Tuesday, January 12, 2010

LAUSD IN THE NEWS 1/12

Selections from the LAUSD Clipping Service

LOS ANGELES TIMES

L.A. school board will weigh new policy to both help and rein in charters

January 11, 2010 |  3:41 pm

The Los Angeles Board of Education Tuesday will consider new policies aimed at both assisting charters and holding them more accountable for their performance. The regulations, about a year in the making, include key provisions on conflicts of interest and services for disabled students that are opposed by the association that represents charter schools.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2010/01/la-school-board-will-weigh-new-policy-both-to-help-and-reign-in-charters.html

DAILY NEWS

Not something to be proud of: Letters for Tuesday, Jan. 12

Charters dumping special ed kids

Re "Charters, LAUSD in special ed tug-of-war" (Jan. 7):

The tug-of-war for special education funds is symptomatic of the larger issues of power and control. Case in point: For many years prior to its charter conversion, Birmingham High School had one of the best and brightest deaf and hard of hearing programs within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The fact that it was also one of the largest did not hinder its effectiveness. As the charter push began, this program was severely cut, and other special education programs on campus also suffered.

As your article stated, the deaf program was eliminated under the Birmingham charter. These students were forced out. The fact that "they were not told to enroll at another school" is a joke. They had no choice but to enroll elsewhere in order to receive services.

There may be scrupulous charter operators. Yet for every New West Charter Middle School, I suspect there are many more which follow the Birmingham model: cherry-picking students and cutting special education services.

- JEANINE D'ELIA

Granada Hills

The writer was a special education assistant at Birmingham High School for 12 years.

THE EXAIMNER

An overview of education options in Los Angeles

January 11, 8:21 PMLA Education Headlines ExaminerAmber Banks

The educational landscape in Los Angeles is changing by the day. In the coming weeks, there will be a lot of important decisions and developments regarding the structure and administration of public education in LA and within LAUSD. In the meantime, the guide below is intended to help define the different education options, as they exist today.

http://www.examiner.com/x-33526-LA-Education-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m1d11-An-overview-of-education-options-in-Los-Angeles

LA OPINION

Una carrera por fondos federales

Por muy generosa que pueda ser la "propina" del Tío Sam, los sindicatos de maestros no se apuntan a la carrera de California hacia los fondos federales de Race to the Top (RTTT). Al menos de momento.

Frente a la escuela primaria Hillcrest, el sindicato de maestros organizó una conferencia de prensa; habla la maestra Sonia Martín Solís.

Ciro Cesar /La Opinión

January 12, 2010

"Para acabar consiguiendo unos 45 millones de dólares, no vale la pena el esfuerzo", decía ayer A.J. Duffy, presidente del Sindicato de Maestros de Los Angeles (UTLA) reiterando la misma posición que mantenía antes de que el Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Angeles (LAUSD) presentara en días pasados su intención de solicitar los fondos federales para educación.

http://www.impre.com/laopinion/noticias/2010/1/12/una-carrera-por-fondos-federal-168050-1.html

Los maestros ya tienen su plan

Yolanda Arenales/ yolanda.arenales@laopinion.com |

2010-01-12

| La Opinión

EL Sindicato de Maestros de Los Ángeles (UTLA) remitió ayer planes de reforma para las 36 escuelas incluidas en la iniciativa "Elección Libre" del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Ángeles, cumpliendo así con el plazo que terminaba a las 11:59 de la noche del lunes.

http://www.impre.com/laopinion/noticias/2010/1/12/los-maestros-ya-tienen-su-plan-168049-1.html

CALIFORNIA WATCH

Less money for class-size reduction under Schwarzenegger budget

January 12, 2010 | Louis Freedberg and Hugo Cabrera

For the first time since the program began 14 years ago, a California governor is planning on spending significantly less on California’s popular, but expensive, class-size reduction program than in previous years.

http://californiawatch.org/watchblog/less-money-class-size-reduction-under-schwarzenegger-budget

CITYWATCH

Of Sidewalks, Salaries and Second Jobs

ALPERN AT LARGE
By Ken Alpern
The economic/budgetary crises facing our City offer both heartburn and hope, naysaying and new opportunities, a thinning of our work force and yet also a change in how we get things done.  Just as conservatives and other capitalists have been forced to recognize that banks and big businesses need some regulation, so also do liberals and pro-union advocates need to recognize that unions (particularly governmental unions) need some serious reigning in. Closer to home, government salary and pension reform is being embraced (or at least confronted) by an increasing number of both liberal and conservative politicians who all must recognize that the giveaway of taxpayer dollars for the comfort of the public sector (who, by and large, remain cherished by most of us who recognize what they do for our society) must be slowed or even reversed in order to make the budgets sustainable.

http://citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3087

ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

State applies for $490 million more in stimulus funds for schools

By FERMIN LEAL

2010-01-11 19:18:53

The state Department of Education today submitted an application for the final allocation of federal stimulus funds for California's public schools and universities.

http://www.ocregister.com/common/printer/view.php?db=ocregister&id=228649

SACRAMENTO BEE

Editorial: School reformers celebrate a victory

Last Modified: Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 - 8:13 am

Californians who care about public schools have something to cheer about. Pushed by President Obama's Race to the Top competition and by grass-roots parent efforts, lawmakers finally passed bills that position California to make big changes long resisted by entrenched educational interests.

http://www.sacbee.com/editorials/v-print/story/2443583.html

USA TODAY

Union to propose test scores figure into teacher ratings

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Comparing the way most teachers are evaluated to a football team watching game tapes "once the season is over," the head of the USA's second-largest teachers union is expected Tuesday to propose a new, detailed system of teacher ratings that includes not only classroom observations by supervisors but also written-work, portfolio and lesson-plan reviews — and student test scores.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-01-12-aft12_ST_N.htm

California passes major school-reform package

SACRAMENTO (AP) — The California Legislature has sent Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger landmark education reforms designed to overhaul the state's worst schools.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-01-06-California-education_N.htm

NEW YORK TIMES

States Lower Test Standards for a High School Diploma

By IAN URBINA

January 12, 2010

A law adopting statewide high school exams for graduation took effect in Pennsylvania on Saturday, with the goal of ensuring that students leaving high school are prepared for college and the workplace. But critics say the requirement has been so watered down that it is unlikely to have major impact.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/12/education/12exit.html?ref=education&pagewanted=print

No comments:

Post a Comment