Sunday, August 09, 2009

The news that didn't fit from August 9th

DROPOUT RATE DECLINES ALMOST 17% IN L.A. SCHOOLS
Tuesday, August 04, 2009 7:15 AM
The decline is one of the largest in the state. Officials credit teams that identify and help at-risk students and the conversion of larger high schools into clusters of smaller academies.  By Howard Blume and Jason Song  from the LA Times  August 4, 2009  -- The dropout rate in the Los Angeles Unified School District declined almost 17% -- welcome news in a school system beleaguered by budget

SUMMER SCHOOL TURNS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS INTO APPRENTICE RESEARCHERS
Friday, August 07, 2009 3:02 PM
Student Demarco Gordon: "The superintendent of LAUSD, he was saying that, said that either he had to get rid of teachers or go bankrupt, and stuff like that. I found that interesting, how the school options only have two options of going bankrupt or losing teachers, and that’s it. I found that we need more options than that. "   Reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez on  KPCC     [ Download Audio File ]

CALLING ALL TEACHERS! LET'S START A SCHOOL + 4LAKids' 2¢
Sunday, August 09, 2009 12:28 PM
By Louis Pugliese | Op-Ed in the Daily News  Aug 9, 2009 -- Throughout the ruckus last month surrounding LAUSD board member Yolie Flores Aguilar's resolution to solicit competitive proposals for the operation of new schools, it was clear that already existing players in the new schools adventure all think they know best about schools and teaching, and learning.   Well, as a teacher, let me tell

Lopez & Duffy Do Lunch: TEACHERS UNION NEEDS TO BE A LEADER - It's time to start thinking about what's best for students …plus an invitation
Sunday, August 09, 2009 11:31 AM
Steve Lopez | LA Times Columnist  August 9, 2009  -- A.J. Duffy walked into the restaurant like a man on his way to a fight, with quick footwork and fierce eyes. We'd been sparring from a distance, and now here we were, face to face at a downtown eatery.   I was a little nervous until I saw his feet.  Who wears two-tone saddle shoes?  Footwear isn't the only thing that puts Duffy in another era.

 

REVIVING THE ART OF PUTTING PENCIL TO PAPER: At a time when many summer enrichment camps are focusing on more high-tech skills, handwriting classes are catching on.
Sunday, August 09, 2009 10:21 AM
By Carla Rivera from the Los Angeles Times  August 9, 2009 -- For the past two weeks, Grace and Tess Heagy have bounded out of bed each morning anxious for camp, where they sing, paint, dance and practice their penmanship.  Penmanship?  At Handwriting Heroes Summer Camp, Captain Pencil is the resident superhero and mastery of r's, m's, n's, p's, and other letters earns high praise.  At a time

DON’T LET POLITICS BLOCK BLOOMING LAUSD REFORM + 4LAKids RESPONDS
Sunday, August 09, 2009 10:08 AM
DAILY BREEEZE EDITORIAL  08/09/2009 -- Here are two things that virtually everyone involved in education in Los Angeles agrees upon: First, that the current educational system is failing. Second, that reform is crucial.   Unfortunately, that's where the agreement ends. When it comes to how to reverse Los Angeles Unified School District's years-long decline in school enrollment, graduation rates

STATE SCHOOLS CHIEF URGES SCHOOLS TO REVIEW NEW FEDERAL H1N1 FLU GUIDELINES + LINKS TO THE GUIDELINES
Saturday, August 08, 2009 9:21 PM
CDE PRESS RELEASE  ●●smf’s 2¢: Guideline bullet #4 is: Maintain routine cleaning.  That’s not the plan in LAUSD as custodial staff has been eliminated.  Routine every day classroom cleaning has been cut to once a week.      Release: #09-116   August 7, 2009  Contact: Tina Jung    E-mail: communications@cde.ca.gov    Phone: 916-319-0818  State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Urges Schools to Review

DAE'VON BAILEY: A SMALL VOICE THAT GOT LOST. How do we parcel out the blame among the man accused of killing Dae'von, the system that seemed to ignore his needs, and the mother who failed at mothering?
Friday, August 07, 2009 9:54 PM
Sandy Banks: LA Times columnist          Tylette Davis gets a hug next to the casket of her son Dae’von, allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend. Photo: Christine Cotter/Los Angeles Times  August 8, 2009 - I wrote about the death of Lily Burk last week because I couldn't stop thinking about the Los Feliz teenager who was doing an errand for her mother when she was abducted, killed and left in her

N.Y. STATE SENATE EXTENDS MAYOR'S CONTROL OVER N.Y.C. SCHOOLS + PARENT GROUPS REACTION'
Friday, August 07, 2009 2:24 PM
By Lesli A. Maxwell | Education Week  Published Online: August 7, 2009 | Published in Print: August 12, 2009  August 7, 2009 -- After nearly two months of political wrangling, state senators in New York gave final approval last week to a measure that will keep Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in charge of New York City’s 1.1 million-student school system.  Mr. Bloomberg, whose seven-year authority over

LABOR NONPROFIT'S CONSULTING FEES TO OFFICIALS INVESTIGATED + PROBE INTO PAYMEMTS TO HUIZAR, TOKOFSKY
Friday, August 07, 2009 9:00 AM
Labor nonprofit's consulting fees to officials investigated: Payments of $30,000 each to former L.A. Unified Board of Education members David Tokofsky and Jose Huizar, now an L.A. city councilman, are the focus of the federal probe.     By Howard Blume, Scott Glover and David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers  August 6, 2009  - Federal investigators are examining whether a

(Selections from) The Soulvine: SAY WHAT?
Thursday, August 06, 2009 9:58 PM
The Soulvine is a column by Betty Pleasant. Contributing Editor of the Los Angeles Wave.  NAACP STEPS IN — Los Angeles NAACP President Leon Jenkins wrote an open letter last week to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa decrying the Spanish-language-only summer instruction that was implemented at John Ritter Elementary School in Watts. The school is one of the 10* LAUSD public schools taken over by the

AP: SELECTED RECENT CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS - "Keep CAHSEE exemption in place" + "A time for bold leadership" + "Governor plants seed of future tax increases"
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 7:10 PM
August 5, 2009 | By The Associated Press    Aug. 1: Bakersfield Californian: "Keep CAHSEE exemption in place"  July's state budget cuts will result in plenty of pain for California public education — with one little-noted exception.  The California High School Exit Exam, a reality for the past few years on campuses statewide, will no longer be required of certain disabled students, including

VETERAN L.A. TEACHER ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING STUDENT
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 6:54 PM
LA Times Now Blog from Jason Song  11:51 AM | August 5, 2009 -- A veteran Los Angeles Unified fifth-grade teacher is being held today on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old student.  Forrest Stobbe, 39, taught at Queen Anne Elementary School in the Mid-Wilshire area for 13 years, according to a district spokeswoman. He was arrested Tuesday at his home in North Hollywood, according

A GOOD IDEA FOR SCHOOLS
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 6:44 PM
editorial| La Opinión   2009-08-05 -- The poor academic performance results in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) require creativity to capitalize on the resources available, for the benefit of the students. On August 25, the School Board will have an opportunity to approve one of these innovations.  On that day, the Board will vote on a proposal by Vice President Yolie Flores

DO SCHWARZENEGGER'S CUTS CROSS THE LINE? With his budget vetoes, the governor may have overstepped his constitutional authority.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 8:01 AM
●●smf's 2¢: The Times (below) lays out the legal brief with brevity.  However….  (There always is a however.)  Against the backdrop  the national debate over the Sotomayor appointment and bogeyman 'activist judges '-  judges and the courts are more and more involved in government and governance as the Executive and the Legislative branches of government 'let the courts sort it out."      The

THE HIGH COST OF PARENTING ….having kids has never been a wise economic decision!
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 7:58 AM
from The LA Times National Briefings column  It's no secret that raising children can be expensive, but how about nearly a quarter of a million dollars?  A new government report says a middle-income family with a child born last year will spend about $221,000 raising that child through age 17.  The report by the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion identified housing

MY SUMMER IS NO VACATION: By missing out on sleeping in and spending time with her friends, going to year-round school has been a real drag to Lia, 17.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 12:39 AM
July-August 2009 Issue   By Lia Dun, Senior writer, 17, Marshall HS in LA Youth     I miss my summer vacations. By the time my A-track friends (and traditional calendar friends from other schools) wake up at noon, I have already sat through chemistry, English, U.S. history and a service period, and been assigned at least three hours of homework. In class, I think about my friends having fun

ASSEMBLY EDUCATION HEARING IN LA - "Cutting California's Future Short: California's Vision for Education and the Realities of State Budget Cuts" @ Berendo Middle School Wed., August 5, at 11:00 a.m.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009 10:45 PM
Dear Friend:  I wanted to send you additional information about the hearings I will be helping to host in San Francisco and Los Angeles this week to examine the impact of recent state budget cuts on our kids, our schools, and California's future.   The hearings, Cutting California's Future Short: California's Vision for Education and the Realities of State Budget Cuts, will bring together local

CORTINES' + MEHULA'S LETTERS RE: LAUSD'S BUILDING PROGRAM: "The District is on track to deliver the schools and modernizations promised to the community".
Tuesday, August 04, 2009 9:14 PM
Yesterday Superintendent Cortines wrote to the community:     This morning Chief Facilities Executive Guy Mehula wrote to the facilities team:     Dear team,   I recently had the opportunity to speak with the Division leadership about the current state of the Program and the upcoming changes in Facilities and I wanted to personally share the information, as well as some new information on

STATE SENATE TO CONSIDER CHANGING LAW ON STUDENT SCORES, TEACHER EVALUATIONS
Tuesday, August 04, 2009 7:09 AM
In an effort to qualify for federal 'Race to the Top' funds, the Senate's education committee plans to look at a 2006 law that bars use of test scores to evaluate teacher performance.  By Jason Song  - LA Times  August 4, 2009  -- The state Senate will hold hearings later this month to determine if legislators need to change a California law governing the use of student test scores in order to

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