Dumb Fundraising Tricks: SELLING TEST SCORE POINTS

●●smf checked the sources here, expecting (and hoping) to find a link to The Onion or Colbert, The Weekly World News , Fox News or another comedy site. No such lucK!  see: THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER – AP – THE NEWS & OBSERVER OF RALEIGH -   ROSEWOOD MIDDLE SCHOOL 

Anyone stretching for an historical precedent here might want to look up Martin Luther, the Sale of Indulgences and The Diet of Worms.  Principal Shepherd will probably be dieting upon her fair share o’ worms  …hopefully gummy  Though perhaps just deporting her along with whoever wrote the Don't Sign a Charter Petition  flyer in LA would be more appropriate.

 

NC school sells test points for $20 to raise money

An Associated Press Story in the Fayetteville Observer

Published: 10:54 AM, Wed Nov 11, 2009

GOLDSBORO (AP) - A central North Carolina middle school is selling grades to students to raise money for the school.

The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Wednesday that Rosewood Middle School in Goldsboro has come up with a novel fundraising plan after last year's chocolate sale flopped.

The school will sell 20 test points to students in exchange for a $20-dollar donation.

Students can add 10 extra points to each of two tests of their choosing. The extra points could take a student from a "B" to an "A" on a test or from a failing grade to a passing grade.

Rosewood's principal Susie Shepherd rejected the idea that extra points on two tests could make a difference in a final grade.

Shepherd said she approved the idea when a parent advisory council presented it. "Last year they did chocolates and it didn't generate anything," Shepherd said.

The funds will go toward improved technology for Rosewood, including digital cameras for the computer lab and a high-tech blackboard.

But officials at the state Department of Public Instruction said exchanging grades for money teaches children the wrong lessons.

The department's chief academic officer, Rebecca Garland, told the News & Observer she understands that schools are struggling during the recession but added that, "We're teaching kids something that if they were to do it later, they could get in trouble for."

Garland said offering students test credit in exchange for school supplies is a long standing practice at some schools. "I've never actually heard of being able to purchase grades before," she said.

Parents need to have a true picture of how their student is performing in class, Garland said.

No donations have been collected so far, Shepherd said. Rosewood students have until November 20 to hand in their money.

 

Rosewood Middle School price list

• A $20 donation buys 10-point credits to be used on two tests of the student's choice.
• A $30 donation buys the test points and admission to a 5th-period dance.
• A $60 donation buys students test points, the dance invitation, and a "special 30-minute lunch period with pizza, drink and the choice to invite one friend to join them."
• Photo ops with Rosewood principal Susie Shepherd, the vice principal, and a home room teacher go for $75. The photos will be posted on a school bulletin board and on the school's Web site.

Rosewood Middle School Mission Statement

"The staff of Rosewood Middle School is committed to empowering adolescents through unique goal-directed learning in environments created for success with the support and participation of students, parents and community."

Accept the Challenge-Soar with the Eagles!

UPDATE:

District nixes cash-for-grades fundraiser

BY LYNN BONNER - Staff Writer Raleigh News & Observer

Wed, Nov 11, 2009 -- Selling candy didn't raise much money last year, so a Goldsboro middle school tried selling grades.

However, the fundraiser came to an abrupt halt today after a story in the News & Observer raised concerns about the the practice of selling grades.

Wayne County school administrators stopped the fundraiser, issuing a statement this morning.

"Yesterday afternoon, the district administration met with [Rosewood Middle School principal] Mrs. Shepherd and directed the the following actions be taken: (1) the fundraiser will be immediately stopped; (2) no extra grade credit will be issued that may have resulted from donations; and (3) beginning November 12, all donations will be returned."

A $20 donation to Rosewood Middle School would have gotten a student 20 test points - 10 extra points on two tests of the student's choosing. That could raise a B to an A, or a failing grade to a D.

Susie Shepherd, the principal, said a parent advisory council came up with the idea, and she endorsed it. She said the council was looking for a new way to raise money.

"Last year they did chocolates, and it didn't generate anything," Shepherd said.

Shepherd rejected the suggestion that the school is selling grades. Extra points on two tests won't make a difference in a student's final grade, she said.

It's wrong to think that "one particular grade could change the entire focus of nine weeks," Shepherd said.

State education officials, who typically shy from talking about grading at individual schools, were not pleased to hear of Rosewood's effort.

Rebecca Garland, the chief academic officer for the state Department of Public Instruction, said she understands that schools are struggling in the recession.

Tight state and local budgets have put extra pressure on schools to raise their own money. Teachers giving extra test credit to students who bring in classroom supplies is a longstanding practice at some schools.

The wrong lesson?

But Garland said exchanging grades for money teaches children the wrong lessons. She also said it is bad testing practice and is unfair to students whose parents can't pay.

"If a student in college were to approach a professor to buy a grade, we would be frowning on that," Garland said. "It might even be a reason for dismissal. We're teaching kids something that if they were to do it later, they could get in trouble for."

Students should know that test grades are based on what they've learned, and parents need to have a true picture of how their child is performing in class, Garland said.

Garland said she has heard of schools offering test credit to students who bring supplies to school. But "I've never actually heard of being able to purchase grades before," she said.

An ethicist at Clemson University hopes Rosewood reconsiders its fundraising strategy.

"To my mind, it's the integrity of the educational enterprise that's at stake here," said Daniel Wueste, director of the Rutland Institute for Ethics.

A parent objects

Carmen Zepp, a Raleigh parent, said there should be policies against offering students test credit for anything other than what they've learned.

Zepp objected this year when her daughter's social studies teacher at Knightdale High School had students bring to school tissues and hand sanitizer. The supplies counted for 25 percent of a "supply check" grade.

"It's awful," Zepp said. "It's indicative of the fact that our schools don't have enough money. They can't get tissues or hand sanitizer or whatever without bribery. And that's pretty sad."

Shepherd, the Rosewood principal, said her school needs more technology. She said any money raised would help buy digital cameras for the school's computer lab and a high-tech blackboard.

Shepherd said no donations have been collected so far, as far as she knows.

The district is continuing to investigate, and has stated that additional actions will be taken if deemed necessary.

CSU TO ASK STATE FOR $884 MILLION MORE

Nanette Asimov, San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 -- As California State University prepares to close its doors to tens of thousands of qualified students next year, Chancellor Charles Reed said Tuesday he will ask Sacramento for $884 million to meet CSU's budget needs - a long-shot request from the cash-strapped state.

At the same time, a dozen popular CSU campuses - including San Francisco, Sonoma and San Jose in the Bay Area - will limit enrollment by making it harder for certain applicants to qualify, and by setting the application deadline for fall 2010 weeks early, at midnight Nov. 30.

"The California dream is access to higher education," Reed told reporters who asked how he would make his case for a 2010-11 budget that is two-thirds new money, and one-third restoration of funds cut out of the last state budget.

He said he'll ask lawmakers to readjust their priorities.

"We invest way too much money in the prison system," he said. "I'd rather see us invest in education."

If the state won't bolster CSU's budget and cuts funding again, Reed said he would consider raising student fees next spring - the third time in one year.

"The governor has made no decisions regarding CSU or any other agency," said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the California Department of Finance.

Glum fiscal outlook

Early estimates of the state's budget gap for the next fiscal year are $7 billion to $14 billion, Palmer said. Forecasts will be updated the first week of December.

California cut CSU's budget by more than half a billion dollars this year, jolting the university from top to bottom.

CSU trustees raised student fees by 32 percent, bringing the cost to $4,827 per year. That's less than many of the nation's colleges charge, but beyond the means of many families.

Course reductions have also caused severe overcrowding throughout the 23-campus system, while cost-cutting faculty furloughs have created on-again, off-again classes.

About 450,000 students are enrolled in CSU - and many more are clamoring to get in. Applications for next fall are up 53 percent over last year, Reed reported.

But more cost savings will have to come from reducing enrollment by 40,000 students over the next two years, he said.

CSU has already canceled admissions for next spring. And the 12 most severely overcrowded campuses will stop accepting fall applications at the end of November, weeks ahead of the usual December deadline.

Less student access

Those 12 campuses are also reducing next fall's enrollment by making it harder for students beyond a certain distance from campus to attend. San Francisco State, for example, has always had one set of admissions criteria for all California applicants.

Not so anymore, said Jo Volkert, assistant vice president for enrollment at that campus. Applicants from just five counties - San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin - will be admitted under the regular criteria: a grade-point average of at least a 3.0, or failing that, a combination of SAT (or ACT) scores and grades. The lower the applicant's grades, the higher the test score has to be.

The criteria will be made more difficult for applicants from outside the five counties, though Volkert said the details won't be known until all applications are in.

San Francisco State is planning for about 28,500 students next fall - 2,000 fewer than this year. Much of that will be from the loss of spring enrollment. But about 300 fewer freshmen will be admitted, Volkert said.

Political science major Katherine Savvides called the situation an in-your-face lesson in California politics - the very name of a class she's taking that is frequently canceled due to faculty furloughs.

"So we have less class time to learn about these things, and the professor is getting paid less," Savvides said. "It's very ironic."

Chancellor Reed will present his budget to CSU trustees next week in Long Beach. The $884 million he is seeking from the state would raise overall support to CSU from California's general fund to $3.3 billion.

THREE STRIKES = CAL STATE STUDENTS OUT! CSU Applications up 53% as Enrollment is cut 9% and Tuition raised is 30%

The increase puts added pressure on the 23-campus university system, which has raised tuition 30% this year and plans to cut enrollment by 40,000 students in the face of a severe budget crisis.

By Carla Rivera | LA Times

November 11, 2009 -- More students are applying to California State University campuses so far this year, even as university officials are preparing to slash enrollment and tighten admission standards in response to the most severe budget crisis in the system's history.

Since Oct. 1, Cal State has received 266,152 applications, a 53% increase over the same period last year, Chancellor Charles B. Reed said during a conference call Tuesday. Freshman applications are up 32% over the same period.

A large part of the increase is from sophomores seeking to transfer from community colleges. Such transfers were closed during the spring admission cycle.

But many applicants may not find a space. Reed said the university system will move forward with plans to slash enrollment by 40,000 students over the next two years to contend with a $564-million budget cut for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

"Denying students access to the California State University is just about the worst thing I can do during a recession," Reed said. "But we have to provide a quality higher education to students and we cannot educate more students with less."

It is unclear how many applicants will be rejected after the Nov. 30 deadline most campuses have adopted, Reed said. "One thing I know is that in the past Cal State was very lenient in admitting students who hadn't completed all of their course work or liberal arts requirements. I believe those students are going to be turned away."

Reed is seeking an $884-million increase in state general funds for the 23-campus system. The university raised student fees 30% this year and imposed furloughs on nearly all employees.

The Board of Trustees is expected to vote on the new budget -- which may include a 10% fee hike -- next week before it goes to the governor and Legislature.

For Cal State campuses, it was more grim news. Many already have enrollment caps and give priority to qualified students from their own community. More are taking measures to expedite graduations to make room for new students.

At Cal Poly Pomona, for example, students with enough credits for a degree will be notified they've met graduation requirements and will not be readmitted. Students there are generally being limited to one major and those who pledge to graduate in four years are given priority registration, said spokesman Tim Lynch.

Shrinking enrollments bode ill for students and faculty, said Lisa Alex, a Cal Poly Pomona chemistry professor and vice chair of the school's Academic Senate.

"You wonder if there's going to be a disillusioned group of young people not knowing what they are going to do," she said. "Many junior faculty are looking for other positions or they worry that they won't have the opportunities they thought they were going to have. It's a little scary."

LUNCH WITH ALICE WATERS IN LARCHMONT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL'S GARDEN

Mary MacVean | LA Times Daily Dish blog -The inside scoop on food in Los Angeles

November 9, 2009 |  4:06 pm - When Alice Waters talks about improving school lunch, she doesn't just mean making the chicken nuggets more nutritious. She wants to see a table set, maybe with flowers. She wants children to have enough time to have conversations as they eat.

"There are lots of wonderful gardens that are happening in schools, and some progress is being made in the kitchens," Waters, chef-owner of the restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., said in the garden at Larchmont Charter School.

And eventually? She'd like to see high schools in which the students run the cafeterias and work in them alongside teachers and cooks. She'd like lunch to be served, for free, to everyone.

"That's a dream. We haven't gotten there yet," she said today at the Larchmont Charter School, an elementary school that served lunch to Waters, chef Mark Peel, City Council President Eric Garcetti and other guests to celebrate its affiliation with Waters' Edible Schoolyard program.

Larchmont Charter has two schools and one of them gets its lunch from the Farmers Kitchen, a project of the organization Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles. They served the same lunch to the adults who were visiting: cheese quesadillas with salsa, black beans, green salad, fruit salad and cookies.

As Waters and others spoke, children played nearby, many of them peering through a fence to see what was going on.

One of the speakers was Breanna Reed, a third grader who said she likes to garden because she likes to get her hands dirty and to taste and smell different foods. "I don't really like artichokes that much," she said, but she changed her mind when she tasted them from the school garden.

Second- and third-graders spend time in the garden every week with garden teacher Johnna Walker, a credentialed teacher who began at Larchmont as a parent volunteer. The relationship with the Edible Schoolyard will give Larchmont resources, advice and technical assistance, she said.

Photo: Alice Waters. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

LAUSD BLASTS THREAT ON FLYER: Latinos told they'll be deported if they support charter plan

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | Los Angeles Newspaper Group/Daily News

Posted: 11/10/2009 08:03:12 PM PST

Nov. 11, 2009 - Community groups and Los Angeles Unified officials on Tuesday condemned an anonymous flyer handed to Latino parents that threatened them with deportation if they supported plans to convert their neighborhood school to a charter.

<< Image of suspect flyer. Translation: DO NOT SIGN ANY PETITIONS FOR A CHARTER SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU COULD BE DEPORTED. COME TO THE BOARD ON TUESDAY at 8:15 A.M. OR 6:00 PM IN THE GRATTS SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

Calling it an escalation in a series of "scare tactics," district officials and community advocates said distribution of the flyer was timed to weaken one of LAUSD's boldest efforts to reform public education in Los Angeles.

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines tried to reassure parents in a statement that nothing would happen if they signed a petition to support a charter school.

"Parents, please trust us," Cortines said. "No one will ever be deported for signing a petition for a charter school. ... No one in this district either knows or cares about the immigration status of our students or their parents."

The district's School Choice plan officially kicks off Monday when the district will begin examining bids from charters and other nonprofits to take over underperforming public schools.

One of the reasons the teachers union opposes the plan is because charters, which are publicly funded but operate independently from the district, do not have to hire union teachers.

To date, only parents from Gratts Elementary School in the Pico-Union neighborhood of Los Angeles have reported receiving the flyer. Written in Spanish, in capital letters, the flyer says: "DO NOT SIGN ANY PETITIONS FOR A

CHARTER SCHOOL BECAUSE YOU COULD BE DEPORTED."

Ultimately, the school board will decide who gets to take over a certain school or whether it will remain in district hands. But community preference will play a key role.

While United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing LAUSD teachers, was not directly linked to the flyer, some district officials and community advocates said they believed it came from rogue union members.

But union leaders denounced the flyer as "despicable."

"They think we had something to do with this. Well they must not have checked our track record," said UTLA president A.J. Duffy.

"We have always stood for immigrants rights... UTLA had nothing to do with this."

As news of the flyer spread Tuesday, UTLA leaders also hosted a meeting with teachers, administrators and parents from the three dozen new and under-performing LAUSD campuses that have been selected for potential takeover under the district's reform plan.

The School Choice reform plan, approved in August, allows nonprofits to bid to take over new and under-performing schools. LAUSD expects to make all final decisions on the school proposals by February.

Under the plan parents can also elect to have their school taken over by another outside operator if the school is under-performing and a majority of parents support the plan.

Union leaders, who have threatened legal action against the plan, say for now they are focusing on supporting district teachers and staff as they develop proposals to operate their schools.

"I'm not going to say we don't have some members who are resisting change... You have that in any organization," said Julie Washington, UTLA's vice-president for elementary schools.

"But we want change more than anyone... We are the ones who have to work with children under the current deplorable conditions."

Community advocates, however, said union representatives have grown increasingly hostile at community meetings held with parents at the targeted schools.

District officials also criticized UTLA for not approving a plan that would allow for more pilot schools - small schools that use a more flexible teachers contract and give parents and staff decision-making power, but remain under district control.

Pilot schools are seen as one of the district's best options to keep control of schools under the reform plan, but the teachers union and the district have not agreed to expand their numbers beyond 10.

"As far as I am concerned we have opened the door for the kinds of reforms that the teachers union has asked for and they have shut the door on change," said LAUSD board member Yolie Flores Aguilar, who authored the School Choice reform plan.

Longtime educators say this kind of politics can be expected with such an ambitious plan for school reform.

"This is about losing jobs, members and power," said Maria Casillas, a former LAUSD educator and president of the nonprofit Families in Schools.

"And in the end it is the children who lose out if schools are not improved."

LAUSD LEADERS RETHINK PLANS FOR PARENT INPUT ON CHANGES

by Lesli A. Maxwell | Ed Week Online

Published Online: November 10, 2009 | Published in Print: November 11, 2009 | Vol. 29, Issue 11, Page 4

November 10, 2009 - Leaders in the Los Angeles Unified School District have backtracked on a plan that would have allowed parents to “trigger” changes at their children’s schools, in what was to be part of a broader policy to turn around low-performing schools. ("Proposal Would Open Up Management of L.A. Schools," Aug. 26, 2009.)

Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines issued a revamped set of rules last week* that instead would allow parents, through a vote, to bring their desire for a school overhaul to the attention of district leaders, who would ultimately decide whether the school should be restructured. Under that version of the parent trigger, parents, as well as members of a school staff, can “sign up” to “explore alternative school models.”

* Someone issued a revamped set of rules, Superintendent Cortines was in China last week. [see this]

To initiate that process, a majority of parents in the targeted school and a majority of parents whose children attend its feeder campuses would have to sign a petition. A petition carrying the signatures of 50 percent of a school’s staff would also bring about the possibility of new improvement efforts.

Only schools that have failed to meet state and federal benchmarks for at least three years would be eligible.

Debate over a parent trigger, which as first proposed by Mr. Cortines would have given parents much stronger authority to instigate management changes at chronically underperforming schools, has been ongoing since August. That's when the Los Angeles school board adopted its school choice plan that will open up as many as 250 new and existing schools to outside operators, such as charter school managers.

(Video) SCARE TACTICS IN CHARTER SCHOOL DEBATE?

 

By Carlos Granda - KABC-TV Los Angeles, CA

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 -- LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Spanish-language flier says that if you sign a petition in favor of charter school, you could get deported. It's the latest in the fight over who will run Los Angeles schools.

"We will not stand for fear tactics, we will not stand with any negativity that will stop reform in Los Angeles," said Monica Garcia, president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education.

Garcia is outraged over the Spanish-language flier warning parents who sign a petition in favor of charter schools could be deported. It was reportedly circulated in the Pico-Union and Westlake areas.

"That if you sign a charter petition you will be deported. The lowest kind of misinformation and fear tactics I have seen to dis-empower parents. Everything about this resolution is about empowering parents," said Yolie Aguilar Flores, member of the LAUSD Board of Education.

Community groups and school board members held a rally in front of the headquarters of the United Teachers Los Angeles union. Although they never accused UTLA of being responsible for the flier, the union says the message was clear, and they are upset about it.

"For this school board to stand by in front of our building and insinuate that we do not care about our students and stand up for them is insulting," said Julie Washington, UTLA elementary vice president.

"We had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with it in any way shape or form," said UTLA President A.J. Duffy. "As a matter of fact, we stand on our lengthy record for standing up for immigrant rights."

The fight is over who will run some of L.A.'s underperforming schools. The school board wants to give outside operators the chance to run them, but the teachers union worries it might lose jobs.

Parents say they want what's best for their children.

Elizabeth Lugo says she wants change. "As a community we need to come together and really demand that they move forward and expand small schools and pilot schools," said Lugo.

The school district and the teachers union have not been able to come to an agreement over charter and pilot schools, but LAUSD is still moving ahead with plans to accept bids for outside operators to run several schools. That's scheduled for the beginning of next week.

(Copyright ©2009 KABC-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

L.A. SCHOOL LEADERS, COMMUNITY GROUPS TO DEBUNK INFLAMTORY FLIER AIMED AT UNDOCUMENTED PARENTS

by Howard Blume – LA Times LA NOW Blog

November 10, 2009 |  7:42 am -- Two L.A. Unified School District leaders plan to hold a news conference this morning with community groups to debunk a Spanish-language flier claiming illegal-immigrant parents who sign a petition calling for a charter school will be deported.

[Updated at 8:45 a.m.: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated that the teachers union was holding the news conference.]

The 10 a.m. news conference outside the teachers union headquarters in the Wilshire District is the latest development in ongoing disagreements over a proposal to improve 30 struggling or new campuses, with the school district and its teachers union stalled in crucial negotiations.

[Updated at 8:59 a.m.: A previous version of this post said the disagreement was over control of the schools, but actually involves proposals to improve the campuses.]

Becoming a charter school is one option for the 30 campuses designated for reform plans. Charters are independently managed and frequently nonunion. They often have been criticized by United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers union, but there is no evidence the union's leadership is responsible for the flier.

Participants in today’s news conference are expected to include school board President Monica Garcia, school board member Yolie Flores Aguilar and representatives of several allied community organizations.

Flores Aguilar authored the resolution that allows groups inside or outside the district to bid for control of new or struggling schools. Garcia is a close ally of L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has supported the Flores Aguilar resolution.

Besides calling attention to the flier, which reportedly circulated in the Pico-Union and Westlake areas west of downtown, the board members also plan to assert that community groups supporting the reform effort have suddenly encountered hostile receptions instigated by teachers on campuses where they were formerly welcome, said Jarad Sanchez, education coordinator of the group Alliance for a Better Community.

The news conference is being held at UTLA headquarters in large measure to pressure the union to sign an agreement allowing for more pilot schools, Sanchez said.

Pilot schools are campuses that have charter-like freedoms under a simplified union contract, but they remain under district control. Pilot schools are another reform option for the 30 targeted campuses.

The teachers union officially supports pilot schools, but some within its leadership have said they want more job protections if the number of pilots increases beyond the 10 it has already agreed to.

The district gave the union a 5 p.m. Monday deadline for signing the pilot-school expansion, but the union did not respond.

Factoid: LAUSD LARGEST EMPLOYER IN 6 COUNTIES

The Los Angeles Unified School District was recently listed as the largest employer among six southern California Counties, employing 97,572 people. Details were outlined in the 2008 CAFR report of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).

observer.com reports:

In the six southern California counties of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Imperial, more than half of the top employers in those counties, on average, are government entities.

Topping the list of sixty employers with the greatest single number of employees in all counties was the Los Angeles Unified School District, with 97572 employees (2.38%). The STATE OF CA, which is listed in five out the six counties as one of the top ten principal employers, comprised 50,751 employees on the CAFR list.

SCAG Southern California Association of Governments Principal Employers by County in the SCAG Region Current Year 2008
[See Table 13/Page 96 of the report for full list of detailed numbers].

• Los Angeles County Largest Employers
  L.A. Unified School District
  Los Angeles County
  City of Los Angeles
  UCLA
  State of CA
  USC
  Target Corporation
  Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
  Long Beach Unified School District
  Ralphs Grocery Company

CLASS CONFORMITY - Should LAUSD go uniform?

Daily News Editorial

11/10/09 -- LAST week, the Los Angeles City Council voted for a resolution recommending Los Angeles schools adopt a mandatory uniform policy for all of its not quite 680,000 students.

It was essentially meaningless. The council, for all its range of authority, has no control over how the Los Angeles Unified School District governs itself. However, the motion by Councilman and former school board president Jose Huizar does put the pressure on LAUSD Board of Education members, some of whom would like to move up in local political circles.

Currently, LAUSD policy allows the administrator of each school to decide whether its students should wear uniforms. Some do, some don't.

The renewed push for uniforms comes at a time when LAUSD is struggling to improve academics and avoid losing control of new and failing schools, as is allowed under new district policy. Under that shadow, controversial policies like this one may get more consideration.

Uniform policy also comes with some convincing fans. Capt. Phillip Tingerides of the Los Angeles Police Department's Southeast Division has noted that communities with gangs benefit from having school uniforms.

"In areas like Southeast L.A. where there are gangs everywhere and they're identified by colors of clothing, it takes away that in-your-face-I'm-from-this-gang message," Tingerides said.

Several school districts across the country, including Long Beach, New York City and Washington, D.C., have implemented school uniform policies. The Long Beach Unified School District, with 88,000 students, requires uniforms for all students in elementary and middle schools and two high schools.

Long Beach has found success with the program which was started in the 1990s. "It's worked quite well for us," LBUSD spokesman Chris Eftychiou told the Daily News in June 2008. "We've seen gains in student achievement and have earned a lot of national recognition for our program."

What do you think?

Should LAUSD try out uniforms for students? Can clothing really help improve education? Or do policies like this trample students' rights of self expression and creativity?

Send your responses to opinionated@dailynews.com. Please include your full name, the community or city in which you live and a daytime phone number. We'll print as many as we can in Sunday's Opinionated section.

MAGNET SCHOOL DEADLINE MOVED UP FOR L.A. UNIFIED

by Howard Blume | LA Times LA NOW blog

November 9, 2009 |  6:00 am -- The application deadline for the popular local magnet-school program is three weeks earlier this year. Parents will have only until Dec. 18 to turn in applications for their choice among 173 magnet programs in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Magnets were established in the late 1970s to promote voluntary integration — and in that aspect they have achieved limited success. Still, many have become wildly popular academic showcases for the nation’s second-largest school system. And these attract far more applicants than can be accommodated.

Not long ago, the deadline for applications was in late January, and last year, it was Jan. 9, said Almarie Polk, an administrative assistant with the magnet division. The earlier deadline means parents will find out sooner, probably in April, about whether their child gets into a requested magnet, Polk added.

She said this stepped-up timeline should help parents better manage their choices, including neighborhood schools, charter schools and private schools.

But the driving factor in the shifted deadline is the district’s internal effort to improve its own forecasting of enrollment for the following school year, spokeswoman Ellen Morgan explained in an e-mail.

Brochures, with applications, that explain the different magnet offerings are mailed to parents’ homes, and also can be obtained from local schools and district offices. About 65,000 applications are submitted for an estimated 16,000 openings each year. Current magnet enrollment stands at more than 56,800 students.

The district opened 10 new magnet programs this year, including ones at Mulholland, Burbank and Mount Gleason middle schools, Canoga Park and Reseda high schools and a marine science magnet at Point Fermin Elementary in San Pedro.

Next year, a new math, science and technology magnet is scheduled to open at South East High in South Gate.

The district provides free transportation for magnet students, but the bus rides can be long, and they could be longer than ever in the wake of recent budget cuts. Two other “choice” programs also are part of this application process. Students can apply to enroll in certain “receiver” schools that have space for more students.

And, finally, students have a legal right to attend another school, with free transportation, if their current school has persistently fallen short of required benchmarks on standardized tests.

For more information, parents and students can log onto: http://eChoices.lausd.net

LESSONS FOR LAUSD: Today's trying times are reminders of past missteps. But an innovative reform plan, if done right, will help.

LA Times Editorial

November 9, 2009 -- It's hard to imagine a more trying time for students and teachers at the Los Angeles Unified School District. Even more difficult is determining how much of the current woe was brought on by the district itself and how much reflects the vagaries of demographics, politics and the economy.

Consider the dismal budget year, the large-scale layoffs and the declining population of school-age students, then add to these troubles the students lost to charter schools and the resulting reduction in public school funding from the state. Enrollment in charters doesn't happen in smooth, predictable ways; it's not like an entire class from one school moves to another, with a resulting loss of one teacher position. Instead, it's a few from one school, a few from another, in scattered grades, and suddenly none of those schools can afford all of their teachers. And the students who move to charters aren't usually the most challenging ones to educate; those students tend to remain in the public schools.

That's how the district ended up with situations like the one at Mulholland Middle School, reported on last week by Times staff writer Howard Blume. The Van Nuys school has lost 100 students and 10 teachers. Its teachers and administrators took on heavy new workloads to reduce the number of layoffs. Students feel the pain too, in the form of more restricted course offerings and larger class sizes.

It's not the fault of the overburdened, dedicated teachers or their students -- or L.A. Unified -- that the state budget looks like Swiss cheese, that population shifts have lowered enrollment in most of California's urban districts or that regulations on charter schools create disproportionate hardships for public schools.

But there's also no denying L.A. Unified's heavy hand in creating its troubles, in ways both systemic and specific.

Last year, this page noted that charter school enrollment had grown to 7% of the district's student population and predicted the possibility of a de facto breakup of the district in which the growth of charters would eventually lead to a smaller, more manageable number of schools for the district to run. Since then, the proportion of students at charter schools has climbed again, to about 9%. And that figure will pale in comparison to the number five to 10 years from now if the district's plan to open perhaps 250 schools to outside operators is managed successfully.

The school board deserves credit for approving more charter schools in recent years, but the demand for them wouldn't have been nearly as high if the board and L.A. Unified management had been paying attention to the years-long discontent in the district. Parents complained about unsafe campuses, unqualified teachers and high dropout rates. Employers complained that graduates were so weak in math and reading skills that they couldn't qualify as delivery people or apprentices for skilled construction jobs. Under former Supt. Roy Romer, the district responded with some improvements, mainly in its elementary schools and with the construction of new campuses, but continued to stumble over its own byzantine bureaucracy, board politics and stifling union contract rules.

No wonder there was pent-up demand to leave L.A. Unified when charters began opening their doors in larger numbers. Many of the schools have substantial waiting lists; the percentage of students in charter schools would be far higher today if they had unlimited capacity.

L.A. Unified lost whatever momentum it had when the board hired retired Vice Adm. David L. Brewer in 2006 as its next superintendent, a selection intended to forestall Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa from having a say in the hiring by making the appointment before the new mayor-backed school board members took office. Brewer was not up to the leadership task of overcoming the district's monumental obstacles to reform and controlling the highly political board. The decision to buy out his contract two years later was necessary, but it further eroded public confidence in the district.

Then the board bypassed a crucial opportunity last year to raise money for school operations when it placed a $7-billion construction bond on the November ballot, which was approved by voters. The bloated size of the bond, more than twice what the board had initially considered adequate, had little to do with construction needs and everything to do with polls that showed the bond would win easily. But this wasn't the time for taking the easy political route. The board should have halved the size of the bond, which can be used solely for construction, placing a parcel tax for an equal amount on the ballot to raise funds for textbooks, teachers and educational programs. Now the district is stuck with a bond that far exceeds its construction needs with fewer students to house, while it's short the money to retain adequate staff.

It's too late to correct many of the district's past missteps, but the board's newest strategy should alleviate some of the resulting disruption. By welcoming outside operators to some 250 schools, L.A. Unified will grow the number of charter schools and lose more students, but it also will gain greater control over how those losses take place. If the district stands firm on requiring charter operators to accept all students within each school's boundaries, rather than enrolling students through a lottery, there will be less impact on other district-operated schools and a fairer distribution of the more challenging students between charters and public schools. L.A. Unified would then become more of an administrator of independently run schools, a task it is better positioned to carry out than the direct education of 600,000 students. The new policy also should attract reform-oriented federal grants, the district's best chance of bringing in new money.

That doesn't relieve the district of the requirement to do its most basic job: teach well. In order to compete with charters, a teacher told Blume, "we've got to improve our educational program." Simple words, but the best ones.

LAUSD MAGNET SCHOOL APPLICATIONS DUE DEC. 18 …three weeks earlier than they have been in past years.

From staff reports to The Daily Breeze

Posted: 11/09/2009 09:04:09 AM PST

Magnet school applications due Dec. 18: The application period for Los Angeles Unified School District parents to enroll their children in magnet and other traveling programs began last week. Applications are due Dec. 18, three weeks earlier than they have been in past years.

Officials estimated they receive as many at 65,000 applications for 16,000 spaces in the district's 173 magnet schools and centers. More information is available at echoices.lausd.net, or in the CHOICES brochure sent to parents.

Application Process Timeline

• Applications mailed to homes: NOVEMBER 6, 2009
• On time Application deadline: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2009 at 5:00 P.M.
• Deadline to receive Late Applications (NO NCLB-PSC): FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2010
• Confirmation/Correction Letters mailed: FEBRUARY 2010
• Gifted/High Ability/Highly Gifted Eligible/Ineligible Letters mailed: FEBRUARY 2010
• Notification Letters Magnet/PWT/NCLB-PSC mailed: APRIL 2010
• NCLB-PSC School of Choice Selection Letters mailed: APRIL 2010

Download Choices Brochure (Application form not included)

• 2010-2011 Choices Brochure (English)
• 2010-2011 Folleto Opciones (En Español)

NEW LAW RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT OPEN ENROLLMENT AT LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS

 

By Tania Chatila, Staff Writer | San Gabriel Valley Trbume

Posted: 11/01/2009 08:56:58 PM PST

Education

When it comes to the estimated losses Rowland Unified School District has faced because of a state program allowing parents to send their children to any district, it really comes down to two figures: 2,000 students and nearly $28 million.

And now that the life of this program has been extended through 2016, some local educators fear it will just do more damage to already decreasing enrollment in the region.

The problem as they see it is SB680, co-authored by state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-East Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar. The bill was signed into law on Oct. 11.

It breathes new life into the 17-year-old District of Choice program, which lets participating districts accept students regardless of where they live - without the hassle of getting an approved transfer permit.

There are about 25 districts statewide that are part of the program, and three in the county - Walnut Valley Unified, Hacienda-La Puente Unified and Gorman school districts. Walnut Valley and Hacienda la Puente border the Rowland district.

Supporters of the law say it allows students and parents to choose where they can get the best education.

But opponents - like officials in Rowland - feel the program is unfair, and can lead to poaching of students.

"It's disappointing," said Rowland Unified Superintendent Maria Ott. "We tried to really pull forth the reasons why the Legislature needed to be very careful in this arena. Without oversight, it can become a program that is not reflective of good public education policy in California."

Ott said Rowland district lost thousands of students to other districts in the early 2000s. They haven't lost any more students since the 2006-2007 school year, but that's only because they can't anymore.

The bill does not allow school districts with an average daily enrollment below 50,000 to give up more than 10 percent of its students. That cap is calculated cumulatively.

"The reason why Rowland has continued to speak about this issue is because we have direct experience," Ott said. "I think this potentially could affect other districts."

At the 2,000-student Los Nietos School District in West Whittier, board member Nicholas Aquino said he's no fan of the program, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing of the bill has "basically tied school districts' hands."

He's asked the board to consider designating the district as a "District of Choice."

"You're either going to be a wolf or a sheep," Aquino said. "Either you go out there and build up your (average daily attendance) or you sit back and let people steal (it)."

Aquino said legislators have created an adversarial situation among school districts in which they will begin seeking out advanced-level students to attend their schools and bump up test scores.

"I know people argue there are safeguards in the legislation against that, but it's phooey," Aquino said. "How are you going to prove that they're cherrypicking? And where does that leave the students who are struggling?"

In the case of Rowland, Ott said the district lost many of its students to an aggressive, targeted campaign by Walnut Valley.

But Walnut district officials say it was the vision of a former superintendent, Ronald Hockwalt, to provide any child an opportunity to attend schools in the district.

"The purpose of DOC is to provide the opportunity for taxpayers - parents - to chose where they want their children to go," said Walnut Superintendent Cyndy Simms.

She said the program encourages a competitive platform among educators.

"It helps all school districts, as they took a look at the programs they offer and consider implementing (other) programs," Simms said.

Huff said the recently-passed law includes some new language to help address the opposition's concerns.

But opponents say that's not enough, and Ott criticized the state for not formerly studying the legislation.

"I still have concerns based on the practical application," said Pasadena Unified School District board member Ed Honowitz, who believes there still exists a lack of oversight for the program.

"There are still concerns in terms of is this really fully addressing the needs of all students as opposed to some people are aware of the program and have access to it and others are not," he said.

Simms said the program could be part of a growing trend in the public school system to push American schools toward open enrollment.

"This is an issue that community colleges faced years ago," Huff said. "They used to be similarly treated where students had to get inter-district transfers. Twenty years ago they took away that restriction. There were similar concerns made, but the reality is it worked pretty much flawlessly."

Staff Writer Tracy Garcia contributed to this story.

THREE’s A CROWD WHEN IT COMES TO EASTSIDE SCHOOLS: The addition of the Mendez learning center disrupts age-old campus loyalty -- to Roosevelt or Garfield highs, which are locked in a 75-year rivalry.

 

Victor Avila, 17, shows off his moves to peers at Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center. Most of the students were transferred to the new campus from Roosevelt High. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times / November 5, 2009)

by Esmeralda Bermudez | LA Times

November 8, 2009 -- Things were a bit discombobulated last week on the Eastside, where a generations-old allegiance to Roosevelt Senior High School has been upset by a new relative: the recently opened Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center.

At Roosevelt, hallways shimmered with gold and crimson banners hung in anticipation of the biggest football game of the season, against Garfield High School.

At the new Mendez high school -- populated by many students transferred from Roosevelt's overcrowded campus -- the walls were bare; the gymnasium empty.

At Roosevelt, students celebrated spirit week and crowned a homecoming queen.

At Mendez, students felt unsure about their newly selected mascot, the jaguar. There were murmurs of school spirit. But there is no football team, no cheerleading squad, no queen to crown.

"We're starting with nothing," said Michael Mena, 15.

In neighborhoods that have long identified with Roosevelt or Garfield, Mendez students find themselves without a high school legacy that some said is as intertwined with the Eastside's story as is Mexican American culture. Next year, when Esteban E. Torres High School opens in East Los Angeles to alleviate overcrowding at Garfield, hundreds of other students will face similar change.

Some Mendez students are not fazed by the shift. They see the move as an opportunity to carve a new identity on the Eastside.

"It's a privilege," said Levi Hernandez, 16. "The choices we make now are going to help all future classes."

Others, particularly the 400 or so who were transferred to the new campus in September after attending Roosevelt one or two years, can't help but feel disoriented. A few said they are determined to transfer back to their former campus.

"I try not to think about it too much," said Usbaldo Camarena, 14. "I'm here, but I still feel like I'm a part of Roosevelt."

For more than 80 years, cousins, siblings, parents and grandparents have graduated from one of the two schools. Those in Boyle Heights distinguish themselves as Roosevelt Rough Riders. Those in East L.A., just east of Indiana Street, proudly call themselves Garfield Bulldogs.

Roosevelt claims Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as a graduate, along with USC's athletic director Mike Garrett and Clippers owner Donald Sterling. It also boasts an Olympic-sized pool used during the 1984 Olympics.

Notable Garfield grads include boxer Oscar de La Hoya, along with retired California Supreme Court Justice John Arguelles and four members of the musical group Los Lobos. The school was made famous by math teacher Jaime Escalante, who transformed the calculus program and was profiled in the popular movie "Stand and Deliver."

Both campuses were central to the historic 1968 walkouts, a series of protests aiming to improve conditions at Los Angeles schools.

"It's one of the few things people can really hold on to in a community where they don't have a lot of big materialistic things to brag about," said Roosevelt athletic director Mike Flores, who, like most of his relatives, is a Garfield graduate. "It's a deep pride they have."

Inside homes, barber shops, taco stands and at bus stops, the 75-year-old Roosevelt vs. Garfield football rivalry prompted relatives and friends to tease one another, to celebrate and reminisce. More than 20,000 crowded into the East Los Angeles College stadium Friday night. Roosevelt won 28 to 16.

At Mendez, students continued to brainstorm ideas to foster school spirit.

The leadership class conceptualized the school newspaper, which is expected to create unity on the gleaming campus at 1st Street and Mission Road. The week before, they organized their first school dance, attended by 90 out of 800 students. They also launched several new clubs, including chess, weight lifting and dance.

"We want to feel proud of our school, like we're a part of something," said David Martinez, a 15-year-old who is running for president in the school's first election. "But it's going to take time."

The opening of the $106-million campus was seen as a triumph in a community that until recently had little choice but to enroll students at Roosevelt, a low-performing school that struggled with nearly 5,000 students and a year-round schedule. The majority of Mendez students come from neighborhoods that were within Roosevelt's boundaries.

Students at Mendez -- named after a Latino couple who fought segregation in schools during the 1940s -- have more space and top-of-the-line equipment and learning materials. They attend either the campus' math and science school or a technology and engineering school.

By next school year, officials plan to add sports teams, including basketball and cross country. But chances of a football team are slim because the site does not have a football field.

School board President Monica Garcia praised the school spirit traditions on the Eastside, but she said she also expects Mendez students to deliver big on report cards.

"I want us to get as excited about reading at grade level and being career- and college-ready as we do about spirit week and football games," she said.

On Friday night, many of the newly minted Mendez Jaguars roared for Roosevelt as loudly as the Rough Riders.

Jasmine Cortez, 16, sat flanked by Roosevelt students and parents. She was transferred to Mendez from Roosevelt for her junior year.

As she watched the packed stadium and Roosevelt's cheer squad holler "Let's go Riders! Let's go!" she said she longed for her former school, but she recognized that she was part of something new. "One day, hopefully," she said, "Mendez can have all of this too."

2 LOS ANGELES-AREA TEACHERS GET HIGH MARKS WITH MILKEN EDUCATOR AWARDS

Amina Kahn | LA Times LA NOW blog

November 4, 2009 |  2:03 pm

Two Los Angeles-area teachers received the biggest surprise of their careers when they were awarded the Milken Educator Award today.

Roberto Gonzalez of Virgil Middle School and Ana Higuera of Lynwood High School were stunned when Milken Family Foundation Chairman Lowell Milken announced at each campus that they had received the annual award, which comes with a $25,000 no-strings cash prize.

Like all the other teachers and students who piled into Virgil’s auditorium this morning, Gonzalez thought the assembly’s star speaker would be State Supt. of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, who had ostensibly come to congratulate the school for its marked academic improvement in the last few years. Last year, Virgil’s Academic Performance Index, based on test scores, shot up 56 points to 641.

“We don’t recognize our hard-working teachers enough,” O’Connell said. “Entertainers have the Academy Awards, the Emmys … this is our recognition.”

Milken said the award is meant to encourage beginning and mid-career teachers in whom they see great potential. The financial award is meant to reward teachers, “who often have to make financial sacrifices” for their chosen career, he said.This year, the foundation will be awarding 54 educators across the United States for exceptional work.

Gonzalez, 28, was chosen for his work combating high teacher turnover and encouraging his students to aim for college degrees, not just high school diplomas.

The science teacher’s voice shook as he thanked his fellow teachers and school administrators for the support they had provided over his seven years at the school.

“I’m sorry I’m crying, because it’s not a good look,” Gonzalez apologized, and the students exploded into cheers.

Higuera also said she was in “complete shock” when Milken awarded her the giant check a little after noon today. Higuera, 33, was also recognized for her work with “mid-level” students who often miss the college-preparatory track.

“I graduated from Lynwood myself so I connect to students,” Higuera said. “I was the first in my family to graduate college. I had no one to guide me – that’s one of the reasons I became a teacher.”

Photo: Roberto Gonzalez is surrounded by his students after receiving Milken Family Foundation Award at Virgil Middle School. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The news that doesn’t fit from Nov 8th

Be Informed/Get Active: PETITIONS AND PARENT/FACULTY/STAFF/COMMUNITY INFORMATION & PETITIONS FROM UTLA & AALA RE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE RESOLUTION

UTLA & AALA continue to strongly oppose the school choice motion and are working with civil rights organizations and other district unions to investigate legal options to fight this motion.  Tenth District PTA’s Board of Directors encourages PTA chapters and units – and all community stakeholders -  to study the issue and circulate the petitions as they feel appropriate. The governance and operation of our neighborhood schools is a fundamental PTA concern. (more)

ACLU SUIT ALLEGES FLORIDA NEGLECTING SCHOOLS
Friday, November 06, 2009 9:20 PM
By The Associated Press     ●●smf’s 2¢: The class action suit: Aho, et al v. Florida, et al is interesting in that the defendants – essentially the students of the Palm Beach School District hold the plaintiffs – the governor and other statewide electeds including the state Board of Ed  – accountable for alleged local shortcomings in their education – not the local school board.  

STIMULUS FUNDING REPORTS POSE PUZZLE FOR WATCHDOGS
Friday, November 06, 2009 8:52 PM
By Michele McNeil | Ed Week | Vol. 29, Issue 11  November 6, 2009 -- Even as the Obama administration tries to make good on promises of unprecedented transparency and accountability in economic-stimulus funding, the first reports from states and school districts show the difficulty of figuring out—in detail—how the money for education has been spent.  In the broadest sense, the quarterly stimulus

SCHOOL-BASED PHYSICAL EDUCATION KEY TO IMPROVING HEALTH IN LOW-INCOME ADOLESCENTS
Friday, November 06, 2009 7:10 AM
Science Daily   (Nov. 6, 2009) — School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley.  The study, which identifies opportunities for adolescents to improve their health based on routine daily activities,

OBAMA OFFERS SCHOOLS MONEY FOR BACKING INITIATIVES
Friday, November 06, 2009 5:38 AM
By JULIE PACE | Associated Press  5 November -- MADISON, Wis. — Pushing for a link between student test scores and teacher pay, President Barack Obama on Wednesday dangled $5 billion in federal grants to states willing to undertake a top-to-bottom overhaul of their schools in support of White House priorities.  The day after fellow Democrats lost gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia,

FORD FOUNDATION GIVES $100 MILLION TO REFORM URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS: The New York-based organization pledges the funds to seven cities, including Los Angeles, to research and improve teacher quality, student assessment and school funding, among other things.
Friday, November 06, 2009 5:07 AM
By Mitchell Landsberg | LA Times  November 5, 2009 -- The Ford Foundation pledged $100 million Wednesday to "transform" urban high schools in the United States, focusing on seven cities, including Los Angeles.  The seven-year initiative is among the largest philanthropic efforts aimed at improving education in the United States and, as described, could both complement and challenge aspects of the

EDUCATION IN THE EASTSIDE
Friday, November 06, 2009 4:58 AM
Op-Ed by Hon. Esteban E. Torres | Eastside Publications Group [Eastside Sun / Northeast Sun / Mexican American Sun / Bell Gardens Sun / City Terrace Comet / Commerce Comet / Montebello Comet / Monterey Park Comet / ELA Brooklyn Belvedere Comet / Wyvernwood Chronicle / Vernon Sun]   <<Photo: US library of congress  Over the past year, our communities have been hit hard by the economic recession, and

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARDS GROUP SNUBS STATE LEGISLATORS
Friday, November 06, 2009 9:52 PM
by Howard Blume | LA Times LA Now Blog  November 5, 2009 |  6:14 pm  And the winner is ... no one.  That’s right. Nobody won this year’s Legislator of the Year Award from the California School Boards Assn. because schools suffered so much from funding cuts approved by the state Legislature that the group didn't want to single out any lawmaker for praise.  “Sure, there are some legislators who

CITY COUNCIL APPROVES UNIFORMS FOR LAUSD
Thursday, November 05, 2009 3:38 PM
from kabc-tv online     Report typo or inaccuracy     The Los Angeles County Unified School District?  Where does one begin?  There is no such school district.     Councilman Huizar was once a school board member and twice the president of the board of education. That was then, this – the last time I looked, is now.          The city council must have better things to do   …like balancing the

LONG BEACH UNIFIED PARCEL TAX FAILS
Friday, November 06, 2009 10:12 PM
By Kevin Butler, Staff Writer Long Beach Press Telegram  Posted: 11/03/2009 08:21:20 PM PST  <<11/3/09 - L-R Volunteers, Ward Johnson, Ida Thompson and Cynthia Motex were off to a slow start at the Olympic Sailing Center in Long Beach voting on Measure T. Photo by Brittany Murray / Press Telegram      Election results     LONG BEACH - A ballot measure that would establish a five-year parcel tax

GAO CALLS FOUR STATES, INCLUDING CALIFORNIA, 'HIGH RISK' FOR STIMULUS SPENDING PROBLEMS
Wednesday, November 04, 2009 8:43 AM
from news stories  The U.S. Department of Education has identified four states that are at “high risk” for economic-stimulus spending problems, according to a report issued  by the Government Accountability Office.  California, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas have been singled out for intensive technical assistance by the Education Department to help them implement good practices in using the

HEALTH FOUNDATIONS JOIN FORCES TO IMPROVE CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS
Friday, November 06, 2009 6:03 AM
by Amina Khan | LA Times LA NOW blog  November 3, 2009 |  6:58 pm  The California Education Supports project, a new joint venture between three nonprofit foundations, held its first forum Tuesday to address the effects of mental and physical health on California students. Nearly 100 community leaders, students, health and education professionals piled into a Manual Arts High School classroom to

CRISIS IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP SEEN BREWING IN CALIFORNIA: Policy Experts Say State Lacks Comprehensive Human-Resources Policies for Principals
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 9:17 PM
By Lesli A. Maxwell | Ed Week | Vol. 29, Issue 10, Page 9     Published Online: November 2, 2009   November 4, 2009| In California, where school budgets are being slashed and achievement remains stubbornly low in many districts, there is mounting concern that the supply of principals is too limited to manage the financial and academic challenges facing public schools.  Complicating matters, the

FALLING ENROLLMENT THREATENS LAUSD BUDGET: "The growth in charter enrollment, however, does not help the district's financial picture since the alternative schools are funded independently of LAUSD" – but 'Public School Choice' offers up 36 more this year!
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 9:01 PM
EDUCATION: District sees student numbers shrink 10 percent since 2002   By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer LA Daily News (Online from the Contra Costa Times)  Posted: 11/03/2009 08:31:53 PM PST | Updated: 11/03/2009 08:33:33 PM PST  11/4 - Enrollment in the Los Angeles Unified School District has fallen to less than 680,000 students this year, nearly a 10 percent decline since its peak seven years

For Profit/Higher Ed: AT UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX ALLEGATIONS OF ENROLLMENT ABUSES PERSIST
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 7:43 PM
by Sharona Coutts, ProPublica         ^^A University of Phoenix building in Tulsa, Okla. (Flickr user Lost Tulsa)^^  November 3, 2009 6:00 pm EDT - After federal regulators accused the University of Phoenix of systematic enrollment abuses in 2004, the school's parent company paid out nearly $10 million to resolve the allegations.   Phoenix allegedly had broken the law by tying recruiters' pay to

STUNNED LONG BEACH WILSON HIGH STUDENTS GRIEVE FOR SLAIN CLASSMATE
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 7:41 AM
Friday night's shooting jolts parents who consider campus to be the safest school in Long Beach.    Odell Smith, 16, covers his face and grieves with fellow Woodrow Wilson High students at the spot where Melody Ross was shot and killed. "I just saw her moments before she was shot...she was smiling," said Smith. (Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times / November 2, 2009)  By Seema Mehta | LA Times

CA Elections: TAXES & BONDS TOP LOCAL BALLOTS - OXNARD, CULVER CITY & PALMDALE SEEK SCHOOL PARCEL TAX
Tuesday, November 03, 2009 7:40 AM
Many cities and school districts, hit hard by the recession, will ask voters Tuesday to approve new spending.  By Jean Merl and Ann M. Simmons | LA Times  November 2, 2009 - Across Southern California, recession-pinched cities and school districts are asking their voters for help in Tuesday's local elections.  Besides choosing from among scores of candidates for city councils, school boards and

POLICY SKIRMISHING PUTS LAUSD REFORM AT RISK: Disputes by charter operators over boundaries and parents over where reforms are targeted first are threatening the Public School Choice initiative.
Monday, November 02, 2009 5:46 AM
LA Times Editorial  November 2, 2009 -- It's back to business as usual at the Los Angeles Unified School District, and that's not a good thing. The district's potentially transformational initiative to open about 250 schools to outside management is in danger of being undermined as various interest groups stake out turf. The central goal of the program -- to radically refashion education for the

SCHOOL CHOICE PLAN TARGETS SAN FERNANDO MIDDLE SCHOOL AND 35 OTHERS
Monday, November 02, 2009 5:46 AM
By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer, LA Daily News         Editor's Note: San Fernando Middle School is one of 36 campuses up for bid under the School Choice Plan, a reform effort that allows non-profit groups to vie to operate underperforming and new schools. The Daily News will follow this campus as it progresses throughout the controversial conversion this year.       Oct 31, 2009 | Established in

Meanwhile, elsewhere… FOR DEBATE: WHO PICKS SCHOOL BOARD
Monday, November 02, 2009 5:43 AM
By WINNIE HU | New York Times  November 1, 2009 -- MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- THE hot button in Tuesday’s election in this school-obsessed suburb is not Democrat or Republican, Corzine or Christie, but something closer to home: Who gets to choose the school board?  Montclair, whose system of magnet schools has become a national model of racial integration, has one of the few remaining appointed boards

Update: 16-YEAR-OLD GIRL FATALLY SHOT AFTER HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME IN LONG BEACH
Monday, November 02, 2009 5:22 AM
Cara Mia DiMassa | LA Times LA NOW blog  October 31, 2009 |  7:27 am  A 16-year-old girl died after a shooting following a football game at Wilson High School in Long Beach.Two people were wounded.  Long Beach police spokeswoman Sgt. Dina Zapalski said the shooting occurred Friday night at about 10 p.m., just as people were leaving a football game between Wilson and Long Beach Polytechnic.

[Updated!] Be Informed/Get Active: PETITIONS AND PARENT/FACULTY/STAFF/COMMUNITY INFORMATION & PETITIONS FROM UTLA & AALA RE THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE RESOLUTION

by smf for 4LAKids    

UTLA & AALA continue to strongly oppose the school choice motion and are working with civil rights organizations and other district unions to investigate legal options to fight this motion.

Tenth District PTA’s Board of Directors encourages PTA chapters and units – and all community stakeholders -  to study the issue and circulate the petitions as they feel appropriate. The governance and operation of our neighborhood schools is a fundamental PTA concern.

We make the following info available and request the information be shared in your school community. Just because your school isn’t on the list doesn’t mean your community, your school, your kids –whether “your kids” in the classroom or the ones that live in your house -  won’t be impacted.

The warning is provocative and over-the-top -- but needs to be remembered: “First they came for the gypsies….”

• There are informational flyers available in English and Spanish, click on the thumbnails to go to “suitable for printing” versions.

Petitions should be turned in to the UTLA chapter chair at your school or faxed to: (213) 484-0201

A Petition Regarding the Effects of the “Public Schools Choice” Resolution

We, the undersigned parents, community members, students and school-based employees want to express some ofour concerns about the effect of the so-called Public Schools Choice Resolution recently passed by the LAUSD Board of Education:

1. We want a guarantee that all students will be welcomed and effectively taught including students with special needs, English language learners, gifted and talented, and ALL neighborhood students who have long suffered on the bus or enrolled in multi-track year round schools.

2. We insist that schools not run by the district: (a) meet ALL current district health and safety standards for pesticides, food preparation, and school wide cleanliness, security ,etc.; and (b) that free and reduced breakfast and lunch programs be offered at each school.

3. We object to the wholesale “giving away” of schools to outside groups when it is our children and neighbors who voted to provide the resources to build these new schools.

4. In general we find that many Charter schools “save money” by reducing clerical, custodial and food service staff hours, pay, and benefits as well as hiring untrained individuals to provide the needed services. We do NOT believe that this is viable nor sustainable, but simply a “race to the bottom” for students, parents, and staff.

5. We know that many staff members are parents of LAUSD students. So, we are very, very concerned about the destabilizing effect this “plan” will have on the families of countless students in the District. We do not need to increase the unemployment rate in Los Angeles County.

THEREFORE, our signatures call for a real examination of the effects of “contracting out” schools without fully mitigating what could be devastating effects on students and their families:

Please Print:

Name School Position (Parent, community member, teacher, student , Principal, etc)

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

 

Petición Referente a los Efectos de las Opciones de Resolución de las Escuelas Publicas

Nosotros, los padres que firmamos, miembros de la comunidad, estudiantes y empleados de las escuelas, queremos expresar algunas de nuestras preocupaciones sobre el efecto del llamado Resolución de Escoger las Escuelas Publicas, recientemente aprobado por la mesa directiva del Distrito Unificado de Los Ángeles.

1. Queremos garantía de que todos los estudiantes serán bienvenidos y efectivamente ensenados, incluyendo estudiantes de educación especial, de educación avanzada y los dotados, y TODOS los estudiantes del vecindario todos los que han sufrido en el autobús o han sido matriculados en las diferentes sesiones escolares de ano redondo.

2. Insistimos que las escuelas no administradas bajo el Distrito:

(a) reúnan TODAS las normas necesarias referente a pesticidas, preparación de comida, limpieza en las escuelas, seguridad, etc.; y

(b) que los desayunos gratis o de precio reducido y programas de almuerzo sean ofrecidos a cada escuela.

3. Nos oponemos al plan de “darlo todo” a grupos de afuera cuando fueron nuestros niños y comunidad quienes votaron para proveer los recursos para construir estas nuevas escuelas.

4. En general lo que vemos es que muchas escuelas Charter “ahorran dinero” reduciendo el personal de la oficina, de los que limpian, y reducen el numero de horas en los servicios de cafetería y reducen salarios y beneficios, al igual que contratando a personas que no están suficientemente capacitadas para proveer los servicios necesarios. No creemos que esta sea una forma eficaz, sino simplemente una “carrera hacia la ruina” para estudiantes, padres y empleados.

5. Sabemos que muchos miembros de nuestro personal son padres de nuestros estudiantes. Por eso estamos muy, muy preocupados sobre el nivel de confusión que este “plan” tendrá en las familias de muchos de nuestros estudiantes en el Distrito. Nosotros no necesitamos aumentar el nivel de desempleo en el Condado de Los Ángeles.

Por tanto, nuestras firmas hacen un llamado a examinar los efectos que “contratistas de fuera” tendrán en nuestras escuelas. Las consecuencias serán devastadoras para los estudiantes y sus familias.

Por Favor Letra de Imprenta

Nombre Escuela Titulo (padre, miembro de la comunidad, maestro, estudiante, director, etc.)

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

SIX LAUSD SCHOOLS RECEIVE BLUE RIBBON HONORS: Two Valley campuses on U.S. Department of Education's A-list

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News

Nov 7, 220 -- WEST HILLS — Two San Fernando Valley campuses were among an elite group Friday to receive a National Blue Ribbon — the country's top honor for schools.

Parents, teachers and students at Hamlin Street Elementary in West Hills and Danube Avenue Elementary in Granada Hills cheered the good news.

"We don't always get a lot of recognition," said Victoria Christie, principal of Hamlin Street.

"This really lets us know that we are doing things right."

Beyond doing things right, to earn the top honor from the U.S. Department of Education a school has to excel on a number of fronts. It has to meet all of the federal government's goals for student proficiency in reading and math, or it has to have a dramatic improvement in test scores. The feat is so difficult that this year only 264 schools in the country - and six in the Los Angeles Unified School District - earned the honor.

"This recognition reflects excellent instruction, a strong focus on academic achievement, a learning environment that meets the needs of all students, and stellar results," said LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines.

"These jewels of LAUSD outperform schools with similar enrollments throughout California and demonstrate one of our core beliefs: All children can learn and excel."

Across the district, Clifford Street Elementary in Echo Park, Delevan Drive Elementary in Eagle Rock, Solano Avenue Elementary in Los Angeles and 156th Street School in Gardena were also recognized with the designation.

'Hard work can pay off'

All six schools shared above-average test scores, based on the Academic Performance Index - the state's key standardized test benchmark that is graded on a 200 to 1,000 point scale.

Danube Avenue earned an API of 837 last year and Hamlin Street scored 886 — well above the state's goal for all schools of 800 and LAUSD's average score of 694.

Performing dances and songs from Hawaii, Japan and China, and sporting blue "Hamlin Husky" T-shirts and sweaters, students at Hamlin celebrated the big award Friday during a school assembly.

Fifth-grader Connor Ferguson even thanked his teachers for pushing him so hard in the classroom.

"This makes me so proud of my school," Connor said. "It shows that hard work can pay off."

Christie, who arrived at Hamlin five years ago, credited her teachers' use of student data and targeted intervention programs during the school day with boosting her school's scores.

"It helps us figure out exactly what kind of help every child needs," Christie said.

Nurtured by teachers

Danube Avenue Elementary School plans to host an event to commemorate the award next year, when the school gets its Blue Ribbon logo painted in the front entrance of the school, the school's principal, Sharon Geier, said.

She praised her staff for helping her students excel academically.

"It is our goal to ensure that every child achieves his or her full potential," Geier said.

"When any of us — an administrator, a teacher or a member of our support staff — see a test score, we see a child, not a number."

Teachers at Hamlin also stressed they pay attention to students' emotional needs. At Hamlin almost half of all students come from low-income families and a third are learning English as a second language.

"Sometimes we find ourselves playing several roles — teacher, parent, counselor — the bottom line is we will do whatever it takes to get our kids to do their best," said Ricki Averback, a second-grade teacher at Hamlin Street.

Mayby Iraheta, a mother of a fourth- and second-grader at Hamlin and a sixth-grader who graduated from the school last year, said her children also feel nurtured by their teachers — something she thinks ultimately helps her kids do better.

"Our kids excel here because teachers work hard and care," Iraheta said. "This has been happening here for a long time. It is just today that the rest of the world hears about it."

ACLU SUIT ALLEGES FLORIDA NEGLECTING SCHOOLS

By The Associated Press

●●smf’s 2¢: The class action suit: Aho, et al v. Florida, et al is interesting in that the defendants – essentially the students of the Palm Beach School District hold the plaintiffs – the governor and other statewide electeds including the state Board of Ed  – accountable for alleged local shortcomings in their education – not the local school board.

November 5, 2009 -- The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit  Thursday alleging that state officials in Florida are failing to ensure that students in Palm Beach County get a high quality education, as evidenced by their poor graduation rates.

The state court suit filed in West Palm Beach names Gov. Charlie Crist, the Board of Education and several political leaders and alleges that they are violating a requirement in the Florida Constitution to provide a "uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high quality" education.

"Palm Beach County is clearly not upholding its responsibility to provide a quality education to all of its students when so many of them are not graduating," Chris Hansen, senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said in a statement Thursday.

He added the issues in Palm Beach County are reflective of a national problem.

A spokesman for Crist did not have immediate comment.

Nat Harrington, a spokesman for Palm Beach County School District, said graduation rates have increased to 80 percent as a result of targeted initiatives.

“We know we still have work today, and are focused on getting that work done," said Harrington, who had not yet seen the ACLU's lawsuit.

The suit alleges a third to half of the county's students do not graduate on time with a regular diploma — well below state and national averages — and that graduation rates varied from 56 to 71 percent in 2006, depending on the methodology used to calculate them.

The ACLU also highlights the disparities between black, Hispanic and white student graduation rates. The gap between black and white graduation rates was 30 points over the past five years, the organization states, and 20 points between Hispanic and white students.

"All students, regardless of their age, race, special needs, ethnicity or gender, deserve an environment that breeds success, not failure," Muslima Lewis, director of the ACLU of Florida's Racial Justice Project, said in a statement.

STIMULUS FUNDING REPORTS POSE PUZZLE FOR WATCHDOGS

By Michele McNeil | Ed Week | Vol. 29, Issue 11

November 6, 2009 -- Even as the Obama administration tries to make good on promises of unprecedented transparency and accountability in economic-stimulus funding, the first reports from states and school districts show the difficulty of figuring out—in detail—how the money for education has been spent.

In the broadest sense, the quarterly stimulus reports made public Oct. 30 provide a first glimpse at how states are spending some $100 billion in education aid under the program.

The biggest chunk of the $14 billion in such aid spent by states and districts so far has been focused on creating and saving jobs, about 335,000 of them through Sept. 30, according to the reports.

Only about $600 million in education funds had been used for other purposes, such as payments to companies for purchases, or outside staff.

Yet getting details about exactly what jobs were created—and precisely how each purchasing dollar was spent—is harder. In many cases, states, districts, and other stimulus-aid recipients offered wide variation in how much detail they provided on the electronic reports. Some left blank key data fields, such as program descriptions.

So far, though, much of the focus by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has been on the big picture: how many jobs were created or saved with the education stimulus money, which is being allocated as part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress in February.

“Teachers are still teaching, ... education reform is still moving forward,” said Mr. Duncan in a Nov. 2 conference call. And the program, he added, is moving forward with “unprecedented transparency.”

While there are limitations in the reporting, that transparency does cast some light on how school districts are spending their money, which has been slow to trickle down to the district level.

At least $13 million in Title I funding for disadvantaged students, for example, has already been spent on technology, such as electronic whiteboards, computers, software, and technology training, according to an Education Week analysis of the reports available on Recovery.gov.

And about $50 million in special education aid so far has gone for tuition at other schools or placements for students with special needs.

How Transparent?

The extent of the transparency is sure to be tested.

News organizations such as the Chicago Tribune and USA Today have used the transparency Mr. Duncan described and discovered numerous reporting errors in education-related jobs, mostly involving numbers that were overreported.

For example, in some Illinois districts, the number of jobs reported as having been created or saved outnumbered the total number of staff members in the districts, according to the Chicago Tribune report.

The jobs data illustrate the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach the Obama administration used for reporting so as not to not make it overly burdensome for recipients. Stimulus-aid recipients fill out the same form whether the money was used on a road project or in a school classroom. And often, the fill-in-the-blank questions are open to interpretation.

Among the limitations evident in the first reports:

• Reporting detail varies widely. Alaska, for example, reported that 91 “teaching and support staff” jobs had been created so far from the education portion of the stimulus program’s State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, but gave no further detail. Delaware, by contrast, reported 205 jobs saved or created, and gave this breakdown: 155 teachers, 29 paraprofessionals, seven administrative posts, four guidance counselors, four secretaries, three substitute teachers, two technical-support workers, and one nurse.

• When the U.S. Department of Education highlights the 325,000 jobs the administration says were created or saved under the recovery act, those include a substantial—though unspecified—number of jobs in higher education. California, for example, reported that money from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund saved about 53,400 education jobs in the state, but only about 18,800 were for K-12 education. But many states didn’t specify how their education jobs were broken down.

• Finding out specifically what the money has been spent on is difficult. Interactive, user-friendly maps on Recovery.gov list the names of the companies or individual recipients with which aid recipients spent money, but not a description of what the money was used for. That information—if provided by an aid recipient—is contained in more-cumbersome data files that can be downloaded from Recovery.gov.

Looking Deeper

Still, the reports are useful in aggregating information that has so far been only anecdotal—especially since most of the discussion and media reports have focused on how the education stimulus money is being used to stabilize state budgets.

Often overlooked, for example, is that school districts also are getting $10 billion in additional Title I funding to help disadvantaged students.

The 18,000-student Martin County school district in Florida has some of the most detailed reports of Title I spending, including such specifics as $264 spent on math programs from “Hands-on Equations” and $719 on professional development with The MASTER Teacher company.

But even with such a detailed list of how the district had spent some of the $150,000 or so in Title I money it had gotten so far, the information doesn’t paint a full picture of how the district has been using its money.

Cathy Tedesco, the district’s Title I director, filled in those blanks in an interview last week.

The district has increased the number of Title I schools to seven from four, added reading coaches, and beefed up its parent-resource center, she said. Individual schools are deciding to decrease class sizes and invest in more professional development for teachers. All the while, Ms. Tedesco said, she’s tried to convey that the extra aid is temporary, one-time money.

“Yet we think what we’re doing is very sustainable, even when the money is gone,” she said.

For the 12,500-student Cabell County district in West Virginia, the reporting on federal aid doesn’t reveal the comprehensive plan the district has for its $3.5 million in Title I grants. (Money hasn’t trickled down far enough yet from the state to reflect precisely where the district has spent it.)

Allyson Schoenlein, the district’s director of Title I programs, said one of its big emphases is technology. The district is adding one mobile laptop lab for every two classrooms in its nine Title I schools, updating wireless technology in the buildings, and hiring three technology-integration specialists to help teachers learn to use the new features in their classrooms. The district will also be using part of the Title I funds to improve professional development for teachers.

Ms. Schoenlein said she’s been mindful of the federal reporting requirements—and all the rules and demands that every penny be tracked and accounted for.

“It’s overwhelming to keep track of all of the grants because there are so many new requirements,” she said. “I imagine it’s the same burden as winning the lottery.”

For policy advocates, the additional reporting requirements leave one crucial thing out: What are states, schools, and students getting for the money?

Asked Amy Wilkins, the vice president of government affairs and communications for the Washington-based Education Trust, which advocates on behalf of disadvantaged and minority students: “It’s clear school districts are spending their money on a wide variety of things, but are they getting results?”

Coverage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is supported in part by a grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, at www.hewlett.org.

SCHOOL-BASED PHYSICAL EDUCATION KEY TO IMPROVING HEALTH IN LOW-INCOME ADOLESCENTS

Science Daily

(Nov. 6, 2009) — School-based physical education plays a key role in curbing obesity and improving fitness among adolescents from low-income communities, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley.

The study, which identifies opportunities for adolescents to improve their health based on routine daily activities, finds that regular participation in PE class is significantly associated with greater cardiovascular fitness and lower body mass index.

"We took an incredibly comprehensive look at all of the opportunities kids have throughout their day to engage in physical activity and determined which are the most strongly linked to fitness and weight status," said first author Kristine Madsen, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF Children's Hospital. "Obesity continues to be a major public health concern, particularly in low-income communities, so it is imperative that we develop targeted interventions to improve the health of at-risk youth."

"This research will help support moving physical education policy forward. Clearly, physical education in schools is an underutilized tool in our efforts to reduce pediatric obesity," said Patricia Crawford, DrPH, RD, the study's senior author and director of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley.

The study appears in the November 2009 issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Madsen and her co-investigators surveyed 9,268 seventh- and ninth-grade students at 19 racially and ethnically diverse public schools in low-income communities throughout California. The schools represented in the survey also were participants in The California Endowment's Healthy Eating Active Communities Initiative, a statewide program that aims to fight childhood obesity and to develop policy changes that will reduce risk factors for diabetes and obesity.

Students answered questions anonymously about their level of participation in several daily physical activities, including PE class, walking to and from school and playing on sports teams. They also rated how much they enjoyed PE and estimated the amount of time they spent exercising during PE class. An additional survey question addressed whether students regularly purchased food from snack carts, fast food restaurants or stores on their way to and from school.

Answers obtained through the survey were then linked to each school's results from the state-mandated Fitnessgram -- an annual assessment of students' fitness levels -- to determine which physical activities had a significant impact on weight and cardiovascular health. Weight was measured using body mass index scores, and cardiovascular fitness was assessed using the amount of time it takes to walk/run a mile.

The researchers found that engaging in at least 20 minutes of exercise during PE class was significantly associated with both shorter mile times and lower body mass index scores. Furthermore, as the students' reported levels of enjoyment of PE increased, their mile times decreased.

"PE was by far the most significant predictor of students' fitness and was the only variable associated with improved weight status," Madsen said. "I think this shows that we need to increase the importance of physical education in schools and set up tougher standards in the same way we set up tough standards around academic performance."

The data also showed a significant association between walking to school and shorter mile times; however, walking to school also was significantly associated with higher body mass index. The researchers state that this finding was not surprising, due to the fact that those students who walked to school were also more likely to buy food while in transit.

"The most affordable food options in low-income neighborhoods tend to be unhealthy, so it is not surprising that students who purchase more food on their way to and from school are more likely to be overweight," Madsen said. "We absolutely need to work with local vendors in these communities to improve the food environment and create healthy zones in the vicinity of schools."

According to Madsen, additional research should aim to identify the specific factors that contribute to students' enjoyment of PE, so that curricula can be shaped to improve the quality of classes and to achieve higher levels of physical exertion.

Additional co-authors include Wendi Gosliner, MPH, RD, and Gail Woodward-Lopez, MPH, RD, both of UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health.

The research was supported by The California Endowment and Kaiser Permanente and through grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the American Heart Association.

---

STUDY: Physical Activity Opportunities Associated With Fitness and Weight Status Among Adolescents in Low-Income Communities ($)

Abstract: Environment is 1 potentially changeable factor in the fight against obesity. This study sought to identify physical activity opportunities most strongly associated with student health (cardiorespiratory fitness and weight status) among adolescents in low-income communities and to determine if associations were different in middle and high schools. Almost half of the students from these low-income communities were overweight or obese, and over half did not meet recommended physical fitness standards. As the proportion of students who reported liking school physical education classes, walking to school, and spending 20 minutes or more in exercise during physical education classes increased from 0% to 100%, physical fitness improved. Each additional day that students reported being active on school grounds outside school was associated with decreased time on a mile run. Active transport to school was associated with poorer weight status and greater odds of purchasing food while in transit. These findings point to potential policy opportunities to improve student health in low-income communities.

 

---

Physical education could enhance health in low-income youngsters

from Health Jockey.com

It is said that physical exercise is extremely important for our health and well being. Now, bearing this topic in mind, a study from University of California, San Francisco and UC Berkeley claims that school-based physical education may play a major function in reducing obesity and enhancing fitness among teenagers from low-income communities.

The study recognizes openings for youth to develop their health based on regular daily activities. They discovered that frequent involvement in PE class could be considerably linked to better cardiovascular fitness and lower body mass index.

First author Kristine Madsen, MD, MPH, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF Children’s Hospital, commented, “We took an incredibly comprehensive look at all of the opportunities kids have throughout their day to engage in physical activity and determined which are the most strongly linked to fitness and weight status. Obesity continues to be a major public health concern, particularly in low-income communities, so it is imperative that we develop targeted interventions to improve the health of at-risk youth.”

Around 9,268 seventh- and ninth-grade students were examined by Madsen and her colleagues. This survey was conducted in roughly 19 racially and culturally varied public schools in low-income communities all over California.

Students replied to questions in secret concerning their stage of participation in numerous every day physical activities, counting PE class, walking to and from school and playing on sports teams. They also had to rank how much they liked PE and estimated the quantity of time they used in exercising during PE class. A supplementary survey question apparently dealt whether students frequently bought food from snack carts, fast food restaurants or stores on their way to and from school.

Responses acquired through the survey were apparently then connected to every school’s outcomes from the state-mandated Fitnessgram, a yearly evaluation of students’ fitness levels. The experts wanted to verify which physical activities had a considerable influence on weight and cardiovascular health.

The scientists discovered that being immersed in atleast 20 minutes of exercise during PE class was said to be noticeably linked to both shorter mile times and lesser body mass index scores. In addition, as the students’ accounted levels of enjoyment of PE augmented, their mile times apparently reduced.

Madsen remarked, “PE was by far the most significant predictor of students’ fitness and was the only variable associated with improved weight status. I think this shows that we need to increase the importance of physical education in schools and set up tougher standards in the same way we set up tough standards around academic performance.”

Supposedly the data also exhibited an important link between walking to school and shorter mile times; nevertheless, walking to school apparently also was drastically connected to higher body mass index. The experts mentioned that this discovery was not astonishing, due to the fact that those students who walked to school supposedly had more chances to purchase food while traveling.

Madsen quoted, “The most affordable food options in low-income neighborhoods tend to be unhealthy, so it is not surprising that students who purchase more food on their way to and from school are more likely to be overweight. We absolutely need to work with local vendors in these communities to improve the food environment and create healthy zones in the vicinity of schools.”

Madesn is of the opinion that further study ought to aim to recognize the detailed issues that add to students’ enjoyment of PE, so that curricula could be designed to develop the quality of classes and to attain superior levels of physical exertion.

The study appears in the November 2009 issue of the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

LAUSD REFORMS MAY SKIP PILOT SCHOOLS: District, teachers union at odds over expansion plan.

Cortines: "If the union puts a moratorium on pilots, I will push for more charters."

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Newspaper Group/Daily News

Posted: 11/05/2009 09:33:32 PM PST/Updated: 11/05/2009 09:48:53 PM PST

Nov. 6 -- With just 10 days left before Los Angeles Unified begins accepting bids from outside operators to run some of its underperforming schools, the best option for the district to retain some of those schools might not be available.

Pilot schools — small schools where parents and staff have more influence, but the district still has control — have expanded in recent years as an alternative to traditional schools. They are also an alternative to popular charter schools, which are publicly financed but operate independently of the district.

Both types of schools are eligible to take over operation of traditional public schools under the district's ambitious "Schools Choice Plan."

But because the district and the teachers union have not been able to agree on a plan to expand the number of pilot schools, now limited to 10, it might not be an option at a time in the district's history when options and choices are needed most.

Since teachers at pilot schools work under a more flexible contract, the teachers union is uneasy about seeing them grow without more protection for teachers. District officials, which see the pilot schools as an innovative way of reforming schools without giving up control, want the union to step out of the way and allow pilot school expansion.

"I will not allow some teacher representatives to hold back educational progress ...," LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said recently in an interview. "If the union puts a moratorium on pilots, I will push for more charters."

The district would like to have an agreement by next week ahead of the Nov. 15 deadline for the first round of applications.

But United Teachers Los Angeles officials say certain elements of the contract need to be changed to ensure teachers are protected.

For example, UTLA wants to see teacher discipline handled by arbitration, rather than by LAUSD personnel, as the pilot school contract currently allows.

"I am trying to come up with contract language that expands pilots and that also has the possibility of passing a vote of my governing bodies," said UTLA President A.J. Duffy.

The pilot school model, imported to Los Angeles from Boston, has been generally supported by UTLA because it gives teachers more control.

At a pilot school, a board made up of teachers, parents, administrators and students in high school makes all budget, curriculum, calendar and staffing decisions.

But the amended contract under which teachers work at pilot schools — known as a "thin" contract because it is 70 pages compared to the standard 300-page contract — also streamlines several policies affecting teachers, including how they are hired, fired and disciplined.

As the union continues to work on a new proposal with the district, community organizations have begun to pressure UTLA to approve an expansion of pilots, and protests are being organized by local groups for next week.

Duffy said he understands the community's frustration.

"There are some very well-meaning people within the union who do not see change as something that is necessary, and I disagree," he said.

In the meantime, district officials in charge of guiding schools through LAUSD's reform effort say their hands are tied now as they wait for an agreement on pilot schools.

"The union is holding this hostage, and we find that unacceptable," said Edmundo Rodriguez, LAUSD's pilot school director.

"There are literally hundreds of teachers and thousands of parents that cannot stand to function in the same old educational system."

Currently there are seven pilot schools districtwide, all located around the Pico-Union neighborhood west of downtown, with 10 expected to open soon.

Rodriguez said an additional 40 schools across the district have now expressed interest in converting their schools to a pilot model, including at least half of the schools that LAUSD put out for bid under the school choice plan.

"I don't understand why the union would stand in the way of the most progressive option currently available for schools who want reform but also want to maintain district and UTLA affiliations," said Veronica Melvin, executive director of Alliance for a Better Community.

"It is so odd that they choose to do this now ... at a time when leadership is needed more than ever to allow reform to happen."

OBAMA OFFERS SCHOOLS MONEY FOR BACKING INITIATIVES

By JULIE PACE | Associated Press

5 November -- MADISON, Wis. — Pushing for a link between student test scores and teacher pay, President Barack Obama on Wednesday dangled $5 billion in federal grants to states willing to undertake a top-to-bottom overhaul of their schools in support of White House priorities.

The day after fellow Democrats lost gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, Obama tried to turn attention to his education agenda, an area in which he has made significant progress. While the president said his first obligation was bringing the U.S. economy back from the brink of collapse, he added that long-term economic success can only be achieved by making investments in education.

"There is nothing that will determine the quality of our future as a nation or the lives our children more than the kind of education we provide them," Obama said while speaking at a Wisconsin middle school.

Obama came to Wisconsin a day before state lawmakers here planned to vote to lift a ban on using student test scores to judge teacher performance. The Obama administration has said that such restrictions would hurt a state's chances of getting part of the $5 billion competitive grant fund, dubbed "Race to the Top."

"If you're willing to hold yourselves more accountable, if you develop a strong plan to improve the quality of education in your state, we'll offer you a grant to help make that plan a reality," he said.

Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus bill included the education grants — the most money a president has ever had for overhauling schools — for which states can compete. Only Education Secretary Arne Duncan — not Congress — has control over who gets it. And only some states, perhaps 10 to 20, will actually get the money.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, said his state needs to compete for those grants.

"We know, we have to step it up," Doyle said. "We have to face a hard truth here in Wisconsin that our achievement gap is among the worst in the nation."

Without the stimulus money the state has already received, Wisconsin would have cut the state's education budget by 10 percent, he said.

Those budgets are under pressure in every state, Obama aides acknowledged.

Nine states so far have taken steps to compete, and Wisconsin was expected to vote Thursday to lift a ban on using student test scores to judge teachers. That helps clear the way for an Obama priority: teacher pay tied to student performance.

"They had to make some changes just to join the race," Obama said.

Traveling with Obama aboard Air Force One, Duncan said the grants have helped to bring about change quickly.

"We have to get better faster," the education secretary told reporters. "There are teachers every single year where the average child in their class is gaining two years of growth — two years of growth per year of instruction. That is Herculean work. Those teachers are the unsung heroes in our society. And nobody can tell you who those teachers are."

States can't apply for the money yet, and relatively few may end up getting grants, but it's a key incentive for Obama to push forward his education plan.

The administration can't really tell states and schools what to do, since education has been largely a state and local responsibility throughout the history of the U.S. But the grants gives Obama considerable leverage. He sees the test score data and charter schools, which are publicly funded but independent of local school boards, as solutions to the problems that plague public education.

The national teachers unions disagree. They say student achievement is much more than a score on a standardized test and say it's a mistake to rely so heavily on charter schools.

AP Education Writer Libby Quaid contributed to this report from Washington.

Related stories

 

• Obama calls for end of 'firewall' rules that shield teachers | LA Times
• Obama Offers States Rewards For Overhauling Schools|npr.org
• Obama uses money to urge school changes|msnbc.msn.com
• Race to the Top: Teachers left behind?|weblogs.chicagotribune.com
• November 04, 2009 - Remarks by the President on Strengthening America's Education System – whitehouse.gov
• November 04, 2009 - Remarks by The President and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan in Discussion with Students – whitehouse.gov

FORD FOUNDATION GIVES $100 MILLION TO REFORM URBAN HIGH SCHOOLS: The New York-based organization pledges the funds to seven cities, including Los Angeles, to research and improve teacher quality, student assessment and school funding, among other things.

By Mitchell Landsberg | LA Times

November 5, 2009 -- The Ford Foundation pledged $100 million Wednesday to "transform" urban high schools in the United States, focusing on seven cities, including Los Angeles.

The seven-year initiative is among the largest philanthropic efforts aimed at improving education in the United States and, as described, could both complement and challenge aspects of the Obama administration's education reform efforts. It will fund research and reform in four areas: teacher quality, student assessment, a longer school day and year, and school funding.

The initiative is being led by Jeannie Oakes, who until recently was head of the Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access at UCLA, where she was a strong advocate for reform aimed at helping disadvantaged students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Besides Los Angeles, the Ford Foundation effort will focus on schools in New York, Newark, N.J., Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit and Denver.

Oakes said the foundation has already begun working with L.A. Unified Supt. Ramon C. Cortines to find ways to better distribute finances in the district. She said Ford also hopes to help Los Angeles land one of the Obama administration's "Promise Neighborhood" grants, which place public schools at the center of a comprehensive strategy of combating poverty and improving educational achievement.

She said the initiative dovetails with much of the administration's education reform efforts, but would try to avoid some of the most politicized aspects. "We don't want to get into anybody's ideological fights," she said. "We just want to cut through this and think about building an outstanding public school system for the kids who are least likely to have one now."

The announcement from the New York-based foundation quoted its president, Luis Ubiñas, as saying the initiative is intended "to shake up the conversations surrounding school reform and help spur some truly imaginative thinking and partnerships."

The initiative challenges conventional thinking in at least one way, offering a skeptical outlook on student assessment. It calls standardized tests "a blunt and inadequate tool by which to gauge student learning and school effectiveness," and calls for the development of "more meaningful methods of assessment and accountability."

Several large philanthropic organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Broad Foundation, already fund significant educational research and reform efforts.

EDUCATION IN THE EASTSIDE

Op-Ed by Esteban E. Torres | Eastside Publications Group [Eastside Sun / Northeast Sun / Mexican American Sun / Bell Gardens Sun / City Terrace Comet / Commerce Comet / Montebello Comet / Monterey Park Comet / ELA Brooklyn Belvedere Comet / Wyvernwood Chronicle / Vernon Sun]

<<Photo: US library of congress

Over the past year, our communities have been hit hard by the economic recession, and our schools continue to pay the price. California, once known for having a top educational system, has now declined to a ranking of 50th in education spending, with no sign of relief in the months to come.

Despite the lack of funding, East Los Angeles residents and community stakeholders have begun to demand the improvement of our public schools, and see this as a time of opportunity for bold and innovative solutions that ensure we reach 100% graduation, with a graduating class prepared to meet the demands of the 21st century workforce. I am honored to join an effort that continues a legacy of struggle in East LA- I have always advocated on behalf of this community, as a community organizer and elected official.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) will open 50 new schools throughout the city; our greatest challenge will be to ensure they provide a world class education.

One of the schools soon to open is the new Esteban E. Torres High School, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2010 in Unincorporated East Los Angeles. The new Esteban E. Torres High School will open with 5 small schools of up to 500 students each. Small Schools of 500 students or less will provide the opportunity for personalized instruction where students will no longer slip through the cracks and become another statistic.

We must work toward closing the achievement gap that exists in which only 45% of incoming freshmen graduate within 4 years from Eastside High Schools. There’s a clear urgency for our communities to begin working in collaboration to support community schools to reach academic success. The East Los Angeles Education Empowerment Zone (ELAEEZ) is a bold new vision for secondary education in East Los Angeles schools. The Empowerment Zone would create a network of small public schools that will include Esteban E. Torres, East Los Angeles Star Learning Center and Garfield High School.

This would be the first time in East Los Angeles history that families, parents, and students will be empowered to choose the type of school they want to attend within the East Los Angeles community ranging from Small Learning Communities to Pilot Schools at Esteban E. Torres High School.

Students will no longer be bound to the traditional notion of enrolling in a school based on attendance area; rather they will have the ability along with their families to choose a school based on their personal interest and needs in order to prepare them for college or 21st Century careers.

As new schools begin to open, I encourage us all to step up to the plate to define a new community driven vision for our schools, where our children are at the center and provided with the best teaching practices available. Secondly, in order for us to reach our new vision, we need to begin working in collaboration and build new traditions as we strengthen partnerships between parents, students, teachers, community stakeholders and local decision makers. I attended Garfield High School and know the rich tradition that exists. My hope is that the Esteban E. Torres High School will provide families and young people with the opportunity to excel in life. Finally, let us be the leaders in education reform and take the opportunity to reshape education and develop best practice models that will once again move us to the top in education.

• Esteban E. Torres, U.S. Congressman (Ret.). Torres was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1982 to represent the newly-created 34th District in California that includes the East Los Angeles business district, Pico Rivera, Whittier and Santa Fe Springs, and other environs of the San Gabriel Valley. He was subsequently reelected seven times, each time with at least sixty percent of the vote. [COMPLETE BIO]  The schools of the Torres High School are included in the Public School Choice Resolution.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARDS GROUP SNUBS STATE LEGISLATORS

by Howard Blume | LA Times LA Now Blog

November 5, 2009 |  6:14 pm

And the winner is ... no one.

That’s right. Nobody won this year’s Legislator of the Year Award from the California School Boards Assn. because schools suffered so much from funding cuts approved by the state Legislature that the group didn't want to single out any lawmaker for praise.

“Sure, there are some legislators who have done good things for education, and others that we admire for their efforts,” Frank Pugh, the group’s president-elect and a board member for Santa Rosa city schools, said in a release. “But for crying out loud, schools have been cut by $2,100 per student.  We’d be nuts to present this award to anybody in a year when the cuts are going to have detrimental effects on an entire generation of students.  We just have to draw the line somewhere.”

The California School Boards Assn.'s snub may not get more than a shrug in the Legislature, but the organization has wielded some clout with strategic moves. The association, for example, has frozen, through the courts, an effort to force all California eighth-graders to take Algebra 1. The association wants to shift the focus to making sure students are prepared to take algebra by the eighth grade, said Executive Director Scott Plotkin.

The Sacramento-based association also is gathering support for a lawsuit over school funding. Its leadership asserts that schools need more money, but also need a reformed funding system, one that gives school districts the same freedoms to manage resources that are enjoyed by charter schools, Plotkin said.

For today, he said, the message is simply: “Bad job, Sacramento.”

“California has to figure out a way to create a system that does more than add layer upon layer of cuts to a public education system that is already woefully underfunded,” said current President Paula S. Campbell of the Nevada City School District. “Until that happens, this association sees no choice but to hold the Legislature accountable for its actions.”

CITY COUNCIL APPROVES UNIFORMS FOR LAUSD

from kabc-tv online

Report typo or inaccuracy

1. The Los Angeles County Unified School District?  Where does one begin?  There is no such school district.
2. Councilman Huizar was once a school board member and twice the president of the board of education. That was then, this – the last time I looked, is now.          The city council must have better things to do   …like balancing the city budget!
3. The California State Constitution and the Charter of the City of Los Angeles are both quite explicit on who runs the schools in Los Angeles and  it is not the city council. Councilman Huizar is an attorney, I refer him to the applicable case law: LAUSD v Villaraigosa [aka Rosa Mendoza et al v.State of California et al, Los Angeles Parents Union et al] decided in the Superior Court and reaffirmed in the Court of Appeal [ B195835] and made binding by the Supreme Court in their refusal to depublish.

 

The councilman is referred to the Clinton-era  US Dept of Education Guidelines on School Uniform Policy – he seems to have missed every point.

 

UPDATE: KCBS-TV Reports:

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― The City Council unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday recommending school uniforms at all Los Angeles Unified School District campuses.

 

Recommended? One hopes they also recommended world peace.