Saturday, August 29, 2009

The news that didn't fit from Aug 30th

Congraduations!   LATE HIGH SCHOOL GRADS HAVE THEIR DAY
By Melissa Pamer, Staff Writer | Daily Breeze    Posted: 08/27/2009 10:46:46 PM PDT -- Nearly 50 local LAUSD high school seniors graduated Thursday in a ceremony at Gardena High after passing their exit exams. A George Washington Prep graduate hugs family members after the ceremony. (Scott Varley/Staff Photographer)  Students from Los Angeles Unified high school campuses across the South Bay,


TERRY CAMPA, FORMER O'MELVENY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL DIES
Obituary by Andres Chavez, San Fernando Valley Sun Staff Reporter                                    Wednesday, 26 August 2009 --There are many kinds of greatness. There are those historical figures who "Bestride the world like a colossus," as Shakespeare said. But great too, are those teachers and educators who help children


New Report: LISTENING TO LATINAS – BARRIERS TO HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION
NWLC & MALDEF PRESS RELEASE  Thursday, Aug 27 -- To help keep young Latinas in school and on track for success, the National Women’s Law Center and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund went straight to the source: Latina students and the adults who work with them every day. Our new report, Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation, explores the causes of the


REPORT URGES CALIFORNIA TO EASE COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER PROCESS
Written by: Michelle Cormier | Industry Update from the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.    Published: 08/27/2009        According to a report published by the Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy at California State University at Sacramento, California community colleges need to adopt a more standardized statewide system of student


IN EDUCATION REFORM, SOME STATES RACE FROM THE BOTTOM: According to a report by the New Teacher Project, state laws have disqualified some states from winning Race to the Top money
California was one of five states ranked least likely to compete for the money, according to a report released this August by the New Teacher Project.    “California will take whatever money it can get,” said Brian Edward, a policy analyst for EdSource, a California education watchdog.     by Chris Linden | Medhill Reports - Northwestern University.  A Washington publication of the Medill

¿OFF-LOAD?  Homeschool blog gets it right in the least number of words: "..and the Los Angeles Unified School District [LAUSD] decided to off-load over 200 schools bought and paid for with tax dollars to applicants to operate as Charters."
Normally 4LAKids wouldn't agree with this viewpoint …but these are not normal times!     

ROONEY GOES TO PRISON: Ex-LAUSD administrator pleads out in molestation case
By Daily News wire services  08/27/2009 11:55:05 AM PDT - A former Los Angeles school administrator pleaded no contest today to felony unlawful sex and lewd act counts involving four teenage girls from two schools where he worked.   <PHOTO: LAPD  Steve Thomas Rooney, 40, entered his plea to three counts of lewd acts with a child and one count of unlawful sexual intercourse.   He was was taken

TOPANGA UNBUSED: Service May be Cancelled for Pali High, Paul Revere Service Reinstated
By Nancy Marsic | The Topanga Messenger    ILLUSTRATION BY DAN MAZUR    27 August - The first local casualty of the deep budget cuts hitting the state is the school bus that transports students from Topanga Canyon to both Palisades Charter High and Paul Revere Charter Middle Schools. At press time, Topanga Elementary principal, Liam Joyce, who has been speaking with School Superintendent Ramon


PLAN B/ROUND 1: The Mayor Has His Way – <cut …I mean> A New Way with LAUSD

By smf for 4LAKids   These WebPages mourn.  We mourn the death Tuesday night of "Liberal Lion" Teddy Kennedy - A champion if not THE champion of public education. As his friend Ramón Cortines said: "He was a friend of public education all the time, every day he was in office."  And we mourn the tragic outcome for public education in the LAUSD boardroom Tuesday afternoon with the passage of Yolie


An invitation to a party most of us weren't invited to
by email  From: Cooper, Amy    Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 3:46 PM     To: 'boardmembers@lausd.net'; (…among others)    Subject: From Board President Garcia      Dear Board Members,     I look forward to seeing you all at my home for dinner this Sunday, July 12th!  Logistical details are below.      In addition, please note that we have a new date for the Board Retreat: Wednesday, August 26th.


REFORMING L.A.'s SCHOOLS: L.A. Unified's board took a major step forward in passing an initiative to open up the operation of new schools to competitive bidding.
LA Times Editorial  August 27, 2009 - It's not a total coincidence that, on the day after the Los Angeles Unified school board passed the first major reform to turn around its lowest-performing campuses, the Obama administration announced that it would target billions of federal dollars to districts that reconfigured their persistently failing schools.  From the start, board Vice President Yolie


A LETTER TO THE BOARD OF ED FROM A PARENT WHOSE CHILD ATTENDS A SCHOOL IN MS. LAMOTTE'S DISTRICT AND RESIDES & VOTES IN MS. GALATZAN'S
Subject: Your vote on the Flores Aguilar proposal    Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009  Dear Board members:   I urge you to vote no on the proposal submitted by Ms. Flores Aguilar. I do so because I live (and vote!) in Ms. Galatzan's district and my child is currently a student at Hamilton Academy of Music, which is located in Ms. LaMotte's district.   My three children have all received excellent


Today in Sacramento: SCHOOL DAYS
Sacramento Bee Capitol Alert – AM Alert  25 August - The Assembly's still wrestling with the prisons package, but the issue du jour is education.  Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called a special session last week and asked legislators to make sweeping changes to the school system, including repealing a controversial state law that prohibits tying teacher evaluations to student test scores without


RAW FEEDBACK FROM COMMUNITY MEETING IN LOCAL DISTRICT 3
The LD#3 Community Meeting @ Hamilton High School last Monday produced three raw data reports, reprinted below.     Community Mtg Notes from Charts | Comments from Index Cards | Community Feedback Forms     Many more questions were asked than answered.   Community Mtg Notes from Charts     COMMENTS    Thanks to District Staff    • LD3 already has partnership schools. No HPS are in a


THE RESOLUTION AS AMENDED, HOT OF THE PRESS: Public School Choice: A New Way at LAUSD, v.2.0
When you strike out 'not adults' as in  'what is best for children – not adults' does that not open up the slippery slope to the adult menace?   Ms. Flores Aguilar, Dr. Vladovic, Ms. García - Public School Choice: A New Way at LAUSD  (Notice July 1, 2009) No earlier than 2 p.m.  Whereas, The Governing Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District is responsible for ensuring that the


WHY SCHOOL CHOICE PLAN IS A BAD IDEA FOR OUR DISTRICT
OpEd in the Daily News By Robert D. Skeels   August 23, 2009 -- HOW can you have an education "town hall" where the townsfolk aren't invited?   Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Ben Austin staged two such events this month touting LAUSD Vice President Yolie Flores Aguilar's school choice resolution, which is up for vote on Tuesday.   Locking out those most concerned with the content of those


L.A. UNIFIED’S CHANCE FOR CHANGE: The L.A. Unified board's vote on letting others bid to operate 50 new schools is an opportunity to break with the past.
LA Times Editorial  August 24, 2009 -- The Los Angeles Unified school board has the opportunity Tuesday to usher in a transformative era, shedding the district's traditional role as a monolithic operator of schools and instead becoming a clearinghouse for creative educational models run by a variety of groups.  After several weeks of delay and lobbying, a resolution by board Vice President Yolie


LAUSD TO CONSIDER NEW SCHOOLS TO BE PRIVATELY RUN
KCBS – TV Online  Aug 24, 2009 3:55 am US/Pacific  -- LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― New schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District could soon be privately operated if Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa gets his way.   Villaraigosa is expected to urge LAUSD Board Members to approve a resolution to allow 50 new schools to be operated by charter operators and other institutions for 2010-11 school year.


GETTING PINKED: Waiting for the LAUSD Layoff Slip
By Cassandra McGrath | L.A. Weekly  published: August 20, 2009 (February)     I’m standing in the main office next to my empty mailbox slot, waiting for my pink slip.    “Has the mail come yet?” I ask the desk attendant.    “Not yet,” he says.     “Oh. When do you think it will come?”    “I don’t know. In an hour or so? It’s unpredictable.”    “Are you getting a pink slip?” I ask.    “I don’t

No comments: