STATE FINDS ERRORS IN L.A. SCHOOLS ’ iPAD MATH LESSONS

 

Annie Gilbertson, Education Reporter | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC http://bit.ly/1gGFgse Listen Now  [1 min 17 sec]

Maya Sugarman/KPCC

February 3rd, 2014, 6:01am  ::  The California Department of Education has held off complete state approval for global publishing giant Pearson's Common Core math curriculum until it corrects errors found in every grade. The lessons are the same that were loaded onto iPads purchased by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Among the mistakes in Pearson's Common Core System of Courses are misapplied standards, software pathway inconsistencies and typos, according to state officials. The product otherwise meets Common Core standards, so it was given conditional approval..

Officials reviewed math lessons from 17 companies. Pearson was one of the only providers that had instances of having misapplied some standards - though most providers reviewed had minor errors. Pearson's corresponding K-8 English Language Arts software package and high school level coursework have yet to be reviewed and approved by the state. But the materials are currently loaded on 30,000  - soon to be 58,000 - iPads in L.A. Unified.

Pearson officials declined an interview, but said in a statement the required changes "were minor in nature and for things like punctuation" and that "minor changes following submission is a standard practice among all publishers."

Among the errors found by state officials: One 3rd grade lesson tells students to "find the area of the green figure," but the figure appears blue. In a 6th grade lesson, students are asked to talk "about what Nana did wrong in the recipe, it was actually Dad that botched the recipe," officials point out.

Other first, second and seventh grade activities point to standards for which they don't apply.

"I think Pearson is over expanded," said Alan Singer, an education professor at Hofstra University who studies the London-based company. "They are trying to grab the market, and I don't think they are being very careful about what they are doing."

He said Pearson operates like many government contractors, securing bids before development is complete.

During the iPad purchasing process last summer, Pearson's submitted its software to L.A. Unified in a beta form. The district purchased the software as part of an Apple bundle. Other companies, including Apple, had also submitted bids for digital curriculum that was more fully developed and researched but the district rejected those options.

L.A. Unified officials said at a November board meeting that the software doesn't have to be complete until December 2014 - a year and half into the three-year product license with Pearson.

The California Department of Education is in the process of approving a slew of new learning materials this year as part of its transition to new Common Core learning standards adopted by more than 40 states.

Officials reviewed math lessons from 17 companies. Pearson was one of the only providers that had instances of having misapplied some standards - though most providers reviewed had minor errors. Pearson competitor Houghton Mifflin Harcourt materials had several typos, other companies were asked to remove activities, and others had no corrections at all.

In all, a list of 31 instructional materials were approved and four were denied.

Pearson's corresponding K-8 English Language Arts software package and high school level coursework have yet to be reviewed and approved by the state. But the materials are currently loaded on 30,000  - soon to be 58,000 - iPads in L.A. Unified.

L.A. Unified board member Monica Ratliff has advocated allowing schools to opt out of the Pearson curriculum, iPads or both and be permitted to choose other devices and learning materials.

California schools have received an extra $1.25 billion to transition to the Common Core - money which can be spent on new curriculum. Principals report being bombarded with marketing and receiving little guidance from the state.

Advocates of transitioning from text books to learning software say the customization features addressing the needs of different learners and real-time assessments allow teachers to quickly gauge each student's level of understanding.

California does credits Pearson's iPad software for its assessment instruments.

But other states have landed in hot water over flawed testing materials from the company.

In 2012, a testing error in Mississippi blocked the graduation of five students and inaccurately lowered scores for 121 others. Upon discovery, Pearson, which reported a profit of the equivalent of about $1.5 billion that year, offered the students college scholarships.

That same year, a media firestorm hit the New York State Education Department over an absurd Pearson test exercise involving a talking pineapple racing a hare. The state later threatened to impose fines if too many questions were flawed, according to the New York Daily News, and the test question was removed.

Wyoming replaced Pearson with another assessment contractor, but only after imposing a $5 million fine and scraping results for a year.

"Berndt swept everybody up into this horror.” – ANOTHER MIRAMONTE CHILD ABUSE CASE EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWS

Obscured by the publicity surrounding teacher Mark Berndt is the case of Martin Springer, whose criminal trial is set to begin this week.

By Alan Zarembo, LA Times |  http://lat.ms/1dmhIkt

February 2, 2014, 8:32 p.m.   ::  The 2012 child abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary became the biggest and costliest in the history of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Police said third-grade teacher Mark Berndt conducted lewd classroom games with dozens of students. The district replaced all 85 Miramonte teachers for months to assure parents that their children were safe. So far, L.A. Unified has paid $30 million in civil settlements.

<<There is one accuser in the criminal case against former Miramonte Elementary teacher Martin Springer — a girl who said he touched her leg on several occasions. Springer has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of committing a lewd act. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department)

Obscured in the flood of publicity, however, has been the case of another third-grade teacher at Miramonte: Martin Springer, who came to the attention of investigators as they questioned students.

Springer's criminal trial is scheduled to begin this week.

Only the outlines of the case against Springer are known, gleaned largely through a preliminary hearing and civil claims against the district filed by 13 alleged victims in the wake of his arrest.

There is one accuser in the criminal case — a girl who said Springer touched her leg on several occasions. He has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of committing a lewd act. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison.

In pre-trial legal filings, prosecutors described the contact as "minimal" and wrote that there was no evidence that Springer threatened the girl. Nonetheless, they pointed out, "some pedophiles are capable of limiting their behavior as needed" and use "the most minimal touching to achieve sexual gratification."

Prosecutor Alison Meyers declined to discuss details of the case.

The school district has fired Springer, now 51, and moved to strip him of his state teaching credential. It already has paid six children $470,000 each to settle their claims involving the teacher.

Springer's lawyer, John Tyre, said that innocent behavior had been "blown out of proportion" because of the Berndt case.

"There is nothing to indicate that there was any sexual intent," he said during the preliminary hearing, suggesting that Springer's accuser and her family may be motivated by financial gain.

He told The Times that Springer had been a teacher at the school for 26 years and had no complaints about his behavior until the frenzy over Berndt.

"It comes down to a witch hunt," he said.

Suspicious photos

The Miramonte scandal came to light after a drugstore photo technician developed a batch of 35mm film and noticed some suspicious images — children blindfolded, gagged with tape or posing with a white liquid on their mouths.

The photos belonged to Berndt, who was arrested after a yearlong investigation. Police said he fed students cookies topped with semen. In November he pleaded no contest to 23 counts of committing lewd acts and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

After his arrest, school officials asked students to write about their feelings. That led detectives to a fifth-grade girl, who told them she and a friend had been touched by Springer in the third grade.

The friend told investigators that at the time of the alleged incidents, she had been helping Springer in his classroom during recess several days a week.

On up to a dozen occasions when she approached him with questions, the girl testified during a preliminary hearing, Springer would crouch in front of her and — for about five seconds — place his hand on the back of her leg, between her knee and the bottom of the rear pocket of her pants.

The girl's father testified during the preliminary hearing that he took her to the LAPD's 77th Street Station after one alleged incident but that detectives told him there wasn't enough evidence to take action. The girl returned to Springer's class the next day and continued to help him at recess.

Now 12, the girl testified that she sometimes was scared of Springer and that the touching made her uncomfortable, although she also said in court that it wasn't that big a deal.

Her friend who wrote the original diary entry later recanted to investigators about having been touched.

Sgt. Peter Hahn of the L.A. County sheriff's special victims unit said detectives interviewed 102 children, including several with pending civil cases, but were unable to support more criminal charges. "We talked to everybody in his classes," he said.

The criminal case against Springer will be a tricky one for prosecutors to make, according to legal experts. The difficulty lies in proving a sexual intent when the alleged touching was not overtly sexual. Intent is usually established through a pattern of activity, character witnesses or other circumstantial evidence.

"If all they have is one kid saying, 'He touched the back of my leg,' that may not be enough," said Laurie Levenson, a professor at Loyola Law School.

At the preliminary hearing, a detective testified that he questioned Springer before his arrest and asked him if he had any sexual intent while touching female students. "He said he was uncomfortable answering that question," the detective said.

Tyre said his client was simply surprised by the interrogation.

Meyers, the prosecutor, said that not all the evidence has been presented. "You cannot judge a case based on the preliminary hearing," she said.

Last July, her team filed three misdemeanor charges of child annoyance, to offer jurors an alternative to finding guilt on the felony counts. Each new charge carries a maximum jail sentence of one year.

Michael Kraut, a former L.A. prosecutor, said the new charges suggested the criminal case against Springer is weak.

Under California law, child annoyance does not have to involve touching and can be used to cover any sexually motivated conduct — a leer, a text message or suggestive comments. The victim does not have to be bothered by it, but a reasonable person would be.

"I'm highly skeptical," Kraut said about the criminal case.

A conviction on any of the charges would require lifetime registration as a sex offender.

Other claims

Other allegations against Springer have come up in the civil cases filed against the school district.

A 26-year-old woman has alleged that when she attended Miramonte, Springer would press himself against her while in a sexually aroused state, hug her and walk around campus holding her hand.

In a suit filed in October, a man accused Springer of molesting him in a locked classroom two or three times a week between 1996 and 1998. It also alleges that Springer would call the boy to his desk and force him to view computer images he had taken of himself masturbating.

Springer threatened to have the boy's family deported to Mexico if he told anybody, according to the lawsuit.

John Manly, an attorney representing five boys who allege that Springer fondled their genitals, said the $470,000 settlements paid to other children lend credence to allegations against the teacher.

"That's a lot of money," he said. "That should tell you a lot."

But Daniel Kolodziej, who is representing Springer in his fight to keep his teaching credential, said the district's willingness to pay large settlements was inviting questionable claims. "Everybody is looking for a payday," he said.

District officials said that all of the settlements were based primarily on sworn statements by the alleged victims and their families. L.A. Unified officials interviewed Miramonte teachers and staff and found no evidence of sexual misconduct by Springer, district spokesman Sean Rossall said.

Still, flooded with civil complaints involving Berndt, the district agreed to include claims naming Springer in a deal to settle 61 cases last year.

Rossall said the district moved relatively quickly on the payouts because "we wanted to do everything possible to help that community and continue to move forward."

Three of the settlements — including one to the accuser in the criminal case — involved allegations against both teachers, although investigators have found no connection between Springer and Berndt other than working at the same school.

Three other settlements were based on accusations against Springer alone.

One of those alleged victims would say only that Springer was a "bad man" and that "there were stories in the news" about what he did, according to district records reviewed by The Times.

But his family concluded from his behavior — accumulating absences at school, touching a male cousin in a questionable manner and becoming increasingly angry — that Springer had engaged in "sexual molestation" between 2008 and 2010, according to the records.

When detectives interviewed the boy, he did not accuse the teacher of anything, Hahn said.

He said detectives did not question the boy's older brother, who also received a settlement. The brother's claim alleged that Springer sexually molested him between 2007 and 2012 but offered no details.

USC law professor Tom Lyon said that under different circumstances, the district would have been less likely to quickly settle cases naming Springer.

"Berndt swept everybody up into this horror," he said.

The view from Down Under: iPADS AT SCHOOL, HOW YOUNG IS TOO YOUNG?

 

Gadgets on the go by Adam Turner in the Sydney Morning Herald | http://bit.ly/1bVoVZ3

January 31, 2014  ::  More kids than ever set off for school with a tablet in their bag this week. Do they need it?

My son started Grade 5 this week. Let's call him Mars, the codename we use when we don't want him to know we're talking about him. Mars was very excited to have an iPad on this year's book list, although I'm not so thrilled about it.

“  I'm trying to make it clear to Mars that the iPad is just another tool, like a calculator or a ruler, and the real focus is on learning.  ”

When you're a thirty-something like me it's very easy to go off on a "when I was a boy" rant as soon as people mention new technology. I try to be a bit more open-minded than that. Mars goes to a state school and there are already desktop and notebook computers in every classroom, along with electronic interactive whiteboards. That's fine, but I don't like to see the introduction of new technology simply for the sake of it. Arguing that tablets are "the future" might be valid for kids in senior high school, but it doesn't win me over when Mars is probably 10 years away from joining the workforce.

This is the first year our school has introduced iPads and I am comforted by the fact that the school council has given the project considerable thought. They've also called in a consultant who has run an iPad program at another primary school, so they're not stumbling around in the dark. Even so, the parent information night didn't change my opinion of iPads in primary school classrooms. It focused on all the cool things you can do with tablets, but not how Mars will come out the other end better educated than if he'd stuck with the classroom PCs.

Passionate supporters of tablets in the classroom will happily talk about all the cool apps that students can use both in the classroom and while doing their homework. Kids can make movies, create music, design interactive flowcharts and dabble in all kinds of new ideas when working on school assignments. Mars can be a little obsessive, like his Dad, and he's already driving us crazy with talk of all the amazing things his iPad can do. Along with Star Wars, we've declared his iPad another discussion topic which is banned from the dinner table.

Knowing Mars, he'll spend more time fiddling with the iPad and apps than actually working on the project at hand. Just like those kids I went to school with who spent more time drawing fancy bubble headings than actually thinking about the content of their assignments. I'm trying to make it clear to Mars that the iPad is just another tool, like a calculator or a ruler, and the real focus is on learning.

At the parent information night the consultant talked about one kid who had spent his evenings working on a stop-motion movie for a school assignment – time which could have been spent learning about the topic rather than learning about video editing software. Every example put forward was the same, painting the iPad as the bubble heading generator of the 21st century.

Mars is very bright, as is his little sister Venus. They're avid readers and keen students, so I have no concerns about their academic progress. I know you could hand them a slate and piece of chalk and they'd still do well. Of course not all kids are that keen on school, and that's where I admit an iPad could really make a difference. I also know there are different kinds of learning styles and that an iPad might help cater to different needs in the classroom.

If an iPad gets reluctant students more interested in what's happening in the classroom then that's certainly a good thing. It would be close-minded of me to declare "my kids don't need an iPad in the classroom, so therefore no kid needs one". I'll be interested to see if there are any solid metrics at the end of the year to indicate whether the iPads have helped the stragglers catch up.

Personally I still think it's too early to introduce tablets in primary school. I don't think Mars needs an iPad in Grade 5 and talk of other schools issuing iPads to Preps is foolish. Year 7 seems like a more logical point to introduce this kind of technology. For all we know, when Mars gets to high school they might not use iPads and he'll have to start again with something different.

Do your kids need to bring their own tech into the classroom? Are they actually benefitting from it?

________

• Adam Turner is an award-winning Australian freelance technology journalist with a passion for gadgets and the "digital lounge room".

 

Sydney is 19 hours ahead of L.A. in more ways than one. Water goes down the drain in a clockwise rotation. Primary School = Elementary. Preps = preschool/Early Childhood Ed. There are different stars in the sky, The seasons are reversed. The School Council makes decisions about things like iPads. It’s a whole other world.

INVITATION: An LAUSD Briefing on the NCLB/ESEA Waiver granted to CORE Districts

by e-Mail

Please join Dr. John Deasy, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), on Wednesday, February 12, 2014 from 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. for an important briefing on the NCLB/ESEA waiver that was granted to districts who are members of the California Office to Reform Education (CORE). This is an opportunity to hear the District’s perspective on the new federal waiver and the important changes that will be taking place in the future. We hope you will join us in learning about this important issue and will continue to support the District's leadership in improving student achievement in the LAUSD.

For your information I've provided an Executive Summary of the CORE Waiver, also known as the School Quality Improvement System, as well as a FAQ for your use.

To RSVP and view more event information click below. (Parking information will be provided after you have RSVP’d)

[ RSVP CLICK HERE ]

Best,

Pedro Salcido
Coordinator of Legislative Advocacy
Office of Government Relations
Los Angeles Unified School District
333 South Beaudry Avenue, 24th Floor
Los Angeles, California 90017
Office: (213) 241-6498
pedro.salcido@lausd.net

Follow Us: http://www.Facebook.com/LosAngelesSchools

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HOW WE TEACH KIDS TO CHEAT ON TESTS

 

By Vicki Abeles from Valerie Strauss’ Answer Sheet/The Washington Post | http://wapo.st/1nEqIKp

February 2 at 10:00 am  ::  Here is a piece about a cheating scandal in Wisconsin that speaks to a much larger problem about how and why kids cheat on tests. It was written by Vicki Abeles, a filmmaker, attorney and advocate for students and education. She is the co-director and producer of the education documentary “Race to Nowhere” and founder of the non-profit End the Race, an organization established to inspire individual and community action to reclaim healthy childhood and transform our education system. << (bigstock)

By Vicki Abeles

Parents are aghast and students are under heavy scrutiny in Middleton, Wisc., these days, since Middleton High School administrators last month discovered evidence of chronic and widespread cheating. The school forced 250 seniors to retake a calculus test in the wake of the revelations.

But the calculus test is only the beginning. In the wake of the calculus incident, school investigators at Middleton now suspect that cheating at the high school goes far beyond one test, spinning out of control to affect many courses and multiple departments. While the investigation is still under way, many in the school community now believe that a large number of students regularly shared and sold photos of tests, strategically planned absences on test days (and then sought test information from those students who showed up). and bartered test questions (as in, “I’ll give you a math question if you give me a science one”).

The culture of cheating has become so ascendant at Middleton that its principal, Denise Herrmann, says her administration is now looking to overhaul the very ways in which students are tested. “We need to improve the quality of the assessment tools used to measure student learning,” she told me. “And we also need to get to the root causes and pressures that prompt students to cheat in the first place.” Her administration will call on teachers, students and parents to weigh in on the cheating issue, and to propose solutions that ensure all voices—not just those of shocked administrators—are heard.

While Middleton’s story is surprising to me—particularly as a parent of a high school student—it probably shouldn’t be. The research suggests that, whether they recognize it or not, there are plenty of schools with similar problems. The Josephson Institute of Ethics, which conducts biannual surveys of adolescent ethics, reports that the number of high school students who reported cheating on a test increased substantially, from 61 to 74 percent, in the decade between 1992 and 2002. In the Institute’s 2010 survey, the number went down to 59 percent, but it’s a specious improvement. More than 25 percent of respondents admitted to lying on one or more of the Institute’s survey questions.

In September 2013, Harvard issued a similar survey to its new students. Nearly 42 percent of incoming first-years admitted to cheating on their homework prior to their Harvard acceptance. That same month, the 125 students involved in a 2012 cheating scandal at Harvard, the largest ever faced by the university, were allowed to return to school after being suspended for a year.

When cheating scandals come to light, parents and pundits alike often profess their amazement. We ask how students can show such dishonesty. We shudder that their parents or teachers or coaches or exam proctors would look the other way. We blame lax security and the capricious judgment of immaturity.

But all too rarely do we do what the administration at Middleton is doing: question ourselves. We don’t ponder whether the roots of cheating are in the very fabric of our competitive culture—a culture in which status points such as a prestigious alma mater, a six-figure salary and a desirable ZIP code in which to raise one’s family are seen as the markers of American success.

What I hear among my own children and their peers, and in the schools near our home—public and private, urban and suburban—is that a highly competitive academic climate means not just run-of-the-mill homework copying and essay-writing plagiarism (though these abound). It also means a subtler, more pervasive, more culturally sanctioned form of the same thing: after-school tutoring, private test preparation courses and college admissions counseling, and insidious parental involvement in the completion of homework assignments or the securing of college recommendation letters. These activities may not be unethical or underhanded in themselves. But the motives behind them are. Because behind every test prep tutor or SAT course is the sinister message that our children can’t get ahead without a handicap and, most of all, can’t afford to lose.

All too often, I think we’re actively teaching our children that external, material, quantifiable indicators of accomplishment are the most important. Too seldom do we remind them that it’s their enthusiasm, curiosity, and spirit of inquiry and determination that will best prepare them for happy, healthy adult lives. And that these qualities—more than an Ivy League admission or a perfect SAT score—can’t be gained through fraud.

If we want to put a stop to cheating, on the SATs as on Wall Street, we need to model the belief—in our homes, classrooms, playing fields and boardrooms—that success will not be measured by a report card or an Ivy League acceptance letter. We must show our children, instead, that they will be measured by their willingness to seek out challenges, even if they stumble on the way; to pursue what stirs their souls and serves their fellow human beings; to ask for help when they are uncertain or confused; to accept consequences when they have made poor decisions; to try and, occasionally, to fail.

Until we demonstrate for our children that success lies in the process and not in the product of their work, we will encourage them to cheat. And we will continue to cheat them.

NINE LAUSD SCHOOLS COMPETE IN HEALTHY-COOKING CONTEST

By Brenda Gazzar, Los Angeles Daily News | http://bit.ly/1bk7Vi8

LAUSD "Cooking Up Change" culinary competition for high school students held at LA Trade Technical College. First place winners from Manual Arts High School are Jenifer Mendez, left ,and Kimberly Sanchez. BBQ Chicken Pizza, Spicy Bean Dip and Tropical Burst salad. (Thurs. Jan 30, 2014 Photo by Brad Graverson/The Daily Breeze)

1/30/14, 8:07 PM PST  ::  Watch out, Gordon Ramsay and Paula Deen. Student teams from nine Los Angeles Unified schools whipped up their own creatively inspired meals Thursday in the district’s “Cooking Up Change” competition at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

Not only did the lunch dishes have to be healthy, but the cooks had to work with a limited list of ingredients and meet specific nutrition guidelines. To top it off, they had to stay within strict budgetary constraints — about $1 per meal.

“I tend to cook with a large variety of ingredients, and being restricted was an entirely new experience for me,” said Kevin Escobar, a senior at Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley. Escobar and his teammate Jose Garcia, also a senior, spent part of their morning preparing “KJ’s beef fajita tacos,” with pico de gallo and a sweet-and-sour fruit tart for dessert. And the teens were pleased with the results.

“I loved how our dish came out, but everyone else’s also turned out really good,” a nervous Escobar said before the winning team was announced. “We had good competition.”

Student chefs Jenifer Mendez and Kimberly K. Sanchez of Manual Arts High School in South Los Angeles ended up claiming the top prize by impressing the judges with their BBQ chicken pizza on pita bread drizzled with mozzarella and Parmesan, with spicy bean dip and tropical “C” burst dessert.

The excited duo will now have their dishes served multiple times throughout the next school year to the district’s 650,000 students. They’ll also enter the national competition in Washington, D.C., this June.

After embracing and shedding a few tears, the girls said they were excited to change people’s health and have their dish enjoyed by students. Perhaps they could even be “the new face of LAUSD,” Mendez said.

“These are two little girls who are very sweet, very smart and very happy and positive; they don’t have any drama stories to tell,” said Genevieve Ramirez-Wobrock, the team’s culinary arts instructor, who this semester is teaching them international cuisine.

“They just wanted people to know that there are kids out there like them,” Ramirez-Wobrock said. They love food. They like healthy food. That’s what they are already eating — they already represent that.”

Each school lunch prepared by the teens had to consist of one main dish and two side dishes. Preparation required less than six preparation steps and 10 ingredients, as the dishes would need to be made quickly in school cafeterias. And all fixings had to come from a designated “Cooking Up Change” list.

James Vidal, a junior at Banning High School, watched in the audience as the nine teams — including one from his own school — presented their dishes to the panel of five judges.

Banning High School’s team, made up of students Justine Ambriz, Priscilla Diaz and Bryan Orozco, presented a savory broccoli-and-cheese strata, a chopped spring-green salad and a peachy banana yogurt cup. Although he didn’t see or taste the food, Vidal said the descriptions sounded delicious.

“That’s what I love about this competition — it gets young people to get more involved in healthier foods,” Vidal said. “So many people in my family, close relatives, friends — there are a lot of people that are eating unhealthy around me.”

The competition not only allows students to apply what they learn in their school culinary programs, it gives them the chance to taste what life might be like in the restaurant or food-service industry, said David Binkle, LAUSD’s director of food services.

Summer Harrington, a judge and consulting chef for Gourmet Foods Inc., said every dish she sampled made by the student teams was “fantastic.”

“It’s just a beautiful thing to see them actually being that involved in their food and their ingredients and overall trying to create food that was healthier,” she said of the competition.

Other participating LAUSD schools included Carson High School, Dorsey High School, Doyle Career & Transition Center, L.A. Center for Enriched Studies, Santee Education Complex and West Adams Preparatory.

EL CAMINO, MARSHALL #1 & #2 IN LAUSD ACA-DECA SUPER QUIZ, A TIE IN LA COUNTY SUPER QUIZ, IRVINE UNI HIGH WINS JPL SCIENCE BOWL

El Camino Real Charter High School wins LAUSD Super Quiz

By The LA Times Staff  | http://lat.ms/MNmIt9

The citywide academic decathlon Super Quiz took place Saturday at the Roybal Learning Center in downtown L.A. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times / February 1, 2014)

February 1, 2014, 9:44 p.m.  ::  El Camino Real Charter High School won the Los Angeles Unified School District’s “Super Quiz” competition Saturday, beating 58 other high school teams in the Academic Decathlon’s final event.

The Marshall High School team took second place and the reigning national, state and LAUSD decathlon champion, Granada Hills Charter High School, placed third.

The El Camino charter team scored 63 out of a possible 72 points in the game show-style contest, in which students have seven seconds to answer multiple-choice questions on a variety of subjects.

The Super Quiz counts for only about 5% of a team’s decathlon score, but it’s the most high-pressure event and is open to the public.

About 500 students competed in the L.A. Unified Super Quiz at the Roybal Learning Center in downtown Los Angeles.

The winner of the district decathlon, to be announced Feb. 7, will go on to compete next month in the state Academic Decathlon in Sacramento.

Edgewood High School in West Covina tied with Redondo Union High School for first place in Saturday’s Los Angeles County Super Quiz , held at USC’s Galen Center.

4LAKids doesn’t play favorites, but who do you like: A traditional high school named after the first Chief Justice of the United States or a charter school named after a discontinued Chevrolet pick-up truck?

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Students compete in L.A. County/LAUSD Academic Decathlon Super Quizzes

World War I is the theme as about 500 scholars from 42 schools participated in the annual game-show-style event.

By Tony Barboza, LA Times |  http://lat.ms/1i8gWfr

February 1, 2014, 9:33 p.m.  ::  Hundreds of students paraded into a gymnasium on Saturday afternoon at USC's Galen Center, their friends and families cheering from the bleachers as ragtime music played.

The Super Quiz, the final event in the Los Angeles County Academic Decathlon, was about to start.

The game show-style competition requires teams of nine high school students to answer three dozen multiple-choice questions on subjects including art, economics and science. Questions were read by Fox 11 news reporter Gigi Graciette, and students had just seven seconds to punch in their answers on hand-held electronic devices. The results were displayed instantly on two large screens in front of the players.

In sessions held over two Saturdays, students delivered speeches, performed interviews, wrote essays and took multiple-choice tests. The theme of this year's competition: World War I.

Each decathlon team includes students with A, B and C grade-point averages.

The Super Quiz counts for only about 5% of a team's score, but it's the most high-pressure event and the only portion of the 10-subject scholastic competition that is open to the public. It's also an indicator of which squads have a shot at advancing to the state competition in Sacramento next month or the national competition in Honolulu in April.

At Galen Center, about 500 decathletes from 42 public high schools around Los Angeles County answered questions about early gramophones, the Ernest Hemingway novel "The Sun Also Rises," polygenic inheritance and the Treaty of Versailles.

"That seven seconds is a lot of pressure," said Hiral Ashani, a 13-year-old freshman at Burbank High School. "Your team is counting on you, and there's no one to help you out, so it's really nerve-wracking."

Ashani and his teammates dressed in World War I aviator outfits, complete with leather helmets and goggles. Others squads wore personalized cardigans, T-shirts or Army fatigues.

Patricia Campos was in the bleachers cheering on her son Nicholas, a senior at Edgewood High School in West Covina. She said her son's team held 24-hour study sessions on weekends and added more hours on weekdays in addition to doing their regular homework. "They stay until 10 or 11 o'clock at night just to prepare for this," she said.

It paid off, at least with the Super Quiz. Edgewood High tied with Redondo Union High School for first place at Saturday's showdown, according to preliminary results. Results for the full competition, administered by the county Office of Education, will be announced on Feb. 12.

LAUSD ACA-DECA SUPER QUIZ

Another 500 or so students from 59 teams in the Los Angeles Unified School District capped off their Academic Decathlon with the Super Quiz at Roybal Learning Center, near downtown. Some of the top-scoring teams were El Camino Real Charter High School and John Marshall High School, according to unofficial results.

L.A. Unified's Academic Decathlon program boasts some of the best teams in the country. Granada Hills Charter High School has won the national championship the last three years.

Full results for Los Angeles Unified teams will be released Friday.

 

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University High wins crown at JPL Regional Science Bowl

Twenty-four teams of five students each competed in the 22nd annual JPL Regional Science Bowl, a 'Jeopardy'-style competition.

By Paloma Esquivel, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1fmd9t0

Members of the Palos Verdes High School team share a group hug after winning a match during the Regional Science Bowl at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Left to right are Jessica Chen, Zoe Caron, Royce Chen and Kevin Jiao. (Katie Falkenberg, Los Angeles Times / February 1, 2014)

February 1, 2014, 8:31 p.m.  ::  In the end, it came down to a rematch: Arcadia and University high schools, two teams made up of the brightest young science minds in Southern California who one year ago faced off just like this, armed with nothing more than a small pad of paper and a pencil against a 16-minute rat-a-tat-tat of questions like this:

"According to VSEPR bonding theory, if two of the bonded atoms in an octahedral molecule are replaced by two electron pairs, the molecule will assume what geometric shape, such as in XeF4?"

(Answer: Square Planar)

Twenty-four teams of five students each competed Saturday in the 22nd annual JPL Regional Science Bowl, a "Jeopardy"-style competition. The match was organized by and held at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory — so even volunteers keeping score and reading questions had PhDs.

But the focus was on the young men and women from schools in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as well as L.A. County (though not L.A. Unified School District, which has its own competition). Winners will compete at the National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., in April.

Whereas Arcadia and University High, in Irvine, are local powerhouses whose teams have won the regional competition multiple times, others like Xavier College Preparatory High School in Palm Desert were relative newcomers.

Its members wore white lab coats and seemed to be having fun after spending the morning answering questions about chemistry, earth science, biology, energy, physics and math.

"There's some teams who will dominate," said senior Carl Maggio. "For us, it's more about the experience."

The team's five members have known one another for years, three of them since kindergarten, they said. And although they took the event seriously, practicing two to three hours per week, they knew their effort wasn't quite comparable to that of some of the more experienced teams.

"For a lot of teams this is like a sports event. They practice every day," Carl said.

The team from Huntington Beach High School skipped the lab coats and the school T-shirts worn by other teams and came in suits.

Theirs is a young team — made up mostly of sophomores, all of whom were in awe of team member Marlon Trifunovic, 15, who answered the question "What is the fraction for the repeating decimal .13131313…" before the answers had even been read. (Answer: 13/99)

"He did it in his head, he didn't even write it down," said Coach Ken Ostrowski.

Then there was Arcadia High School, whose team has won the regional title multiple times.

Team members gave up Friday evenings and Sundays to prepare for this, they said. They practiced not just the science but also skills like using buzzers, improving reaction times.

Each team member was assigned a specialization: for senior Bryan Clement Tiu it was math, for captain Jerry Li, chemistry and physics, for junior Kevin Wang, earth science and physics.

By the afternoon they were undefeated, and during later rounds, they were dominant, beating one team 102 to 22.

Each round lasted 16 minutes, with a two-minute break.

Jerry's parents, James and Joceline Li, sat on the sidelines, watching the competition.

"My heart is beating, boom boom boom," said Joceline Li, who held her breath and clutched her husband when the score was close, though both Lis acknowledged being a bit lost by the level of competition.

"I can understand the questions," said James Li. "But the answers? Forget it."

In the final round, Arcadia started off strong, racking up 32 points before University could even get on the board. But just as a year ago, the day belonged to University, whose team won, 114-68.

"They were really excited to come back because they won last year," said University Coach David Knight. "They knew other teams were going to be kind of gunning for them."

After the loss, team Arcadia gathered together and spent the next few minutes going over the questions they got wrong.

"I'm very proud of them," said Coach Cherryl Mynster. "They knew their stuff but the other team just outperformed them a little bit…. We'll be back next year."

VERGARA v. CA: EdSource Today editor, attorneys for plaintiff and respondent interviewed on KQED about trial challenging teacher job rights

By EdSource staff | http://bit.ly/MokvUq

January 31st, 2014  ::  EdSource Today editor John Fensterwald was featured on KQED’s Forum program Friday, answering questions about a closely watched trial under way in Los Angeles that challenges teacher job protections.

Vergara v. California is seeking to overturn state laws governing teacher tenure, seniority and dismissal procedures.

The nonprofit group that brought the suit, Student Matters, says the laws protect poor teachers and make it too difficult to dismiss them, to the detriment of California children. But the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers, who are joining in the defense of the case, say the lawsuit is an attack on essential workplace protections that ultimately benefit the education system.

Fensterwald was joined on Forum by James Finberg, lead attorney representing the teachers’ associations, and plaintiff’s attorney Theodore Boutrous.

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Lawsuit Challenges Teacher Tenure in California

Fri, Jan 31, 2014 -- 9:00 AM

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A student from Oakland High School is part of a lawsuit alleging that ineffective teachers violate students' right to an education.

Should it be easier for California public schools to fire teachers? A Silicon Valley entrepreneur is spearheading a lawsuit against the state challenging teacher tenure and seniority, which critics say make it harder to remove ineffective instructors. Advocates for teachers say job security and other benefits are essential to lure good teachers into low-paying jobs. We'll get the latest developments on the trial and examine the implications of the case.

Host: Rachael Myrow

Guests:

• James Finberg, lead attorney in the Vergara lawsuit trial representing California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers
• John Fensterwald, reporter for EdSource
• Theodore Boutrous, attorney for the nine student plaintiffs challenging California's teacher tenure rules

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STUDENTS BATTLE IT OUT IN ACA-DECA, SCIENCE BOWL QUIZZES

By David Zahniser, LA Times | http://lat.ms/1eHMB3O

Hoover High School in Glendale fielded a team of Meagan Yuen, from left, Jacob Deyell, Charis Ramirez, Daphne Bogosian and Kristina Laue in the regional Science Bowl at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge on Saturday. (Raul Roa / Glendale News Press / February 1, 2014)

February 1, 2014, 11:56 a.m.  ::  Three fast-paced academic contests featuring some of the region’s best and most talented students will be staged Saturday afternoon, with one focused exclusively on science and two others drilling down on topics dealing with World War I.

At USC, the Los Angeles County Office of Education will stage a game-show style Super Quiz before a live audience, part of a two-day Academic Decathlon featuring teams from 42 high schools. Not far away, the Los Angeles Unified School District is conducting its own regional decathlon at the Roybal Learning Center, with 59 teams of up to nine students battling it out in their own Super Quiz format.

Both competitions require students to show an in-depth knowledge of World War I, including art, music, literature, science, social science and economics, said Cliff Ker, who coordinates L.A. Unified’s competition. Teams are vying for slots in the state’s Academic Decathlon, which will be held in March in Sacramento.

“These kids are incredibly bright, incredibly motivated and they’ve worked really hard,” Ker said.

Yet another academic competition is waged in La Cañada Flintridge, where NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory is hosting its regional Science Bowl. That event has a "Jeopardy"-style contest focusing on math, biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy and Earth and space sciences.

The all-day competition features 24 teams from high schools stretching from La Crescenta to Palm Desert. The winning team will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., in April to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Science Bowl.

Firing Our Way to Finland: WEEK ONE OF VERGARA v. CALIFORNIA

from the LA Schools Report, written by Mark Harris | http://bit.ly/1bimLpp

smf: Following is the first week of coverage of Vergara v. California from the LA School Report, which, it is safe to say, is editorially sympathetic to – if not subsidized by – the plaintiffs.    The Plaintiffs  present themselves David v. Goliath - representing students Beatriz Vergara, et al – but are in reality Students Matter - a nonprofit foundation funded by David Welch - a Silicon Valley billionaire and investment partner with NewSchools Venture Fund, which capitalizes charter schools.  If he were suing California for inadequately funding public education 4LAKids would strew flowers in his path – but he is suing California for inadequately firing teachers because he apparently believes it is actually possible to Fire Our Way to Finland. The first week features a parade of expert witnesses – with a surprise appearance by an out of work mayor – who apparently share that Donald Trumpian dream.

Deasy tells court: teacher dismissal can cost district ‘millions’

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Mark Harris

<<LA Unified Supt. John Deasy, Broad Academy, Class of

LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy told a packed courtroom today that it can cost the district “millions of dollars” and can take “slightly less than 10 years” to get rid of an ineffective teacher.

Deasy was the first witness to testify in the long-awaited start of Vergara v California, a battle over state laws that govern what to do with ineffective teachers. Beatriz Vergara and eight other students from around the state want to get rid of the laws that make it difficult to dismiss the teachers. As defendants, the state and its largest teachers unions want to preserve them, arguing that school districts not state laws are responsible for the dismissal of ineffective teachers — and some districts manage quite well in carrying out the challenge.

The day began with lawyers for both sides giving their opening salvos before Judge Rolf Treu in a state superior court in downtown Los Angeles.

The thrust of the students’ case is that five state statutes make it difficult and expensive to remove ineffective teachers from the classroom. In the opening statement for the students, Ted Boutrous argued that every child has a constitutional right to a quality education — a right that has been violated due to the current teacher employment statues that he claimed handcuffs administrators in weeding ineffective teachers out of the classroom. Those statutes involve tenure, seniority and the dismissal process.

Boutrous said the statutes also impose a disproportionate harm on poor and minority students, saying these students are more vulnerable to harm from ineffective teachers whom districts cannot dismiss.

Anticipating defendants’ arguments, he said the case was not attempt to undermine teachers’ due process rights or an attempt to make teachers a scapegoat for problems like racism and poverty.

Defense attorneys — Nimrod Ellis for the state and James Finberg for the California Federation of Teachers and the California Teachers Association — argued that the statutes aren’t the problem. Rather, they said, the key issue is poor management by school administrators. Ellis suggested that well managed schools are fully capable of getting rid of ineffective teachers.

Additionally, the defendants contended that the students would be unable to show that the teachers they were assigned were grossly ineffective. Feinberg told the court that there are socio-economic factors outside a teacher’s control, which are responsible for the widening achievement gap. He insisted that declaring laws unconstitutional will not close that gap.

The defense lawyers wrapped up their opening remarks by stating that they welcomed the challenge, but the real policy change must come from the legislature in Sacramento -– and that plaintiffs will not be able to prove that these statutes violate their constitutional rights.

Deasy, under friendly questioning from a students’ lawyer, Marcellus McRae, walked the court through current state laws governing the hiring and firing of teachers, student performance markers, rules regarding tenure and the impact they have on the school district.

A major focus was the so-called “tenure statute,” which in California enables teachers to gain permanent employment — or tenure — after just 18 months on the job. In his answers, Deasy explained that the process for evaluating a teacher for purposes of tenure actually begins after just 13 months of actual teaching, a period of time he dismissed as too short for such a critical decision.

“No way this is sufficient amount of time, in my opinion, to make that critical judgement,” he said. “Not even to make it after two years of work.”

Deasy said the average cost of dismissing an ineffective teacher, which involves as many as 17 administrative steps, is $250,000 to $450,000, with many cases costing the district a lot more.

He also testified that the current tenure statute doesn’t allow school administers to adequately assess a teacher’s performance or growth potential. He went on to say that he believes the tenure rules allow for “grossly ineffective teachers” to remain in the classroom.

Vergara lawsuit: Deasy testifies on ‘grossly ineffective’ teachers

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Mark Harris

<<Supt. John Deasy in his second day of testimony

Under cross-examination today, LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy faced pointed questions from attorneys representing California’s biggest teacher unions and the state in a controversial lawsuit that could turn the practice of teacher tenure on its head.

At issue in the landmark case,  Vergara vs. California, are five statutes that the nine students bringing the case contend protect ineffective teachers, thereby violating their constitutionally protected right to a quality education.

Under less friendly questioning than earlier in the day, Deasy responded in detail to questions posed by Jim Finberg, attorney for the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), who attempted to chip away at the argument that the current tenure and dismissal statutes hurt students, and that removing ineffective teachers is quite possible now.

Using statistics that showed the number of dismissals in LA Unified rose to 99 in 2011-2012 from 10 in 2009-2010, Deasy’s first full year as superintendent, Finberg suggested that the number of teachers offered tenure during that period decreased, reducing the number of grossly ineffective teachers who receive permanent status.

Without disputing it, Deasy said the numbers only represented his recommendations to the school board for initiating a dismissal process.

When Finberg asked Deasy if he agreed that other factors, such as family wealth and poverty, influence the success or failure of a student, Deasy said, “I believe the statistics correlate, but I don’t believe in causality (of poverty).”

Susan Carson, a supervising deputy state attorney general, arguing on behalf of the state, took up the questioning later about the timetable to determine whether a teacher is ineffective. Despite her suggestions that one year is sufficient to identify an ineffective teacher, Deasy countered that too many factors are involved to draw a conclusion after such a short time. In California, teachers are typically awarded tenure after 18 months.

Earlier in the day, under more friendly questioning from Marcellus McRae, representing the students, Deasy told the court that the cost of dismissing a “grossly ineffective teacher” can sometimes reach into the millions of dollars, impacting decisions as to whether to appeal a dismissal or leave a teacher in the classroom.

He also said the time it takes to build a case against an ineffective teacher, however lengthy, results in leaving students with ineffective teachers.

McRae asked Deasy if the high cost of removal has resulted in reaching settlement agreements with ineffective teachers. He answered by saying it’s part of the current cost analysis and sometimes is the most “cost effective way to exit a teacher.”

When questioned whether leaving incompetent teachers in the system harms the morale of the profession, Deasy said: “Morale is absolutely affected,” adding that teachers don’t want to be on teams with incompetent teachers.

Deasy also testified that the seniority statute, know as LIFO for “Last in, first out,” which favors seniority when layoffs are required, is harmful to both students and teachers.

He said seniority does not always reflect teacher effectiveness and seniority-based layoffs work against the best interest of students.

“I do not believe it’s in the best interest of students whatsoever,” Deasy said. “I have been very clear at indicating that the decision about who should be in front of students should be the most effective teacher and that this statute prohibits that from being a consideration at all. So by virtue of that, it can’t be good for students.”

When asked whether the seniority statute was necessary to recruit excellent teachers, Deasy said it has, in fact, the opposite effect. Teachers find it “unattractive,” he said, to come into a system where job competence is not considered when layoffs are required.

Deasy returns to the stand tomorrow, presumably to finish his cross-examination. He’ll be followed to the stand by Harvard economist Nadarajan (Raj) Chetty.

Vergara trial expert witness: ineffective teachers hurt students

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Mark Harris

<< Raj Chetty, Harvard Economist

And so begins the battle of the expert titans.

In the landmark lawsuit, Vergara vs. California, the winner may ultimately be the side that had the more persuasive expert witnesses.

The first came to the stand today as lawyers for the nine students bringing the suit called Harvard professor Raj Chetty, a renowned expert in public policy economics whose judgements, he said, are relied upon by President Obama and Congress.

The case hinges on whether five statutes written into the state constitution protect ineffective teachers, thereby violating students’ constitutionally protected right to a quality education. The defendants — the California Teachers Association (CTA), the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) and the state — say they do not.

Armed with mounds of empirical data, documents and exhibits, the 34-year-old professor offered testimony supporting the plaintiffs’ key points: that teacher quality has a direct impact on students’ achievements and that the current dismissal and seniority statutes have disparate impact on minority and low-income students.

Drawing a few laughs from the courtroom, Chetty testified that he believes elementary teachers are, in fact, even more consequential than college professors. But under questioning from Ted Boutrous, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, he quickly got down to business, explaining results from his research, notably that teacher effectiveness can be measured, and long term gains for students are the direct result of effective teachers.

A key part of the plaintiffs’ case is that California tenure laws do not provide adequate time to determine a teacher’s effectiveness. Chetty agreed that 16 months is insufficient and is ultimately detrimental to students. He went on to testify that teacher layoffs based on seniority also pose harmful effects on students, and are even more pronounced with minority and low income students.

Using a series of graphs from his own research, he showed the court how he determined that students test scores improve with an effective teacher and suffer with an ineffective teacher.

He explained that his research also takes into account external forces that might influence academic success, but nothing, he said, predicts “future success” more than effective teachers.

They’re even more important than smaller class size, he said, shooting a hole in a favorite theory of teacher unions. Given a choice between a smaller class size or one quality teacher, “I’d rather choose the higher quality teacher,” he said.

Earlier in the day, John Deasy, Superintendent of LA Unified, wrapped up his testimony after three days on the witness stand. Looking tired and sometimes exasperated, he appeared as if he were being held after class for detention.

After some confusion over exhibits, Supervising Deputy Attorney General Susan Carson continued with her cross examination and questioned the witness about the dismissal and seniority laws the plaintiffs are challenging.

Attacking a key component of the plaintiff’s case, the defense tried tirelessly to show that the laws don’t prevent LA Unified from assigning more experienced teachers to high poverty areas when vacancies are available.

But Deasy testified that the reduction-in-force statute does affect the assignment of teachers. When asked if a grossly ineffective teacher was ever intentionally assigned to a high poverty school, the educator stated “Regrettably, yes.”

The morning session was cut short. Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu called for a recess after the court reporter had to stop. And, it wasn’t a question of tired fingers. She lost her internet connection.

Villaraigosa makes his case for Vergara, outside the courtroom

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Mark Harris

<<Antonio Villaraigosa, in support of Vergara plaintiffs

Legal battles aren’t only waged in the courtroom; they’re also hard fought in the court of public opinion.

As testimony in the landmark case, Vegara vs. California, resumed today inside a state superior court, another star witness took the stand — more accurately, the mic — outside the courtroom. Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held a press conference, expressing his support for the nine student plaintiffs challenging state statutes they contend violate their constitutionally protected right to a quality education.

The defendants — California Teachers Association (CTA) and California Federation of Teachers (CFT) and the state — are arguing that they do not.

The former mayor said he felt compelled to address the important issues in the lawsuit. He stated emphatically that every student has a fundamental right to a quality education. Adding a personal note, he said his success in life came in large part from effective teachers, who motivated him.

Villaraigosa suggested that the current seniority and tenure rules are undermining the state’s public educational system.

“There is virtually no profession where almost every employment decision is based on seniority or how long you’ve been on the job and not how effective you are,” he said, adding, “The American dream is held up for everyone and the path to that dream has always been a great public school education and many of our kids just don’t have that.”

Back inside, it was more charts, exhibits and documents as the plaintiffs’ key expert, Harvard economics professor, Raj Chetty, continued to drive home the point that effective teachers have a measurable impact on student learning, long-term success and ultimate earning capacity.

When questioned by plaintiffs’ attorney Ted Boutrous about the current tenure and seniority laws, Chetty testified that they impose a harmful impact on students, saying, “We should be doing everything we can to keep superstar teachers in the classroom.”

On cross examination, the defense relentlessly tried to undercut the plaintiff’s case by pointing out weaknesses in Chetty’s findings. But going up against the formidable witness, and making sense of the avalanche of empirical evidence, was no easy task. At times, defense attorney James Finberg left both the court and witness confused.

The defense tried to recover by showing that Chetty’s own research suggested that large school districts across California ranked in top quarter across the nation, which showed that students’ fundamental right to a quality education — the heart of the case — has not been violated.

From the theoretical to the practical, plaintiffs’ lawyers next examined Larrisa Adam, a 20-year veteran of the Oakland school system as a teacher and administrator and now principal of Ascend Elementary School, an Oakland charter school. She testified that an ineffective teacher is harmful, and even more so in low income communities where students don’t have access to resources out of school.

She echoed previous testimony from LA Superintendent John Deasy and Chetty, that the seniority does not necessarily reflect effectiveness, and that the tenure laws don’t provide enough time to fairly judge a teacher’s potential.

“I honestly have doubt about all second-year teachers,” Adam said, adding, “I would much rather have more time to decide if someone will be an effective teacher.

More ‘ineffective teacher’ testimony, even without Vergara

Posted on January 31, 2014 by Mark Harris

<<Troy Christmas, The Broad Residency Class of 2004-2006, testifying in the Vergara trial.

After the first week of the groundbreaking trial Vergara vs. California in a California superior court, lawyers and witnesses talked a lot about ineffective teachers, arcane rules for dismissing them and how much money it costs. One thing they didn’t talk about was Beatriz Vergara.

The lawsuit in her name — she’s an LA Unified 10th grader — centers on five statutes written into the California constitution, which she and eight other students claim protect ineffective teachers, thereby violating their constitutional right to a quality education. The defendants are the California Teachers Association (CTA), the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), and the state, and they claim otherwise.

So far, testimony in the downtown LA courtroom hasn’t linked any of the laws directly to Vergara and her co-plaintiffs, but that was intentional, Marcellus McRae, a Vergara attorney who said in an interview that the plaintiffs are creating a mosaic, using early testimony to show similar problems and issues statewide with the statutes under challenge.

“It’s not a rifle, one-shot approach,” he said, rather it involves building on cumulative evidence.

So on Christmas day — today — plaintiffs used the abbreviated session to offer even more testimony about the contested rules. The court adjourned for the day at noon.

The fourth witness called was Troy Christmas, a lawyer and Director of Labor Management and Employee Relations for the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). As its lead negotiator, he oversees all labor contracts, grievances, and arbitrations for the school district.

McRae questioned Christmas on matters addressed by earlier witnesses, about the length of time and costs associated with removing ineffective teachers from a classroom. Christmas told the court that the process can take on average two-to-five years and involves a number of steps with a cost reaching as much as $100,000, sometimes even more.

Christmas agreed that the high costs impact a decision to pursue a dismissal, and he went on to testify that the risk of potentially expensive lawsuits often results in settlement agreements, sometimes leaving ineffective teachers in front of the chalkboard.

During his nine-and-half years with OUSD, Christmas indicated there have been only a handful of teachers dismissed.

Christmas is expected to continue on Monday, with cross-examination.

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Other coverage:

California Kids Go to Court to Demand a Good Education

Wall Street Journal - ‎Jan 28, 2014‎

I am among the lawyers representing nine brave schoolchildren, ages 7 to 17, in Vergara v. California. Our arguments are premised on what the California Supreme Court said more than 40 years ago: that education is "the lifeline of both the individual and ...

 

Vergara v. California: Do state laws protect teacher jobs over students? (+video)

Christian Science Monitor - ‎Jan 28, 2014‎

Kareen Wynter reports from downtown Los Angeles for the KTLA 5 News at 1 on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014. Tuesday is the second day of testimony in Vergara v. California, originally filed in May 2012 on behalf of nine public school students from across the state.

 

Vergara trial set to begin: major test for CA teachers

LA School Report - ‎Jan 24, 2014‎

Teachers' Jobs vs Students' Rights - Vergara Trial A lawsuit that could dramatically change how California public schools deal with ineffective teachers gets underway Monday in a California Superior Court for Los Angeles County, where LA Unified ...

Education Is the Great Equalizer

Huffington Post - ‎Jan 28, 2014‎

That is why I am closely following a lawsuit currently making its way through the courts in California. Vergara v. California has been filed on behalf of nine public school students, and it is not a case that tinkers around the edges of education reform.

Silicon Valley-Backed Students Aim to Expel Bad Teachers

Businessweek - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

The measure, which helped public schools avoid $6 billion in funding cuts, has done more than anything else to stabilize public education in California, Pechthalt said. The case is Vergara v. State of California, BC484642, Los Angeles County Superior Court ...

California students file suit aimed at tenure law

Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - ‎Jan 28, 2014‎

Dr. John E. Deasy, the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District testifies Monday Jan. 27, 2014, in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on the opening day of Vergara v. The State of California. (AP Photo/Monica Almeida, Pool).

California students file suit aimed at teacher tenure law

MassLive.com - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

Dr. John E. Deasy, the Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District testifies Monday Jan. 27, 2014, in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County on the opening day of Vergara v. The State of California. The lawsuit was filed in May 2012 on behalf ...

Battle over teacher tenure heads to LA court

KFMB News 8 - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - A landmark education case makes its way to a Los Angeles courtroom arguing how to weed out bad teachers by bringing the battle over tenure to a judge. Monday was the first day of trial for Vergara v. California that calls attention to ...

Commentary: An effective teacher in every California classroom

LA School Report - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

Vergara v. California has the potential to shake up the broken status quo, modernize the state's unfair and outdated education code, and bring California closer to fulfilling the constitutional guarantee of educational equality. The question is simple: does every ...

Lawsuit Challenges Job Protections for Teachers

NBC Southern California - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

Their attorneys will argue that California's code regarding tenure, seniority and dismissal of teachers does not ensure access to adequate education and violates the U.S. Constitution. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge will hear arguments from attorneys who filed the lawsuit on behalf of nine students -- including Los Angeles Unified School District 10th-grader Beatriz Vergara -- and their families. Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. John Deasy will be among the witnesses called by the plaintiffs, ...

California Students Get Their Day in Court: Groundbreaking Education Equality ...

Sacramento Bee - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2014 -- /PRNewswire/ -- Trial begins today in the highly anticipated education equality lawsuit, Vergara v. California. The groundbreaking lawsuit, filed in May 2012 on behalf of nine public school students from across California, ...

California's Teacher Tenure System On Trial

Neon Tommy - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

At its core the suit, Vergara v. California, poses the question: should it be easier for a public school to fire teachers? The lawsuit challenges five statutes of California's tenure law including whether teachers should even be eligible for tenure after just 18 months ...

Contours of Calif. Teacher-Protection Suit Take Shape

Education Week News (blog) - ‎Jan 28, 2014‎

Here's a rundown of some of the other issues that caught the attention of my little gray cells. Legal standing: Vergara v. California is not a class-action suit. In interviews, attorneys for the plaintiffs said that the nine K-12 students have the right to bring the suit ...

Our students deserve their day in court: Guest commentary

Los Angeles Daily News - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

Today the groundbreaking education reform lawsuit — Vergara v. California — finally proceeds to trial. Filed on behalf of nine California public school students, this lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the state's teacher dismissal and seniority system.

High-Profile California Lawsuit on Teacher Protections Begins

Education Week News (blog) - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

The lawsuit, Vergara v. California, stands to have implications far beyond the Golden State. It's a touchstone for some of the most heated debates in K-12 education, particularly how to promote effective teaching—and whether policies relating to teacher ...

Trial begins over California state teacher protections

89.3 KPCC (blog) - ‎Jan 28, 2014‎

Lawyer Marcellus McRae stands with plaintiffs in the Vergara v. State of California trial. The public school students are ... The lawsuit that led to the trial, Vergara versus State of California, was filed on behalf of nine public school students who say their constitutional right to an adequate education was violated because teacher job protections such as permanent status after 18 months, seniority based layoffs, and a complicated dismissal process protect bad teachers. Plaintiff lawyer Marcellus McRae said Deasy did a ...

OTHER VIEWS: Court will give teacher issues some scrutiny

Bakersfield Californian - ‎Jan 26, 2014‎

Starting today in Los Angeles Superior Court, a judge will hear Vergara v. California. The plaintiffs are nine children, including Daniella Martinez, a 12-year-old in San Jose's Alum Rock School District who says she couldn't read by the third grade because her ...

Lawsuit takes on California tenure

GOPUSA - ‎Jan 28, 2014‎

Vergara versus California, filed on behalf of nine students and their families, seeks to revamp a dismissal process that the plaintiffs say is too costly and time consuming, lengthen the time it takes for instructors to gain tenure and dismantle the "last hired, first fired" ... Olson argued Bush v. Gore, over the contested 2000 presidential election, before the U.S. Supreme Court. Along with Boutrous, Olson also represented activists who sought to overturn California's ban on gay marriage. The plaintiffs and their attorneys ...

Lawsuit challenges teacher tenure

Register Pajaronian - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

The lawsuit, Vergara v. California, was filed in May 2012 on behalf of nine public school students from across California, who say the current system violates the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing a good education. The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Lawsuit wrongly targets teachers: Guest commentary

Los Angeles Daily News - ‎Jan 24, 2014‎

Wrongly arguing that such rights “deprive students of their fundamental right to education,” Vergara v. California attacks as unconstitutional current teacher dismissal statutes — statutes which grant teachers due process rights after a rigorous probationary ...

David Welch: Trial could shake up schools for the better

OCRegister (subscription) - ‎Jan 27, 2014‎

The trial, estimated to last 30 days, for our first case, Vergara v. California, is scheduled to begin Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The ultimate outcome of the case could change the course of public education in California and, possibly, in the nation.