppycock. St. Augustine Record reporter Marcia Lane explains: When Superintendent Joe Joyner saw a headline saying schools emerged as the “big winner” during the session, he called Beth Sweeny, the district’s coordinator of governmental relations, since that didn’t jibe with hi

by Bob Sikes / 6d 

MAY 10

Common Core Support Among Conservatives Continues to Crumble

Consider the following list of heavy weight conservatives who are opposing Common Core Standards: Phyllis Schlafly - Author, constitutional lawyer and activist Glenn Beck - Radio talk show host, author, former FOX News show host, founder of TheBlaze TV Network and Magazine George Will - FOX News contributor, author, syndicated columnist for the Washington Post Michelle Malkin - Author, syndicated

15 by Bob Sikes / 6d hide  //  save

Common Core a Jeb Bush Federal Power Grab? Of Course It Is

The Northwest Florida Daily News which serves a three-county republican stronghold takes a sober look at Common Core Standards and the role that former Florida governor Jeb Bush has played. After dryly pointing out “Common Core isn’t really going away in Florida, just the name, ” the editors offer this: …the real question is not whether this is a federal power grab. Of course it is. The real quest

35 by Bob Sikes / 7d