Saturday, August 22, 2009

The news that didn't fit from August 23rd

"The nation's public schools are slated to be major -- and deserving -- benefactors of President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan. WHAT SHOULD BE THE FIRST PRIORITY IN EDUCATION SPENDING?"
from the September Edutopia Magazine 

GET PERSONAL: Action to close the Achievement Gap begins with blunt talk.
by Linda Nathan | in the Sept '09 Edutopia | Illustrations by Wesley Bedrosian     No issue in American education is talked about more or with more agony and frustration than the achievement gap. Current government policy, which I characterize wistfully as testing our way to equality, has done little to make things better. In fact, many of the practices introduced in the name of closing the gap


SCORING THE TESTS - Re “Test scores offer reality check at mayor’s schools,” Aug 19, and “A Year at Locke: The real test,” Editorial, Aug. 19  Letters to the Editor of the LA Times | August 21, 2009  It doesn't matter whether the mayor, the LAUSD or Green Dot administers the schools.  It doesn't matter if the teachers are brand new or long experienced.  What matters is whether or not the parents emphasize education and make sure their children attend school every day and do their schoolwork at home and in the classroom.

WHY YOUR TAXES MAY BE GOING UP …AND WHY THE SKY IS NOT FALLING
by smf & LAUSD FSD staff for 4LAKids  HEADLINE IN THE LA INDEPENDENT:      LAUSD considers property tax increase: District could hike taxes without voter approval to help pay off school construction bonds    Los Angeles Unified School District officials want to raise property taxes to help repay school bonds. The article goes on to cite: "little-known legal protections for bond


SCHWARZENEGGER'S PLAN WOULD RESHAPE EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA
The state's powerful teachers unions criticize the governor's sweeping proposals, including merit pay for teachers. The plan would help qualify the state for Obama administration funds.   By Jason Song and Jason Felch | LA Times  August 21, 2009 -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called on legislators Thursday to adopt sweeping education reforms that would dramatically reshape California's public


LAUSD PLAN GOOD FOR THE MAYOR, NOT THE PUBLIC
Random Thoughts  by Diana L. Chapman | CityWatch, an insider look at City Hall        21 August -- I remember it clearly.   It was a pupil free day for Los Angeles schools and my son and his friends wanted to play a pick-up game of soccer. As other parents had done before, I drove them over to Bogdanovich Park in San Pedro and left.  As soon as I got home, Ryan was calling to come back and get


L.A. TO WEIGH SCHOOL-MANAGEMENT PLAN
By Lesli A. Maxwell  -- Ed Week  August 21, 2009 -- Fed up with the slow pace of academic improvement in the nation’s second-largest school district, some Los Angeles education leaders are seeking to open up the management of 50 new schools set to open in the city over the next four years.  Outside operators or in-house talent would compete to manage the schools, as well as to take on the task


LETTER TO BOARD PRESIDENT GARCÍA RE: THE 'SCHOOL CHOICE RESOLUTION' FROM THE LOS ANGELES / ORANGE COUNTY BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL

IT'S A CHARTER YEAR AND A NEW FUTURE FOR BIRMINGHAM HIGH: The Valley campus begins the school year independent of L.A. Unified control. Charter supporters had to overcome numerous obstacles, including internal dissension, cash shortage and lawsuits.
By Mitchell Landsberg | LA Times    ( Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times / August 19, 2009 ) 

A Year @ Locke: STATE EXAMS AND THE REAL TEST - Results on the standardized tests were lackluster, but the school gets high marks in other indicators of progress.
LA Times Editorial A YEAR AT LOCKE     smf notes: The Times’ A YEAR @ LOCKE editorialist (now into year #2 on this series) – has been an unabashed cheerleader for Green Dot. Green Dot has historically used test score results to attack LAUSD – yet, with ‘lackluster’ results in CST scores at Locke – and at other Green Dot charter campuses – seems to be a late adopter of other measurements of


HIGHER SCORES TEST HOW WASHINGTON D.C. PUBLIC SCHOOLS DEFINE SUCCESS
TRANSCRIPT OF JOHN MERROW PRODUCED SEGMENT ON THE PBS NEWSHOUR  18 August -- Two years into a bold effort to reform the city's school system, Washington, D.C., has seen gains in reading and writing proficiency among students. But while scores are up, critics are asking whether reforms have actually made district schools better off     

PARENT INVOLVEMENT IS KEY TO ACADEMIC IMPROVEMENT
By Stu Bernstein | Op-Ed in the LA Daily News  08/18/2009 11:05:04 AM-- HOW do we fix the schools, especially schools in urban school districts? That is the recurrent theme that grows more relevant as kids return to school in a few weeks.   Everyone has suggested fixes including, but not limited to, charter schools, greater financing, getting rid of poor teachers, getting rid of the


OXNARD SCHOOL DISTRICT PRESIDENT LEADS HUNGER STRIKE OVER STATE EDUCATION FUNDING CUTS: Denis O'Leary Fasting For Education Funding
from the Ventura County Star
 

Here is his statement:  Colleagues,  Please join me in an action to call for the restoration of State education funds. As you well know, Governor Schwarzenegger has led a confrontation over our state budget. Backed by a 2/3 vote rule necessary to raise any new revenues, the Governor's leadership has brought cuts to education which could be felt for a generation of


COMMUNITY FEEDBACK AT HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL: Round Four
by smf for 4LAKids  17 August -- Monday evening saw the latest (and smoothest running) in the series of districtwide meetings about what to do with New and Underperforming Schools. Those challenges are not one and the same …but if you have a hammer every problem looks like a nail This meeting was held at Hamilton High School in Local District 3, hosted by LD3 Superintendent Michelle King,


EPA BEGINS MONITORING AROUND GARY, INDIANA SCHOOL … AND A LAUSD SCHOOL TOO! Samples will measure pollution to understand health effects on children.
By Gitte Laasby, Gary Post-Tribune staff writer  August 12, 2009 -- GARY -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will start monitoring the air around Jefferson Elementary School in Gary for toxics starting Aug. 23.   The move is an effort to understand whether toxic air pollution poses health concerns to school children.   In Gary, the EPA will keep an eye on metal particles, volatile organic


DANGLING MONEY. OBAMA PUSHES EDUCATION SHIFT
By SAM DILLON – New York Times     “We’ll do everything in our power,” State Senator Gloria Romero said, “to make sure that California is in compliance with the expectations of the Obama administration.”      August 17, 2009 -- Holding out billions of dollars as a potential windfall, the Obama administration is persuading state after state to rewrite education laws to open the door to more


HARD-HIT SCHOOLS TRY PUBLIC RELATIONS PUSH: Districts Facing Declines in Enrollment Use Marketing Campaigns to Win Back Students -- and the State Funding They Bring
By STEPHANIE SIMON | THE WALL STREET JOURNAL  AUGUST 17, 2009 --  Public schools in the U.S. have added professional marketing to their back-to-school shopping lists.  Financially struggling urban districts are trying to win back students fleeing to charter schools, private schools and suburban districts that offer open enrollment. Administrators say they are working hard to improve


COURT OF APPEALS REVIVES EX-TEACHER'S CLAIM HE WAS OUSTED OVER POLITICS
Monday, August 17, 2009 11:14 AM
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer | Metropolitan News-Enterprise - A Los Angeles daily newspaper focusing largely on law and the courts  17 August - A former teacher at San Fernando High School may sue school officials whom he alleges forced him out of his job for complaining about how the school was run and engaging in off-campus political activities, including Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s

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