Sunday, August 16, 2009

The news that didn't fit from Aug 16


CUT+PASTE: 2nd suit strikes at governor's budget cuts + CA board votes to drop healthcare coverage for 60K children + CA could lose federal education grants +1st Test for Principals: Getting Judged on Test Scores
Friday, August 14, 2009 8:57 PM

HOMEBOY INDUSTRIES: Priest's Anti-Gang Program in Budget Crisis
Friday, August 14, 2009 8:33 PM
By The Associated Press in Ed Week Online  August 14, 2009 -- Los Angeles -- The Rev. Greg Boyle has walked through gunfire to quell gang violence, gotten sworn enemies to work peacefully together and redeemed hardcore criminals. But he never thought money would be the downfall of the nation's largest anti-gang program.  After Friday, however, all bets are off at Homeboy Industries. The Roman

HEAVY LIFTING AHEAD FOR 'RACE TO TOP' APPLICATIONS + California 'Firewall' Becomes 'Race to Top' Issue
Friday, August 14, 2009 8:40 PM
By Michele McNeil | Ed Week Online  August 14, 2009 -- As states scramble to spend and report on millions of dollars of education stimulus funds already flowing their way, they face another daunting task if they want a shot at even more money: navigating the complex application process for $4 billion from the Race to the Top Fund.   Merely filling out the award application will take each

The Bedfellows Grow Stranger: SHARPTON, GINGRICH PUSH OBAMA SCHOOL REFORMS
Friday, August 14, 2009 5:46 PM
By The Associated Press in Ed Week Online  August 14, 2009 – Washington - Education Secretary Arne Duncan is joining forces with two unlikely allies, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Republican former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to push cities to fix failing schools. The trio will visit Philadelphia, New Orleans and Baltimore later this year. They plan to add more stops as their tour progresses.  "
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'HOUSED' TEACHER SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE OVERHAULED
Friday, August 14, 2009 9:08 AM
By K. Lloyd Billingsley | Op Ed in the LA Daily News  14 August -- THE Los Angeles Unified School District has been given permission to fire Matthew Kim, a disabled special education teacher who has not worked for seven years while drawing his full salary and benefits. Kim's case shows the need for district reform, but it's hardly alone in that regard.   Kim was one of approximately 160 "housed"

SUMMER GRADUATION GIVES STUDENTS A SECOND CHANCE: LAUSD offers ceremonies for those late in completing coursework, exams
Friday, August 14, 2009 8:59 AM
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | Los Angeles Newspaper Group/Daily News  14 August -- Everyone deserves a second chance.   At least that is what Los Angeles Unified is now offering students who did not participate in traditional graduation ceremonies because they were missing or late with their requirements.   In commencement ceremonies across the district, dozens of students who did not meet the

LAUSD STEADILY REDUCING YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLS
Thursday, August 13, 2009 7:45 AM
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Newspaper Group/Daily News    Youngsters take to the playground at Hart St Elementary School August 12, 2009. (Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer)           Aug 13 -- NORTH HOLLYWOOD - For nearly three decades, Camellia Avenue Elementary has buzzed with children 12 months a year, operating on a multi-track schedule to cycle more students through the overcrowded

From City News Service: SCHOOL CHOICE
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 11:32 AM
from City News Service     11 August 2009 - LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa today stepped up a campaign in support of a plan to allow charter operators and other institutions to bid for control of 50 new schools over the next three years, including 20 campuses in the 2010-11 school year.  ``This motion calls for choice in our schools and would allow the most qualified operators

THE TOWN HALL ROAD SHOW – ROUND TWO
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 11:05 AM

FREE ONLINE TEXTBOOKS NOW AVAILABLE: Ten high school math and science texts are announced. But critics say the materials fall short of standards and the real costs of using them -- in infrastructure and training -- weren't considered.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:42 AM
By Seema Mehta | LA Times     August 12, 2009 - Calling online textbooks a boon to student achievement and school district coffers, state Education Secretary Glen Thomas announced Tuesday that 10 free digital high school math and science texts are available for use in California classrooms.  But the likelihood of students tapping into them is virtually nonexistent, primarily because of school

GOOD NEWS IN BAD TIMES -  RAM: Forum Super Clinic finds super need in L.A. region + Steve Lopez
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:27 AM
LATimes/LA NOW | 6:47 AM | August 12, 2009     Hundreds of people spent the night outside the Forum in Inglewood in hopes of getting free medical and dental care.  More than 2,000 sought services on the first day of the medical clinic -- and hundreds were turned away. People were lined up Tuesday night, hoping to get in. The MTA announced it was extending service of Line 115 because of "

VILLARAIGOSA ADVOCATES LETTING OUTSIDE OPERATORS BID FOR CONTROL OF L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS: Under a bill introduced by School Board member Yolie Flores Aguilar, private operators could bid for control of 50 new campuses and hundreds of struggling ones.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 7:18 AM
PHOTO: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times - Parents, students and teachers question Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at a town hall meeting Tuesday. As the 'centerpiece' of education reform in his second term, Villaraigosa is backing a plan to put 50 new campuses and hundreds of struggling ones on the market for outside operators.  By Howard Blume  | LA Times  August 11, 2009 – Los

[Re-Revised Update] DISTRICTWIDE COMMUNITY MEETINGS RE: BOARD RESOLUTION ON PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 8:10 AM
In response to the proposed Board Resolution on Public School Choice, Superintendent Cortines along with the Local District Superintendents will be hosting 7 community meetings between 8/10/09 and 8/19/09.     NOTE: TIMES AND VENUES SUBJECT TO CHANGE . CHECK HERE FOR LATEST INFO.    REVISED AUG 11:                   PREVIOUS VERSION:

ARNE DUNCAN HAS BECOME AN EMBARRASSMENT
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 9:49 AM
by Leonie Haimson Executive Director, Class Size Matters in The Huffington Post         August 10, 2009  -- Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, has become a laughing stock here in New York City. He has rashly inserted himself into local politics by repeatedly urging the New York state legislature to renew unlimited mayoral control, with no checks and balances and no parent input

CHARTERS GET AN UNSATISFACTORY GRADE: L.A. could cheat students by turning 50 schools over to private operators
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 7:45 AM
By Diane Ravitch | Op-Ed From the Los Angeles Times  August 11, 2009 - The board of the Los Angeles Unified School District is opening 50 schools over the next few years and considering a proposal to allow some or all to be privately managed. Before taking this step, the board should take a hard look at the evidence about charter schools and privately managed schools.  Because of a brilliant

Obituary: LEONARD BRITTON, 78; superintendent led L.A. Unified for three years. Success in the same post in Miami was not repeated in his tumultuous tenure in Los Angeles.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009 7:37 AM
By Howard Blume, from the LA Times  August 11, 2009 - Leonard Britton, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District for three stormy years, has died at 78.  Britton led two of the nation's largest school systems, leaving behind a successful legacy in Miami that he was unable to translate to Los Angeles before he resigned in 1990. In declining health in recent years, Britton died

Report from the First of the Districtwide Community Meetings:  RE - BOARD RESOLUTION ON PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE
Monday, August 10, 2009 11:06 PM

Mayoral Control in NYC as seen by the NYT: THE BRIEF LIFE AND IMPENDING DEATH OF A BOARD OF EDUCATION
Monday, August 10, 2009 9:10 AM
A reconstituted Board of Education gathered on July 1 at the Tweed Courthouse for a meeting that lasted nine minutes. From left, Jimmy Yan, Patricia E. Harris, Carlo Scissura, Dennis M. Walcott, Edward Burke, Edward Skyler and Dolores M. Fernández. Photo: Béatrice de Géa for The New York Times  By JENNIFER MEDINA | New York Times  August 8, 2009 -- The rise and fall of the Roman Empire fills

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