Responding to Bill Gates' Destructive Model of Teacher Evaluation - Living in Dialogue

Responding to Bill Gates' Destructive Model of Teacher Evaluation - Living in Dialogue:

Responding to Bill Gates' Destructive Model of Teacher Evaluation 

By Anthony Cody.

On October 7th, Bill Gates gave a speech providing a comprehensive review of his Foundation’s K12 education strategy. This arena is their number one domestic priority, and a place where they have invested billions of dollars over the past 15 years. As we approach the end of the Obama administration, which has served as their close ally, we might expect some serious reflection on lessons learned.

The Common Core is struggling along on continual life support from Gates and the Department of Ed; the charter school illusion is less sustainable every day, and in his own state of Washington, the charter school ballot measure Gates helped get passed was recently declared unconstitutional. In spite of these setbacks, serious reflection was not in evidence. While Gates acknowledged some missteps in the rollout of the Common Core – blamed on there “naivete”, the emphasis was on advances made, with a pledge to continue pushing in the same direction.

Their confidence notwithstanding, I think their direction is severely flawed, in several respects. In the first place, they continue to believe that test scores and the Common Core “define excellence.” In the second, they have created a fatal error in attempting to embed teacher professional growth into an evaluative framework – harming both.

[Please note that the text provided by the Gates Foundation here is not the same as the speech delivered by Gates. I took the time to transcribe what he said, and will focus my response on that transcript, posted here, rather than the “official” text.]

Gates began with a model provided to him by Washington’s “teacher of the year,” Lyon Terry, throughout his Responding to Bill Gates' Destructive Model of Teacher Evaluation - Living in Dialogue:

Bill Gates on the Gates Foundation's K12 Education Strategy

By Anthony Cody.

On Sunday I spent several hours transcribing Bill Gates’ Oct. 7 speech on the subject of the Gates Foundation’s K12 education strategy. The Gates Foundation had published the text of the speech here, but I found that his actual remarks, while roughly similar, were not the same. I think it is important to understand what he actually said, so here it is, taken from the video posted here, minutes 1:22 to 1:54.

I have posted my response to this speech here. 

Bill Gates:

As Melinda said, I get to update you on our K12 education strategy. It’s not our whole education strategy, but it’s a very core piece. The idea that the kids who do make it to college get there with a sense of confidence, the right grounding, that they’ve met high standards, and that they can go ahead and not have to go into remedial classes – that’s very, very critical. This is an area that we’ve always viewed as a very key priority.

As Melinda said, we’re always trying to learn, to see what’s going to work, and as part of that, earlier this year I welcomed a guest to my office, a man named Lyon Terry, who teaches fourth grade at Lawton Elementary here in Seattle. Lyon is the 2015 Washington state teacher of the year. He’s here with us today, and I’d like him to stand up so we can honor his accomplishment (applause).

When I met Lyon, he shared a few of his secrets. Here is a good one. At the beginning of every year, he draws an arrow on a piece of paper, pointing up and to the right. He labels that “the Learning Line.” He puts a dot at the bottom, and labels it “birth.” He then puts another dot a little higher up where a fourth grader would be, Bill Gates on the Gates Foundation's K12 Education Strategy

Louisiana Educator: Fantasy Standards

Louisiana Educator: Fantasy Standards:

Fantasy Standards

Reminder: The elections for BESE are this Saturday, October 24. 

An enormous amount of out-of-state money (From the Wal Mart heirs and the Broad family) is being spent on electing John White controlled members of BESE! Make no mistake about it. These candidates supported by the LABI/Lane Grigsby PAC intend to increase privatization of our schools and set up a system where the "market" will determine winners and losers in public education. If it continues to work according to the trend we already see in Louisiana, our schools will become more segregated according to wealth, and our tax support for the schools serving the most at-risk students will decline.  During the most recent period of education "reform" in Louisiana under Jindal and Superintendents Pastorek and White, Louisiana's ranking on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) has declined to just third from the bottom, just above Mississippi and Washington D.C.  And yet the John White controlled candidates are claiming that Louisiana test scores are going up in their campaign literature.

The nation of Chile has already tried this experiment and it was a miserable failure. Now the whole educational system in Chile is in turmoil in an effort to repair the damage.

It is easy to tell the LABI/Grigsby/John White candidates. They are running numerous television ads promising to grade our schools A-F and to reward the good teachers with pay raises. They are also mailing slick oversize cards promoting their controlled candidates and nasty hit pieces on the pro-public education candidates. Voters may be interested to know that BESE cannot raise any new money to give pay raises, that's a function of the legislature, so they would have to do it by robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Remember the last time when Jindal implemented merit pay for teachers without providing a penny of new state funding? The local school systems had to mostly abolish their teacher step increases so that they could put money into the merit pay system. Then it turned out that the teachers teaching the VAM subjects were at a huge disadvantage compared to teachers rated with SLT's.

Please vote for the good pro-public school candidates Saturday Oct. 24, that are listed on the Flip BESE Facebook page. Click here.

John White's Fantasy Standards

White sent an email to local superintendents addressed to "Dear Colleagues": In this latest propaganda piece he claims that with the adoption of the PARCC-like cut scores, Louisiana is on the path to higher standards. He has set a policy that Louisiana will gradually move from level 3 performance to a level that schools must average level 4 performance on the new standardized tests in order to get rated as A schools by the year 2020. He directs his readers to an article by Mike Petrilli of The Fordham Institute, that supposedly demonstrates that PARCC states including Louisiana are steadily moving to higher standards. But the article points to Ohio as one of the real laggards in pushing for higher standards. But we are supposed to assume that Louisiana is forging ahead to true higher standards.

The PARCC Consortium is Rotten to the Core. . . .  Pun Intended.

I have pointed out in this blog that apparently when the testing bosses at Pearson (the testing company running the PARCC Louisiana Educator: Fantasy Standards:

The startling way NYC’s largest charter network handles student discipline - The Washington Post

The startling way NYC’s largest charter network handles student discipline - The Washington Post:

The startling way NYC’s largest charter network handles student discipline

The Success Academy Charter School network is the largest in New York City, with 34 schools. Its founder and chief executive officer is Eva Moskowitz, a former City Council member for the Upper East Side who has the financial backing of  Wall Street financiers.  Just this past July, a new $8.5 million donation to her academy was made by hedge-fund billionaire John Paulson so that she can open new middle schools. The network, which trumpets its high standardized test scores, was the star of a 2010 film called “The Lottery,” which portrayed the schools as places where miracles happen, and Moskowitz considered running for mayor of New York City in the next election until recently announcing she would not do so.

Moskowitz and her network have strong critics who oppose her “no excuses” philosophy of schooling and who say that part of the network’s success comes from a practice of counseling out students who struggle academically and who have disciplinary issues.

This post looks at the available data on suspensions at Success Academy charter schools. Author Leo Casey finds that Success schools suspend students at about seven times the rate of New York City public schools, and that the network has has misrepresented its suspension rates to the U.S. Department of Education.

Casey is the executive director of the nonprofit, Washington, D.C.-based Shanker Institute, which was established in 1998 to honor the legacy of Albert Shanker, the late president of the American Federation of Teachers. The full version of this appeared on the institute’s blog.

I asked the Success Academy for a response to this post. An academy spokesman said the network  would have no response.

By Leo Casey

At a recent press conference, Success Academy Charter Schools CEO Eva Moskowitz addressed the issue of student discipline. “It is horrifying,” she told reporters, that critics of her charter schools’ high suspension rates don’t realize “that 5-year-olds do some pretty violent things.” Moskowitz then pivoted to her displeasure with student discipline in New York City public schools, asserting that disorder and disrespect have become rampant.

This is not the first time Moskowitz has taken aim at the city’s student discipline policies. Last spring, she used the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal to criticize the efforts of Mayor Bill De Blasio and the New York City Department of Education to reform the student code of conduct and schools’ disciplinary procedures. Indeed, caustic commentary on student behavior and The startling way NYC’s largest charter network handles student discipline - The Washington Post:

Wait Until The Hammer Falls? Will our community be able to save our public schools?

Wait Until The Hammer Falls?:

Wait Until The Hammer Falls? 

Will our community be able to save our public schools? The election for a bond, and override funding is November 3. I could wait until the results are in, but here are the issues. Citizens be aware:

The overwhelming majority of parents want their children in public schools. Not charter schools, partial schools, religious schools, or schools which keep out parents, destroy the joys of childhood, and use force as motivation. Parents have choice and they have chosen. Over 85% of Arizona parents have chosen public schools.

The overwhelming majority of parents want their child exposed to many disciplines as well as math and reading. They want their children exposed to art, humanities, science, social studies, history , government, health, physical education, and languages. They want their child to love learning and love their learning community. Parents want their children prepared as interdisciplinary, self-directed learners ready for the future.

They want childhood’s magic honored with time to play and explore and do the things children must do to develop into healthy adults. They want pre-K through great K-12 programs.

Parents know that childhood is a critical developmental time for their child. They like and support the way public school classrooms and the curricula are developmentally appropriate. They know that foundation skills are acquired at different times for each child and that forcing learning to pass standardized tests or other inappropriate measurements damages children.

They want full services for their child. School safety. Safe transportation. A school nurse. Counselors and mentors. A good lunch program and breakfast and snacks for kids who would otherwise go hungry. They want school clubs, newspaper staff, annual staff, business clubs, science club and science fairs, and dance. They want field trips, assemblies, and Americanization.

They demand trained and certified teachers. Most parents know that today’s certified and experienced teachers are many times more effective than teachers in the past. The education profession is advancing and very effective. If there is a learning conflict, they have choice within the system.

The overwhelming number of parents and community members understand that the community has built and Wait Until The Hammer Falls?:

Are Programs for Children Getting Their Fair Share of the Federal Budget? | janresseger

Are Programs for Children Getting Their Fair Share of the Federal Budget? | janresseger:

Are Programs for Children Getting Their Fair Share of the Federal Budget?

At the end of September, the Urban Institute released a major report, Kids’ Share: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children in 2014 and Future Projections, an examination of our society’s priorities as reflected in the federal budget. Federal programs for children include the safety net for our society’s poorest children and also support for particular programs in the huge institution that has evolved to serve roughly 90 percent of our children, public education.  While the new report is relatively technical, its conclusions are not complicated.  What was the federal government doing for our children in the United States in 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, and what can be projected for the future, assuming laws and priorities remain the same?

The Urban League concludes: “Federal spending on children has remained fairly flat, in real dollars, over the past three years.  Between 2012 and 2014, spending fell for children’s education, nutrition, social services, and early education and care, and increased for children’s health. The largest declines in programs affected by the BCA (Budget Control Act) were in federal K-12 education programs.” Spending on education dropped by $1.8 billion, or 4 percent from 2013. “Other children’s programs with declines include Head Start; the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, child care assistance; and selected social service programs.  Not all of this change was due to the BCA. In programs exempt from the BCA, the largest increase was in the children’s share of Medicaid…”

The programs most affected by the cuts are in the category of federal spending called “discretionary.”  These are the programs whose funds are set each year by Congressional appropriation, unlike the category of “mandatory” spending which contains all entitlements, including the tax credits and other tax policy benefits.  Only discretionary spending was affected by the 2011 Budget Control Act and the sequester that came later, but, “Tax policy (mandatory spending) accounts for 40 percent of federal investments in children.  Child-Are Programs for Children Getting Their Fair Share of the Federal Budget? | janresseger:

Governor Malloy – A politician who simply cannot tell the truth - Wait What?

Governor Malloy – A politician who simply cannot tell the truth - Wait What?:

Governor Malloy – A politician who simply cannot tell the truth

Monday, October 18, 2015,

Standing outside his state Capitol office Monday, Malloy said there’s been a significant downturn on Wall Street, and personal income is not rising as fast as expected. That’s why his budget office was expected to report that even after $103 million in emergency budget cuts last month, the state is running a $118.4 million deficit, only four months into the new fiscal year. A majority of the deficit is attributed to the $109 million drop in personal income taxes. –  CT Newsjunkie

NOTE:  The $118.4 million deficit COMES AFTER the destructive and callous $103 million in cuts that Malloy announced a month ago – cuts that will reduce a variety of vital services including to those for people with developmental disabilities and mental health problems, as well as, reductions that will domino into almost $190 million in cuts in state and federal funds to Connecticut’s hospitals.

• When Governor Malloy signed the new state budget into law in June, the Malloy administration claimed the state budget was balanced with no deficit in sight.

• In July, at the start of the fiscal year, the Malloy administration claimed the Connecticut State Budget was balanced with no deficit in sight.

• In August the Malloy administration claimed the Connecticut State Budget was balanced with no deficit in sight.

• Even as late as the first week of September, the Malloy administration said the State Governor Malloy – A politician who simply cannot tell the truth - Wait What?:

CURMUDGUCATION: Eva Moskowitz Has Big Brass Balls

CURMUDGUCATION: Eva Moskowitz Has Big Brass Balls:

Eva Moskowitz Has Big Brass Balls

Eva Moskowitz, head of New York's Success Academy chain of charter schools, might just have the biggest, brassest balls in the business. Let's look at the record.

She has fought for and won the idea of co-location, that charming arrangement where charter operators get to take over a public school a few floors at a time. What better way to force the public system to foot all the bills for your private enterprise?

She claims that her charter chain is a public school-- except when the state wants to audit her, in which case she's willing to go to court to assert that her academies are not public schools at all.

When the mayor of New York City wasn't going to give Moskowitz her way on opening more charters,she simply went over his head to the state legislature and governor (who has reaped at least $400,000 in contributions from Moskowitz's backers).

She has routinely closed her schools in order to use staff, students, and their families as prop forpro-charter rallies in the state capital, giving her staff specific instructions on how to "handle" parents.

She pays herself a salary of $475,000, more than double the actual head of the entire New York City public system-- or the mayor himself.

And now, Eva Moskowitz would like an apology.

Well, demands an apology would be more to the point. She wants Judy Woodruff and PBS to take CURMUDGUCATION: Eva Moskowitz Has Big Brass Balls:

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Edu Speak - Friday Memo to the Board of October 2

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Edu Speak - Friday Memo to the Board of October 2:

Edu Speak - Friday Memo to the Board of October 2

We hear a lot about Edu-Speak, the obscure jargon of education administration professionals that appears designed to create the illusion of science and action where there is neither. As a classic example, I present the Teaching and Learning Update from the October 2, 2015 Friday Memo to the Board. It's about the implementation of MTSS and I challenge you all to find meaning in it. To me, it seems to say that the folks in the JSCEE have wistfully unreasonable expectations for the magic of MTSS but they have no effective means of implementing it. Instead, they can only fantasize about the miracles it would bring if only... if only. It's like someone daydreaming about winning the lottery when they didn't even buy a ticket.


Targeted Universalism, Formative Practice and MTSS:

A primary focus of our work in the Department of Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction is formative practice and its potential to close opportunity gaps for all of our struggling students, regardless of class, race or other factors.

Our goal is to strengthen teacher collaboration around student data to transform teaching practice for the benefit of every student. As we state in our Theory of Action: If schools have high functioning teams of teachers collaborating to analyze common formative assessments, then teachers will make instructional shifts that result in opportunity gaps closing.

Three key concepts:

1. Formative practice benefits EVERY student. This work exemplifies the concept of “targeted universalism” – the practice of following targeted strategies to reach universal goals. Formative practice targets struggling students but ultimately benefits all students, universally. Our strategies target struggling students, but when we can Seattle Schools Community Forum: Edu Speak - Friday Memo to the Board of October 2:

Say it in any language you want - Latinos need a voice in the U.S. education debate - The Hechinger Report

Say it in any language you want - Latinos need a voice in the U.S. education debate - The Hechinger Report:

Say it in any language you want – Latinos need a voice in the U.S. education debate

Dígalo en cualquier idioma que quieras - latinos necesitan una voz en el debate sobre la educación de EE.UU.

In this photo taken May 22, 2010, Brownie Sibrian, soon to graduate from Whittier College, gives a valedictory speech at a Latino pre-graduation celebration, sponsored by the Latino Student Assn. and MEChA, about a week before graduation on the campus in Whittier, Calif. Photo: AP Photo/Reed Saxon

 An education is democratic when those who receive it can deliberate in its planning, governance and delivery.

If you’re not deliberating with the education process, then you’re just being indoctrinated.

The absence of Latino voices from the education process means that many people are not determining what it means to be an American for themselves. Instead, others are running that process for them.

Hispanics represent approximately 17 percent of the U.S. population, according to Census data. In public schools, Hispanics and Latinos account for more than a quarter of all public school students. Yet they are not represented the dialogue. “Latinos are missing from the education conversation, especially on education reform,” says Mary Moran, founder of Our Voice Nuestra Voz (OVNV), an education advocacy and parent organizing start-up in New Orleans that seeks to widen the sphere of influence in education.

Moran is correct. Power resides in voice. And Latinos’ voices aren’t resounding in schools and communities.

Most school boards limit participation in meetings from non-English speakers because of the limited language skills of the board members and the lack of materials presented in other languages.

Language shouldn’t be a barrier for engagement and deliberation. However, there is literally an English only agenda.

Related: In Illinois, school access worst for Latinos

In addition, schools’ faculty strongly influences what is taught and how to teach it. However, Latinos only represent approximately 7 percent of the profession. Latino students (and by extension their families) have numerical representation but lack seats at the table.

Discussions on race and education echo the static English only, black-white discourse that tries its best to include Latinos, American Indians and people of Asian descent as afterthoughts. The crude catchall term “people of color” too often translates to black folk and everybody else.

We’ve been kicking out Latino voices on the sly for years. So much of the conversation has swirled around immigration, which doesn’t account for most of the growing Latino population in public schools. The adage, “We didn’t cross the border; the border crossed us” comes to mind.

Along with erroneous conversations around immigration comes the “they are a drain of local budgets” gibberish, which delegitimizes Latino voice. Also, English as second language discussions often Say it in any language you want - Latinos need a voice in the U.S. education debate - The Hechinger Report:

Parent group sues for $583; Beaverton School District plans to fight it | OregonLive.com

Parent group sues for $583; Beaverton School District plans to fight it | OregonLive.com:

Parent group sues for $583; Beaverton School District plans to fight it

After giving an angry speech at the Beaverton School Board meeting about a lack of accountability, parent Linda Nezbeda walked out, and a process server stood up and served Superintendent Jeff Rose with a lawsuit.

Beaverton Community for Education filed a small claims case against Rose and the Beaverton School District on Sept. 21 for $583. It's a small amount for a district with a $423 million operating budget, but they're planning to fight it.

For Nezbeda, president of the parent group Beaverton Community for Education, the lawsuit involving school building use fees isn't about the money.

"Communication, accountability and transparency," Nezbeda said. "We want to see that out of the policy and rule makers in the school district."

Read more

Previous story about Beaverton School District building use fees

Nezbeda has previously come before the board asking for clarification about fees for using district facilities. Beaverton Community for Education runs several free after school programs for kids and has been simultaneously charged and not charged for the programs, depending on the school.

But it was a girls' empowerment summit in June that tipped the scale. Nezbeda claims the district failed to tell her about potential custodian costs to clean up after the Saturday summit and didn't respond when she emailed facility staff with questions.

The parents behind Beaverton Community for Education had spent three months preparing for a girls empowerment summit when they learned the day before the event that they owed the district $583 for 11 hours of custodian labor.

Linda Nezbeda, president of the Beaverton Community for Education parent group is leading the charge in a $583 small claims lawsuit against the school district.Wendy Owen/Staff 

Rather than cancel the free event at Mountain View Middle School, which drew 700 girls, or ask them to pay a fee, the parents scrambled to find the $583 facility use fee.

The summit targeted girls from low-income families and was meant to inspire them to stay active and healthy, Nezbeda said.

"I called everyone I could think of," she said. "We just raised it."

The summit was a success, she said, and included Mayor Denny Doyle, Superintendent Jeff Rose and Beaverton record-setting swimmer Michelle Macy.

But the fee perplexed Nezbeda, who said she had previously held legislative forums at Parent group sues for $583; Beaverton School District plans to fight it | OregonLive.com:

State labor panel to file injunction in charter school unionization push - LA Times

State labor panel to file injunction in charter school unionization push - LA Times:

State labor panel to file injunction in charter school unionization push

 California's labor oversight board said it intends to file for an injunction to prohibit one of the state's largest charter organizations from interfering with efforts to unionize teachers.

Leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles had asked the Public Employment Relations Board to seek the injunction, accusing Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, a charter organization, of intimidating employees, denying organizers access to school buildings and blocking emails. In its request, the union said there would be irreparable harm if the courts did not intervene.

The board enforces collective bargaining laws for most of the state's public employees.

Leaders of the charter organization have denied wrongdoing.

The push to unionize educators at Alliance has drawn national attention. Charters are publicly funded, privately managed and traditionally nonunion.

Organizing teachers at Alliance's 27 campuses could alter the path of school reform in Los Angeles. If successful, the move could help the teachers union as it seeks to stem years of membership decline. Alliance charter schools would no longer be able to hire and fire staff without union rules — a factor they say helps retain quality educators.State labor panel to file injunction in charter school unionization push - LA Times:

Keeping Black Men In Front Of The Class : NPR Ed : NPR

Keeping Black Men In Front Of The Class : NPR Ed : NPR:

Keeping Black Men In Front Of The Class

Of all the teachers in the U.S., only 2 percent are black and male. That news is bad enough. But it gets worse: Many of these men are leaving the profession.

Just last month, a new study found that the number of black teachers in the public schools of nine cities dropped between 2002 and 2012. In Washington, D.C., black teachers' share of the workforce dropped from 77 percent to 49 percent.

Now, a researcher at Stanford, Travis Bristol, is trying to figure out why black men are leaving the profession. Bristol himself taught high school English in New York City public schools; there he grew interested in designing policies that would support his male students, particularly boys of color. As a Ph.D. candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, he noticed a disconnect: While lots of attention was being paid to hiring more black male teachers, relatively little was being done to hold onto them.

So Bristol, now a fellow at Stanford's Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, set out to understand: What can be done in classrooms and break rooms to improve retention? For answers, he designed a survey for black male public school teachers in Boston.

I spoke with Bristol about teacher turnover and what he learned from the survey.

Why is the shortage of black male teachers something we should worry about?

Diversity drives innovation. There are more students of color in U.S. public schools than white students. Teachers of color represent 18 percent of the country's teaching force, and black male teachers less than 2 percent. Teachers of color are well-positioned to support their colleagues in navigating unfamiliar cultural terrain and designing culturally relevant pedagogy. Having a teacher of color, or black male teacher, can serve to disrupt societal preconceptions. And, as Gloria Ladson-Billingsrecently suggested, white students also benefit from having teachers of color.

Let's talk about your survey of black male teachers in Boston. What did you find?

I had about a 34 percent response rate. So it was a small sample, but I was able to note an interesting pattern: The number of other black men in the building seemed to influence their experiences. If you were the only black man in your school, you were more likely to say that people in your building were afraid of you because you were black — versus a school with three or more black male teachers.

I decided to compare schools that had just one black male teacher and their Keeping Black Men In Front Of The Class : NPR Ed : NPR:

4LAKids - OVERCROWDING, CLASSROOM SIZE OUTRAGE IN LAUSD SCHOOLS MAY FORCE PARENTS TO FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST DISTRICT + smf’s 2¢

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: OVERCROWDING, CLASSROOM SIZE OUTRAGE IN LAUSD SCHOOLS MAY FORCE PARENTS TO FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST DISTRICT + smf’s 2¢:

OVERCROWDING, CLASSROOM SIZE OUTRAGE IN LAUSD SCHOOLS MAY FORCE PARENTS TO FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST DISTRICT + smf’s 2¢

Parents, teachers and students at Hamilton High said Monday that they may be forced to file a complaint against LAUSD after class size hinders learning. Angie Crouch reports for the NBC4 News at 5.

Published Monday, Oct. 19, 2015  ::  Parents, teachers and students fed up with class sizes in the Los Angeles Unified School District said Monday that despite improvements, there are just too many students in each class.

Class sizes at Hamilton High School in Palms have been so large that parents said they may file a grievance against the district if there’s no change.

"If we don’t get the quality education we are being set up to fail," said Karen Calderon, Hamilton High student.

There are about 3,000 students attending Hamilton High School.

Teachers said in the latest contract, LAUSD agreed to lower class size, and did to some extent.

Last year, 110 classes had more than 40 students.

In 2015, there are 66 overcrowded classrooms, but parents said more must be done.

"It is an outrageous disregard for LAUSD teachers that more teachers haven’t been hired to get the class size to 35 to one [teacher] for high school, 30 to one for middle school and 25 to one for elementary," Katherine Williamson, parent, said.

Student Lilah Lebowski said she’s seen behavioral problems as a result of overcrowded classrooms, mostly because the teacher can’t focus his or her attention on so many students.

"Teachers can’t have a personal relationship with you," Lebowski said. "They barely know your name. They have so many students. It’s frustrating to ask questions and not get them fully answered because they need to continue on."

Another issue has been when air conditioning breaks down, and too many students per classroom becomes a health hazard, according to an English teacher at Hamilton High.

"The humidity rises to 90 degrees and I've been diagnosed with heat exhaustion on three separate occasions as a result," Nick Johnson, English teacher, said.

___________________

: so file a complaint!

Here’s the info from  Los Angeles Unified School District http://bit.ly/1jRDk32

Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) Complaints

For more information contact:  Educational Equity Compliance Office

Phone:                     (213) 241-7682

Fax:                         (213) 241-3312

Mailing Address:       Los Angeles Unified School District

                               Educational Equity Compliance Office - 20th Floor

                               333 South Beaudry Avenue

                               Los Angeles, CA 90017

 UCP Overview

The Los Angeles Unified School District has the primary responsibility to ensure compliance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations, and shall investigate complaints alleging failure to comply with those laws and regulations alleging discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and/or bullying and unauthorized charging of pupil fees for educational activities. The District shall seek to resolve those complaints in accordance with the procedures set out in Sections 4600-4687 of the Title 5 Regulations and the policies and procedures of the District.

The Uniform Complaint Procedure (UCP) may be used to report noncompliance of applicable state and federal laws and regulations; file complaints alleging discrimination, harassment, intimidation, bullying; or, unauthorized charging of pupil fees for educational activities; and/or to appeal District decisions regarding such complaints. UCP brochures are available at all school sites in the primary languages of that school community. Complainants are encouraged, where possible, to try to resolve their complaints directly at the school or work site or with their Educational Service Center (ESC).

A written notice regarding UCP must be disseminated annually to staff, students, parents/guardians, appropriate private school officials or representatives, District advisory committees, school advisory committees, and other interested school parties. Distribution may be in any form (brochure, newsletter, memorandum, staff/parent/student handbook, etc.) that will reach the school community.

A copy of this UCP policy bulletin shall be available free of charge.

How to Submit a Complaint

Any individual, public agency, or organization may file a written complaint alleging a matter which, if true, would constitute a violation by the District of federal or state laws or regulations governing the programs and activities as well as allegations of unlawful discrimination identified above. UCP complaints are to be submitted in writing to:

Julie Hall-Panameño, Director

Los Angeles Unified School District

Educational Equity Compliance Office - 20th Floor

333 South Beaudry Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90017

For more information, please contact Stephen Jimenez, UCP Coordinator at (213) 241-7682.

Any person with a disability or who is unable to prepare a written complaint can receive assistance from the site-administrator/designee or by calling the Educational Equity Compliance Office at (213) 241-7682.

The District assures confidentiality to the maximum extent possible. The District prohibits retaliation against anyone who files a complaint or anyone who participates in the complaint investigation process. Complainants are advised that civil law remedies may also be available to them.

The sixty (60) day timeline for the investigation and District response shall begin when the written complaint is received by the Educational Equity Compliance Office.4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: OVERCROWDING, CLASSROOM SIZE OUTRAGE IN LAUSD SCHOOLS MAY FORCE PARENTS TO FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST DISTRICT + smf’s 2¢:

The Movement Against Sexist and Discriminatory School Dress Codes - The Atlantic

The Movement Against Sexist and Discriminatory School Dress Codes - The Atlantic:

The Sexism of School Dress Codes

These policies can perpetuate discrimination against female students, and LGBT students as well.

Maggie Sunseri was a middle-school student in Versailles, Kentucky, when she first noticed a major difference in the way her school’s dress code treated males and females. Girls were disciplined disproportionately, she says, a trend she’s seen continue over the years. At first Sunseri simply found this disparity unfair, but upon realizing administrators’ troubling rationale behind the dress code—that certain articles of girls’ attire should be prohibited because they “distract” boys—she decided to take action.

“I’ve never seen a boy called out for his attire even though they also break the rules,” says Sunseri, who last summer produced Shame: A Documentary on School Dress Code, a film featuring interviews with dozens of her classmates and her school principal, that explores the negative impact biased rules can have on girls’ confidence and sense of self. The documentary now has tens of thousands of YouTube views, while a post about the dress-code policy at her high school—Woodford County High—has been circulated more than 45,000 times on the Internet.

Although dress codes have long been a subject of contention, the growth of platforms like Facebook and Instagram, along with a resurgence of student activism, has prompted a major uptick in protests against attire rules, including popular campaigns similar to the one championed by Sunseri. Conflict over these policies has also spawned hundreds of Change.org petitions and numerous school walkouts. Many of these protests have criticized the dress codes as sexistin that they unfairly target girls by body-shaming and blaming them for promoting sexual harassment. Documented cases show female students being chastised by school officials, sent home, or barred from attending events like prom.

Meanwhile, gender non-conforming and transgender students have also clashed The Movement Against Sexist and Discriminatory School Dress Codes - The Atlantic:

4LAKids - FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TO PICK A NEW L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF IS SMALL BUT GETS LIVELY + schedule for future meetings

4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TO PICK A NEW L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF IS SMALL BUT GETS LIVELY + schedule for future meetings:

FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TO PICK A NEW L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF IS SMALL BUT GETS LIVELY

 

BY HOWARD BLUME | L.A. TIMES | HTTP://LAT.MS/1JYKQAC

Oct 20, 2015  7:36 AM  ::  The nation’s second-largest school district invited the public Monday to talk about what they want in a leader, but only about two dozen people showed up.

The meeting took place in the auditorium at Roybal Learning Center just west of downtown, the first of many gatherings scheduled by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Officials tried to make community members feel welcome, offering coffee cake, bottled water and other goodies, enough for a much larger crowd.

L.A. Unified hopes to select a superintendent by the end of the year, which is when current Supt. Ramon C. Cortines has said he would like to step down. The Board of Education has decided to recruit, evaluate and interview applicants confidentially, but it also insists that community input matters to them. School board President Steve Zimmer attended the forum, but he did not take part.

Consultant Hank Gmitro, a retired superintendent, led the meeting, cajoling people to talk, engaging them in conversation. No one seemed to want to speak first, so Gmitro tried to break the ice by asking what people liked about the LAUSD.

After a slightly awkward silence that seemed a lot longer than it was, parent Rachel Greene commented that very experienced teachers need additional support.

Anyone else? Gmitro asked.

Again, silence.

So, restated Gmitro, there needs to be programs to help teachers provide services to students with unique needs. Are students getting these services, he wanted to know.

“If they have someone there to fight for it,” Greene responded.

Gmitro returned to asking what people like about L.A. Unified schools.

Greene politely filled the gap again.

“It’s right down the street,” she offered.

“Close by,” echoed Gmitro.

His two colleagues from Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates got it down; they’ll be submitting a report on community input to the school board. On its website, the district lists 25 public forums, but the total number of meetings is even larger, as times also are set aside for principals, for teachers, for civic leaders and other specific groups.

Eventually, other people joined in and the conversation got more lively

Wayne V. Lewis, a teacher at Bernstein High School, said the next superintendent would need to appreciate the differences between traditional schools and charter schools and would need a thorough understanding of operations, based on having served in various roles in a school system. And the school board, which will choose the schools chief, and others should “avoid playing political games with the process.”

Lewis later objected to participants referring to the next superintendent as “he.” Lewis also made it clear that he would like to see Michelle King, the district’s second-in-command, get the job.

“We always look outside for solutions,” he said. “But everything she’s ever touched she’s done well.” The next leader “should be part of the system and proud of the system.”

The ability to rein in and oversee charter schools was important to several teachers and parents, who believe charters are draining resources from L.A. Unified and pushing out students who are harder to educate.

Charters are independently operated and exempt from some rules that govern traditional schools.

An even more consistent refrain was the call for an experienced educator to run L.A. Unified. One person hoped the leader also would be “God-fearing,” due to all the challenges ahead.

Lucia Ortiz, 16, a senior at Lincoln High, wanted students to have a greater voice in decisions.

The session was conducted in English and Spanish, with the aid of wireless headsets and translators.

“I see that the schools have many problems,” said Elsa Villareal, a parent at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex, speaking in Spanish.

“So you’d like to see those problems addressed by the new superintendent?” Gmitro responded in English.

“Yes,” said Villareal.

The concerns of parent Guillermina Ceuva, also speaking in Spanish, included the amount of money that went to raises for teachers rather than to benefit students. She also deplored the cheapening of course credits: “They were practically giving away diplomas.”

“Students need to have a high-quality education and currently the superintendent has failed at that,” she said.

Gmitro also learned that the next superintendent needs the human touch, should monitor schools more closely, must select better principals, focus on training and supporting teachers, and provide technology without spending wastefully.

“He should be impartial,” said Samson Blancas Jr., a parent and site council member at Monroe High. “He must not be influenced by personal feelings and biases .… He must be open-minded and willing to work with others.”

"Impartial, fair, open-minded,” summarized Gmitro.

His team got that down, too.

“We’ll stay as long as you want to,” Gmitro assured all who wanted to speak. But he also reminded them: “We do have treats in the back.”

After about an hour and 15 minutes, Gmitro reminded them again of the refreshments, and at this point, participants were ready for coffee cake.

_______

FUTURE MEETINGS:

TUESDAY, OCT. 20

9 a.m.

Local District-East Office (PLCC Room)

2151 N. Soto St.

Los Angeles 90032

7 p.m.

Local District-East Office (Saldivar Room)

2151 N. Soto St.

Los Angeles 90032

7 p.m.

Local District-Northeast Community Forum

Cesar Chavez Learning Academy

1001 Arroyo Ave.

San Fernando 91340

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21

 4LAKids - some of the news that doesn't fit: FIRST PUBLIC MEETING TO PICK A NEW L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF IS SMALL BUT GETS LIVELY + schedule for future meetings: