IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL CHOICE + TROUBLE WITH VOUCHERS + smf's 2¢

IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL CHOICE

By Terry Paulson | Ventura County Star Columnist | http://bit.ly/el9gPU

11/22/2010 == Take time to watch Academy Award-winning director Davis Guggenheim’s Waiting for Superman, voted best U.S. documentary at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, and you’ll be confronted with the sorry state of America’s school system. How can America invent a more innovative and profitable future without a quality education system? In response, experts suggest that the dismissal of 1,000 of the country’s worst teachers would allow our great teachers to build on what’s been learned instead of being stuck teaching students what they should’ve already mastered.

But teacher unions resist any attempts to discipline and fire failing, sub-standard teachers. They also have squashed any attempt to pay for performance—rewarding at a higher level the best teachers and minimizing the pay of the less effective teachers. Instead of being part of the solution, they just keep campaigning for more money. With an exploding deficit at the national and state level, the funds aren’t there.

As President Obama’s team love to say, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Maybe it’s time “we the people” just blew our educational system wide open, and I don’t mean improve the Department of Education. Improvements are for wimps. I mean abolish it. Deep six it. Eliminate, toss, obliterate it; give it the old heave-ho; force it to walk the plank. It is broken and it’s wasting money our government doesn’t have while limiting education of our young people.

Continuing studies by the Pacific Research Institute have found that there are proven options that cost less, produce better results and keep and reward the best teachers and schools. It’s time we do more than read about what other countries are doing to become more American than America.

With California now facing a $25 billion plus deficit, it’s time for truly transformational change. That’s what happened in Sweden when political parties came together in times of fiscal crisis to institute a major transformation of Sweden’s educational system. Sweden, that bastion of progressive policies, let parents once again control where their children received their education. They moved from a school-district-controlled system to a voucher system that fostered competition and rewarded excellence in education.

In summary, the Swedish model is built on two pillars of choice: a voucher system at both the primary and secondary levels and varied high school tracks that allow students to choose from a smorgasbord of programs centered on three paths: college preparatory, vocational and a more remedial track.

But it’s the voucher system that allows students to go to any school that fits their needs. Instead of giving money to school districts, the government attaches money to each student following him wherever he goes. Students with special needs – such as those from non-Swedish-speaking backgrounds – receive extra support.

What was once controversial when introduced in the early ’90s is now widely popular, and the results have shown rising standards across the board. The program has also helped desegregate schools in cities with large immigrant populations.

“It’s a way for the high achievers to get out of the environment that is holding them back,” said Fredric Skälstad, political adviser to the Swedish Minister of Education, quoted in a report by Clayton M. McCleskey, a Fulbright journalism scholar. “You can change your situation. You do not just go to a certain school because a bureaucrat drew a line on a map. This is a way for everyone to be able to make something out of themselves.”

Since schools compete with each other in Sweden, every high school is a “magnet school,” offering specialized programs to recruit students. As my friend Leif Johansson has said, “Of course it works. I have family working in the schools. With vouchers, it’s all about getting butts in the seats. And the only way you do that is by giving quality education. They pay well for the best teachers; they put tablecloths and flowers on the tables; some have only one administrator for two schools. The focus is on one thing—giving youth a quality education. The real winners are the good teachers and the well-educated students.”

The U.S. has the best higher education system in the world in great part because universities compete for survival. It’s time we do so for the primary and secondary level. Instead of forcing our children to stay in expensive, public schools run by slow-moving bureaucracies that face little competition, let’s let our children follow and develop their dreams, whether than means going to college or becoming a mechanic or fashion designer. Let’s fund dreams, not school districts and teachers’ unions who refuse to hold their own accountable!

Want to see more? Lance Izumi has done a video op-ed, Sweden’s Choice, for the New York Times that chronicles the effectiveness of the Swedish voucher system. Lance Izumi, their senior director of education studies, asserts, “There isn’t anything that discounts the Swedish model as something the U.S. can’t look at.” It’s time we invest in the education of our greatest resource—our youth. And it’s time we make a smart investment by giving you back control of your children’s future! Don’t settle for the status quo! “We the People” want solutions that work and use our tax dollars responsibly.

Terry Paulson, PhD is a psychologist, award-winning professional speaker, author of The Optimism Advantage: 50 Simple Truths to Transform Your Attitudes and Actions into Results, and long-time columnist for the Ventura County Star.

 

TROUBLE WITH VOUCHERS

Letter to the editor | Ventura County Star |http://bit.ly/ik4KnG

Re: Terry Paulson's Nov. 22 column, "It's time for school choice,":

Friday, November 26, 2010 -- I am a Republican conservative Christian (I pray God agrees!). I am also a retired federal investigator who specialized in the investigation of white-collar crime and, after retirement, worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Office of the Inspector General for more than five years.

I do disagree with two conservative issues, gun control and school vouchers. My reasons for opposing school vouchers are twofold; first, even though I think of myself as a Christian, I don't want my tax dollars going to support any parochial school, including my own Presbyterianism. Several years ago, I had parents of LAUSD students tell me prior to an election that included a Proposition that would have provided vouchers to them that they hoped it would pass because it would help them with their tuition costs to the religious schools that some of their children attended. Wouldn't that be a violation of our intent to keep separate religion and government?

Secondly, it doesn't take a retired white-collar crime investigator to realize that where there's tons of money, there's fraud, waste and abuse. Imagine the cost of creating the bureaucracy necessary to implement and manage such a program and then to investigate the immense amounts of fraud that would eat up the money like a bulldog with a T-bone steak. Then there’s the cost of the vouchers themselves. Remember when a billion dollars was a lot of money? Can you imagine the countless number of con men salivating over the thought of creating schools to enrich themselves at the expense of our children?

If you disagree, please send a check for $1,500 to the "Gerald Harman School of What's Happening Now" care of The Star. Thank you so very much

- Gerald A. Harman,

Thousand Oaks

 

●●smf's 2¢: Sweden is a very interesting example for right wing conservatives to embrace and hold up as an ideal "Convenient Truth".

• First: Sweden is a welfare state …and I'm not saying that's a bad thing!
• And while freedom of religion is respected in Sweden there is an official state religion – separation of church and state is not part of the mix in Sweden.
• Compulsory education in Sweden ends at the 9h grade.
• Public education is directed, controlled and funded by the Swedish national government – yet Mr Paulson wants to "blow up" the US Dept of Education.
• With Mr Paulson's newfound love of Sweden and Davis Guggenheim – one questions  if he has changed his mind  about "An Inconvenient Truth"…elsewhere he seems to defend that "global warming is probably natural and not a crisis."
• Like the singer of the C+W song Paulson seems intent on "Keeping Kate …and Edith too!"

CARTOON

by smf for 4LAKids with apologies to Picasso y Cervantes

Editorial: AUDIT BOND USE - "Something is rotten in facilities" + ●●smf's 2¢

Daily Breeze Editorial | http://bit.ly/f7GYHV

24 November 2010 - Something is rotten in facilities. With apologies to William Shakespeare, it's the perfect way to sum up the concerns about the LAUSD department charged with spending more than $20 billion of our tax dollars to build new schools and upgrade the old ones.

And it's time that the Inspector General's Office stepped in to undertake an official audit to either confirm those suspicions, or to put them to rest before the Los Angeles Unified School District starts ramping up to spend the next bond.

There's evidence enough that contracts in the massive building department have been mishandled, both historically and currently. But whether it's a deep systemic problem or simply a few bad apples in a crate of good ones is not clear.

Last week, the school district canceled the second contract to a subcontractor in two weeks because of concerns over how the contract was awarded. In this case, the contract, for a former LAUSD executive, was for $90,000 over two months to work on a detailed plan for the district's next round of school construction funded by the $7 billion bond voters approved in 2008. The contract amount wasn't at issue. Superintendent Ramon Cortines canceled it because the district has banned subcontractors.

The week before, Cortines cancelled another contract for the same reason, this one for $3.7 million to Consilia LLC, owned by four longtime, high-paid LAUSD consultants. This contract was uncovered by the district's Inspector General, even though facilities officials tried to hide it by attaching it to another project that did allow subcontractors. The Inspector General's Office found the contract in a review of construction department charges, which were millions of dollars more than had been authorized.

These two contracts may be small potatoes in a $20 billion construction spree, and it may even be that these contracts were vital to the next phase of building. But the cavalier manner in which they were handled suggest that irregularities continue in a department that has had problems since day one. More recently, a former facilities chief was indicted on charges that he used his district position to benefit himself financially between 2002 and 2006.

This is not to say that LAUSD should not hire contractors for facilities work. The last thing the school district needs is to increase its public employee payroll for a specialty department that ramps up and down as bond money and need allows. But considering the sheer amount of taxpayer money spent, the contracting process must be beyond suspicion. Otherwise, the operations of this crucial department will become a political football.

If for no other reason than to reassure taxpayers that their money is being spent as wisely as possible, LAUSD officials must launch a full audit of the facilities department before the next bond is spent. The public, which entrusted $20 billion of its hard-earned money to this project, deserves nothing less.

 

●●smf's 2¢: As a member of the LAUSD Bond Oversight Committee I wish to second the motion and call for the vote.

Some of the details and understanding of the current situation in the Facilities Services Division by the DB editorial board is sketchy and incomplete – but the audit that is needed would be made by the Inspector General …not the editorial board!

The LAUSD Inspector General reports directly to the Board of Education and serves at their pleasure (they forced the previous IG out, and the one before that)  …and the current board may be part of the problem – so a whole lot of caveat emptor needs to be exercised by the public.

However – the LAUSD IG is also called upon under state law to report to the legislature on the spending of state school construction bond monies – and it is here that the IG may be able to function independently.

L.A. FILIPINO-AMERICAN SCHOOL TO RECEIVE NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON AWARD

Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper | http://bit.ly/hbQIJd

Monday, 22 November 2010 - (AJ Press) - LOS ANGELES – US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Melody Barnes today honored 314 schools as the 2010 National Blue Ribbon Schools at an awards luncheon at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.

One of the honored schools, Synergy Charter Academy, was founded by Filipino American, Randy Palisoc, and Chinese American, Meg Palisoc.  Synergy Charter Academy, located near USC, became the first elementary school in the history of South Los Angeles to receive a National Blue Ribbon Award since the inception of the award in 1982.

“We are honored to receive this distinguished award and we are happy that our students’ and staff’s hard work is being nationally recognized,” said Synergy Charter Academy’s Co-Founder Meg Palisoc.

For the past six years, Synergy Charter Academy’s students and staff operated out of a church site where they packed up their classrooms every week.  Despite these facilities challenges, the school was able to catapult its students’ academic achievement from among the bottom 10% of all students statewide to among the top 10% of all students statewide.  

This year, Synergy Charter Academy moved onto a new Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) facility where Synergy is working together to “co-operate” the entire campus with a new LAUSD school, Central Region Elementary School #17.  Synergy and LAUSD are among the first in the nation to pioneer this collaborative effort between a charter public school and a traditional public school.  Synergy is in the process of working with LAUSD teachers to replicate this collaborative effort at the middle school and high school levels starting as early as next fall, if their proposals are accepted via LAUSD’s Public School Choice process.

Big Man on Campus: VALLEY SCHOOL NAMED AFTER ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | L.A. Daily News | http://bit.ly/e6WZ5L

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger poses with students at CHIME Institute’s Schwarzenegger Community School in Woodland Hills. (Photo by David Crane/Staff)

11/22/2010  - The students, teachers and parents who attend, work and volunteer at the CHIME Institute have bragged for years that their school is unique.

The K-8 charter is renowned for its inclusive program that teaches youngsters of all levels and abilities – from gifted to severely disabled – side by side in the classroom.

On Monday, the Woodland Hills campus found another way to set itself apart, re-naming itself in honor of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

"It doesn't matter how many Mr. Universes or Mr. Worlds you win ... it is a very different kind of honor to have a school named after you," the former bodybuilder and actor said during a ceremony at the CHIME Institute Schwarzenegger Community School.

"I promise to visit, to pay attention ... I can promise you that I'll be back," Schwarzenegger added, thrilling the crowd with the catch phrase he made famous in "The Terminator."

Opened in 2001, CHIME is a publicly funded, independently run charter that has long received attention from Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver.

Shriver said her late mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver – who founded the Special Olympics and was a vocal advocate for special-needs children and adults - would have been "beyond proud" to be connected to the progressive school.

"This school is leading the nation," Shriver said. "This is the way we should all be conducting our lives.

CHIME, which started as an early childhood program based at Cal State Northridge, opened a charter elementary school in 2001 and a middle school in 2003.

The elementary campus was named for Schwarzenegger in 2007, but it merged with the middle school this year in Woodland Hills. Monday's ceremony was to rename the combined campus.

The school serves some 650 students from 40 zip codes who are chosen by lottery to attend.

Actress Amy Brenneman, who stars in ABC's drama "Private Practice," said she discovered CHIME two years ago while looking for a school for her eldest daughter.

"I was sold when I saw students, at all levels, working at their own pace," Brenneman said. "At CHIME everyone flourishes. This not only produces better scholars, but it produces better people."

Teachers at CHIME work in teams that include a special education instructor and at least one aide. The team members collaborate to develop a curriculum that students in their diverse classrooms can understand.

Seventh-grade English teacher Tawny Black, for instance, is using modern-day rap to present Edgar Allen Poe's 1849 poem "Annabel Lee."

"It's not like I can grab a textbook and tell students to read a passage and answer questions," she said. "I have to find ways to make the material interesting and approachable for students of all different learning styles."

While some charter schools have been accused of failing to adequately service special education students, Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines said he considers CHIME to be a model school.

"This is a marvelous place ... truly a model for all schools in the district and the state," Cortines said.

Beyond instilling the values of responsibility and tolerance, CHIME is also an academic success.

Its elementary students last year scored 802 in the state's Academic Performance Index, which measures achievement on standardized tests. Schools are scored on a scale of 200 to 1,000 points, with a goal of 800.

CHIME middle school students scored 777 – which is well above the average for their LAUSD counterparts.

"This really has been a unique environment," said Tammy Croy, who is the mother of eighth-grader Noah – a special-needs student who has been attending CHIME since kindergarten.

"Noah has always felt completely accepted here, and while it gets more difficult as he gets older he's made friends here," she said.

"The problem for me will be what to do next year ... I just can't find any place like this."

EDUCATION BRIEFS: Gardena schools develop math strategies, Palos Verdes High adopts Murchison ES, Two Carson charters win national prizes

Education Briefs from The daily Breeze |http://bit.ly/cRl7Ow

11/22/2010

GARDENA: Schools develop math teaching strategies

The new Gardena family of schools got a jump-start last week, with fifth- and sixth-grade teachers meeting to discuss math strategies across the elementary and middle school divide.

The event, held at Peary Middle School on Tuesday, is part of a new effort by officials in Los Angeles Unified Local District 8 to improve academics in Gardena public schools.

The initiative is intended to increase collaboration between teachers at different schools and improve student "articulation" from one campus to the next. It was prompted in part by the Public School Choice process at troubled Gardena High School.

A meeting for fifth-grade and sixth- grade math teachers is set for Jan.25.

PALOS VERDES ESTATES

School's best and brightest adopt LAUSD elementary school: The Palos Verdes High chapter of the California Scholarship Federation - a statewide honor society that recognizes high school academic achievement and community service - has adopted an LAUSD campus in East Los Angeles for a community service project.

Students at Murchison Elementary are able to shop at the school's annual Christmas Store, now in its 23rd year, for holiday gifts. Students earn points toward purchases through good behavior, attendance and academic performance.

The Palos Verdes High students will donate items to the store from Nov. 29 to Dec. 10.

On Dec. 8, members of the Palos Verdes Estates school community can purchase handmade scarves. Proceeds will go toward items for the Murchison store.

CARSON: Charter school team wins math contest

A team from Magnolia Science Academy 3 in Carson received first place at a math competition earlier this month, the school announced.

The charter school's MATHCOUNTS Team won a competition on Nov. 14 organized by the National Society of Black Engineers at Stanford University.

The team was composed of eighth-graders Michael Simpson, Robert Butler III, Roy Valesquez and seventh-grader Michael Adeniyi.

CARSON: Students win awards for leadership, community service

Two 11th-graders at New Millennium Secondary School, a charter campus in Carson, have been honored recently.

Raemi Thomas last month accepted the 2010 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award on behalf of Scripps College Academy, a leadership-focused initiative for young women in which she participates.

The award was given in person by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.

Junior Rachel Logan was given the Congressional Award by Rep. Laura Richardson's office for volunteering with the Salvation Army, helping the elderly and other activities.

The award is given to students who complete a rigorous program, including a total of at least 200 hours of community service, personal development, physical fitness and exploration projects.

LAUSD CANCELS ANOTHER CONTRACT: Deal would have paid $90,000 for 66 days of work

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News | http://bit.ly/awgYah

11/21/2010  - Amid increasing scrutiny over the use of subcontractors in Los Angeles Unified's $20billion building program, district officials have canceled a second contract in as many weeks over concerns about how it was awarded.

The contract would have paid a former LAUSD executive $90,000 over 66 days to provide a state-required description of what educational features and services will be provided by the district's next round of school construction, funded through voter-approved bonds under 2008's Measure Q.

While the contract amount is relatively small, some district officials say the crackdown on questionable contracts sends a strong message against influence peddling and wasteful spending in challenging financial times.

But other observers with a long history in LAUSD's decade-old building program said too much nit-picking could jeopardize the massive construction program by ridding it of its most capable people.

The latest contract to be canceled had been awarded to Kathi Littmann, a former executive in LAUSD's Facilities Department, which runs the building program.

The contract was awarded without a competitive bidding process. Because of inconsistencies with district policy in awarding work orders, Littmann's contract had to be reissued at least twice over the last four weeks to try to bring it in alignment with policy, according to district documents obtained by the Daily News.

The "lump sum" task order - which is a less descriptive work order reserved for smaller projects - was reissued once because Littmann was hired as a subcontractor, despite a district ban on subcontractors for that contract.

A third attempt to get the contract approved - using a different company name and making Littmann a direct contractor - was stopped last week by LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines.

"They tried to end run me ... but I'm not going to hire someone knowingly when we are laying people off," Cortines said. "I have made it very clear that when we hire consultants it will be because they have a specialty, but there was no justification here ... I know this individual and I like her, but I don't know what her specialty is here."

Contract confusion

Littmann, who worked for the district on three occasions over the last 11 years, said she submitted a proposal to the district to perform work only after being requested to do so by the district.

Littmann said she was not aware of the various attempts that were made to get her contract approved, adding she was upset to have her name linked to a mishandled contract.

"They (LAUSD facilities staff) jumped through hoops to convince me that they'd crossed their T's and dotted their I's ... otherwise I wouldn't have engaged," she said.

The sloppy handling of her contract made Littmann wonder if the district's construction program was falling into the chaotic state it was in during the late 1990s.

Also last week, Cortines canceled another contract after similar irregularities were disclosed in a report by the district's watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General.

Prompted by whistle-blowers in LAUSD's construction program, the inspector general's investigation focused on a pool of $65 million in building contracts. It found that the Facilities Department had increased its $65 million authorization by $31 million without school board approval; failed to slash total costs of new contracts by 20 percent as promised; and hired subcontractors to do work even though the use of subcontractors had been banned.

The report paid special attention to a $3.7 million lump sum task order for Consilia LLC, a company owned by four longtime district construction consultants.

That contract was supposed to pay for construction planning for Measure Q. Littmann's would have been a complementary contract, joining the description of classroom needs and goals to the long-term plans for the bricks and mortar construction.

Cortines canceled the Consilia contract because it listed the company as a subcontractor, which violated district policy.

Littmann's contract was not mentioned specifically in the inspector general's report, but it was part of the $65 million in contracts the report focused on.

James Sohn, LAUSD's chief facilities executive, said he was not aware of the various attempts to issue Littmann's contract. But Sohn said he did ask for the contract to be placed on hold to allow for further review and input from the board of education.

"Since then we've decided to not move forward with the contract," he said Friday, noting the contract had become "too much trouble."

"This is one out of hundreds of contracts ... we spend $120 to $150 million a month," Sohn added. "I am not undervaluing the fact that it is a lot of money, but in the context of what we do, it's a small percentage."

Subcontractor issues

A former middle school teacher and former head of LAUSD's new construction, Littmann helped create the educational descriptions that have been used by the district to fulfill state requirements for most of its new construction program.

Construction for Measure Q is not expected to start until about 2016, due to delays in accessing the money caused by the economic downturn.

Littmann said she encouraged the use of subcontractors in the early part of the decade to boost competition and curb nepotism.

"The reason we set up a system of subcontractors was to allow small firms to get a piece of the pie," she said. "When someone says they want to remove the middleman, it's usually because they want to move money somewhere else."

Connie Rice, a prominent civil rights lawyer and longtime member of LAUSD's bond oversight committee, said she was also concerned that in a rush to eliminate all consultants, the district was losing some of its best talent.

"We have dismantled the A-team that helped build all of these schools," Rice said in an interview last week. "What happens to Measure Q? We see the money wasted ... because there is no one left that knows how to spend it."

Rice also said that she was concerned to see more decisions in facilities driven by board members.

"We had to create a completely independent separate structure for facilities to get their work done," Rice said. "We had to get away from incompetence of the district. ... Could you imagine if the district had been handling the bond money?"

"They couldn't even get their people paid right," she said, referring to a payroll problem that plagued the district for about a year.

LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer though, disputed those claims.

"In questioning these processes, I am not trying to control the bond money. I'm trying to ensure a modicum of transparency, legality and validity," Zimmer said.

Zimmer also said that labor agreements had been reached with district employee unions, who accepted furloughs and pay cuts to help the district cinch its budget deficits over the last two years. Zimmer said those agreements assured labor groups that consultants would be let go before district employees were laid off.

But he added that in these latest cases, the concerns had been more with the way the consultant contracts were handled than the hiring of the consultants.

Cortines, too, denied that the latest irregularities are indicative of deeper problems within the district's construction division.

"I think we are finally getting to the bottom of some of these issues," Cortines said. "People need to know that it can't be business as usual."

LAUSD TEACHERS, STAFF HAND OUT LEAFLETS PROTESTING LAYOOFS

By Melissa Pamer Staff Writer- Daily Breeze | http://bit.ly/9Lm9M9

Teachers and staff at San Pedro High School hand out information to parents Friday morning. (Robert Casillas / Staff Photographer)

School nurse Anna Urie hands out fliers before school. (Robert Casillas / Staff Photographer)

Nov 20 2010 - Los Angeles Unified teachers backed up school support staff Friday morning as they handed out leaflets to parents in protest of a coming round of layoffs that will undoubtedly be tumultuous.

At the end of this month, about 1,000 classified staff - office technicians, secretaries, cafeteria workers and custodians - will lose their jobs.

Nearly 3,700 more will be "bumped" to other positions or have their salaries cut. Many will be moved from one campus to another mid-semester - a process referred to by a union representative as "absolute chaos" and by a district official as "musical chairs."

At San Pedro High and other campuses, staff handed out fliers that asked parents to demand that many of the workers be returned to schools. The unions suggested parents contact school board members and request that the district use money from the federal jobs bill to save the positions.

On Thursday, Superintendent Ramon Cortines sent a memo to district staff outlining a "daunting challenge": a deficit of $142 million for the 2011-12 budget.

Cortines said the $103 million the district was awarded by the federal jobs bill was set to save more than 2,000 jobs next year, and using it now would be "grossly irresponsible."

SUPERINTENDENT CORTINES’ “ALL EMPLOYEES” LETTER OF NOV. 18: ‘As truly harsh as this year has been …2011-2012 will be an even more difficult year.’

And, because bad news is always more palatable with a fancy border and a whimsical font, spun with a positive title:

DISTRICT RELEASES SCHOOL EXPERIENCE SURVEY RESULTS [Disaggregated 'School Report Card' data] + ●●smf's 2¢

from LAUSD | http://bit.ly/aFmrIm

The LAUSD has released its School Experience Survey results for parents, students and staff. View your child's school report here.

• What is the purpose of the school report?

• The purpose of this report is to provide detailed information on the responses that LAUSD students, parents and employees gave to the School Experience Survey last spring. The report gives schools feedback from the entire school community to inform their planning efforts.
  
• Who is given an opportunity to participate in the School Experience Survey?
  
• All school employees and students in grades 3-12 from all LAUSD schools were asked to complete the survey. The majority of parents of elementary students, as well a sample of parents in middle and high schools, were also asked to participate, either by completing a survey sent home with their student or in the mail.

●● smf writes:

Visit and look at your or your child's school.

Go look at a couple of other schools.  Good schools. Bad schools.  Red schools. Blue schools.

I went to a school I know to be challenged and challenging, in this case Markham Middle School – which is ground zero in school reform, ground zero in the socio-economic crisis; gang-plagued, crime-ridden, a poster child and a media focus point – a Mayor's partnership/i-design school.  I have unfairly singled out Markham; I'm not the first.  The mayor's favorite documentary "Waiting for 'Superman'" calls it a "Dropout Factory."

Even though all school employees and students in grades 3-12 from all LAUSD schools were asked to complete the survey – and "a sample" of parents in middle and high schools  (Is 'a sample' 'a couple' or 'a few'? – how big is the sample and who selected those sampled?) were also asked to participate -- at Markham only 87 parents responded (18 percent of the sample) ,  only 3 school employees responded and zero students responded.

from the Markham report:

• NOTE: Overall summary for teacher surveys is unavailable,
  due to low number of teacher surveys completed.
• NOTE: Overall summary for employee surveys is unavailable,
  due to low number of employee surveys completed.
• NOTE: Overall summary for student surveys is
  unavailable, due to low number of surveys completed.

Look no further;  if we haven't found the problem we've found a symptom as big as all outdoors.

Action Item: 2011-2012 EARLY START DRAFT INSTRUCTIONAL CALENDARS SUBMITTED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT + REVIEW

FROM LAUSD | http://bit.ly/NVqYI

The LAUSD is proposing a District-wide Early Start Instructional Calendar for all single-track elementary, middle and senior high schools for the 2011-2012 school year.

Under the proposed calendar, schools would start on August 15, 2011 and end on June 1, 2012 for students.

Details here.

 

●● from smf

Don't say you weren't warned. This may be the totality of the warning – but here it is! 

Send in your comments – because the conventional wisdom has it this is a 'done deal ' …even if the air conditioning at your school isn't up to it and August is too hot on the playground! 

• The bright kids will figure out they are being cheated out of two weeks of summer vacation they will never get back …but bright kids like school! 
• This also cuts two weeks from the summer maintenance schedule of schools
• … while substantially improving the schedule of 'teaching to the test'!

CHOICES/MAGNET SCHOOL ANNUAL ENROLLMENT PERIOD IS NOV 19 – DEC 17

FROM LAUSD| http://bit.ly/NVqYI

Learn about the District's  traveling programs for students for the 2011-2012 school year. Details here.

 

●● FROM SMF

The terse sentence above is the online notice to parents about the Magnet Program – LAUSD's largest , most popular and most successful 'school choice' program – where actual parents have an actual voice in the choice of the school and program they wish their child to attend.

The highly successful LAUSD Magnet program – which has more kids on waiting lists than all the charter schools in LA combined - has been spun by the communicators in the office of communications into "the Districts travelling programs for students".

A little music please, maestro – because the plug is being pulled.

SCHOOLS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST STATE TO RESTORE STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Press Release from California School Boards Association | http://bit.ly/aBhzU5

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. Nov. 9, 2010 - The California School Boards Association and its Education Legal Alliance, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Unified School District and Manhattan Beach Unified School District filed a lawsuit today requesting the Governor’s “suspension” of mandated mental health services by county offices of mental health (AB 3632 requirements) and veto of funding for that mandate be declared void and set aside.

On October 8, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed $133 million to reimburse counties for providing mandated mental health services for special education students (as required by AB 3632) incurred through fiscal year 2008-09, and funding intended to continue the mandate for 2010-11. School districts are expected to fill this budget gap at a time when education funding has already been reduced nearly $18 billion in the past two years and districts have long since finalized their budgets for the current fiscal year.

CSBA/ELA v. Schwarzenegger argues that according to Proposition 1A, the governor does not have the authority to suspend the mandate. Only the Legislature can authorize such a suspension.

“The governor’s decision to use his veto authority to deny millions of dollars in child mental health services is appalling,” said CSBA President Frank Pugh. “Cuts to our schools and students have reached an all-time high. Students already face larger class sizes, fewer counselors and less support staff on campus. It is unthinkable to now eliminate the very services that provide assistance to students struggling with mental health issues.”

The governor’s veto of this mandate funding and suspension of AB 3632 violates Article XIII B, Section 6 of the California Constitution as amended by Proposition 1A in 2004. In his May Revised Budget, the governor proposed that the Legislature suspend the mandate, resulting in an opposing response of the Legislative Analyst’s Office, which advised the Legislature that, in accordance with proposition 1A, the State owed counties $133 million for AB 3632 services. The LAO also advised that eliminating this funding as proposed by the governor would potentially violate the federal maintenance of effort requirements.

The suspension of AB 3632 has resulted in chaos. Several county mental health agencies have already notified school districts that they will no longer accept new referrals of children with mental health needs.

“We currently have 834 students receiving AB 3632 services through county mental health. These services range from counseling to residential placements. AB 3632 services are critical for a vulnerable population of students who require mental health services.” Sharyn Howell, executive director of the Division of Special Education for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“Most school agencies do not have the capacity, expertise or infrastructure to provide these services, especially since the school year has already begun,” said Bob Farran, director of the Southwest Special Education Local Plan Area in Los Angeles County. “School agencies have neither adequate funding to cover these new costs nor the ability to draw down the federal Medi-Cal matching funds currently afforded to county mental health agencies.”

“On behalf of the students we serve, the district will not respond to this challenge with silence," said Dr. Michael Matthews, superintendent of schools in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. "Mental health services are vital for some of our most emotionally fragile students."

CSBA/ELA v. Schwarzenegger was filed in the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District in Los Angeles County. CSBA’s Education Legal Alliance will seek a preliminary order to reinstate funding pending further legal action.

PROTESTS OVER CUTBACKS @ L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS

LA Times/LA Now | http://lat.ms/aNKBX6

November 19, 2010 |  6:00 am -- School employees are handing out leaflets to parents Friday morning, decrying the latest round of layoffs, program cuts and pay reductions to befall the Los Angeles Unified School District.

On this round of a seemingly never-ending budget crisis, many affected employees are clerical workers, plant managers and staff in the facilities division.

All told, about 4,800 employees received notice Oct. 15 that they would be losing their current jobs. For about 1,000, the notice means they will be out the door entirely. The rest face moving to new positions, many of them with different locations and duties, and almost universally for lower pay.

With state funding shrinking, "we still may be forced to make additional cuts, as unfortunate as it is," said district spokeswoman Lydia Ramos. "It's daunting and it's sad."

Parents, teachers and principals have especially rallied around elementary school plant managers, saying they play an essential role in keeping schools clean and safe, with a deep understanding of an individual campus that could not be matched with the new, money-saving alternative: roving teams of cleaners moving from school to school.

Plant managers are represented by a Teamsters local, but a substantial portion of the organizing for the informational picketing was being handled by the teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles.

In the facilities division, 482 notices went out, resulting in 100 people leaving the district and pay cuts for nearly all of the rest, said James Sohn, head of facilities.

These cuts have resulted in allegations that outside consultants are taking up a disproportionate share of the duties once handled by district employees. Sohn has denied this, saying the ranks of consultants have been thinned as well.

He added that the new method for keeping schools clean is a necessity—there was not enough money left to staff school maintenance using the prior system.

El sueño americano: FRESNO STATE U’s STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT IS AN UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT

Fresno State student's immigration status sparks rally

By Cyndee Fontana / The Fresno Bee | http://bit.ly/bqTSJD

02:33 PM on Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010 - Pedro Ramirez is best known as Fresno State's student body president.

Far less public is his status as an undocumented immigrant -- at least, until this week. That's when an anonymous e-mail, sent to The Bee and other media outlets, prompted Ramirez to confirm publicly that fact.

Now he's helping organize an on-campus rally Friday in support of the federal DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act. The legislation pending in Congress would allow some longtime residents like him to become legal U.S. residents after spending two years in college or the military.

"The DREAM Act itself symbolizes what it is to be an American, which is our goal," said Ramirez, a junior majoring in political science and agricultural economics. "We want to contribute to the United States, and utilize the degrees and skills we gained, to make it a better place."

Wednesday, reaction on campus to Ramirez's legal status was mild. A receptionist at the Associated Students Inc. student government office said she'd fielded some calls -- nearly all from journalists seeking an interview with Ramirez.

Many students said they didn't know who Ramirez was and hadn't formed an opinion. But a few people on campus said his legal status didn't matter.

Kenneth Russell, 20, of Fresno, said he didn't have a problem with how Ramirez arrived in the U.S. -- adding "the more people, the more love." Psychology professor Michael Botwin said he attended two meetings with Ramirez on Wednesday and the subject of his legal status didn't surface.

Botwin called it a tough issue, particularly as the state reduces funding to public universities.

"I think people like him [Pedro] who are brought here have challenges that are extraordinary," Botwin said. "It's kind of hard to deny someone who's been here that long an opportunity. ... It's a sticky issue."

Ramirez, 22, of Tulare said he was born in Mexico and brought across the border by his family when he was 3. It was only as a high school senior that Ramirez learned his situation and grasped what that meant.

He couldn't get a job. He couldn't join the military. He couldn't qualify for public financial aid.

The e-mail that prompted Ramirez to acknowledge his status questioned why he wasn't being paid as Associated Students president. Ramirez said he waived the pay of about $800 a month because he knew he couldn't collect it.

Ramirez said he didn't realize there would be a salary when he ran last spring. Associated Students qualifications do not address citizenship status, so Ramirez was not prohibited from running for office, officials said.

Wednesday, Fresno State President John Welty issued a statement saying that Ramirez notified him and others about his immigration status shortly after the election.

Ramirez said he is paying for college through private scholarships that don't ask about residency status and odd jobs such as mowing lawns.

He is enrolled at Fresno State under Assembly Bill 540, a state law that allows undocumented immigrants who have attended a California high school for three years to pay in-state tuition at public colleges. The state Supreme Court this week upheld the statute, which applies to an estimated 25,000 students.

Welty commended Ramirez and other students who are following state law as they seek higher education.

"I hope our campus and community will remember that diverse colleges and universities better prepare students for the diverse workplace of the future," he said.

Paul Oliaro, vice president for student affairs, said there likely are several hundred students on campus under AB 540. To his knowledge, Ramirez is the first undocumented student to serve as president.

Shane Moreman, a communication professor and president of Fresno State's Latina/o Faculty and Staff Association, said there isn't any way to know how many undocumented students are on campus, because many fear repercussions if they reveal that information.

Additional coverage

College student body president admits he's an illegal immigrant

‎
CNN International - Nick Valencia - 4 hours ago

(CNN) -- Pedro Ramirez is the student body president at Fresno State University in California. He is also an illegal immigrant. ...

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AWARD STUNS THIRD-GRADE TEACHER: Tamara Garfio of Maywood Elementary is one of 60 instructors nationwide to receive the Milken Educator Award. 'I'm passionate, I know that,' she says. 'You truly have to like what you do.'

By Rick Rojas, Los Angeles Times | http://lat.ms/aUHEUY

 

November 18, 2010 - The Maywood Elementary Flowers, clad in sky blue shirts and sunflower headbands, performed a song in the auditorium. School district officials and well-dressed guests looked on, the news cameras rolled and third-grade teacher Tamara Garfio sat with her class near the back of the room.

She had no clue it was all for her.

In a surprise announcement Wednesday, Garfio received the Milken Educator Award, an honor given to about 60 teachers nationwide each year that comes with a prize of $25,000 — no strings attached. The award, presented by the Milken Family Foundation, was created in 1987 to motivate gifted teachers in a field that typically doesn't come with lavish financial rewards.

Some may label the prize the Oscars of education, but the scene at Maywood Elementary School was more like the Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. The award's creator, Lowell Milken, called Garfio's name after a buildup that stirred the room full of children. She was stunned. Her eyes welled with tears, her legs shook. Then, she was handed a giant check.

"I'm in shock, complete shock," she said as she was swarmed by cameras and reporters and the superintendent. "I just love my job."

Milken said Garfio's passion for teaching earned her the prize, which involves no application process. ("You don't apply for it," he said, "we find you.") And by the rubric the foundation used to select the winners, she stood out not just among her peers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, or even in California, but across the country.

"We believe that you have the potential to make even greater achievements in the future," he told her during the assembly. "Thank you for making a career as a teacher."

Garfio is one of the best-performing teachers at one of the best-performing schools in the district. Maywood, perched a block away from the Vernon city line, has dramatically improved its academic performance in recent years.

The better test scores have come despite the challenges of having a student body in which most qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, an indicator of poverty, and a good portion of students are still learning English.

The Times published a value-added analysis of about 6,000 elementary school teachers in August, and Garfio scored "highly effective" in teaching math, English and overall. She was ranked in the top 5% of effective teachers in the district. Value-added analysis rates teachers based on their students' progress on standardized test scores year over year, and The Times used data from the 2002-03 through 2008-09 academic years.

Later Wednesday, as her class read, Garfio said the Milken prize was a recognition for everyone in the school. "Something like this is a reward to all teachers," she said. "I feel validated. I feel like I work hard every day."

Garfio, 35, a mother of three (including a 4-month-old), has taught since 2000, when she graduated from Cal State Fullerton. Her intention was always to work with children.

"I'm passionate, I know that," she said. "You truly have to like what you do. Really, inside your heart, you have to love what you do."

She relies on her instincts. She said she can tell "by their eyes, by their responses" if her students are comprehending her lessons.

Her students, Garfio said, are taught to be "life-long learners."

"I teach critical thinking; teaching to a test means nothing," she said. Her teaching style requires reaching back in her memory, to her days as a student. Although she admits that she did well in school, Garfio said she recalls her own deficits to remind her of the bumps students may face as they learn new material.

Her class of third-graders shared in her excitement. The students clamored around her after the assembly, throwing out adjectives to describe their teacher: Brilliant. Special. Incredible. Beautiful.

But don't forget: Strict.

Yamir Sanabria, 8, said Garfio pushes them to read big books and take on big numbers to multiply (they've made it up to three digits). That way "we can go to college and be a teacher like Miss Garfio," he said.

Why does he want to be a teacher? "Because she got that big check."

UC, CAL STATE TUITION INCREASES: Survey shows public concern, 13 arrested @ Regent’s meeting + more

Californians worried about UC, Cal State tuition increases, survey shows

-- Carla Rivera – LA Times/LA NOW | http://lat.ms/bQiNqg

November 17, 2010 |  9:01 pm - A strong majority of Californians are concerned about steep tuition hikes at the University of California and California State University, according to a report released late Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.

In addition, more respondents favored increasing their own taxes than raising students fees.

The findings are part of a statewide public survey that also found broad support for increasing state funding of higher education, combined with concern that education costs are keeping many qualified students from attending college.

“The increasing support for higher education in the context of California’s poor economy is what surprises,” said Mark Baldassare, the institute’ s president and chief executive. “For the public, higher education still holds out that promise of a better future for themselves, their neighbors and the next generation of Californians.”

The survey was released as University of California regents met in San Francisco to consider an 8% increase in tuition for undergraduates, and the report followed a vote by Cal State trustees last week to raise tuition 15% by next fall.

The survey was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Responses were based on a telephone survey of 2,500 residents between Oct. 19 and Nov. 2, 2010, before the latest actions by the university systems.

Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed favored spending more on higher education even at the expense of other state programs, and 62% expressed concern that the state budget crisis would result in additional cuts in education spending. Forty-nine percent of respondents said they would pay higher taxes to maintain current funding, while the same percentage said they would not be willing to do so.

But in the latest poll, more residents expressed a willingness to pay higher taxes to maintain education funding than did last year, when 41% did so. Only about 35% of residents favored raising student fees to maintain funding, and 62% were opposed. Even with all the issues facing the new governor in 2011, 76% of respondents said higher education should be a priority.

Strong majorities of Californians said they believe that UC, Cal State and community colleges are doing a good or excellent job, but equal majorities across political, regional and demographic groups also said they believe that student access is an issue.

“If the systems are going to be asking for fee increases, the public wants to be assured that the people who can’t afford it are going to be able to find their way into college classrooms,” Baldassare said.

 

UC police: 11 students among 13 arrested at regents meeting; 2 officers injured

-- Larry Gordon /LA Times | LA NOW | http://lat.ms/c3xjWj

November 17, 2010 |  1:52 pm - UC police said 13 people, including 11 students, were arrested Wednesday during protests in San Francisco outside a meeting of the UC regents. That was three fewer than they previously had reported.

UC San Francisco Police Chief Pamela Roskowski said the confrontation was potentially dangerous and defended the use of pepper spray against about 15 demonstrators.  She also confirmed that one UC officer had drawn his service revolver when he was rushed by a crowd of demonstrators, one of whom grabbed the officer’s baton and hit him with it, she said. That officer and one other were slightly injured in the incidents.  No shots were fired.

Twelve people  were charged with obstructing a peace officer in his duties and one, a UC Merced student who allegedly grabbed the officer’s baton, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

Students said the police used excessive force and that many of them were only trying to enter the building to hear the regents discuss higher fees and other matters.

Photo: Protesters break the line of University of California police officers at the garage entrance to the University of California Campus in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Bay Area News Group, Laura A. Oda)

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FOUNDATION LEADER APPOINTED INTERIM CHIEF OF CHICAGO SCHOOLS + PICK FOR NYC SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR DRAWS POINTED CRITICISM

Foundation Leader Appointed Interim Chief of Chicago Schools (an educator – what a concept!)

By Dakarai Aarons in EdWeek District Dossier Blog  | http://bit.ly/9xI0xy

By guest blogger Christina A. Samuels

November 16, 2010 2:06 PM  -- Terry Mazany, the president and the chief executive officer of the Chicago Community Trust, has been appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley to be interim head of the 409,000-student Chicago district. He will be filling the position held by Ron Huberman, who announced earlier this month that he was leaving by Nov. 29. Huberman has been in the position for about two years.

Mazany will continue receiving his salary from the foundation while he serves as CEO of the school district. The city plans to pay him a nominal salary of $1 a year.

In contrast to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's appointment of publishing head Cathie Black as chancellor of New York Schools, Mazany comes to this position with some background in education. According to a press release from the community trust, Mazany was associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction for the Oakland Unified School District in California before joining the trust in 2001. He also worked for three years in the California School Leadership Academy, a state agency that trains state administrators and public school personnel.

At the community foundation, Mazany headed the organization's $50 million initiative to improve the quality of teaching and principal leadership in Chicago public schools.

Mazany said during a press conference announcing his selection that his tenure will also be brief: He said he has no interest in permanently leading the district, and the city will have a new mayor by May.

In a statement, Daley said that one of Mazany's primary reponsibilities will be to find a "chief education officer" who is responsible for developing and implementing education policy. He must also focus on maintaining safety and educational quality of the schools.

 

(Non-educator) Pick for NYC Schools Chancellor Draws Pointed Criticism

By Dakarai Aarons in EdWeek District Dossier Blog  |http://bit.ly/dc0RDQ

By guest blogger Christina A. Samuels

November 15, 2010 4:24 PM - After last week's surprise announcement that New York Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein planned to step down by the end of the year, the first burst of news coverage centered around his legacy.

But soon after that conversation died down, attention turned to Mayor Michael Bloomberg's handpicked successor to Klein, publishing head Cathie Black. Here's what some players in New York and the education field are saying.

First, the mayor spoke at length about Black's qualifications during his November 12 radio show with host John Gambling. The conversation on the designated chancellor begins around 4:25. Here's an excerpt of the mayor's response to Gambling, who talked about commenters saying that Black is unqualified for the chancellor job:

This is an organization, an agency of the city, that deals with 1.1 million customers, that has 135,000 employees, has a budget of $23 billion a year. This is a management job. We have an enormously competent team of educational professionals that have been built up over the years. The real problem is, how do you take all this money, all these people and all the needs and get them all together?

...Cathie Black has all the experience necessary, and those couple people you quoted that said she doesn't have the educational experience, that's not what this job is all about. She'll have plenty of educational experts to lean on, to help her in formulating policy. The real issue is, does she have the character and the smarts and the courage to do what's right, and I think this is a woman that does.

Diane Ravitch, an education historian and blogger at edweek.org's Bridging Differences, reflects at length on Klein's tenure as chancellor, and adds this:

Like many New Yorkers, I am willing to give Ms. Black a chance. Although she is a trustee of Notre Dame and serves in an advisory role on the board of a charter school, she will have much to learn about her new responsibilities. One hopes for fresh thinking that goes far beyond the well-worn and not very successful formula of testing, accountability, and choice. She will soon take charge of the education of more than one million children. For their sakes, we must all wish her good luck.

Rudy Crew, a former New York City schools chancellor from 1995 to 1999, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Schools from 2004 to 2008, and now a professor at USC, wrote an essay for The New York Times website. An excerpt:

We're in danger of making the New York City public schools a plaything for the rich and famous. Perhaps the thinking is that directing schools is something you do when you're finished doing your real job; an avocation that starts with a love of learning and warm remembrances of being in school yourself.

I do not ascribe bad motivations to Mayor Bloomberg or his new appointee, Cathie Black, but their thinking is flawed if they honestly believe running a large urban school district is solely a matter of managing time, money, and people.

And finally, United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew, who offered a mild and noncommittal assessment of Ms. Black last week, didn't hold back at a parents' meeting held on Sunday, according to an article in the New York Daily News:

"It's my opinion that the mayor has abused his authority under the mayoral control law," United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew told more than 200 parents gathered for workshops on how to better navigate the school system.

"This is not about Ms. Black," Mulgrew said. "I do not believe that anyone thought the mayor would speak to no one, hide it, keep it a secret, not consult any educational experts and then name someone with no qualifications to be the chancellor of the New York City school system."

The article noted that the parents at the meeting applauded Mulgrew's words.

THE ‘BLACK MALE CRISIS’: Why We Mean So Well but Do So Badly

by Karen Pittman,  SparkAction | http://bit.ly/8YMiJw

November 17, 2010 - “Black males are in crisis.” So begins a new study from the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS), which finds that black males have fewer opportunities and perform lower than their peers on nearly every indicator, from infant mortality through to career prospects.

The data are appalling. I am not sure, however, that there is anything CGCS or any other advocacy group can do to make the country believe that this is a crisis.  As the authors note, the story has been told before.  We know the gaps.  America can do and should do better. 

But it won’t. 

Why not?  Because America, writ large, is not embarrassed by these data.  Parsing and packaging the data won’t change minds.  The data will make those sympathetic more depressed.  Even more dangerous, they will make those who are unsympathetic more strident and might make those who were undecided more concerned that nothing can be done.

The first data group is labeled “readiness to learn,” followed by information on poverty, family status and lack of access to health insurance. Most Americans know these factors are correlated with “readiness to learn.”  What most don’t know, however, is that these factors can be overcome with programs that more than pay for themselves.  Restating the problem without offering clear evidence of cost-effective solutions is not an effective way to generate momentum.

There’s a better way to use this kind of data: the Ready by 21 strategies provide such findings to stir both optimism and outrage among people who work with youth in specific communities, then galvanize them to act.  For example, when we give these community leaders the Gambone findings that only 4 in 10 young adults are ready for college, work and life, and suggest that the percentage of prepared youth in their community could even be lower, we don’t parse this by race.  We show them the research that suggests they could change the number to 7 in 10 by doing things well within their reach. 

Only after we’re sure they understand that they could change the number do we ask them why they aren’t angry and get them talking about what they could do.  Only in that context do we ask them to tell us which students are farthest behind – after they are outraged in general, optimistic in general and publicly onboard to make changes for all children and youth. 

I cut my teeth on the black teenage pregnancy problem which, in the 80s, was really the black teen out-of-wedlock birth problem.  For years, the same case was made about why black teen pregnancy and out-of-wedlock births rates were so high.  Not much was done. 

Then two things happened:  the white rates got into the danger range, and data analyses showed that birth rates to black, white, and Hispanic teens were virtually identical once you controlled for family poverty and basic skills.

Combining these two pieces of information allowed me and other advocates to recast the problem.  Teen pregnancy was no longer a black problem.  It was a national problem, and the solution—beyond sex education and contraceptives—was to ensure that young people had good life options in their present (for example, addressing the effects of poverty) and their futures (such as preparing them for college and work). This Life Options movement always had low-income and minority teens as its target, but it never had them in its title.

I have mixed feelings about calling for a White House Council on Young Black Males as the CGCS does, because the problems articulated in its report reflect a cascade of system, family and community failures that start at birth and march through to young adulthood.  In the 90s, many thought that the solution was not to create population-specific interventions (such as special programs for black males), but to increase our capacity to screen all children for risk factors at every stage of their development and increase our commitment to do something to address the risks that those screenings found. 

That was naïve.  It didn’t take long to realize that in schools where 90 percent of the students required Individual Education Plans (IEPs), it made no sense to do IEPs—we needed school improvement plans. 

The call for more consistent disaggregation of data to expose the gaps in services makes sense, but let’s go further: we need not just school data, but data on students that reflects not just their academic status but their broader well-being and competencies and data on the quality and quantity of supports they are receiving from family, community and school. 

In order to get to right solutions, we need data that allow us to compare outcomes (like student progress) to outputs (like school, family and community supports).

There are other worthwhile recommendations, but my main objection is this: take out the word Black.

I desperately want this country to be committed to closing the gaps between white and black males’ access to good schools, counselors, mentors, neighborhoods, job opportunities.  But it’s one thing to explicitly create these assets for black males and another to redouble efforts to create these assets in the schools and communities that need them the most, then make sure that they reach black males. 

I’m not sure that the country has the public will needed to achieve the second goal.  I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have the commitment to achieve the first. 

During my short stint running the President’s Crime Prevention Council, I learned very quickly that the emotion that propels most American’s to think about black males is fear and that the solution that calms fear is not education but prison.  The fact that prison costs more than education was not compelling to those driven by fear because they were convinced that the young people who would avail themselves of the opportunities were the not the dropouts who would mug them.

---

Karen Pittman is President and CEO of the Forum for Youth Investment , SparkAction's managing partner.  A sociologist and recognized leader in youth development, Karen started her career at the Urban Institute, conducting numerous studies on social services for children and families. Later, she worked six years at the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), launching its adolescent pregnancy prevention initiatives and helping to create its adolescent policy agenda. In 1990, she left CDF to become a Vice President at the Academy for Educational Development where she founded and directed the Center for Youth Development and Policy Research and its spin-off, the National Training Institute for Community Youth Work. In January 1995, Karen handed the Center’s reins to Richard Murphy, former Commissioner for Youth Services in New York City, in order to accept a position within the Clinton Administration as Director of the unfortunately short-lived President's Crime Prevention Council, where she worked with 13 cabinet secretaries to create a coordinated prevention agenda. In the fall of 1995, Karen joined the executive team of the International Youth Foundation, charged with helping the organization strengthen its program content and develop an evaluation strategy. In 1998, she and Rick Little, head of IYF, took a six-month leave of absence to work with General Powell to create America’s Promise. In 1999, she returned to IYF to lay the seeds for what has become the Forum.

A widely published author, Karen has written three books, dozens of articles on youth issues and is also a regular columnist for Youth Today and public speaker.

Karen currently sits on the America’s Promise Board of Trustees, and the boards of the National Human Services Assembly and YouthBuild USA.

Karen is the 2002 recipient of the National Commission for African American Education Augustus F. Hawkins Service Award and the 2003 American Youth Policy Forum Decade of Service Award for Sustained Visionary Leadership in Advancing Youth Policy.

Karen was named one of the top 50 CEOs in nonprofits with power and influence. This 12th annual edition, published August 1, 2009, of The NonProfit Times list is the first time Karen has been recognized for her leadership in the youth development field.

Karen earned a Masters degree in Sociology from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Oberlin College.

LAUSD OFFICIALS CANCEL $3.7M CONTRACT WITH CONSULTANTS AFTER REPORT DISCLOSES DEAL'S IRREGULARITIES

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News| http://bit.ly/czNz8H

11/16/2010 04:44:50 PM PST/Updated: 11/16/2010 09:04:31 PM PST

Los Angeles Unified officials cancelled a $3.7 million contract with four long-time district consultants shortly after a confidential report revealed irregularities with the deal, district officials confirmed Tuesday.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines said he cancelled the contract with Consilia LLC on Friday, asking its four partners to hand in their badges and cease doing any work for the school district for now.

Earlier that week, the Daily News reported that a study from the Office of the Inspector General - a watchdog agency within LAUSD - found Consilia was hired as a subcontractor, violating a district ban on using subcontractors on that contract.

"You can't say to the board that you're getting rid of consultants... and then let consultants create a company and then hire them to do planning," Cortines said.

Consilia is run by Rod Hamilton, Edward Van Ginkel, John Creer, and Charles Anderson, building consultants who have worked in LAUSD's $20 billion construction program for about 10 years.

The Inspector General report, prompted by whistle-blowers in LAUSD's construction program, focused on a collection of contracts totaling $65 million. Those contracts included a "lump sum" task order for Consilia LLC to handle construction planning for the district as sub-contractors. District policy had been changed to prevent subcontractors from being hired on this contract.

The "lump sum" task order, which is a work order usually reserved for smaller jobs because they lack the detail and description of a complete work order, was to be paid out at a monthly rate of $185,000 and included a $40,000 signing bonus to be used for furniture.

Under the contract, Consilia was supposed to handle the district's planning for Measure Q, a $7 billion construction bond approved by voters in 2008. The money was to be used primarily to modernize aging schools.

After facilities officials were told of an inspector general probe, they attempted to move the Concilia task order onto another contract that allowed subcontractors, according to the district IG report.

Cortines said he intends to present the board with a full report on Consilia, including revealing what other job orders - if any - it has received from the district. He also said that he would not rule out awarding another contract to this company in the future.

Questions over how the district has spent its construction dollars have been raised for years, with particular attention paid to lax controls over the hiring of consultants.

Known for years as some of the highest paid consultants in the district's facilities department, Hamilton, Van Ginkel, Creer and Anderson - who could not be reached for comment - made between $185 to $215 per hour when they worked as contract professionals with LAUSD.

The Inspector General is now conducting a deeper investigation into Concilia, according to sources familiar with the IG's office.

But many close to the district's massive building program refer to the four consultants as experts in their field, and credit them with helping ensure LAUSD's success with new school construction.

"I am very happy with the work they did," said Scott Folsom, a member of LAUSD's bond oversight committee.

"They were highly paid but I think we got our money's worth. In going to community meetings no one was stronger at communicating than these guys."

Folsom, however, said he agreed that the best thing to do now was halt the contract. Still, he said was more concerned about how facilities executives were handling the contracts than with Consilia itself.

"I am very concerned about this contract. However, my concerns come from the identified mishandling," Folsom said. "My criticism is not of Consilia, but of the leadership of the facilities division."

LAUSD Chief Facilities Executive James Sohn acknowledged Tuesday there were errors with the awarding of the Concilia contract, but he disputed any allegations of wrongdoing. Sohn also said the four consultants would be missed.

"The loss of these individuals will have a significant impact," Sohn said in an interview Tuesday. "These are very talented individuals."

Last week, Sohn disputed the legitimacy of some of the concerns raised by the 54-page report, prepared by LAUSD's Interim Inspector General Jess Womack.

The "limited review" report, which is a less thorough investigation than an audit, alleged that the facilities department under Sohn's leadership was authorizing work that exceeded pre-approved amounts by nearly 50 percent.

The report found the district's Facilities Department increased the $65 million in construction management contracts by $31 million without getting school board approval; failed to slash total costs of new contracts by 20 percent as promised to save money; and hired subcontractors to do work after being specifically told not to do so.

"The idea that we have to lay people off, while at the same time the rich may be getting richer through contracts that may or may not be valid or legal is something I am very concerned about and raises questions I must have answered," school board member Steve Zimmer said.

School board member Yolie Flores said she also agreed with Cortines' decision.

"I think this was the appropriate thing to do until we complete further review," Flores said.