Apples+Oranges: COMPARING ACTUAL CONSTRUCTION COSTS BETWEEN CHARTER SCHOOLS AND TRADITIONAL SCHOOLS IN LAUSD

a study by consultant Thomas A. Rubin for the LAUSD Bond Oversight Committee

The Report:

BOC FSD vs Charter Construct Cost 10 20 10

The POWERPOINT PRESENTATION:

BOC Conventional and Charter Schools 10 20 10

COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES PULL BACK LEASE AND SPENDING AT VAN DE KAMPS BUILDING: Van de Kamps Coalition Accuses Vice Chancellor Linked to Mayor’s Office of Contract Conflict-of-Interest in Lease That Would Benefit His Own Non-Profit

Van de Kamps Coalition Press Release

smf background: The LA Community College District, using bond funds and seed money obtained by  Senator Richard Polanc0 purchased and is renovating the old Van de Kamp’s Bakery in Glassell Park – to serve the Northeast LA community as  a satellite campus of LACC.  Recently the CCD Board has reneged on the promise to the voters and taxpayers and leased part of the college to charter school and the rest to a workforce development project sponsored by Mayor Tony. VdK Coalition Home● The VdK Satellite Campus●The Bait and Switch●The Lawsuit●Fundraisers / Donations

(Los Angeles, CA) On Wednesday, April 14, 2010, a grim-faced Los Angeles Community College District (“LACCD”) Board of Trustees, started its meeting almost one hour late and “pulled” from its agenda a proposed five-year lease of the historic Van de Kamps Bakery building to a non-profit corporation linked to Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The corporation, Community Career Development, Inc., was proposed by LACCD staff to receive a “sweetheart” no-bid lease of the newly reconstructed historic landmark building, and in turn the lease would have allowed the non-profit to sublease to other non-profits lined up to get space for their unemployment programs in the building.

“We have been told by other workforce providers in the Los Angeles region that Deputy Mayor Larry Frank played a role in steering at least $240,000 to Community Career Development without the federally required competitive bidding among workforce center operators for the right to open a new workforce center. In turn, we believe LACCD staff, led by Vice-Chancellor Marvin Martinez, General Counsel Camille Goulet and others, tried to illegally give the Van de Kamps building away without meeting state law competitive bidding requirements for leases,” said Van de Kamps (“VDK”) Coalition member Miki Jackson.

On Monday, April 12, 2010, the VDK Coalition’s attorney, Daniel Wright, sent a objection letter to the proposed lease that identified at least four laws that would have been broken if the lease had been approved. Because the LACCD Board continues to refuse to conduct environmental review of changes at the Van de Kamps campus, the California Environmental Quality Act is violated.

Further, the particular sections of the Education Code the District proposed to award the no-bid lease did not grant authority to award the lease to a mere unemployment program. Furthermore, because the District’s bond counsel has previously informed the Board of Trustees that expenditure of bond funds to pay for construction of offices for the proposed tenants is unlawful, Wright argued that the Proposition 39 restrictions would be knowingly violated by Board members. Finally, Vice-Chancellor Martinez’s conflict-of-interest was alleged to nullify the proposed lease under Government Code Section 1090 anti-corruption law.

“The LACCD staff has acted with reckless disregard for the most basic laws governing community colleges and led its Board of Trustees into illegal actions at Van de Kamps. As a result, the students who need the adult, for-credit educational opportunity intended by voters who approved bonds for the Van de Kamps site, are at risk of having it snatched away by the Mayor’s office and his non-profit allies who want the building for their own purposes,” said Wright.

In testimony before the Board, East LA Activist Jose Aguilar warned that he guaranteed that their bond abuse would be remembered by voters when they run for re-election and any time a new bond measure is put on the ballot in the future.

New LACCD Board of Trustees, Miguel Santiago and Tina Park, have emerged as uncomfortable with the actions of the Board “old guard” who have ruled the Board for years. Santiago expressed frustration that for three Board meetings, the Interim Chancellor, Tyree Wieder, has failed to bring to the Board a report he requested on the extent that voter-approved bond funds may have been used to construct tenant improvements inside what is supposed to be a community college classroom building.

Weider deferred to LACCD Facilities Director, Larry Eisenberg. He told the Board that in the construction industry, the term “tenant improvements” means “any interior wall of a building.” Laura Gutierrez of the VDK Coalition scoffed at this claim. “Anyone with common sense knows that tenant improvements are undertaken by a landlord and the tenant’s lease payments recover the cost of constructing those improvements. At Van de Kamps, we tabulated $7.1 million of tenant improvements and in no way will the District ever recover the cost of those changes,” she observed. “LACCD staff ordered the tenant improvements out of bond funds before bond counsel informed them that such expenditures violate the constitutional spending limitations under Proposition 39. Now they are scrambling to cover it up.”

Trustee Santiago concurred with concerns of the VDK Coalition that a second item on the agenda to award $99,499 to a contractor to build custom reception desks, shelving and other items in the tenant spaces might also be an unlawful expenditure. In a split vote, Santiago made a motion to pull this second contract from the consent calendar and ask the Chancellor to investigate whether any of the items were more tenant improvements. Trustees Santiago, Park and Pearlman voted in favor of pulling the item and investigating. Trustees Mercer, Canaele, and Scott-Hayes voted to approve the expenditure without further inquiry. In a moment of drama, Board President Mona Field hesitated and moaned that the vote was “difficult.” Then she cast the deciding vote in favor of investigation.

In discussing the tenant improvements at Van de Kamps, Trustee Sylvia Scott-Hayes appeared to coach Facilities Director Eisenberg and Los Angeles City College President Jamillah Moore to make a claim that all of the re-designed office space and smaller training rooms inside the Van de Kamps building were actually intended to support the College’s educational program. Dr. Moore hesitated before claiming that City College had been consulted in the plans for the new configuration of walls in Van de Kamps.

“Those claims that there was an educational purpose in the re-design of the building are false,” charged VDK Coalition members. “We have Eisenberg’s e-mails showing he directed the conversion of the Van de Kamps building into a ‘building shell, leased tenant facility” as they called it at the time,” said Miki Jackson. “We have documents that contradict the statements made by Eisenberg and Moore at last Wednesday’s Board meeting,” said Gutierrez, “Their own documents tell a devastating story of the misuse of taxpayer funds to deliberately destroy the classrooms in that building.”

more …or more than ever wanted to know . . . .

• April 16, 2010 - CA Assembly Member Kevin de Leon (45th District) letter to Mona Fields / LACCD (PDF file)

• April 16, 2010 - Reports from bond legal counsel regarding LACCD illegal use of bond funds:

• - Fulbright & Jaworski report: Recommendations to Insure Compliance with Proposition 39 (PDF file)

• -Capstone Advisory Group report: Recommendations for Bond Construction Program (PDF file)

• April 13, 2010 - Van DeKamps: URGENT! Send a letter to LACCD to Halt Illegal Lease of Van de Kamps (PDF file)

• April 11, 2010 - VdK Fundraiser at Eagle Rock Brewery featuring appetizers from Netty's

• April 11, 2010 - VdK Fundraiser flier (PDF file)

• April 11, 2010 - LACCD Spent Over $1.3M on Additional Overhead at Van de Kamps pt.2 (PDF file)

• April 7, 2010 - The Los Angeles

• Community College District Expended Over $7 Million of Restricted Bond Funds to the Benefit of Private Projects Politically Favored by Antonio Villaraigosa (PDF file)

• March 12, 2010 - LACCD Board President Mona Field Admits To Misuse of Bond Funds As The Van de Kamps Coalition Demands Expedited Investigation Of Its Allegations Of Other Abuse Of Bond Funds (PDF file)

• February 22, 2010 - Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee Moves To Investigate Conversion of Van de Kamps Satellite Campus To A Profit-Making Leasing Scheme Of LACCD Board Of Trustees (PDF file)

SUPERINTENDENT’S BOARD INFORMATIVE RE LETTERS OF INTENT RE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE - 17 Nov 2009

Psc Letters of Intent Board Informative 11 17 09

This just in: SCHWARZENEGGER SIGNS 14 EDUCATION BILLS, VETOES 17

 

from Capitol Alert | SAcramento Bee

October 11, 2009 | As legislative leaders continue talks on a package of water bills, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office released word of the fate of 183 bills.

The governor, who threatened to veto "a lot" of bills if leaders can't strike a water deal, has until midnight to act on the more than 500 bills remaining on his desk.

See the governor's office's list of the 89 bills he signed and the 94 bills struck down with the veto pen after the jump.

EDUCATION BILLS IN RED

Bills Signed:

• SB 19 by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) - Education data.
• SB 36 by Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) - Real estate, finance lender, and residential mortgage lender licenses: mortgage loan originators.
• SB 48 by Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) - Joint powers agencies: City of Santa Clara.
• SB 102 by Committee on Local Government - Validations.
• SB 103 by Committee on Local Government - Validations.
• SB 117 by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) - Adult day health care services: eligibility criteria: Medi-Cal reimbursement methodology and limit.
• SB 136 by Senator Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) - State real property.
• SB 143 by Senator Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) - Hazardous materials: California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act of 2004.
• SB 147 by Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) - California State University: career technical education courses.
• SB 148 by Senator Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach) - Mammogram machines: inspection: posting of results.
• SB 149 by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) - Claims against the state: appropriation.
• SB 150 by Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) - Sentencing.
• SB 224 by Senator Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) - Housing assistance.
• SB 237 by Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) - Real estate appraisers.
• SB 239 by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) - Mortgage fraud.
• SB 240 by Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) - Vehicles: Department of Transportation vehicles.
• SB 247 by Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) - Instructional materials.
• SB 249 by Senator Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) - Vaccinations: meningococcal disease.
• SB 273 by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) - Domestic Violence.
• SB 283 by Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) - Department of Water Resources: recycled water.
• SB 285 by Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) - Disability benefits: attachment.
• SB 312 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) - Public meetings and hearings.
• SB 337 by Senator Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) - Health information.
• SB 357 by Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego) - Tribal gaming: grants to local jurisdictions.
• SB 412 by Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) - Electricity: self-generation incentive program.
• SB 419 by Committee on Veterans Affairs - County veteran service officers: funding.
• SB 448 by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) - California State Safe Harbor Agreement Program Act.
• SB 471 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) - California Stem Cell and Biotechnology Education and Workforce Development Act of 2009.
• SB 478 Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) - Employment safety: manlifts.
• SB 481 by Senator Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks) - Airports: wildlife.
• SB 511 by Committee on Education - Education.
• SB 519 by Senator Roy Ashburn (R-Bakersfield) - Public employment.
• SB 532 by Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) - State Highway Routes 1, 108, 132, and 201.
• SB 538 by Committee on Public Employment and Retirement - County employees' retirement: mandatory retirement.
• SB 588 by Committee on Public Safety - Sex Offender Management Board.
• SB 592 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) - Charter Schools Facilities Program.
• SB 614 by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) - Vessels.
• SB 619 by Senator Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) - Flood control: County of Santa Barbara: Lower Mission Creek.
• SB 651 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) - Pupil retention.
• SB 680 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) - School attendance: interdistrict transfers.
• SB 702 by Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) - Ancillary day care centers: employees: trustline providers. See attached signing message.
• SB 734 by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) - Transportation.
• SB 744 by Senator Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) - Clinical laboratories.
• SB 751 by Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) - Teacher credentials.
• SB 792 by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) - Tidelands and submerged lands: City and County of San Francisco: Hunters Point Naval Shipyard and Candlestick Point.
• SB 822 by Committee on Revenue and Taxation - Property taxation: local administration.
• SB 826 by Committee on Governmental Organization - General obligation bonds.
• SB 827 by Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) - South Coast Air Quality Management District: CEQA: permits.
• SB 831 by Committee on Governmental Organization - California State Lottery: multistate lottery.
• SB 833 by Committee on Natural Resources and Water - Natural resources: mining: conservation lands: Native American historical sites: tidelands and submerged lands.
• SBX3 18 by Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny (D-San Diego) - Corrections.
• AB 14 by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) - Vehicles: nuisance abatement: impoundment.
• AB 37 by Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-South Los Angeles County) - Public postsecondary education: honorary degrees.
• AB 66 by Assemblymember Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon) - Pupil work permits.
• AB 73 by Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) - Marriage licenses: vital records: fees: domestic violence.
• AB 74 by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-Arcata) - Flood control: Middle Creek and Hamilton City Flood Damage Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Projects.
• AB 92 by Assemblymember Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) - State claims.
• AB 93 by Assemblymember Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) - Claims against the state: appropriation.
• AB 94 by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) - Natural Heritage Preservation Tax Credit Act of 2000.
• AB 136 by Assemblymember Jim Silva (R- Huntington Beach) - Horse racing: imported harness or quarter horse races.
• AB 154 by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) - Adoption assistance: federal law.
• AB 167 by Assemblymember Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia) - High school graduation: local requirements: foster children.
• AB 236 by Assemblymember Sandré R. Swanson (D-Alameda) - Employment: car washes.
• AB 242 by Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) - Dog fighting.
• AB 246 by Senator (former Assemblymember) Curren Price (D-Inglewood) - Horse racing: deductions and distributions: trust funds: harness and quarter horse racing.
• AB 262 by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) - American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan: energy activities, programs, or projects.
• AB 275 by Assemblymember Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) - Missing persons: DNA database.
• AB 282 by Committee on Transportation - Transportation.
• AB 286 by Assemblymember Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista) - Vehicles: additional registration fees.
• AB 287 by Assemblymember Jim Beall (D-San Jose) - Persons with developmental disabilities: employment.
• AB 292 by Assemblymember Yamada (D-Solano) - Personal income taxes: contributions: Alzheimer's disease.
• AB 293 by Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk) - Gambling regulation.
• AB 299 by Committee on Insurance - Insurance.
• AB 318 by Assemblymember Bill Emmerson (R-Redlands) - Bureau of Automotive Repair: inspection fees.
• AB 329 by Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) - Reverse mortgages.
• AB 343 by Assemblymember Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) - Pupils: military families.
• AB 344 by Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) - State highways: relinquishment.
• AB 386 by Assemblymember Ira Ruskin (D-Redwood City) - Public postsecondary education: instructional materials: disabled students.
• AB 399 by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) - Public employee benefits.
• AB 483 by Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) - Workers' compensation: Internet Web sites.
• AB 485 by Assemblymember Wilmer Amina Carter (D-Rialto) - Civil Air Patrol: California Wing: employment leave.
• AB 523 by Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) - Hospitals: seismic safety.
• AB 530 by Assemblymember Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank) - Unlawful detainer: controlled substances and firearms.
• AB 547 by Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk) - Commercial feed: license fee: inspection tonnage tax.
• AB 595 by Assemblymember Anthony Adams (R-Hesperia) - Placement of children: criminal background checks.
• AB 601 by Assemblymember Martin Garrick (R-Carlsbad) - Motor vehicle insurance: special assessments.
• AB 636 by Assemblymember Dave Jones (D-Sacramento) - Charter-party carriers: busdrivers.
• AB 654 by Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk) - State teachers' retirement.
• AB 665 by Assemblymember Alberto Torrico (D-Fremont) - State adoption services: investment.

Bills Vetoed:

• SB 20 by Senator Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) - Personal information: privacy.
• SB 34 by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) - Petitions: compensation for signatures.
• SB 45 by Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) - Public works: payment of prevailing wage: violations.
• SB 84 by Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) - Education finance.
• SB 86 by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) - Public postsecondary education: executive officer compensation.
• SB 109 by Senator Ron Calderon (D-Montebello) - Auctioneers: real estate.
• SB 115 by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) - Public employment.
• SB 158 by Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) - Health care coverage: cervical cancer screening: human papillomavirus vaccination. .
• SB 161 by Senator Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood) - Health care coverage: cancer treatment.
• SB 172 by Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) - Voter registration.
• SB 173 by Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) - Food safety: testing and recalls.
• SB 193 by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) - Class size reduction: Long Beach Unified School District.
• SB 196 by Senator Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) - Emergency medical services.
• SB 201 by Senator Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach) - Vehicles: illegal taxicabs.
• SB 212 by Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) - Pupil health: communicable diseases.
• SB 213 by Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter) - Gambling licenses.
• SB 218 by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) - Public records: state agency: auxiliary organizations.
• SB 219 by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) - Disclosure of improper governmental activities: University of California: damages.
• SB 242 by Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) - Civil rights: language restrictions.
• SB 248 by Senator Jenny Oropeza (D-Long Beach) - Educational equity: Title IX.
• SB 257 by Senator Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills) - Lactation accommodation: state employees.
• SB 262 by Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) - Coastal resources: California Coastal Commission: meeting.
• SB 272 by Senator Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa) - Local government: organization.
• AB 1 by Assemblymember William Monning (D-Carmel) - Teachers: program of professional growth: conflict resolution. See attached veto message.
• AB 3 by Assemblymember V. Manuel Pérez (D-Coachella) - Workforce development: Renewable Energy Workforce Readiness Initiative: local workforce investment boards.
• AB 6 by Assemblymember Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) - Initiatives: paid circulators.
• AB 8 by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) - Education finance: working group.
• AB 21 by Assemblymember Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank) - Renewable energy resources.
• AB 24 by Assemblymember Marty Block (D-San Diego) - California State University: feasibility study: Chula Vista.
• AB 43 by Assemblymember Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo) - California Earthquake Authority: employees.
• AB 56 by Assemblymember Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena) - Health care coverage: mammographies.
• AB 57 by Senator (former Assemblymember) Curren Price (D-Inglewood) - University of California hospitals: staffing.
• AB 82 by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) - Dependent children: psychotropic medications.
• AB 98 by Assemblymember Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) - Maternity services.
• AB 101 by Assemblymember Joel Anderson (R-El Cajon) - Elections: vote by mail ballots.
• AB 115 by Assemblymember Jim Beall (D-San Jose) - Adult Health Coverage Expansion Program.
• AB 120 by Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) - Healing arts: peer review.
• AB 132 by Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk) - School safety: immigration investigations.
• AB 146 by Assemblymember Tony Mendoza (D-Norwalk) - Instructional materials: delivery.
• AB 147 by Assemblymember Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) - Hazardous waste: electronic waste.
• AB 213 by Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) - Vehicles: parking.
• AB 217 by Assemblymember Jim Beall (D-San Jose) - Medi-Cal: alcohol and drug screening and brief intervention services.
• AB 241 by Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) - Dogs and cats: breeding for sale.
• AB 243 by Assemblymember Pedro Nava (D-Santa Barbara) - Animal abuse: penalties.
• AB 244 by Assemblymember Jim Beall (D-San Jose) - Health care coverage: mental health services.
• AB 245 by Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) - Physicians and surgeons.
• AB 249 by Assemblymember Wilmer Amina Carter (D-Rialto) - Health facilities: marking patient devices.
• AB 261 by Assemblymember Mary Salas (D-Chula Vista) - Pupil records: privacy rights.
• AB 267 by Assemblymember Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) - Education finance districts: taxes.
• AB 311 by Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) - Property taxation: certificated aircraft assessment.
• AB 320 by Assemblymember Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) - County jails: reentry facilities.
• AB 322 by Assemblymember Jim Silva (R-Huntington Beach) - Less lethal weapons.
• AB 324 by Assemblymember Jim Beall (D-San Jose) - Aging: Elder Economic Security Standard Index.
• AB 330 by Assemblymember Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) - Elections: voting devices.
• AB 335 by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D- Sylmar) - Employment contracts.
• AB 337 by Assemblymember Norma Torres (D-Pomona) - Juvenile court records: sealing and destruction.
• AB 338 by Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) - Transit village developments: infrastructure financing.
• AB 358 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) - Criminal procedure: narcotics and drug abuse cases.
• AB 368 by Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) - State lands: oil, gas, and mineral leases.
• AB 369 by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada (D-Solano) - Adult day health care centers.
• AB 374 by Assemblymember Marty Block (D-San Diego) - Consequences of dropping out notice.
• AB 382 by Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) - Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation: inmates and wards: classification.
• AB 402 by Assemblymember Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles) - Employment: entertainment work permits.
• AB 423 by Assemblymember Norma Torres (D-Pomona) - Emergency telephone systems.
• AB 429 by Assemblymember Julia Brownley (D-Santa Monica) - Public school accountability: advisory committee.
• AB 436 by Assemblymember Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) - Elections: initiatives.
• AB 442 by Assemblymember Juan Arambula (I-Fresno) - Notaries public.
• AB 443 by Assemblymember Cathleen Galgiani (D-Livingston) - Apple pests: pest and disease prevention.
• AB 469 by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) - Sales and use taxes: qualified use tax payment.
• AB 472 by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-San Fernando Valley) - Earthquake and emergency preparedness.
• AB 473 by Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield (D-Woodland) - Solid waste: recycling: multifamily dwellings.
• AB 476 by Assemblymember Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) - Standardized Testing and Reporting Program.
• AB 503 by Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-South Los Angeles County) - Battered women's shelters: grant program.
• AB 504 by Assemblymember Warren Furutani (D-South Los Angeles County) - Peace officers: training.
• AB 513 by Assemblymember Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) - Health care coverage: breast-feeding.
• AB 517 by Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) - Safe Body Art Act.
• AB 527 by Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) - Employee complaints: proceedings: payroll records.
• AB 543 by Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) - Perinatal care: The Nurse-Family Partnership.
• AB 1401 by Assemblymember Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco) - Transition to Organics Act.
• AB 1404 by Assemblymember Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) - California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: offsets.
• AB 1435 by Assemblymember V. Manuel Perez (D-Coachella) - Public school accountability.
• AB 1439 by Assemblymember Jose Solorio (D-Anaheim) - Gang and youth violence: prevention.
• AB 1447 by Assemblymember John Perez (D-Los Angeles) - State Compensation Insurance Fund: audits.
• AB 1462 by Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) - Medi-Cal: inpatient hospital services contracts.
• AB 1510 by Assemblymember Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) - Public schools: parental access.
• AB 1512 by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) - Food and drugs: sale.
• AB 1527 by Assemblymember Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) - Motor vehicle emission reduction projects.
• AB 1559 by Committee on Labor and Employment - Workforce development: summer youth job training.
• AB 1561 by Committee on Labor and Employment - Occupational safety and health: citation outcome analysis.
• AB 1562 by Committee on Labor and Employment - Employment: garnishment of wages.
• AB 1563 by Committee on Labor and Employment - Employment: contracts or agreements for labor or services.
• AB 1567 by Committee on Veterans Affairs - Employment training panel: 3-year plan: training programs: veterans.
• AB 1577 by Assemblymember Joe Coto (D-San Jose) - Problem and pathological gambling.
• AB 1580 by Assemblymember Charles Calderon (D-Montebello) - Taxation: federal conformity.

RFK SITE TO BECOME SCHOOLS + smf comments

 

By Tony Castro, Staff Writer | LA Newspaper Group (Daily News)

October 11, 2009 -- On the grounds of the old Ambassador Hotel where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1968, officials Saturday dedicated a site of national tragedy into one of potential local triumph.

Two of Kennedy's grandchildren were among those who witnessed ribbon-cutting ceremonies for a new elementary education facility featuring two pilot schools.

"This is sacred ground," labor leader and Kennedy friend Dolores Huerta told about 500 people who attended the dedication.

The ceremony marked the culmination of a long political battle to raze the famed hotel and convert the 24-acre grounds into an urban school site. In addition to the new elementary schools, a new Robert F. Kennedy High School is scheduled to open in September 2010.

"My father was a champion of those who suffered disadvantages in America," Kennedy's son Maxwell said in a statement released by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

"This new K-12 learning center will educate and empower our young people and their parents to fight for economic and social justice. "I know of no better way to advance the living legacy of Robert Kennedy."

When complete, the educational complex will serve 4,400 students in grades K-12 in heavily Latino neighborhood west of downtown.

"My dream has been to make the schools a living memorial to Robert Kennedy," said Paul Schrade, a former senior aide to the late senator and head of the RFK-12 Community Task Force, the local group that worked toward construction of the learning complex.

Among obstacles that had to be overcome were Donald Trump's dream to build five towers at the site, one of them 125 stories tall, plans by Wal-Mart to put a store at the location and a movement by the Los Angeles Conservancy to preserve the landmark.

"Robert Kennedy told us what makes life worthwhile is the health of our children and the quality of their education," said Schrade.

Kennedy was gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel just minutes after winning the Democratic Party's 1968 California primary, an attack in which Schrade was also wounded.

LAUSD school board President Monica Garcia said Kennedy's message is "alive with us as we celebrate the opening of not one, but two exciting new pilot schools."

"We are inspired by the memory of Senator Kennedy who reminds us every day that we each have something to contribute," Garcia said. "And he reminds us every day that we can absolutely do better."

______________________

●● what smf said at the RFK-12 ribboncutting:

The good news is that I'm the last speaker today.

The really good news is that the youngsters behind me haven’t waited for any of us to sit down and shut up to play on the playground equipment behind this stage!

President Obama reminded us yesterday that we rise to meet challenges far more often than we solve them. This city and this school district have risen to meet the challenges of overcrowding and forced busing and the year round calendar; of disrepair and lack of vision. Those will, in time certain, be obstacles in the rear view mirror, thanks to the voters and taxpayers of this city.

Other challenges loom: Class sizes and underinvestment; a misunderstanding of the roles of art and music and physical activity in education and society. You kids must rise and meet the challenge of education and education reform --- you must rise to it, accept it and make the best of it …here in this new school, your new school – and onward – ever onward …into the high school that will be part of this incredible complex – and on to colleges and universities and art schools - to law school and medical school and engineering school; architecture school, trade school and business school.

Be safe here, Make lifelong friends. Do good work. Learn from your mistakes. Have fun.

It is a hero's journey: You must go forth …and come back and build the future. That is the dream and the vision and the promise of RFK-12.

Robert Kennedy made Bernard Shaw’s words his own: "Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not”. Those words, Boys and Girls, must be your words; those dreams must be your dreams. THEN we will be the City of Angeles we aspire to be.

Dare to dream. Ask "Why not?" Re-imagine the American Dream. Your dreams are our future.

Because you, the students, are the magic, and the promise.

YOUNG OAK KIM ACADEMY: LAUSD school relies on treating boys and girls differently + smf remarks at school's dedication

LAUSD school relies on treating boys and girls differently

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News

10/6 -- With special math and science programs for girls and "brain breaks" for boys, Los Angeles Unified embarked Monday on an educational experiment as it opened a campus that segregates students by gender.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony formally recognized the opening of Young Oak Kim Academy Middle School in the Pico-Union District, where 750 boys and girls attend academic classes on separate floors and come together only at lunch.

"This is yet another element of reform," school board President Monica Garcia said. "We have to try as many strategies as possible to see what helps our students excel and grow ... We cannot continue to do one-size-fits-all."

Garcia said the single-gender concept could someday be replicated at other district schools.

Studies cited by the National Association for Single Sex Education have shown that students in a single-gender classroom can outperform their counterparts taught in a coed setting.

A three-year study conducted by Stetson University in Florida found that boys in single-sex classes demonstrated a proficiency of 86 percent on standardized tests compared to 37 percent for boys in coed settings.

And students in all-girl classes earned a 75 percent score, compared with 59 percent proficiency among girls in coed classes.

At YOKA, educators have taken the program a step further, creating separate lesson plans for boys and girls.

Because research shows that adolescent girls thrive in groups and learn well in lectures, teachers at YOKA assign the girls a lot of collaborative projects. There's also an emphasis on math, science and technology because girls traditionally do not pursue these fields as aggressively as boys do.

The boys' classes, meanwhile, incorporate "brain breaks" that allow the students time to digest the lesson they've just been taught. There are even amplifiers in the boys' classrooms because studies show that adolescent boys have a less developed sense of hearing than adolescent girls.

Teachers say YOKA provides an opportunity to understand the differences in how boys and girls learn - and experiment with ways to help them achieve.

"You need to think about equity versus equality," art teacher Katherine Harrison.

"`Equity' says everyone has access, `equal' says everyone gets the same thing ... But we are not all exactly the same," she said. "This is about finding individual strengths and using them to overcome weaknesses."

The process of introducing the single-gender campus started in 2004, under the guidance of then-District 4 Superintendent Richard Alonzo, who began recruiting teachers and counselors trained for the alternative environment.

"We didn't just bring children to a new school," Alonzo recalled. "We thought very carefully about what kind of school we wanted."

Advocates for a single-gender school faced an obstacle early on because of federal laws that mandated equal access to programs and services for boys and girls. Changes made in those laws in 2006, coupled with incentives for innovation included in the No Child Left Behind Act, paved the way for YOKA and other single-sex campuses.

Now, more than 500 schools in the country offer single-sex educational programs or classes.

Named for the first Asian-American colonel to lead a U.S. battalion in war, YOKA was built as part of LAUSD's $20 billion construction program. It is designed to relieve overcrowding at Virgil and Berendo middle schools, which still operate on year-round calendars.

For many parents in the Pico-Union community - home to many Latino or Asian immigrants - the single-sex concept is very familiar.

"I was raised the same way in El Salvador," said Lucy Cortes, whose sixth-grade son attends YOKA. "I think it's a great option that allows our kids to focus more in school."

 

smf's Dedication Speech at YOKA

Comments by Bond Oversight Committee Representative Scott Folsom

Good and Glorious Morning. This is a great and glorious day for this Community, for this school district and for the greater community - for the City of Angels we aspire to be.

This community, your community - you kids - is getting a new middle school.

There is no more important or challenging level of education than middle school; it is here - within the walls we dedicate today , that the future will be formed, dreamed and begun …or lost and allowed to get away.

Building schools is the best thing any community does. When we build schools we make positive investments in our future way beyond the news cycle or the election cycle or the demographic projection …we are stretching the blank canvas that will be your masterpiece.

I did my homework for this little speech: I refreshed my memory about Young Oak Kim. How his father ran a grocery at Temple and Figueroa. How he graduated from Belmont High School and attended LACC. How, with war on the horizon he fought for the right to fight for his country. How he said "There is no Japanese nor Korean here. We're all Americans and we're fighting for the same cause."  He fought long and hard and well; he truly served his country, in war and peace; in the military and in civilian life. He won medals and he built museums and monuments, education and cultural and health centers. The headline in his obituary said Young Oak Kim was "a World War Two and Korean War Hero …and a Uniter of LA Asian Communities". A Hero among heroes …and a Uniter. An inspiration and a visionary. It doesn't get any better than that …and we dearly need more Americans like him.

I read in a book once that kids find magic because they look for it …I believe in magic because I believe in kids.

The kids who will go to this school - some of the young faces we see here today - will learn things in their lives that Nobel Prize winners haven't discovered yet. And as they go through life they will discover and learn even newer things …things they will teach their children; things that will win them Nobel Prizes. That is what civilization and the magic of education is all about.

These things are not easy; challenges never are.. They are promises made in one generation and kept by the next - in making the promise and keeping the promise we pass the challenge into the future.

We have made a promise to parents, voters and taxpayers — but mostly to the children; present and future: We promised to build new schools and fix up the old ones when the approved Proposition BB and Measures K, R. Y  and Q.

You don’t need me to tell you, you only have to look around you to see the promise is being kept.

• We are building new schools.
• We are fixing the old schools.
• We are creating and fostering partnerships in the community.
• We are ending Involuntary Busing.
• We have implemented Full Day Kindergarten in every elementary school in this district.
• And we will eliminate the Multi-Track Year-round Calendar, once and for all.

We need it put up our magic tent many more times …and we will.

Kids, Treat this school and the schools you attend today well and learn good things. Treat each other well. Work hard, Play fair and be safe. Make lifelong friends. Do your homework. Earn extra credit. Take every opportunity and make the best of it. Learn from your mistakes. Paint. Sing. Graduate. Win medals, build museums. Unify. Make a little magic every day. Go from here on to high schools, colleges and universities and community colleges and art schools — to law school and medical school and trade schools and – go to teachers colleges. Win medals, build museums, unite communities. And if you go to beauty school become the best beautician in the history of beauty itself!

Parents and teachers, fellow adults: Help them do these things - and then stand back!

Because you kids are magic and you are the future. So let's roll.

L.A. UNIFIED TAKES HAMMER TO ITS BUILDING UNIT:The loss of the head of the LAUSD's construction division could be the beginning of waste, cost overruns, political contracts and worse.

 

Opinion By Constance L. Rice | LA Times

4:21 PM PDT, September 28, 2009 -- The construction unit of the Los Angeles Unified School District has successfully and cost-effectively built 80 new schools and won scores of awards. So how has Supt. Ray Cortines rewarded this efficient unit? By driving out its superb leadership.

Guy Mehula, the talented head of the construction division, resigned Monday after LAUSD leaders made clear their intention of dragging Mehula's quasi-independent team back under the tight control of the district.

Taking away the unit's autonomy would be a huge mistake. The district has tried micromanaging the construction of schools, and it failed miserably. If you need convincing, just think about the disastrous cost overruns and construction errors of the Belmont Learning Complex.

For those who don't remember the horrific details, the district began construction at Belmont (or the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center, as it was finally called) without required environmental reviews or professional managers, ultimately building a $160-million high school that the state declared unusable for children. A scathing audit of the debacle concluded that the project had violated environmental and public safety laws, and that the uninformed district had "tolerated a culture remarkably indifferent" to standards or accountability. The audit referred several of its findings to the district attorney for criminal investigation.

With a pressing need for new schools, then-Supt. Roy Romer and a newly elected board of education were determined to avoid more Belmonts, so they established a facilities division that was independent, expertly run and free of the district's torpid bureaucracy. The new unit was staffed by construction professionals and experienced Navy engineers who were insulated from political and union pressures. Schools were built by carefully selected contractors who were closely monitored by an expert staff of auditors and managers.

The new division, charged with managing a $20-billion construction effort, quickly established a system of value-based contracting that permitted necessary -- but not political -- changes to contracts. And Romer was true to his word: The school board set policy and acquired land for schools, but otherwise stayed out of the way.

Now Cortines has rescinded key provisions that helped shield the facilities division from unwarranted interference. He proposes to remove the unit's specially assigned and quasi-independent lawyers and limit the hiring of contractors to 10-month periods -- something few competent construction professionals would agree to. Cortines and the board also want to set salary limits that are not competitive. Mehula resigned because these and other proposals would end the independence that has made the school construction unit a success.

Cortines' actions come as the construction program is also facing other threats.

Some school board members, in actions reminiscent of the group that brought us Belmont, have started pushing for expensive and wasteful changes to building contracts. They have tried to use bond funds for things that are prohibited by the bond measure. And they have increasingly questioned contract awards and dismissed the judgment of facilities professionals. Most discouraging, I have heard two school board members suggest that the facilities division needs to "look more like Los Angeles." Although diversity is important, it cannot be allowed to trump the expertise needed to manage a massive school construction program.

With Mehula's resignation, bondholders, taxpayers and contractors should be very worried. If his expert management team leaves, the successful phase of school construction is almost certain to end -- and bond money will once again be wasted.

It is time to consider creating an independent construction authority for building schools. Doctors don't build hospitals, and lawyers don't build courthouses. Why should educators who can barely manage the mission of education build schools?

Constance L. Rice is a civil rights attorney and a member of the School Construction Bond Oversight Committee.

$1.5 BILLION UP FOR GRABS

…but it's not about the money! a 4LAKids Spreadsheet 24 NEW SCHOOLS SUBJECT TO PSC RFP
School	Students	Co$t
Gratts PC	400	$66,877,385
Valley Region ES #6	950	$59,861,759
Valley Region ES #7	800	$62,224,883
Valley Region ES #8	725	$48,567,191
Valley Region ES #9	800	$57,818,486
Valley Region ES #10	650	$36,548,280
Central Region ES #13	875	$75,512,417
Central Region ES #15	575	$70,931,735
Central Region ES #16	675	$66,748,089
Central Region ES #17	725	$64,486,404
Central Region ES #18	575	$54,465,009
South Region ES #1	1,050	$85,379,327
South Region ES #2	1,050	$97,156,182
South Region ES #3	775	$81,238,658
South Region ES #4	775	$86,419,831
South Region MS # 2A	1,404	$127,675,163
South Region MS # 2B	inc	inc
South Region MS # 2C	inc	inc
South Region MS #6	1,404	$136,636,484
Esteban E. Torres HS #1	2,322	$206,707,370
Esteban E. Torres HS #2	inc	inc
Esteban E. Torres HS #3	inc	inc
Esteban E. Torres HS #4	inc	inc
Esteban E. Torres HS #5	inc	inc
TOTAL	16530	$1,485,254,653

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 Flores Aguilar's "Public School Choice" Resolution.

Mr. Mayor, Mr. Barr …which schools do you choose?

We do not question Yolie's heart or her good intent. Her frustration at the lack of urgency of reform in LAUSD is heartfelt and genuine - but 4LAKids cannot miss the genesis of her plan and respectfully questions the authorship. Mayor Villaraigosa probably over describes his role as it being his "Plan B" - Plan A being his failed attempt at mayoral takeover and control, thrice quashed in the courts. But the fingerprints are there - and the confession: "my plan" - must mean something.

Despite public denial of the 'done deal" by the doers - and anguish and attempts-at-amendment and pretence-at-compromise, the Deal as realized was Done.

It wasn't pretty.

The list of advocate organizations named in whereas #5 grew with each draft as the 'me too's' tasted victory and wanted their logos on the t-shirt. A least one of the alphabet soup sponsors (and the most potentially powerful partner) withdrew their support at the last moment. Ultimately the entire list - the total active membership of which is probably a couple of thousand at most - was amended out.

ON THE DONE DEAL: According a speaker in public comment the mayor at one time claimed to have "six school board votes in his pocket".

All six came through Tuesday.

As Meredith Willson wrote:

Ya got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in a table.
Pockets that mark the diff'rence
Between a gentlemen and a bum,
With a capital "B,"
And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for pool!

Friends, we got trouble right here in (L.A.) River City!

DONE DEAL II: A couple of weekends ago Board President Garcia had a soiree at her house and invited the Board of Ed and the superintendent. Apparently District Counsel Bobbi Fesler gave this get together her blessing - as long as the Boardmembers didn't discuss certain things. Like any pending or potential action before the board.

All well and good - if they didn't discuss those things.  As long as they didn't think about the elephant in the room.

• The Ralph M. Brown Act is an open meeting law - a by-invitation-only-meeting at anyone's house is not an open meeting in my appointment book …even if partners and the kiddies are invited!
• Make no mistake, the invitees were invited in their official capacity; the invitation is addressed  "Dear Board Members" – this was not "Dear Yolie, Tamar, Richard, Steve, Nuri and Marguerite".
• Of course I'm strict constructionist (What part of 'no!' is it you don't understand?) who considers the intent of the law rather than the wiggle room within it.

DONE DEAL III: After the big vote at Tuesday's meeting - but before the meeting was over and adjourned - the Board of Ed had special visitors: Mayor Villaraigosa and entourage! How kewl is that? And did Hizzonner stand in the well of the boardroom and congratulate the Board of Ed? No. He took the superintendent's chair up on the dais and sat therein -- master of all he surveyed. When Superintendent Cortines returned another chair had to be found for him.

• Fifty new schools, financed by $20 billion+ in public financing - schools the taxpayers are about to get higher tax bills for - are to be up for grabs. Charter operators? Mayor's Partnership? Jiffy Lube? C'mon down!*
• As an afterthought - or perhaps a 'leftover' - two hundred existing underperforming schools were added to the mix of schools up for grabs.

It remains to be seen how interested outside operators will be in taking over those "Program Improvement " schools in light of the Mayor's Partnership's record at his ten schools …and that of Green Dot at Locke.

The promise of 'Choice' in the resolution is the resolution is illusory. The charter school model  (parents choose their child's school) is incompatible with the neighborhood school model (all students attend their local school per attendance catchment areas). The lesson of the Belmont Zone of Choice (open enrollment within a greater geographic area) has apparently been lost completely. The YFA resolution commits the District to continue attendance area boundaries - if anything perpetuating lack-of-choice.

The Board of Ed chooses between operators who choose to apply. Yes, the resolution promises to involve parents and teachers and the community in the decision making process - but their role is advisory. The superintendent recommends; the Board of Ed decides. Who's 'Choice' is that?  How many 6 to 1 votes will it take before we realize what's going on?

I suppose operators get to choose whether to honor collective bargaining agreements; under some interpretations of the plan they may get to choose which education standards and provisions of the Ed Code they choose to observe.

Bill Ring, in last week's 4LAKids wrote: "…. true public school choice means I have a choice as a parent as to the school my child will attend."

"Me."

"I choose."

Bill wasn't allowed into the Boardroom Tuesday. There wasn't room for him. Or maybe his radical ideas.

Three speakers spoke extraordinary Truth to Power Tuesday afternoon:

Jackie Goldberg, the liberal lioness of L.A. politics presented the actual bond language of the five school construction bonds to the board. It may be language previous boards wrote but is nonetheless binding on this board because it was enacted overwhelming by the voters. "If this resolution passes," Ms Goldberg warned, "Have no doubt. You will be sued!"

Boardmember La Motte posed a couple of good questions but in the end questioned the Board's authority to give up any schools to anyone, citing the California Constitution, Article IX, §6, ¶3: "No school or college or any other part of the Public School System shall be, directly or indirectly, transferred from the Public School System or placed under the jurisdiction of any authority other than one included within the Public School System."

And Boardmember Zimmer - almost a tragic figure - spoke of his anguish, disputing the process and the outcome - bemoaning the raw politics and threats made against him by both sides. Decrying the fact that the fight was about the fight and the color of the t-shirts - not about the kids. Ultimately Zimmer held his nose and voted yes - in order, he said, to be at the table in the future.

Ms LaMotte retorted that she was not voting for it and she would be at the table too ...because that's what the people elected her to do.

As for Winners and Losers…

The parents in the light blue t-shirts, paid for by the mayor and Green Dot celebrated their victory and filed back onto the buses that bused them in.

As Jackie Goldberg said three years ago in the fight against Plan A, when adults fight with adults over adult issues it is always the kids who lose.

---

* OK, Jiffy Lube, a for-profit corporation is excluded. But the Jiffy Lube Educational Foundation? C'mon down!

CENTRAL REGION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #14 IN ECHO PARK: The adults push and shove …and the children + the voters + the taxpayers + the school (and $16 million) are potentially left behind.

Central Region ES #14, 56.40002

1018 Mohawk St., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Map and Directions

 

by smf for 4LAKids

Much has been made about Central Region Elementary School #14 — which was conceived and designed to relieve overcrowding and gets kids off the bus, out of multitrack year 'round calendars and into schools in their neighborhood.

The process at CRES#14 was not all that different than any other school construction project. A need was established, there were community meetings, alternative sites were identified and discussed, a site was proposed, the Board of Ed agreed, land was purchased - and where the purchase price couldn't be agreed upon eminent domain was exercised. Fifty families were bought out and relocated. A school was designed; approvals were secured along the way.

At the same time a very vocal and legally connected group of folks - some from the area and apparently some not - organized opposition and filed suit, challenging LAUSD at every step of the way and ultimately prevailing in court on a technicality that the environmental study had been inadequate.

The law is technical, LAUSD was adjudged wrong, they won.

A second court-ordered study was done, one that satisfied the court. The opponents continued to agitate - threatening to continue legal action - and ultimately LAUSD settled with them.

• Some might say LAUSD paid them to go away.
• The more politic characterization would be that a settlement was reached.

The project was cleared to proceed and ground to be broken - but Councilman Garcetti continued to object. Additional design modifications ensued. Still the councilman continues to object - and kids are no closer to getting their new school - or getting their old schools less crowded - than they were before the tempest first stirred. Now deadlines loom and the project may indeed be forced to cancel, postpone, go on "turn-around" at a cost of $16 million - money L.A. taxpayers will have to pay back to Sacramento. And no school.

Following are the two most recent salvos in the war of words, a public exchange between Superintendent Cortines and Board President Garcetti.

• The FIRST ENTRY is a letter to Garcetti from Cortines. Note that the greeting "Dear Eric" has been changed in Cortines hand to "Dear sir", symptomatic of whatever symbolism one cares to attach.
• THE SECOND ENTRY is a statement by Garcetti read to a well attended community meeting last week - a meeting which neither Cortines, Garcetti, nor Local District Superintendent Alonzo attended. The meeting featured angst and accusation, outrage from people whose silence was supposed to have been bought-and-paid-for, a translation headset was thrown and some people called other people names. Whether Cortines, Garcetti or Alonzo avoided attending is a conclusion you, gentle reader, must reach for yourself.

There is nothing but white space between these lines.

From Council President Garcetti, read to the CRES#14 Meeting at Rosemont ES 3/12/98

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Community Leaders:

I strongly believe that we should be building small schools, and I have made my position known to LAUSD. I have appeared before the school board, met one-on-one with our school board member, and my staff has had numerous meetings with district staff.

As the President of the City Council and the Councilmember for one of the most underresourced districts in the City of Los Angeles, I have seen time and again that our students can too easily fall through the cracks in large, overcrowded schools. And I have seen that the smaller school environments in District 13 provide a more personalized learning environment for our students, where they feel like they matter.

In small schools, teachers and administrators can more easily work together as a unit and enjoy greater flexibility. Evidence demonstrates that small schools help close the achievement gap, make our campuses safer, increase parent and community involvement, and lead to greater teacher satisfaction and retention. I’m very glad that we are represented by a School Board Member who not only shares this belief in small schools, but who has championed it.

The school that will be built at Site 9A will be a part of our community for generations to come. So often in Los Angeles we miss opportunities, and I don’t want parents and students in this neighborhood to miss out on the opportunity to have a successful, small school to serve our needs.

Our community deserves a school, but it also deserves a great school for our kids and for our neighborhood. We deserve a great streetscape on Alvarado, that makes us feel safe and is in conformance with our neighborhood’s recently-updated community plan, written by and with Echo Park residents. We deserve a school that is the right size for our students, and we will continue to fight for building that great school.

Thank you for being engaged on this issue. I look forward to working with all of you moving forward.

STATE HELD HOSTAGE

Sacramento Bee cartoonist Rex Babin

LAUSD BOND SALES: Munis Slightly Firmer in Afternoon Trade

By Michael Scarchilli | MARKET POST | Bond Buyer 

Monday, February 2, 2009 — NEW YORK — The municipal market was slightly firmer today. Traders said tax-exempt yields were lower by about two or three basis points overall.

“We’re starting the week off a little better here,” a trader in New York said. “There isn’t a ton of activity out there right now, but there’s definitely a firmer tone, and we’re seeing some gains. I’d say we’re better by two or three basis points overall, maybe one basis point on the short end.”

The Treasury market showed gains today. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which opened at 2.85%, was recently quoted at 2.74%. The yield on the two-year note was quoted recently at 0.91%, after opening at 0.94%. And the yield on the 30-year bond, which opened at 3.60%, was quoted recently at 3.50%.

After a lull in supply during the last two weeks, the first week of February will kick off with noticeably more vigor thanks to at least two significantly sized deals - a $950 million California school deal and a $614 million Georgia general obligation sale.

The offerings are part of an estimated $3.86 billion in total new-issue volume expected in the competitive and negotiated markets this week, compared with a revised $3.38 billion last week, according to Thomson Reuters.

Tomorrow, retail investors will get first crack at the week's largest deal - $950 million of GOs from the Los Angeles Unified School District - ahead of Wednesday's institutional pricing by Barclays Capital.

The deal is structured to mature serially from 2010 to 2024 with term bonds expected in 2029 and 2034, and is rated Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service and AA-minus by Standard & Poor's.

The LAUSD issue is among the five out of six largest deals whose issuers are using retail order periods to capitalize on the strength of retail demand in recent months.        [emphasis added]

In the new-issue market today, RBC Capital Markets priced $171.3 million of refunding and improvement bonds for the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents. The bonds mature from 2009 through 2028, with term bonds in 2033 and 2038. Yields range from 1.60% with a 4% coupon in 2011 to 5.41% with a 5.25% coupon in 2038. Bonds maturing in 2009 and 2010 will be decided via sealed bid. The bonds, which are callable at par in 2019, are rated Aa3 by Moody’s and AA by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

In economic data released today, personal income fell 0.2% in December, after a revised 0.4% drop the previous month. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted a 0.4% decline.

Personal consumption dipped 1.0% in December, after a 0.8% drop the previous month. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters had predicted a 0.9% decrease.

The core personal consumption expenditures deflator showed no change in December, after no change the previous month. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted no change.

Spending on construction projects fell 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.054 trillion in December as private construction decreased 1.7%, and public construction slid 0.8%. The overall decrease, which was larger than the 1.2% decrease projected by Thomson Reuters, followed a revised November level of $1.069 trillion, a 1.2% decline from the prior month.

Also, the overall economy failed to grow for the fourth straight month after 83 months of expansion, while the manufacturing sector was contracted for the twelfth month in a row, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s monthly report on business. The ISM index gained to 35.6 in January from 32.9 in December. Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would rise to 32.6.

Visible Supply
The Bond Buyer’s 30-day visible supply rose $128.8 million to $10.906 billion. The total is comprised of $1.360 billion of competitive deals and $9.546 billion of negotiated bonds.

Previous Session's Activity
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board reported 41,268 trades of 13,290 separate issues for volume of $12.51 billion yesterday. Most active was insured North Carolina Medical Care Commission 5.625s of 2029, which traded 1,141 times at a high of 102.375 and a low of 98.500.

from the Downtown News:: READY FOR A MEGA YEAR: School is in Session + LEADERS OF THE PACK: Monica Garcia

In the fall, the $232 million High School for the Visual and Performing Arts will open. LAUSD officials still have to hire a staff and decide who will be able to attend the state-of-the-art facility. Photo by Gary Leonard.

from Ready for a Mega Year  by Anna Scott

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - One of the biggest stories of 2009 will be the economy, and some of the signature projects Downtown Los Angeles has long awaited - the Grand Avenue plan, Park Fifth, etc. - are in question. Yet, despite the fears and uncertainties, the community this year will see the debut of several mega-developments, ones that began construction during the boom cycle and that have the power to continue to help transform the area. From skyscrapers that will house more stakeholders to an underground transit line that will make commuting into the Central City easier, these projects will all have a major impact on the people who live, work and visit Downtown.

School Is in Session: Jan 5 - The Los Angeles Unified School District's $232 million, 1,700-seat High School for the Visual and Performing Arts will open for classes this fall. The 238,000-square-foot campus at 450 N. Grand Ave. includes a 950-seat auditorium and 140-foot tower; the eye-catching (some say audacious) project is designed by Austrian firm Coop Himelb(l)au. The school will feature music, dance, visual arts and performing arts academies. However, with only months until it opens, a few key issues have not been decided, such as how much of the student body will come from outside Downtown, and whether the school will be enveloped by the LAUSD, or if it will have some charter-like independence.

 

from Leaders of the Pack by Jon Regardie: Elected Officials Who Will Be at the Center of Things in 2009

Fresh off her ouster of former LAUSD Supt. David Brewer, school board President Monica Garcia has put herself in a position of power. Photo by Gary Leonard.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - In the grand scheme of things, with scheme being the operative word, the political scene in 2008 in Downtown was pretty quiet. The scandals were less fantastic than in previous years, the local elections were a far second in terms of excitement to the vote for president, and the city's rock star politician, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, was on good behavior as he worked hard to bounce back from a disastrous 2007.          Will it be more of the same in 2009? Hard to tell at this point. We expect there will be some surprises (there always are), but for right now, expect the five figures below to be the ones to spur movement in Downtown Los Angeles

Monica Garcia: Jan 5 - The president of the school board last year led the effort to get rid of Superintendent David Brewer. It came off clunky, but the key is, she got him out and her guy in, and in politics, results are what matters. Garcia has the ear of Villaraigosa (though some say she's just doing his bidding) and she sits at the head of a school board where her side has the majority. With billons coming to the LAUSD after voters approved a school bond proposition last year, Garcia has power and is ready to use it.

LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT DAVID BREWER SPEAKS AFTER OUSTER

by Dick Price & Sharon Kyle – LA Progessive e-newsletter & blog

December 28, 2008 -- In his first public appearance since his contract was bought out by the Los Angeles Board of Education, Superintendent David Brewer said his ouster will only make a bad situation worse. “This district has eaten up five superintendents in 14 years,” he said in speaking to the Urban Issues Forum a week ago last Friday. “You’re not going to make progress with that kind of instability.”

Hosted by Anthony Asadullah Samad at the California African-American Museum, the monthly breakfast event attracts a mostly African-American audience although the doors are open to all. Samad brings speakers who address social and political issues relevant to urban Los Angeles and its surrounding communities. Past speakers have included Barack Obama, Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, and Antonio Villaraigosa.

This particular forum was scheduled months before Brewer was ousted, according to Samad, who intended to bring Superintendent Brewer to the community to discuss the progress he has made after just two years on the job. News of his buyout came just weeks before the event.

“In districts where superintendents have turned situations around, in Chicago and New York City, for example, they’ve had time and space to make progress—six to 10 years,” Brewer said, comparing the challenges in Los Angeles with other cities. “In two years? You can’t get anything done that fast, especially when you’re where Los Angeles is. LA is behind; it will take time to catch up.”

In recent reports, LAUSD School Board president Monica Garcia made it clear that she was seeking to replace Brewer. All but two school board members approved a buyout of Brewer’s contract of $517,500. Mayor Villaraigosa reportedly said he favored a change in leadership.

Replacing Brewer, at least in the interim, will be Ramon Cortines, a retired superintendent who was brought in by Brewer to serve as senior deputy superintendent. Cortines has been running day-to-day operations since he came onboard eight months ago.

Data Will Set You Free
Citing his philosophy that “data will set you free,” the retired Navy vice admiral pointed to the progress LA’s schools have made in the short time he’s been at the helm as nothing short of phenomenal. “We’ve had a 21-point growth in API scores this year, to 683,” he said in his upbeat presentation to the forum. “That’s better than the state as a whole and the highest gain of any major school district in California.”

“Our 12th grade enrollment is also up, to 34,763—the highest it’s been since 1997,” he continued.

Brewer has attempted to run the district according to, what he calls, five “guiding principles:”

• We will be a data-driven organization; we will use research and analysis to make decisions.
• All of our employees will be lifelong learners.
• We will actively encourage change and innovation within the District
• We will empower and engage parents and partner with the community.
• We will ensure the physical and emotional safety of our students.

As part of his efforts to take LA’s schools to the next level, Brewer was planning to unveil the “school report card” this January, a system that grades schools much like students are graded. He intended to use this tool to promote school visibility with parents, teachers, and the general public. He also planned to implement a Web-based application that allows teachers to look at each student’s education background, modeled on the SchoolNet program developed in the Inglewood School District.

Brewer was also developing plans for more boarding schools, modeled on successful pilots undertaken in Washington D.C. and Atlanta as well as single-gender academies in New York City.

“The Seed boarding school in Washington serves grades 6 to 12. It’s a good example for us,” Brewer said. “Los Angeles needs 10 similar boarding schools, especially for our foster kids. We have 14,000 foster children in this district and another 10,000 who are homeless.” He also wanted to implement a teacher-mentoring program, based on the “sailor-to-admiral” program from his Navy days, designed to improve development of new teachers.

 

While praising him for working with the Legislature on the education budget—Los Angeles school’s budget will need to cut another $200 million, according to Brewer—his critics claim that the gains in scores and enrollment aren’t really the result of Brewer’s action and also slight his lack of educational background and the slow pace of accomplishment, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

Where From Here
Brewer, who is a black man, did not think his ouster was race-based. However, he does see a racial and gender connection to the problems with LA’s schools.

“Middle class blacks and Latinos score below poor whites and poor Asians,” he said in returning to his beloved statistics. “So LA’s low scores aren’t just an economic problem.” He also emphasized the performance gap when gender was considered. The bottom line is that black and brown boys are not being educated in Los Angeles schools.

He attributed this education gap partly to what he called an “expectation bias,” both for Latino students and especially for black students, who fulfill a prophesy by performing poorly on tests and in school generally, in part because they’re not expected to perform as well as white and Asian students.

“But that expectation bias goes throughout our schools, through the community, and into our black homes,” he said. “We’ve got a generational issue coming out of slavery. Blacks don’t read the way whites do.”

“Whenever I take a flight, I walk down the aisle and see who’s reading,” he said in speaking to a nearly all-black audience. “It’s not us.”

“What I wanted to do, when I came here, was to change the culture in the schools,” Brewer said. “But we also have to change the culture in the community. We’ve got to get to parents, get them educated, get them stabilized. If you want your child to love reading, you’ve got to read yourself.”

What He Might Have Done
“Well, politics is a contact sport. The only thing I could have done was to delay the inevitable,” Brewer said when asked what he might have done differently. “I could have spent more time working politically—former Superintendent Ray Romer was a master politician. But I thought that if I spent that much time in politics, what would give? Working with the kids—that would have had to give.”

After seeing the strong evidence suggesting Brewer was making significant progress with the LAUSD, we asked why he thought he was asked to leave.

In a way that seemed to skirt the question, Brewer talked about politics. He said he believed the elective nature of the LAUSD board might be part of the problem, for him and for other superintendents past and future. “What you have in the country, you have political boards whose members have their own agendas,” Brewer said. “It doesn’t matter what progress you’re making.”

“Philly and Chicago have gone to appointed boards—three appointed by the governor, three by the mayor, I believe,” he continued. “Somehow you’ve got to give superintendents time and space to make changes.”

< Dr. Anthony Asadullah Samad

After Brewer spent a couple of minutes giving his answer, Moderator Samad jumped in and put the issue in balder terms:

“Sharon, the deal is about the money,” Samad said. “The budget for LAUSD is four times the LA City budget. Most of that budget goes toward building projects. Every board member has a favorite contractor to build buildings. Antonio has some guys who want to get at that pot of money.”

Samad speculated that Brewer’s removal may have a lot to do with a potential Villaraigosa run for the governorship, in this case aided by the school board members he helped to get elected.

Conclusion

The forum concluded with Brewer being surrounded by a supportive audience looking for ways to continue to support his agenda after he is gone and Cortines takes the helm. With the passage of Measure Q—the $7 billion school bond—there will be resources to achieve some, if not all, of Brewers initiatives. Let’s hope the kid’s needs don’t get lost in all of the politics.

Dick Price and Sharon Kyle are Editor and Publisher of LA Progressive

NAMING OF CARSON SCHOOL HITS A ROADBLOCK: Council wanted slain L.A. SWAT officer honored, but Latinos back Cesar Chavez designation.

By Gene Maddaus, Staff Writer

 

Construction of a high school that will serve Carson students is under way amid a growing controversy over the name for the campus. (Sean Hiller / Staff Photographer)

21•Dec•08 -- An effort to name a new high school serving Carson after a fallen SWAT officer has run into controversy, as Latino residents say they want it named after labor leader Cesar Chavez instead.

In October, the City Council unanimously voted to recommend naming the school after Los Angeles police SWAT Officer Randal Simmons, who died in a shootout earlier this year.

But since then two council members - Mayor Jim Dear and Councilman Harold Williams - have had second thoughts.

Williams said he was fooled into believing that the idea had full community backing, and encouraged Latino residents to come forward and voice their opposition to the choice.

"I'm very upset," said Miriam Vasquez, who lives in the neighborhood near the school. "This is a Latino area. It should be named after Cesar Chavez."

The issue has the potential to stir up resentment in a community that prides itself on racial harmony. Simmons was black, and much of the support for naming the school in his honor comes from his church, Glory Christian International Fellowship, which has a predominantly black congregation.

The issue may also play a role in the upcoming council election. Julie Ruiz Raber, a Latina and a former councilwoman, has taken the lead in calling for the decision to be re-examined.

"If I had my first choice, it would be Cesar Chavez," she said. "That would be such an honor. He's the only Mexican-American hero for the Latino community."

Raber, a close ally of Dear and Williams, is campaigning to get her council seat back in March, and Vasquez noted that the current council has no Latinos. Simmons' friends think that helps explain why the issue is coming up again.

"It's a few people trying to make political headway with a segment of the community," said Walter Clark, who works at Glory Christian International. "They're trying to make it a black-and-brown issue, which is ridiculous."

Clark noted that Simmons, who lived in Rancho Palos Verdes, ministered to youth in predominantly Latino housing projects, such as Scottsdale in Carson.

"He crossed racial boundaries," Clark said. "He was colorblind."

Councilman Mike Gipson, who led the effort to name the school for Simmons, noted that the Los Angeles Unified School District already has a school named after Chavez.

"I don't care if Randy Simmons was Iranian, Persian, Arab, white, Asian," said Gipson, who knew Simmons through his volunteer work. "This is not a racial thing for me. This was someone who lost his life trying to save other people's lives."

LAUSD is building the school at Santa Fe Avenue and Carson Street, just over the Long Beach side of the border with Carson.

Long Beach adamantly opposed putting the school there because it took away some of the city's industrial land. Carson also objected to the location, citing parking and traffic concerns.

In the midst of a relentless building campaign, LAUSD brushed those concerns aside, bought the land through eminent domain and started building. The campus is scheduled to open in 2011.

Reina Alvarez, who has been involved with the parent-teacher organization at nearby Dominguez Elementary School, said she and her neighbors first heard of the idea of naming the school for Simmons at the school's recent groundbreaking.

Though they said they have nothing against the fallen officer, they were troubled that they were not consulted.

They circulated a petition asking that the school be named for Chavez or for Manuel Dominguez, who owned the area's 19th century Spanish land grant.

The petition got about 100 signatures, but Alvarez said the group later decided to drop its request for particular Latino names.

"We come in peace," Alvarez said. "It's not politics. It's not a racial thing. It's just us being heard."

At the council meeting on Tuesday, Williams and Dear voted to rescind the city's support for naming the school for Simmons.

But that motion failed on a 2-2 vote, leaving the council's earlier unanimous support for the idea officially in place.

Gipson called the vote "divisive" and said it made the city look bad.

Raber, on the other hand, said it was Gipson who had stirred up the issue by bringing it to the council in October.

"He's the one that opened up the can of worms," she said. "It wasn't us. He blindsided us."

Despite the political tug-of-war in Carson, the right to name the school rests with the school district. While it will take the city's views into account, it will also conduct its own community outreach, said Dave Kooper, chief of staff to LAUSD board member Richard Vladovic.

"School naming shouldn't be controversial," Kooper said. "It's one of those things you get to do. It should bring the community together."