NEW FIGHT ON HEALTH EDUCATION AT LAUSD: HELP CHANGE THE MOU

email from: Edu Alert [edualerts@aol.com]

Monday, June 18, 2012 8:54 AM
**PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY**

Action Needed: NOW

We won the battle, but not the war. With everyone’s help, we were able to save Health as graduation requirement in regular schools. Unfortunately, the NEW LEADERSHIP at LAUSD decided to mislead us. THEY NEVER PLANNED ON KEEPING HEALTH.

Superintendent John Deasy, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction, Dr. Aquino, and Chief Academic Officer, Gerardo Loera are pushing the LAUSD Board Members to agree to the recommendations of a Board Informative that provides schools the ability to ELIMINATE HEALTH EDUCATION as a graduation requirement for ALL high schools.

It seems they have been planning this all along. They are FRAMING this around REFORM, but those who follow these people more closely, know better. They LIED and MANIPULATED everybody.

Much of what is in this board informative attached is intentionally not complete, some is misinformation, and some is illegal.

Comprehensive Health Education is a HUGE part of the solution.

We need to let the District Leadership, LAUSD board members, and the union that we want action based on what we want, and not who is funding the REFORM.
This is the time to fight back, by letting them know that we want the LAUSD Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) changed. They need to:

• NOT allow the non-regular schools like partnerships, schools choice, and any tentative agreement with UTLA to ELIMINATE HEALTH EDUCATION as a graduation requirement for high schools.
• NOT allow a non-credentialed teacher to teach health education in our schools. They are going against the policies of the state credentialing and Uniform Code.

Comprehensive Health Education has been in place in LAUSD as a 5-unit full-semester course taught by a credentialed health teacher, and according to CA Teacher Credentialing is the ONLY qualified and appropriate teacher to teach health. The Physical Education and Biology credentialed teacher are NOT ELIGIBLE to teach health. Studies have already proven that attempting to place health content in other courses is NOT AFFECTIVE FOR BEHAVIOR CHANGE.

This funding serves ALL OUR YOUTH, but our most-at-risk populations suffer the most, like our LGBTQ youth, African-American youth, and Latino youth. We need to take action NOW to ensure that health education as a graduation requirement is maintained in LAUSD. This is currently the ONLY class in our schools where students get information on suicide, bullying (violence prevention), child abuse, sexual health information, substance abuse prevention, information for accessing contraception, and so much more.

WE DO NOT HAVE A LOT TIME, PLEASE ACT NOW!

Young people deserve to have equitable access to health education. They need the comprehensive health course in EVERY SCHOOL that has been proven to help youth make better health decisions that protect them throughout their lives.

P.S. Please write now – Share with your friends.  We absolutely need DISTRICT LEADERSHIP, LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD and UTLA to hear from you that they need to MAINTAIN a 5-unit, full-semester course taught by a credentialed health teacher in EVERY SCHOOL.

NEWS COVERAGE ON THIS:

http://4lakidsnews.blogspot.com/2012/06/deasy-flip-flops-on-health-ed-its.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0609-lausd-health-20120609,0,4558701.story

 

connect●the●dots smf: I don’t know who edu alerts is. I have my suspicions . . . but my prime suspect  denies it.  I have other suspects but there is no advantage to be had in speculation.  It isn’t me because whatever I had to lose by being public in my opinions I have already lost.  I fully understand the power in anonymity – with 40 years separating us from watergate we don’t need to be reminded  that in the ‘70s ‘deep throat’ had two persona and two meanings