Sunday, November 30, 2008

The news that didn’t fit from Nov. 30th

OUT-OF-STATE COLLEGES BOOST RECRUITING EFFORTS IN CALIFORNIA

As the population of high school graduates declines nationwide, Midwest and East Coast colleges are hoping to attract California students to keep their enrollment numbers steady.

LAUSD PAYROLL FIASCO (Thankfully) COMES TO AN END

…though hearing about it never will!

November 27, 2008 -- A costly, 20-month saga of futility and frustration came to a formal close Wednesday when the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it had settled a dispute with the contractor that installed its payroll system, which overpaid and underpaid tens of thousands of teachers and other employees by tens of millions of dollars.

The district said the company it had hired, Deloitte Consulting, agreed to pay $8.25 million and forgive $7 million to $10 million in unpaid invoices, for a total settlement that was roughly half the amount the district said it spent to fix the rogue system. In addition to those costs, the district sustained many millions of dollars in other losses related to the payroll problems.

“BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO QUALITY PRESCHOOL”: live satellite conference and national strategy session – Wednesday morning Dec 1)

Registration is free!

Los Angeles
KCET Studio
Wednesday, December 10 at
9:30 AM

1.3 MILLION CALIFORNIA KIDS LACK HEALTH INSURANCE

November 25, 2008 -- The nation has 8.6 million children who lack public or private health insurance and 1.3 million of them are in California, Families USA, a Washington-based advocate for expanded health access, says in a report based on new census data.

California, the nation's most populous state, is just behind Texas in the numbered of medically uninsured children, Families USA says, and at 12.5 percent has the nation's 12th highest rate. Texas is No. 1 at 20.5 percent.

PARENTS PROTEST OVER LACK OF SCHOOL LIBRARY

Castelar Elementary in Los Angeles has been without a library since 2002, forcing students to walk to the nearest public library every time they need to use one.

In the 1970s, the school's small library and auditorium were combined to create a larger Los Angeles City Public Library. It served both the community and the school well until 2002. That's when the public library was moved to a brand new facility on the corner of Hill and Ord streets in L.A.'s Chinatown.

The district was supposed to replace the school's library, but the project has been tied up in the design phase, and now the budget has doubled

COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER OUSTED + LOS ANGELES COUNTY JUVENILE PROBATION CAMPS MAY TRY CHARTER SCHOOLS

Dissatisfied with the students' performance, county supervisors vote to create three charters within the system and dismiss school board member. Camp teachers question whether the shift would bring improvement in students' skills. smf questions whether this is constitutional …or legal.

MAYOR’S PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL CANCELS DUAL-IMMERSION LANGUAGE PROGRAM AT WATTS SCHOOL

Parents and teachers protest Ritter Elementary elimination of dual-language program

November 24, 2008 - Teachers and parents from Ritter Elementary School will demonstrate outside the school on Tuesday November 25 at 1:30 p.m., to protest the elimination of their Dual Language Program.

For the last 4 years Ritter has participated in a Dual Language Program in which Spanish speaking and English speaking children learn together being taught all of their subjects in both languages. National studies have revealed that children who participate in dual language program substantially outscore their fellow students on state tests.

Ritter Elementary is one of the 10 schools in the mayor's partnership. One of the promises of the Partnership was a commitment to collaborating with parents and teachers in organizing the schools' curriculum and governance. Parents complain that this promise was not kept when the program was suspended without notification of parents.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

OUT-OF-STATE COLLEGES BOOST RECRUITING EFFORTS IN CALIFORNIA

As the population of high school graduates declines nationwide, Midwest and East Coast colleges are hoping to attract California students to keep their enrollment numbers steady.

College recruiting

Recruiter Dory Streett holds up a map of Europe as she explains Colby College's study abroad program to high school seniors Rigoberto Vargas, Julio Suastegui and Hector Rios, from left. Colby College, a small liberal-arts school in Maine, and several other small colleges held a mini-college fair last month at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

 

By Larry Gordon | LA Times Staff Writer

November 29, 2008  -- Dory Streett didn't beat around the bush when she spoke to students recently at a high school near downtown Los Angeles about Colby College, a liberal arts school in Maine. It's 3,000 miles from home, there's snow for long stretches and its community of Waterville has only 16,000 residents.

"It's almost as far as you can get," the recruiter told a dozen seniors at Gertz-Ressler High School. The photos she showed of Colby's bucolic campus did seem a galaxy away to many of the mainly low-income students whose school sits beside the Santa Monica Freeway.

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    But Streett, who also emphasized Colby's small classes and generous financial aid, urged students to consider a college outside Southern California: "It's for kids who want something different . . . who know they will be in urban areas most of their lives and want to try something different for four years."

    It's a message heard more often in California these days, as East Coast and Midwest colleges face an anticipated drop in their local applicant pools and cast a wider net for prospective students.

    After a decade of campus-crowding growth, the size of the nation's high school graduating class has begun to decline with this year's seniors, and is projected to drop 4.5% by 2014. Then, modest growth is expected to resume.

    The change, however, is uneven across the country, with the deepest dips -- up to 20% over the next few years -- forecast for New England and Upper Midwest states, home to numerous colleges.

    Schools from those regions are boosting recruiting in California and other populous states, including Texas, Florida and Arizona, and looking for more students overseas, especially from China and India.

    The population trend "certainly concerns schools in the Midwest and the Northeast. And it will force many . . . to start recruiting outside of their traditional regions," said Tony Pals, a spokesman for the National Assn. of Independent Colleges and Universities.

    Another trend may further reduce the collegegoing population, experts say. A growing portion of U.S. high school graduates are Latinos, who traditionally have lower rates of college attendance than whites. Unless that changes, the drop in potential freshmen may be even steeper.

    Uncertainty about the economy and families' abilities to pay also is forcing colleges, especially private ones, to scramble to make sure enough qualified students apply.

    "Postsecondary institutions accustomed to filling entering classes with relative ease will likely face greater competition for fewer traditional-age students," declared an influential report, "Knocking at the College Door," released this year by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

    Felema Yemane, a senior at Los Angeles' Pilgrim School, says she is nervous about applying to college but hopes the demographic decline will boost her chances.

    "Just the fact that it's a little bit smaller gives us a little more chance," said Yemane, who is applying to private and public schools on the East Coast and in California.

    Admissions officials say the change is unlikely to make it easier to get accepted by the most prestigious universities, such as Harvard and Princeton, which reject 90 percent of applicants. Nevertheless, those schools say they want to keep up their West Coast recruiting and let potential students know of the sweetened financial-aid deals wealthy colleges can offer.

    "I think we are all very aware of the demographics and the changing nature of our applicant pool," said Janet Lavin Rapelye, dean of admissions at Princeton.

    But for the next few years, students applying to colleges a notch below the top tier may find it a bit easier to land a spot.

    Local high school counselors say they are hearing from more schools around the country that want to send representatives. "We are finding schools recruiting in California that we haven't seen in the past," said Helene Kunkel, a college advisor at Palisades Charter High School.

    However, Kunkel said Southern Californians may not be attracted to those campuses if they are far away or lack a familiar brand name. "They do have an uphill battle with some of the kids here," she said.

    Even so, this year for the first time, Central College in Iowa and Quinnipiac University in Connecticut are sending envoys to Southern California. Others, including Northeastern University in Boston and the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York, have established California offices or placed full-time recruiters here.

    Still others, including the University of Vermont, the University of Connecticut, Michigan's Kalamazoo College and Minnesota's College of St. Benedict-St. John's University are coming more often and visiting more schools.

    Kalamazoo is boosting recruiting outside the Midwest because of demographics and because Michigan's economic decline makes it difficult for some local families to attend, said Eric Staab, dean of admissions. "It is no longer a time to be a regional college," he said.

    The University of Connecticut, where a third of undergraduates are out-of-staters, has sharply increased the time its recruiters spend in California. "As we looked at that receding tide, we decided to have a strategy in place and build our name brand," said Lee Melvin, director of undergraduate admissions.

    Central College in Iowa anticipates what admissions dean Carol Williamson calls "incredibly tight competition" from other Iowa schools for students. So she is sending a representative to California for two weeks this fall and again in the spring.

    Williamson concedes that Iowa might be an unusual spot for a Los Angeles student, but said the school wants young people who are "willing to step outside their normal box and say, 'I want a different experience.' "

    According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of high school graduates in the U.S. peaked this spring with about 3.35 million "Echo Boom" youngsters, offspring of Baby Boomers. The number is projected to drop by about 18,000 next spring and continue to decline for the next five years.

    New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania are projected to have significant dips while states such as Texas, Florida and Arizona are slated for growth.

    California is in a universe of its own. The "College Door" report estimates that the number of California students graduating from high school peaked at 423,615 in 2008. The state projects a slight decrease for 2009 and a nearly 7% decline by 2017.

    However, California's population of young people will remain the largest by far -- about double that of Florida and New York -- and will continue to draw recruiters.

    That's one reason Colby College, which enrolls half its 1,870 students from New England, sent Streett to California this fall to visit more than 40 schools in two weeks. At a college fair last month at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, she stood shoulder-to-shoulder with representatives of other East Coast colleges, including Middlebury, Mount Holyoke and Bates.

    Southern California is a good place to look for ethnic and geographic diversity, Streett told the Gertz-Ressler students, who were mainly Latino and black. "We want that," she said. "That is very attractive to us and that's why we spend a couple weeks out here."

    That was good news to Carlos Ramos, a Gertz-Ressler senior who attended recent presentations by several East Coast schools and expects to apply to some of them. Ramos, 17, said he heard a clear message from the out-of-state colleges:

    "They definitely want L.A. kids to be there," he said.

    Friday, November 28, 2008

    PUC TO DECIDE ON SAFETY OF EXPO LINE CROSSINGS AT DORSEY HIGH SCHOOL & FOSHAY LEARNING CENTER

    Next week the PUC plans to consider whether Expo Line planners have taken adequate steps to protect students at two campuses along the route.

    By Steve Hymon | From the Los Angeles Times


    November 28, 2008 - A state authority is set to decide next week whether transportation planners have done enough to make the Expo Line safe as it passes two South Los Angeles schools.

    Some residents and school officials want the rail line to either be put underground or on a bridge near one or both schools.

    Builders of the $862-million line say that would unnecessarily drive up costs and probably delay a transit system that could open by 2010 and provide an alternative to the Westside's traffic congestion.

    The rail line follows a long-dormant right-of-way along Exposition Boulevard and will eventually connect downtown Los Angeles, USC, South Los Angeles, Culver City -- and one day Santa Monica.

    But the tracks are slated to run next to the Foshay Learning Center and Dorsey High School.

    The Exposition Line Construction Authority, the agency created to build the project, wants to set up rail crossings at street level outside the schools. Community activists and the Los Angeles Unified School District contend that children will be at risk of being run over or killed if the street level crossings are allowed.

    On Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to take up the matter. The five-member commission has two decisions to make: whether to allow the tracks to cross Farmdale Avenue outside Dorsey and whether to allow the tracks to cross atop an existing pedestrian tunnel next to Foshay.

    Last month, a commission-appointed judge suggested an alternative. Judge Kenneth L. Koss recommended that pedestrian bridges be built over the tracks next to both schools and that Farmdale Avenue be closed to vehicle traffic at the tracks. The commission now has the final say.

    All sides have expressed concern with the pedestrian bridges, saying that it's not wise to put that many students in such a small space. Transit officials still want to build the street-level rail crossings -- contending that they're safe.

    "They're going to end up with a project that hits people," said Damien Goodmon, who is leading the community effort on behalf of the Fix Expo Campaign.

    Goodmon said that building trains at street level is not only dangerous, but also ties up traffic and forces officials to run trains so slowly that people won't want to take them.

    Many proponents of the train say Goodmon and others have exaggerated the street-crossing dangers and created a "folklore" in South Los Angeles about the Expo Line.

    "They're saying we're going to build something that kills kids," said Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, a member of the construction authority's board. "It's not something in the realm of possibility. They don't have the substance to carry their own arguments."

    Expo Line officials say they will take pains to make the train safe. Construction authority chief Rick Thorpe said the agency would slow trains from 55 mph to 10 mph outside Dorsey immediately before and after school hours and also post security guards on both sides of the crossing gates to keep students from ducking under and dashing across the tracks before trains pass.

    That's not enough, say safety consultants for the school district and residents. The problem, in short: Children will be children.

    "Kids' risk perception at different age brackets is different than adults'," said Najmedin Meshkati, a USC professor of civil engineering who studies causes of transportation accidents. "They are more prone to risk."

    School officials put it this way in a legal brief to the Public Utilities Commission: "Under crowded conditions, as would be expected at the at-grade crossing, students frequently misbehave, pushing other students and inciting fights."

    School officials and advocates point to the fact that the Expo Line already plans to have four major bridges and a tunnel separating the tracks from streets along its route. The area near Dorsey and Foshay -- made up predominantly of Latinos and African Americans -- deserves the same safety features that are being built in other parts of South Los Angeles and in Culver City, they say.

    Over the last two years the cost for the Expo Line has risen from $640 million to $862 million. Goodmon and school officials say that the line has been able to cope with rising costs, proving that more money can be found when needed.

    Thorpe said that bridges and the tunnel were built to mitigate traffic concerns on the largest streets along the Expo Line route. Environmental study of the pedestrian bridges, rail bridges or tunnels and rerouting traffic off Farmdale could mean that the rest of the line would sit completed while a year or more is spent replanning the sections of track near the schools.

    Light rail lines that run at street level have become increasingly popular in the United States because they are cheaper to build than subways. Trains operating down the middle of streets are found in parts of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver and Portland.

    Although most operate without incident, light rail lines in the United States killed 60 people in collisions between 2002 and 2006, according to the Federal Transit Administration.

    Critics of the Expo Line plan also say safety problems along the Blue Line light rail between Los Angeles and Long Beach suggest they have reason to be concerned about street-grade trains.

    The Blue Line has killed 26 people in vehicles and 65 pedestrians since opening in 1990, and there have been more pedestrian deaths in the last five years than in the Blue Line's first five years. Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say that 20 of the pedestrian deaths were suicides.

    MTA officials say that safety features have been added over the years, and they're working to install more equipment to keep people off the tracks. They also say that only one pedestrian death has occurred on the Gold Line, which was built to higher safety standards than the Blue Line, since its 2003 debut. They say that death was a suicide.

    "If everybody listens to what we tell them to do, you won't have one fatality anywhere," said Abdul Zohbi, the system safety manager for the MTA. "Any system is as safe as users make it."

    No matter how the PUC rules, legal action may follow. Even the planned second phase of the Expo Line, from Culver City to Santa Monica, has generated controversy.

    A Westside group called Neighbors for Smart Rail has helped South Los Angeles residents with the Dorsey and Foshay issues.

    The goal, members say, is to set a precedent should the second phase of the Expo Line be routed on an existing rail right-of-way near the Westside Pavilion.

    If so, they want the train to go over or under busy streets for traffic and safety reasons. Another group, Light Rail for Cheviot, suggests that the other group doesn't want the train going through its neighborhood and is trying to drive up the costs.

    Officials suggest that the real problem with the Expo Line is unrealistic expectations.

    "Transportation is always a complex and difficult thing to do, and money always comes in fits and starts," said Los Angeles City Councilwoman Jan Perry, a member of the Construction Authority Board. "It's easy to talk about the perfect approach. But that will not happen."

    Thursday, November 27, 2008

    LAUSD PAYROLL FIASCO (THANKFULLY) COMES TO AN END

    …though hearing about it never will!

    Mitchell Landsberg | LA Times

    November 27, 2008 -- A costly, 20-month saga of futility and frustration came to a formal close Wednesday when the Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it had settled a dispute with the contractor that installed its payroll system, which overpaid and underpaid tens of thousands of teachers and other employees by tens of millions of dollars.

    The district said the company it had hired, Deloitte Consulting, agreed to pay $8.25 million and forgive $7 million to $10 million in unpaid invoices, for a total settlement that was roughly half the amount the district said it spent to fix the rogue system. In addition to those costs, the district sustained many millions of dollars in other losses related to the payroll problems.

    The meltdown inconvenienced and infuriated L.A. Unified employees, bogged down new Supt. David L. Brewer and -- fairly or not -- contributed to the district's reputation for managerial blundering.

    Read the rest of the story here.

    Wednesday, November 26, 2008

    “BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS TO QUALITY PRESCHOOL”: live satellite conference and national strategy session – Wednesday morning Dec 1o

    November 26, 2008

    Dear Friend,

    Please join us on Wednesday, December 10 for Pre-K Now's live satellite conference and national strategy session, "Breaking Down Barriers to Quality Pre-K."

    Registration is free! Click here to find the viewing site nearest you and register, or look at the list of California sites below.

    The broadcast will feature success stories from communities where pre-k advocates are overcoming common implementation challenges that can impact the quality of programs. Here are just some of the lessons and activities you can expect from the conference:

    • how local public schools and community-based providers have fostered the collaboration needed for a diverse or mixed delivery system;
    • how states have built professional development systems that help all pre-k teachers improve their skills;
    • how teachers and administrators have employed innovative tactics to better engage families in pre-k programs; and
    • how we can make progress on these and other fronts during these tough times for our economy and government budgets.

    After the national conference broadcast there will also be some time to learn about preschool policy in California, connect with pre-k supporters in your community and discuss action steps to break down barriers to high-quality preschool in our state.

    For questions and information contact: Araceli Sandoval, Deputy Field Director at (323) 254-1416 or asandoval@preschoolcalifornia.org.

    We look forward to seeing you on December 10th!

    California Viewing Sites

    To register or find more event details about a viewing site near you, visit Pre-K Now.

    Los Angeles
    KCET Studio
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:30 AM

    also

    Camarillo
    Ventura County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

    El Centro
    Imperial County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:00 AM

    Fairfield
    Solano County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

    Merced
    Merced County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:45 AM

    National City
    South County Regional Education Center
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:00 AM

    Ontario
    HMC Architects Office
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:00 AM

    Pleasant Hill
    Contra Costa County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

    Redding
    Shasta County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM 

    Redwood City
    San Mateo County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:30 AM - 12:45 PM

    Sacramento
    Sacramento County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

    San Bernardino
    San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Office
    Wednesday, December 10 at 12:00 PM

    San Diego
    San Diego County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:00 AM

    San Francisco
    City College of San Francisco
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:30am - 11:45am

    San Jose
    FIRST 5 Santa Clara County
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

    San Luis Obispo
    San Luis Obispo County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

    San Marcos
    North County Regional Technology Center
    Wednesday, December 10 at 9:00 AM

    Stockton
    San Joaquin County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

    Ukiah
    Mendocino County Office of Education
    Wednesday, December 10 at 10:00 AM

     


    Visit the web address below to tell your friends about the Pre-K Now satellite conference.
    http://ga3.org/join-forward.html?domain=psc&r=mpS-OQ4qhIK6 Tell-a-friend!

    If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up for Preschool California Updates.

    Tuesday, November 25, 2008

    1.3 MILLION CALIFORNIA KIDS LACK HEALTH INSURANCE

    SacBee CapitolAlert: California by the Numbers | Posted by Dan Walters

    November 25, 2008 -- The nation has 8.6 million children who lack public or private health insurance and 1.3 million of them are in California, Families USA, a Washington-based advocate for expanded health access, says in a report based on new census data.

    California, the nation's most populous state, is just behind Texas in the numbered of medically uninsured children, Families USA says, and at 12.5 percent has the nation's 12th highest rate. Texas is No. 1 at 20.5 percent.

    Families USA, confirming previous reports, says that 88.2 percent of uninsured children come from families with at least one working adult. Families without earned income usually qualify for one of the public medical plans such as Medi-imageCal. It's been estimated that more than 6 million of the state's 38 million residents lack health insurance.

    Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tried and failed to gain legislative approval of a plan to cover virtually all of the state's uninsured residents.

     

    The full Families USA report is available here.

    Phoebe Smolin, a senior at Hamilton High School, writes A LETTER TO THE COLLEGE BOARD

    from the LATimes Homeroom Blog

    November 25, 2008

    Dear College Board,

    It’s over. My long-running battle with you and the numbers you seek to define me by is finished. As my final act of surrender, I seek to prove, once and for all, that your tests say nothing about me or any creative student who submits to them.

    First of all, to assuage my terrible relationship with math, every day for one month last year I went to my math teacher at six o’clock in the morning to mend it. I go to one of the top and most intense magnet schools in Los Angeles, take challenging classes, and am in the top 10% of my class. I read because I love to read, not because I’m forced to. I respect my teachers and I am absolutely addicted to learning. I am in multiple clubs and hold several leadership positions. I voluntarily wake up early and stay out late on Saturdays to protest for equal rights. I do community service around my city and around the world. I’m highly curious about everything. I play three instruments and write my own music. I have amazing friends from multitudes of cultural backgrounds and I am simply and enthusiastically passionate about living — qualities that don’t amount to a College Board number.

    High school trains us to find our own voices, to figure out in our own innovative ways how to make a difference. Colleges advertise themselves as wanting to accept individuals willing to challenge themselves and be involved in their communities. How, then, does it make sense to judge us each by the same exact test?

    College Board, I have taken your SAT twice, both times receiving the same score. The first time, I spent a fortune for a tutor, the second, I didn’t. Now, my results on that test can very possibly negate my exceedingly hard work and great grades I’ve earned over the last four years. They have the possibility of diminishing evidence of the radiating passion I have for learning and living. My results on this money-hungry test will tell the institutions I want to attend that I am not good enough; that I am not “prepared for college,” as you so kindly script in your introduction to the test, even though I am positive I will do just as well or even better than anyone who is paired with a higher set of numbers than mine, and my teachers would agree.

    I understand that money is an issue to you. But I feel that it’s becoming the sole reason you administer this test. Today, for example, I wrote the College Board to ask a question about one of my Subject Test scores. In response, I was called a “customer” — not a student, not a person, but a customer. If that is not enough evidence for the nature of this test, then I don’t know what is.

    Your numbers do not reveal a person who wants every opportunity to learn, to contribute and to change the world. While all other aspects of my life assure me of my abilities, your test negates them. For $45, you invalidate my commitment of hard work and you do the same for millions of high school students around the world who contribute great things but are not wired to do well on your tests. So, College Board, I hope that you hear me and those I speak for. Rather than treat us as customers who fill your coffers, regard us as the inspired students you claim to cultivate.
    Thank you for listening and I hope to hear from you soon.

    Sincerely,
    Phoebe Smolin

     

    Phoebe Smolin, a senior at Hamilton High School, is a mixture of dedicated student and laid-back human being. When in school, she is active in all of her classes as well as involved in various clubs including Youth Task Force and Nevians. She also writes for Hamilton’s literary journal. Outside of school, she takes part in political protests, plays various instruments, takes pictures, travels, and, of course, writes for The Homeroom.

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    PARENTS PROTEST OVER LACK OF SCHOOL LIBRARY

    Parents Protest Over Lack of School Library

    KNBC-TV.com | Updated 12:48 PM PST, Mon, Nov 24, 2008

    Getty Images

    Castelar Elementary in Los Angeles has been without a library since 2002, forcing students to walk to the nearest public library every time they need to use one.

    SEE VIDEO HERE

    In the 1970s, the school's small library and auditorium were combined to create a larger Los Angeles City Public Library. It served both the community and the school well until 2002. That's when the public library was moved to a brand new facility on the corner of Hill and Ord streets in L.A.'s Chinatown.

    The district was supposed to replace the school's library, but the project has been tied up in the design phase, and now the budget has doubled. Parents have been organizing a protest for the next LAUSD Board meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The district heard about the planned protest and scheduled a last-minute meeting at the school on Friday, Nov. 21. Parents who are not satisfied planned to attend the Nov. 25 school board meeting.

    Monday, November 24, 2008

    COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER OUSTED + LOS ANGELES COUNTY JUVENILE PROBATION CAMPS MAY TRY CHARTER SCHOOLS

     

     STOP PRESS: The following email is from former LA County Board of Education Member Sophia Waugh, who was presumably ousted last Tuesday as part of what appears to be the attempted charter takeover of County Juvenile Court Schools.

    November 24th, 2008

    Dear Friends and Colleagues,

    This letter is sent with sad news and deep disappointment that my 14 ½ years on the L.A County Board of Education came to an abrupt end by action taken in closed session last Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

    This action was brought forward by Supervisor Antonovich (who appointed me).

    Unfortunately, Supervisor Antonovich never gave me the opportunity to speak with him about his concerns despite my requests to do so or to the Board of Supervisors. Needless to say, I felt this was unfair, shocking and very hurtful after serving as his appointee for 14 ½ years.

    Whatever the issues were I wanted to resolve them with him personally.

    There are few things that I particularly want my friends and colleagues to know how proud I am for the things I have accomplished the past 14 1/2 years.

    First, I have served on state-wide leadership positions with California County Boards of Education(CCBE)and California School Boards Association(CSBA). I have effectively networked linking LACOE with school district board members.

    My tireless efforts encouraging collaboration between parents, principals, administration and probation has been successful. I have made myself available to all our LACOE staff, understanding our resources and programs, attended many meetings, visiting our community schools, special education schools, camps and halls often as possible.

    I am proud of the role I played in the chartering of PTA models in our community schools, camps and halls.

    We used the most successful avenue to connect our parents back to their children education and school.

    My commitment to our Head Start parents has been to empower them to be a voice for their children, to ensure a strong Head Start program and to a successful transition for their children into K-12 education. I have encouraged Head Start parents to further their education so they can be self-sufficient and a model for their children.

    Most important of all, I am thankful having had the opportunity to work with each of you. As two of my colleagues said to me; “as one door closes, another is waiting for me to open”. I am sure there are other greater challenges awaiting me and I look at this as another opportunity to serve.

    My tenure on the LACOE Board has been exemplary and gratifying.

    To each and everyone, thank you so much for your friendship, you will always be remembered.

     

     

    LOS ANGELES COUNTY JUVENILE PROBATION CAMPS MAY TRY CHARTER SCHOOLS

    Dissatisfied with the students' performance, county supervisors vote to create three charters within the system. Camp teachers question whether the shift would bring improvement in students' skills.

    By Molly Hennessy-Fiske | LA Times Staff Writer


    November 24, 2008  - Students held at Camp Joseph Scott, one of 19 juvenile probation camps in Los Angeles County, are some of the toughest to teach.
    Locked in classrooms behind 12-foot fences topped with razor wire, many of the girls sport tattoos with the emblems of some of the region's most infamous gangs. Although most are high-school students, on average they read at a fourth-grade level and have fifth-grade math skills.

    Camp school

    Photos: Camp school

     

    Karen Berns has taught math there for 15 years. Over time, she learned to be vigilant. At the end of each class, Berns collects the girls' pencils. Otherwise, they might use them as weapons.

    "I got my experience from years of teaching with these kids," said Berns, 55, who is known as "Granny" to her students. "It takes a long time to get that."

    Now, the veteran teacher's future at the camp is uncertain. Earlier this month, Los Angeles County supervisors -- dissatisfied with teacher performance at the camps -- voted to create charter schools at Camp Scott, which houses about 100 girls, and nearby Camp Kenyon Scudder, which houses about 60.

    Supervisors also approved a charter for boys, possibly at Camp Glenn Rockey in San Dimas, which houses about 80.

    "All of these kids who are in camp now get the same model of education: the cookie-cutter model," Robert Taylor, Los Angeles County probation chief, told supervisors when he presented them with a 35-point plan to improve education at the camps last month.

    But there are many unanswered questions -- including how much the charters will cost to operate and how they will be authorized and staffed. Among the options under consideration for operating the charters: Green Dot, a private company that runs several charters in Los Angeles, and Bonita Unified School District in San Dimas.

    The charters would be the first in the county camp system. Education at the camps is supervised by the county Board of Education and managed by the state-funded Los Angeles County Office of Education. The office employs about 240 teachers, who average about 19 years of experience, according to state records.

    Many teachers at the camps oppose the change, arguing that the switch to charters is an excuse for the county to hire cheaper, less-experienced, nonunion staff.

    "I am proud of the instruction provided," said Darline P. Robles, superintendent of the county education office. "At the heart of these programs is a corps of teachers who are dedicated to making a difference with an incredibly challenging group of students in perhaps the most difficult of learning environments."

    By law, school boards, not county governments, are responsible for authorizing charters. Once a charter is designed, including a proposed budget and staff, by law the board is required to get the signatures of at least half the number of teachers needed to staff the charter. If not enough teachers sign on, the board or county could petition the state for a waiver to start the charter, a move the county probation chief and supervisors are already exploring.

    Supervisor Don Knabe, who backs bringing charter schools to the camps, says administrators and teachers with the county education office have been underperforming for years and need to be challenged.

    "You need to have multiple educational opportunities for these kids," Knabe said.

    On state tests, students scored below those in county-run probation schools in nearby counties. Last year, 21% passed a state high school exit exam in math, compared with 35% in Riverside County and 25% in San Bernardino County. In English exit exams last year, 24% passed, compared with 34% in Riverside and 28% in San Bernardino.

    The most recent state assessment of the L.A. County-run schools, conducted in 2006-07, showed students completed about 5.2 credits a month, which is considered less than sufficient.

    The push to improve education in the camps comes as the county juvenile detention system also faces increased pressure by federal Justice Department officials to improve safety. A scathing report on safety conditions by federal investigators, and a threat by the Justice Department to sue if the county failed to act, spurred the Board of Supervisors last week to announce plans to hire a team of independent monitors for the camps.

    A committee made up of probation and county education office officials is reviewing charter plans this month, starting with the girls school, which could open within six months, Taylor said. The boys charter is not expected to open for a year, he said. Taylor is to report back to the board with a more detailed plan by Dec. 14.

    Although many charter schools teach at-risk and violent youths, few instruct youths who are in detention, according to the California Charter Schools Assn. One that does is Five Keys Charter School, which the San Francisco Sheriff's Department started six years ago. The school says students enrolled there for at least a month increase academic levels by about two grades.

    Some veteran teachers at Los Angeles probation camps say that if a charter school can demonstrate results, they would be willing to make the shift. But they question whether that would happen.

    "We're dealing with a whole new breed of kids. These are gang kids. Tough kids," said Roger Gitlin, a union representative at Camp Scudder who has taught probationers for 18 years and opposes the charters. "Many of them have never even gone to school, kids who are born into a tough situation, and we are supposed to provide some sort of miracle formula."

    Still, Gitlin said: "I understand Mr. Knabe's frustration. He wants results."

     

    ●●smf’s 2¢: embarrassingly. the overwhelming majority of LA County court school students are from LAUSD. 4LAKids is confused by what authority the Board of Supervisors creates these charter schools – that authority resides in the county and state Boards of Education exclusively. This action seems to violate the same constitutional provision violated in LAUSD v. Villaraigosa over AB1381 [STATE CONSTITUTION ARTICLE IX, SECTIONS 5, 6 AND 8 – dealing with the separation of municipal government from school governance.]   

    And who is the charter petitioner?  The parents of the “new” charter schools? …or the teachers at the existing schools?

    MAYOR’S PARTNERSHIP SCHOOL CANCELS DUAL-IMMERSION LANGUAGE PROGRAM AT WATTS SCHOOL

    Parents and teachers protest Ritter Elementary elimination of dual-language program

     

    Published on United Teachers Los Angeles(http://www.utla.net)

     

    November 24, 2008 - Teachers and parents from Ritter Elementary School will demonstrate outside the school on Tuesday November 25 at 1:30 p.m., to protest the elimination of their Dual Language Program.

    For the last 4 years Ritter has participated in a Dual Language Program in which Spanish speaking and English speaking children learn together being taught all of their subjects in both languages. National studies have revealed that children who participate in dual language program substantially outscore their fellow students on state tests.

    Ritter Elementary is one of the 10 schools in the mayor's partnership. One of the promises of the Partnership was a commitment to collaborating with parents and teachers in organizing the schools' curriculum and governance. Parents complain that this promise was not kept when the program was suspended without notification of parents.

    Questions have arisen about the legality of the program cancellation. Under California state law, when the parents of 20 children at a single grade level request an "alternate program" the school must provide it. UTLA believes that parents may have been denied their right to request a waiver. The school is also required to annually notify the parents about their right to choose a program.

    "Dual language programs are invaluable in this global economy," stated A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. "Our concern is for the community and the parents, who want a dual language program and have been denied their legal rights. UTLA believes that our job is to stand up for the students."

    Over 30 schools in LAUSD currently have dual language programs. Other communities are starting new dual language programs. UTLA is committed to standing up for the needs of children, teachers and the community.

    What: Protest to reinstate dual language program at Ritter Elementary
    When: Tuesday, November 25, 1:30 p.m.
    Where: Ritter Elementary 11108 Watts Avenue L.A., 90059

    Sunday, November 23, 2008

    The news that didn’t fit from Nov 23th

    Cortines & Reilly explain it all for you: SPECIAL TELEVISED INFORMATIONAL MEETING ON THE LAUSD BUDGET CRISIS

    Monday, November 24th @ 3:30 PM on KLCS | Channel 58

    check your cable listings

    SUPERINTENDENT DAVID BREWER’S REPORT CARD: It’s The L.A. Times That Fails To Make The Grade

    November 18, 2008 - The Los Angeles Times newspaper has rarely offered a fair and balanced portrayal of the black community. It usually was (is) a strategic player in the witch hunt to depose black leaders, no matter who they were (are). Whether it was former Lt Govenor Mervyn Dymally, the late Mayor Tom Bradley, former Police Chief, Willie Williams or now their latest target, Los Angeles Unified School District, David Brewer, you could rarely ever expect to read anything positive about local black leadership in the L.A. Times.

    CALIFORNIA IS CUTTING EDUCATION FUNDING AT ITS OWN PERIL

    The costs to the state in the long run will be much greater than the expense of supporting our schools now.

    With California's budget now facing an $11-billion shortfall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed billions of dollars in spending cuts, most of them aimed at the state's already beleaguered schools, colleges and universities.

    L.A. UNIFIED CONSIDERS STARK MIDYEAR BUDGET CUTS

    The district almost certainly will have to reopen this year's budget and find about $200 million to $400 million to meet an anticipated shortfall. Larger class sizes, layoffs and early retirement are increasingly possible.

    The Los Angeles Unified School District has developed stark new plans including larger class sizes, layoffs and early retirement incentives to deal with a worsening state budget situation.

    District officials -- already in the process of identifying $400 million in cuts for next year -- almost certainly will have to reopen this year's budget and find about $200 million to $400 million to meet an anticipated shortfall. The budget-cutting is becoming a painfully familiar routine: Officials had to eliminate 680 jobs just to balance the books last June.

    2 from The Times: DO THE MATH + GIVE SCHOOLS LEEWAY

    L.A. UNIFIED NEEDS TO DO THE MATH

    Facing millions in cuts, the school board has to become financially prudent and focus on its core mission. Now that the Los Angeles Unified School District has more construction money than it knows what to do with, all it needs is enough money to operate the schools it already has.

    GIVE SCHOOLS LEEWAY ON USING FUNDS

    If state and federal authorities can't give California schools extra money, they might look at providing flexibility in letting schools allocate what they do get.

    For California's schools, the question of the state budget shortfall comes down to this: Will they have an utterly unthinkable year, or just a horrible year? Even if the Legislature approves new taxes or other ways to raise revenue, the current projection is that $2.5 billion will be cut immediately from education.

    The prospect of a sudden drop in funding has school officials so flummoxed that many are engaged in magical thinking, insisting that extra revenue must be found, somehow, somewhere. These days are short on fairy dust, though. The federal government, the most likely source of financial aid, is besieged with bailout requests.

    Tuesday, November 18, 2008

    SUPERINTENDENT DAVID BREWER’S REPORT CARD: It’s The L.A. Times That Fails To Make The Grade

    Anthony Asadullah Samad

    By Anthony Asadullah Samad | EURweb.com

    November 18, 2008 - The Los Angeles Times newspaper has rarely offered a fair and balanced portrayal of the black community. It usually was (is) a strategic player in the witch hunt to depose black leaders, no matter who they were (are). Whether it was former Lt Govenor Mervyn Dymally, the late Mayor Tom Bradley, former Police Chief, Willie Williams or now their latest target, Los Angeles Unified School District, David Brewer, you could rarely ever expect to read anything positive about local black leadership in the L.A. Times. Now being run from Chicago, the L.A. Times has no clue on what is going on in the black community. Truth be told, they never really did—save for a few well respected journalists they had that actually lived in the community and had to jump up and down on their editors’ desks to get anything newsworthy (and positive) in the paper. Okay, so we understand what the L.A. Times is and what it represents. However, the Times rabid attacks on Superintendent Brewer took an unjustified turn when the paper called for his resignation last week (in a November 13th editorial). Now, I’ve called the Times “propaganda press” in the past, but this latest dig against Brewer is over the top.

          First and foremost, you have to ask, who’s tugging the Times chain on this?

    Villaraigosa (he better not be—he’s running for re-election in 2009 and wouldn’t want Brewer, who’s only halfway through his contract, to represent to him what Bernie Parks’ contract non-renewal represented to Jim Hahn’s re-election prospects)? UTLA? The LAUSD Board? None of whom have brought the kind of change to the district in the last two years that Brewer has. All of the above have continued to either point out problems or be part of the problem. Their solutions have been part and parcel conjecture at Brewer expense. The Times editorial has to be more about politics than it is about Brewer’s performance, which has been commendable considering the arrays of problems he walked into. On it’s face, the timing of the Times editorial doesn’t pass the smell test. In fact, it down right stinks when you lift it up to try to find out what’s beneath it.

          Brewer, in the meantime, have deflected the complaints of his detractors—some of whom didn’t want him there in the first place—like water down a duck’s back, while working the air, the ground and the sea to remedy the district’s problems. And he’s making progress. What more can he be asked to do, that he hasn’t already done, with a district as large, cumbersome and dysfunctional as LAUSD? Did I say dysfunctional??? I mean to say, deca-dysfunctional. Ten times as dysfunctional as any school district you can point to in the nation. He spent most of his first year cleaning up the doo-doo of his predecessor while he was handcuffed to what most consider a co-superintendent. And he’s still advanced the district. Brewer’s accomplishments are no small feats. First, he landed in the midst of a political school board take-over and survived. He was forced to manage two crises, neither of his own violation—the payroll system and the lead in the water crisis. That was the reason for his “slow start”. If Barack Obama wants to know what its like to fight multiple wars on multiple fronts, have him call Dave. He gave the lowest performing schools the highest priority netting the highest academic gains in recent years (higher than the schools the Mayor is over), created a statewide coalition of superintendents to restore much needed programs in the poorest schools, and got a critical school bond passed—the bond in U.S. history with 69% of the vote, despite two major newspapers endorsing against it and a bad economy. The Times endorsed against and did everything in it’s power, editorially, to defeat the bond. The voters rejected the Times and sided with Brewer to create 50,000-80,000 jobs over 10 years. Brewer beat the Times so now they want to orchestrate his ouster by blaming him when there is plenty blame to go around for others.

          The district projected financial shortfall, the core of the Times apprehension, is tied to the state’s budget shortfall and has nothing to do with Brewer. When the state bleeds, local government bleeds and the district has been bleeding for a while. The test to fiscally turn around the district will take more than the length of Brewer’s contract, but the Times is trying to fail Brewer before he can finish the test. He’s passed every other test in district to date. The test scores are up. The bond was passed. The schools are being built. Bad teachers are being replaced. Violence in the schools is down. In the black community, Brewer is passing the test with flying colors and everybody I talk to is willing to let him finish taking the test. Any anybody who has half a brain knows that nobody can fix this level of dysfunction, one that was 30 years in the making, in four years—much less two. The Times need to stop their biased foolishness.

          Obviously, Brewer has done a better job at adjusting to the L.A. landscape than the Los Angeles Times new owners have. The Times editorial was wrongheaded and misguided. With the way they continue to endorse the wrong choices in the black community (No on Measure Q, Bernard Parks for Supervisor), whatever the Times likes, we don’t (except Obama), and whatever the Times dislikes, we definitely need to take a longer look at. David Brewer included. 

    Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D., is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of the new book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com

    Monday, November 17, 2008

    CALIFORNIA IS CUTTING EDUCATION FUNDING AT ITS OWN PERIL

    The costs to the state in the long run will be much greater than the expense of supporting our schools now.

    By Saree Makdisi | Opinion in The LA Times


    November 17, 2008 -- With California's budget now facing an $11-billion shortfall, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed billions of dollars in spending cuts, most of them aimed at the state's already beleaguered schools, colleges and universities.

    The governor's proposal is now on the table of the special legislative session that he called to address the budget crisis, so this is the time to draw a line to defend our public education system, before any further damage is added to the toll already taken by years of budget cuts on the educational -- and hence life -- prospects of a whole generation of Californian students.

    Most of the prospective cuts -- more than $2 billion -- would be to California's public elementary, middle and high schools, on top of the $3-billion cut from K-12 funding in the current budget.

    According to the Census Bureau, California is already spending far less than the national average for each of its students, and about half what states such as New York and New Jersey and even the District of Columbia spend per student.

    There is nothing left to pare. "From Siskiyou County to San Diego, districts have spent reserves, reduced staff, eliminated transportation or increased class sizes over the past difficult year," warned Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction. "The governor's proposed additional $2 billion in cuts to K-12 education would not only create catastrophic disruption in our schools and harm to our students in the middle of the school year, they would damage our future economy."

    The governor is also proposing to slash $330 million from community college budgets, $66 million from the Cal State system and $66 million from the University of California -- all, again, on top of cuts that have already been made. In schools and colleges alike, spending cuts have immediate implications for the classroom (fewer instructors, fewer classes, more students per instructor, etc.).

    But universities don't just teach, they produce knowledge. In fact, what makes a great university great is that its students are taught by those engaged in state-of-the-art research. And cuts in spending on research can far outlast the transitory budget crises that produced them. A library that is forced to stop buying books may never recover, even if its budget is eventually restored. A lab that can't purchase needed equipment will fall behind. Faculty members whose research stalls can lose touch with their fields and spend years playing catch-up. Many will leave, and schools that develop reputations as underfunded second- and third-tier institutions will find it difficult to replace them. Merely restoring a budget sometime in the future will not instantly undo those kinds of losses.

    We live in a global-knowledge economy in which California developed a leading role in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s precisely because of the strength of its education system. Cal State and UC produced many of the highly skilled professionals working in science, computing, gaming, animation, writing and film production that together drive the state's economy. To under-fund our educational system is to jeopardize our position in the global economy.

    The problem is not simply a lack of money. We also have some of our spending priorities back to front. Even before the budget cuts, the state planned to spend $5,900 a student in California's higher-education system this year (including community college students) but almost 10 times that amount ($58,000) per inmate in our bloated prison system, which absorbs as much money from the state budget as Cal State and UC combined.

    Not only can we afford to spend more on education, but we Californians have repeatedly shown our willingness to tax ourselves for public projects we believe in: Witness the recent votes in favor of Proposition 1A and Measure R to raise transportation funds, and the passage of all 23 school bond measures on the L.A. County ballot, including the $7-billion Measure Q.

    No one likes to pay higher taxes, of course, especially in difficult economic circumstances. And the current crisis will force us to make some tough choices. But if we choose not to collectively finance the state's education budget at the required levels, more of a burden will fall on individual students and their families, many of whom simply won't be able to afford it. Cal State and UC both warn of fee increases next year of up to 10% if state cuts go through, and they may also have to deny admission to thousands of qualified students. Community colleges may have to turn away more than 250,000 current students.

    Not paying for the education system that made California an economic powerhouse is not an option: We can pay now, or we can pay much more later in lost opportunities carrying dollar price tags just as real as those of tax increases, not to mention the social cost of having a higher-education system beyond the reach of more and more Californians.

    California has a $2-trillion economy, the eighth-largest in the world, ahead of Canada, Russia, India and Brazil, among others. Not only can we afford to offer our children a first-rate public education from kindergarten through college, but we are cheating them, and ourselves, if we don't.

    But our ability to raise the necessary revenue is currently being blocked by conservatives in the state Legislature who have categorically refused to countenance new taxes -- and hence left the state no option but to cut. By starving our educational system of the funds it needs, they have chosen to protect the narrow interests of those who can afford to send their kids to private schools and universities, rather than the much broader public that voted them into office in the first place. That's a choice they may come to regret at election time.

    • Saree Makdisi is a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA.

    L.A. UNIFIED CONSIDERS STARK MIDYEAR BUDGET CUTS

    The district almost certainly will have to reopen this year's budget and find about $200 million to $400 million to meet an anticipated shortfall. Larger class sizes, layoffs and early retirement are increasingly possible.

    By Jason Song and Howard Blume From the Los Angeles Times


    November 17, 2008 -- The Los Angeles Unified School District has developed stark new plans including larger class sizes, layoffs and early retirement incentives to deal with a worsening state budget situation.

    District officials -- already in the process of identifying $400 million in cuts for next year -- almost certainly will have to reopen this year's budget and find about $200 million to $400 million to meet an anticipated shortfall. The budget-cutting is becoming a painfully familiar routine: Officials had to eliminate 680 jobs just to balance the books last June.

    "It was hard enough to do that, so doing it again, in the middle of the school year" could be chaotic, said Megan Reilly, the district's chief financial officer.

    District finances have been shaky virtually from the moment the Board of Education approved a budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. At the time, officials avoided the teacher layoffs that befell other state school systems, but officials also made overly optimistic assumptions.

    The budget included four unpaid furlough days for employees -- to shave off about $55 million -- without negotiating the furloughs with employee unions. Officials hoped for an improved state budget situation that would render the furloughs unnecessary. Instead the opposite has happened. A worsening economy could result in midyear cuts to the district's $8.6-billion budget, even under a proposal -- backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- that would include new taxes.

    Statewide, the governor has called for $2.5 billion in midyear cuts to schools; the impact would be doubled, in effect, because the school year would be half over before the cuts could be put in place.

    "I have not talked to one superintendent yet who has enough wiggle room to come up with that kind of cut," said Scott Plotkin, executive director of the California School Boards Assn. "I was on the phone with one superintendent who doesn't know how she would do this without closing schools in May rather than June. I've heard others talk about closing on Fridays. This would constitute the first year-to-year reduction in dollars for schools in California since the Great Depression."

    In Los Angeles, teachers union officials have asserted that they would not accept furlough days. They heard encouraging words on that score from Senior Deputy Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who said he did not favor them either. Cortines held briefings for employees last week to discuss proposed cuts and answer questions.

    "I feel the district made a mistake balancing a budget on the backs of employees," he told employees during one such meeting at district headquarters.

    But avoiding furloughs would necessitate cuts elsewhere, Cortines added.

    Cortines said he planned steep reductions at the district offices on Beaudry Avenue and other non-school sites, including asking for cuts at the eight regional offices in the 700,000-student school system. These "mini-districts," which are now allocated $37 million, could see their budgets reduced 10% midyear and by half next year.

    Cortines' vow to spare schools as much as possible won praise from A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers' union.

    "The opportunity to finally destroy this bureaucracy in a meaningful, permanent way is here," said Duffy, repeating his mantra about waste in the central administration.

    Cortines also said he would virtually stop using outside contractors except when unavoidable, as in safety matters and food services. He also raised the possibility of offering early retirement plans to employees and ending the practice of providing lifetime benefits to retirees. He suggested that, for new employees, the goal could be to provide benefits until workers qualified for Medicare, which is federally funded.

    One proposal would be immediately evident to parents and students: a plan to boost class size to 25 students from the current 20 in kindergarten through third grade. This change would require permission from the state to avoid a financial penalty. But Cortines also wants to lower class size in fourth and fifth grades from 30 to 25, which he cited as evidence that he does not intend to give up on reforms.

    Duffy said the union would not consent to increasing class sizes unless the district agreed to "a whole boatload" of concessions, including giving adult education teachers tenure and the union more of a say in ongoing teacher training.

    The district and teachers remain at loggerheads over salaries for last year and this year. District officials have penciled in no raises at all, a position the union leadership has threatened to strike over.

    Cortines said he hoped to have his proposal to the Board of Education before the winter holidays.

    "It's an awesome task we have to do to remain solvent," Cortines said.

    Sunday, November 16, 2008

    Darkness to Light: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE PREVENTION TRAINING FOR PARENTS

    Dear Parents and School Community members:

    We have heard way too much about child abuse at LAUSD recently – We have heard about violations and we have heard about policy.

    There can be only one policy: Zero Tolerance. Child Sexual Abuse can be and must be Prevented!

    We cannot afford to be complacent. This is unsettling material; this is powerful and empowering stuff.

    If you only go to one District sponsored training this year this one should be the one!

    Onward! – smf

    Be Prepared – More Info


    You can download Darkness to Light's 7 Steps to Protecting our Children by right-clicking on the 7 STEPS link above and choosing "Save Target As". You will need the free software Adobe Acrobat to view the file.

    Los Angeles Unified School District

    Parent Community Services Branch

    Registration Form

    Parents and Community

    The Parent Community Services Branch, is pleased to present:

    The Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training

    The Parent Collaborative will sponsor the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Training. The training is an effort to raise parent awareness of child sexual abuse and its prevention, as well as provide information to parents and the community.

    Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008

    Time: 8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

    Location: Edward R. Roybal Learning Center [map]

    1200 W. Colton Street

    Los Angeles, CA 90026

    Important: Adults only! Sorry, no children.

    Send via school mail or fax to:

    Parent Community Services Branch

    (213) 626-4644

    SEATS ARE LIMITED TO THE FIRST 400 PARTICIPANTS

    Continental breakfast, lunch, and translation will be provided. Parking will be validated.

    This is your confirmation. Please call (213) 217-5272 if you cannot attend.

    _______________________________________________

    No children! Please return your registration form early.

    The registration deadline is Monday, November 17, 2008

    Local District _____ School: _________________________________________

    Name: _______________________________________________________________________

    Address: _____________________________________________________________________

    City/Zip: ___________________________________

    Telephone: _______________________

    Approved: Christopher Downing, Administrator

    2 from The Times: DO THE MATH + GIVE SCHOOLS LEEWAY

     

    L.A. Unified needs to do the math

    Facing millions in cuts, the school board has to become financially prudent and focus on its core mission.

     

    Editorial from the Los Angeles Times

    November 16, 2008 -- Now that the Los Angeles Unified School District has more construction money than it knows what to do with, all it needs is enough money to operate the schools it already has.

    Don't blame local school leaders for the catastrophic condition of the state budget. If the Legislature approves the package of new taxes sought by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, L.A. Unified alone will still have to cut more than $200 million in the middle of this school year. Without the new taxes, the figure doubles, and further cuts are in store next year.

    But the school board must own up to its role in the district's current troubles. It has repeatedly favored the politically flashy over the fiscally prudent. A prime example is the $7-billion school renovation bond that voters approved Nov. 4. The district has no plans for nearly $3 billion of that money; it placed the bloated measure on the ballot because polls indicated that it could get more, and it did, with close to 70% of the vote.

    The district can use the new money only for construction and repair, though, while it desperately needs revenue for teachers and textbooks. Had the board split the measure -- with a bond large enough to cover anticipated construction needs, plus a parcel tax to pay for actual education -- L.A.'s schools might be sitting pretty now.

    Instead, Senior Deputy Supt. Ramon C. Cortines says that some existing schools might have to be closed even as the district is in the midst of an expansive building program. He's also looking at combining small schools into larger ones that can share principals, support staff and security. The district imprudently hired more staff each year, he said, even as enrollment, its main source of revenue, declined. While some other school districts have set aside enough reserves to save them from the most dire cuts, L.A. Unified has spent money it didn't have.

    To their credit, board members had student achievement and welfare in mind when they embarked on offering more services to impoverished children and opening small schools that create a more personalized feel on campus. But they have been too quick to forge full steam ahead on new educational trends without fully assessing them, as well as making sure there's enough money to carry them out. This comes on top of simple, inexcusable waste, such as the district's underenrolled preschools, with too few children to bring in maximum state revenue as families languish on waiting lists for preschool spots.

    We hope, along with educators, that schools will be spared from the worst of the state budget cuts. But wishing is no substitute for planning. It's imperative that L.A. Unified learn to use money more judiciously and that it focus on its core mission at a time when it may not be able to afford much else. No one wants to see the district learn the lesson of fiscal responsibility at the expense of students and teachers.

     

     

    Give schools leeway on using funds

    If state and federal authorities can't give California schools extra money, they might look at providing flexibility in letting schools allocate what they do get.

    Editorial from the Los Angeles Times

    November 16, 2008 - For California's schools, the question of the state budget shortfall comes down to this: Will they have an utterly unthinkable year, or just a horrible year? Even if the Legislature approves new taxes or other ways to raise revenue, the current projection is that $2.5 billion will be cut immediately from education.

    The prospect of a sudden drop in funding has school officials so flummoxed that many are engaged in magical thinking, insisting that extra revenue must be found, somehow, somewhere. These days are short on fairy dust, though. The federal government, the most likely source of financial aid, is besieged with bailout requests.

    If state and federal authorities cannot give California schools extra money, they might look at providing extra flexibility. To start, the U.S. Education Department should put an emergency moratorium on the sanctions prescribed by the No Child Left Behind Act. As it stands, schools that have fallen short of their testing targets must spend a chunk of their federal Title I funds on tutors and transporting students to other schools. There will be no improving test scores if schools can't afford basics; the common-sense move is to free this money for classroom use, at least until this crisis passes.

    At the state level, large sums of education funding are tied up in a knot of rules about how money can and cannot be used, even when those rules don't always make sense for individual school districts.

    School superintendents have been asking for years for leeway on the programthat limits class sizes to 20 students in kindergarten through third grade. The state hasn't paid the full costs of this limit in years, and education scholars are still arguing its usefulness in boosting achievement. Popular as the smaller classes have proved with parents and teachers (at least the primary-grade teachers), they have become an expensive burden that doesn’t always make pedagogical sense. Third-graders go from a class of perhaps 18 students to a fourth-grade class that often has 33 or more, and those disparities are likely to grow if schools have to lay off teachers.

    Schools don't have to participate in the program -- as long as they're willing to face a mob of snarling parents -- but then they get none of the associated funding. It makes better sense to continue funding the smaller classes, but allow schools to raise the limit to 24 or 25 students.

    The Legislature also should free up the sizable sums tied to other so-called categorical programs -- money that can be used only on arts and music education, say, or gifted students. Each program has worth, and each has a dedicated lobby that will shout doomsday if the money isn't preserved for its cause. But these discussions should take place at the local level, where school administrators, teachers and parents can determine the priorities that work best for their children in this bad year.

    The news that didn't fit from Nov 16th

    SUPT. BREWER’S FAILINGS

    Editorial from the Los Angeles Times: L.A. Unified needs a leader who can guide the school district through tough times. Brewer isn't the one.

    smf doesn't agree, see below.

    CALIFORNIA BUDGET ANALYST RECOMMENDS RAISING VEHICLE LICENSE FEE

    Mac Taylor forecasts that the state will need to close a $27.8-billion budget gap in the next 20 months. He calls for a smaller sales tax increase than Gov. Schwarzenegger has suggested.

    FORGING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR LAUSD: NEW PROGRAMS, NEW FUNDING

    Expanding its role as a leader in the green schools movement, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is not only saving energy, it is creating energy. LAUSD just weeks ago began construction to install one megawatt of renewable solar power at the Pico Rivera General Stores and Food Warehouse, with expected completion before the end of this year. This project is the first in the District’s program to install as much as 50 MW of renewable energy technology, including solar power, at schools and other facilities.

    CALIFORNIA'S CAR TAX MAY BE ON THE ROAD AGAIN: THE VEHICLE LICENSE FEE THAT GOT GRAY DAVIS RECALLED AND ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER ELECTED LOOKS LIKE A GOOD IDEA… AGAIN.

    An LA  Times editorial points out that the Car Tax/VLF served California well for 60 years. Undoing it has failed the state for six years. Until last year reimplementing it would have actually balanced (or come close to balancing) the budget. It's not enough anymore, but it's got to be on the table. Along with spitting the rolls on Prop 13 …but one sacred cow/third rail/taboo metaphor at a time.

    And as Gordon Gecko said  “Greed is Good!”  Imagine how good it can be when driven by panic: Two LA Times articles describe how Wells Fargo Bank and Goldman Sachs – subsidized by the Feds - appear to be enriching themselves and their clients at California's expense

    GOLDMAN SACHS URGED BETS AGAINST CALIFORNIA BONDS IT HELPED SELL

    The Wall Street titan's activities could have harmed taxpayers, officials say

    Goldman, Sachs & Co. urged some of its big clients to place investment bets against California bonds this year despite having collected millions of dollars in fees to help the state sell some of those same bonds.

    BUSH'S TAX BREAKS FOR BANKS COULD COST CALIFORNIA $2 BILLION

    Wells Fargo is state's chief beneficiary of change that allows banks to write off losses when taking over failing institutions.

    Even as California's fiscal woes mount, the state is slated to lose an additional $2 billion in coming years as a result of new tax breaks the Bush administration created for a small group of banks including California-based Wells Fargo.

    APOLOGIA (or not!)

    Erroneous information published in 4LAKids last week was verbatum from School Board Member Galatzan's E-newsletter - and she is in turn quoting Senior Deputy Superintendent Ramon Cortines - so the error goes far deeper - and further up the food chain!

    2008 ENVIRONMENTAL YOUTH CONFERENCE :: Sat, Dec 13, 2008

    ICEF PUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVES $2.1 MILLION TO SUPPORT EFFORT TO PRODUCE 2,000 COLLEGE GRADS FROM SOUTH L.A.

    ICEF Public Schools — a charter school organization that serves the predominately African-American community of South Los Angeles —  today announced that it has been awarded $2.1 million to support its effort to produce 2,000 annual college graduates from its “Education Corridor” in South Los Angeles.

    BULLYING+FEAR+LOATHING MEET “FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS” IN EAGLE ROCK

    Following are two stories, one of a scientific study of aggression in young men and the other the incomplete story of an unfortunate incident told four times. They are the same story – and before one jumps to the conclusion that’s it’s all football's fault, I refer you to Seventeen Reasons Why Football is Better than High School by Herb Childress- smf

    BULLY’S BRAIN FEELS JOY IN OTHERS PAIN

    Brain scans of teens with a history of aggressive bullying behavior suggest that they may actually get pleasure out of seeing someone else in pain, researchers said Friday.


    EAGLE ROCK COACH HIT WITH HELMET, ALLEGEDLY BY EX-PLAYER, GAME AT BELMONT CANCELLED


    FOOTBALL GAME CANCELLED AFTER UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS : Eagle Rock High school nixes game with Belmont High


    EAGLE ROCK HIGH SCHOOL COACH IS ASSAULTED: He is struck from behind during practice, allegedly by a disgruntled former player apparently upset about the firing of the previous head coach. Friday's game is canceled.


    ASSAULT ON COACH SHOWS CRACKS AT EAGLE ROCK

    Thursday, November 13, 2008

    SUPT. BREWER’S FAILINGS

    L.A. Unified needs a leader who can guide the school district through tough times. Brewer isn't the one.

    smf doesn't agree, see below.

    Editorial from the Los Angeles Times

    November 13, 2008 - The Los Angeles Unified School District is not without accomplishment. It has recently seen student test scores improve, and it is on track with a vast, long-term effort to build enough schools for all of its students. But along with much of California, the district is heading into troubled times -- largely financial -- that threaten its classrooms and students, and that will test its management and educational skills. This is a treacherous moment for a school district that has long operated on the edge of failure, and it demands unimpeachable leadership. In such a moment, the district cannot afford a superintendent who holds the title but isn't up to the job.

    Retired Vice Adm. David L. Brewer reaches the second anniversary of his four-year contract today. We liked him from the start -- his intelligence and affability were and are strengths -- though we had reservations about whether he had the necessary political and educational acumen. Time has only exacerbated those concerns.

    Brewer started off with good intentions and big plans. Since those early months, however, he has done little to inspire loyalty and much to stoke misgiving. He stumbled in putting together his command team and responded to crises with flow charts and management-speak. He was unable to dissuade the school board from shelling out close to $35 million the district didn't have so that cafeteria workers could receive health benefits, a noble gesture to those workers but one that came at the expense of students. He was either unable or unwilling to talk the board into putting a financial package on the Nov. 4 ballot that would have provided for both construction and instruction. Most of his own ideas -- such as getting rid of bad teachers or creating a mini-district for failing schools -- faded out or were scaled back until they were hardly recognizable.

    Eventually, Brewer's accumulated missteps -- and his dismaying lack of prowess -- led to an arrangement in which he ceded much of his authority while preserving the illusion of his leadership, a revision of his job description that avoided roiling the city's ever-tenuous racial politics. Senior Deputy Supt. Ramon C. Cortines was hired in April to oversee academic matters for the district, while Brewer continued to preside over administrative matters such as payroll and construction; Brewer also acts as a public figurehead and attends the protracted board meetings. This is classic Los Angeles politics: Administrative and racial comity is achieved by paying two superintendent-level salaries for one complete superintendent-level package. It also typifies all that is wrong with L.A. Unified. The district protects administrators who fail rather than students whose futures depend on a solid education.

    Brewer does not deserve all the blame for his administration's ineffectiveness. He inherited a highly politicized district and a gutless bureaucracy, both stymied by a teachers union that is effective at defending its membership but too often indifferent to the needs of students. The board majority that hired Brewer acted too hastily to bring him aboard, eager to close the deal before Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa could gain more control over the district; the newly elected board majority that followed clearly gave its allegiance to the mayor, not the new superintendent.

    For his part, Brewer was overconfident about his ability to navigate the political shoals that lay ahead. Shortly after starting his job, he was confronted with an enormous payroll snafu, as a new computer system put in place by his predecessor repeatedly spat out inaccurate checks -- for months, some teachers were overpaid, some paid not at all. Though Brewer tackled the problem competently, he also compounded it, first by trying to blame district employees for the mess and then by hiring expensive and ineffectual public relations consultants to spin a new image for the district.

    Today, L.A. Unified confronts a budget shortfall of at least $200 million. It is faced with the possibility of closing schools and laying off staff. There is talk of curtailing elective courses and preschool offerings. Students stand to suffer, as do teachers. Supt. Brewer, meanwhile, continues to receive $300,000 a year plus hefty perks.

    Halfway through his contract, it's no longer time to voice hopes or to prod Brewer toward action. In the interests of the students he is charged with educating, Brewer and the board should acknowledge that he isn't a good fit for the job of superintendent. They should chart a graceful course for his departure and embark on it sooner rather than later.

     

    ●●smf’s 2¢: At this risk of appearing to (gasp!) defend the status quo I’m going to respectfully dissent from The Times position on this one – but I hope we all rally 'round their editorial board’s previous pronouncement that California needs to re-implement the Vehicle License Fee!

    Superintendent Brewer and Senior Deputy Superintendent Ramon Cortines have actually created a very interesting power dynamic in the “David & Ray Show”; the truth is that the District needs someone to be Senior Deputy Superintendent —someone has to be number two  …or perhaps in Ray’s case, number 1.1.

    And actually both of them, neither being ‘someone else’s man’, do a pretty effective job at keeping city hall and the Board of Education - and those who would put on the power suit and solid tie and assume the myth of The Power Elite - at bay.

    The real challenge the district faces is one of economics and lack of political will in (and money from) Sacramento – problems not of Brewer's doing. Overall performance by kids in test scores and API and AYP are improving in LAUSD at a faster rate then the rest of the state – even though we get less and less money every year.

    Back in they day when the search was on for A New Superintendent my candidate was Lawrence Summers: former Treasury Secretary, former Harvard President,  former chief economist of the World Bank.  In light of the current economic and credit debacle how kewl would what've been?  Call me Mr. Prescient.  

    But Larry is going to be busy on the national stage, so let’s let David and Ray do their thing and may the Times editorial board deal with it’s own demons of declining readership, advertising revenues and an absentee owner who knows much about real estate and little about newspapers.