The Arne Duncan donut-ization® of public education.

4LAKids: Sunday 7•Feb•2010 LXIV In This Issue: • A BUDGET APPROACH UNWORTHY OF OUR STATE • STOP L.A. UNIFIED’S ‘CHARTERIZATION’: Handing over L.A. schools to outside operators will turn out to be yet another failed attempt at reform. • THE CORE STANDARDS FOR WRITING: ANOTHER FAILURE OF IMAGINATION? • GULAG POLITICS OR SPENDING FOR THE FUTURE - OUR CHOICE • HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources • EVENTS: Coming up next week... • What can YOU do? Featured Links: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website • 4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved! • 4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. ● “Democracy must be reborn with each generation and education is its midwife.” John Dewey (1859-1952) , American philosopher and educator ● “I believe that all reforms which rest simply upon the enactment of law, or the threatening of certain penalties, or upon changes in mechanical or outward arrangements, are transitory and futile.” - John Dewey, from the Jan 16, 1897 issue of School Journal - “My Pedagogic Creed” http://bit.ly/azk3Mc ● “When teachers are forced, against their better judgment, to focus on teaching test content to the exclusion of almost everything else, I can only conclude that the high-stakes testing movement nourishes totalitarian regimes.” from the introduction to Education Hell: Rhetoric vs Reality: Transforming the Fire Consuming America’s Schools, by Gerald W. Bracey ● “The best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans was Hurricane Katrina.” - U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan BURIED IN THE SMALL PRINT of the Obama administration's proposed education budget is a provision to transfer ALL federal funds for promoting parent and family involvement/engagement to charter schools. National PTA provides detail and a opportunity to weigh in on this proposal here: http://bit.ly/aufoPY COINCIDENTALLY – AND APROPOS TO PUBLIC EDUCATION BEING THE “CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE OF THE 21st CENTURY”: the Civil Rights Project at UCLA published a study Thursday showing how poorly charter schools do at equitably serving minorities at best, perpetuating and promoting segregation at worst. One pundit has described the findings as “Undoing Brown v. Board of Education, One Charter School at a Time”. THE PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE ADVISORY ELECTIONS (the electors 'advise' a panel whose names have been kept secret > the panel 'advises' the superintendent > the supe 'advises' the Board of Ed > the Board 'chooses') have brought out a lot of interesting adverbiage in the press – words like ballot stuffing, flawed, chaotic, disappointing, disgusting, irregular, tainted, unfortunate, questionable, “a joke of a vote” - and allegations of special interested community organizers busing in voters - have graced the media. And for good reason. This isn't “Chicago politics”...this is politics as portrayed in the Bob Fosse musical “Chicago” - as played by a preschool theater troupe – and without the songs and the bumps and grinds. 'Give 'em th' old razzle dazzle; razzle dazzle 'em!' Charter school operators and management organizations stand to gain the most in the Public School Choice process, brand new schools worth hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. ● The parents and 40,000 students in play are collateral. ● The president of the charter school association has suggested tossing out the PSC parent vote. ● The local leader of the League of Women voters has discounted the community vote - a vote the League is being paid $50,000 to run and count! ● And everyone from the 7th grade to the LA Times was shocked (Shocked!) when it was discovered that 6th graders might vote! (Why shouldn't 6th graders vote? They have six more years in the system!) Yes gentle reader, there are Brown charter schools and White charter schools and Black charter schools – separate and unequal. In Santa Clarita there's a proposed Hebrew charter school ...and the Charter School Folks are saying that that kind of ethnic polarization and racial isolation is A Good Thing! Bobbi Fiedler is alive and well! (OK, she is – in Northridge!) In an interview in the Jewish Journal [http://bit.ly/d8Fuoc]: The Superintendent of LA’s public school district bravely addressed the claim that LA’s charter schools are “segregated.” Ramon Cortinas (sic) said “If charter schools are doing the job for the student, and it is a better job … I’m not as concerned about racial isolation.” ●●smf: Racial isolation / segregation / ghettoization / redlining / discrimination / profiling – we must be ‘so concerned’ …all are antonyms for equity. SCHOOL REFORM IS SUPPOSEDLY DATA DRIVEN. The UCLA study is yet another research-based national study; we now have more research data to add to the rest showing that charter schools aren't the magic bullet. And we have other data and track-record experience from Philadelphia that shows that when charter school management organizations run neighborhood schools (Think Mayor's Partnership, Think Green Dot @ Locke, think every outside provider applying under PSC) those hybrid schools underperform BOTH charters AND neighborhood schools. But ...as Phil Ochs sang to us in the sixties: “Monopoly is so much fun ...I'd hate to blow the game. And I'm sure in wouldn't interest anybody Outside a small circle of friends.” AN EDUCATOR FRIEND – responding to an offer from a philanthropist - wrote last week asking for suggestions for what schools need. My suggestions: ● adequate funding ● signs that say "welcome parents" ...and schools they're affixed to that mean it. ● arts & music programs ● tardy sweeps that sweep kids into class rather than into the dean's office ● lockers in the Beaudry hallways, with bells that ring every 55 minutes and laughter in the corridors ...an occasional stolen kiss in the stairwells. ● the old LAUSD cinnamon rolls on the menu occasionally. ● the supe's and the board of ed's permanent records published online. ● condoms used as water balloons. ● a sense of hope ...and a sense of humor ...and a sense of wonder. ¡Onward/Adelante! - smf A BUDGET APPROACH UNWORTHY OF OUR STATE by Mary Jane Burke, Marin County Superintendent of Schools With great sincerity and pride in his State of the State message on January 6, 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared that "education will be protected" in the new budget. Two days later, when the budget was presented, the Governor revealed that this "protection" consists of continuing manipulations of the system to avoid providing what the State Constitution requires and what the Governor promised to our children. Instead of placing faith in our people, believing that we can understand the economic crisis in our state and in our nation and communicating with us honestly, the Governor prefers deception. Mary Jane Burke<< Superintendent Burke | Photo by Tim Porter | Marin Magazine After cutting funding for public schools $18 billion over the last two years, the new budget purporting to "protect education" reveals the following facts: · General purpose funding for schools, would be reduced by $1.5 billion. (This represents a cut of about $250 per student). Other cuts to child development programs, county offices of education, K-3 class size reduction programs and a negative cost-of living adjustment total another $997 million for total cuts of almost $2.5 billion. (This adds another $150 per student for a total proposed cut to public schools of $400 per student in the 2010-2011 school year.) · The Governor is including $7 billion in his budget in anticipation of receiving additional federal funds. The nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Analyst says, "The likelihood of Washington agreeing to all of the Governor's requests is almost non-existent." If these federal funds are not provided, additional cuts in health and welfare resources affecting children and families and the elderly and homeless will be made. · Despite signing legislation in July, 2009 to certify the minimum funding level for public schools, the Governor is now reneging on that promise. The Governor plans to manage these cuts and still meet the Proposition 98 minimum education funding required by the State Constitution using blatant manipulation. He proposes a gas tax swap to purposely create an additional reduction in the minimum guaranteed funding for schools. Use of such gimmicks is insulting to the intelligence of the people of our state. Most of all, it is irresponsible because of the negative impact on our children in public schools. The final insult is that these cuts would result in permanently lowering base funding for schools in years to come. In the last two years, schools which in 2009-2010 represent about 40% of the state budget have absorbed 60% of the cuts. Last year, schools made the required cuts with the promise that they would then be able to plan on stable funding at drastically reduced levels until the economy allows programs to be restored. Once again the Governor's promise was only words. In recent years, thousands of teachers, support staff and administrators have disappeared from our schools. Counselors, librarians, nurses, instructional assistants, custodians, grounds-keepers, cafeteria workers, principals, instructional specialists and other staff have been lost. To divert attention from his convoluted manipulations, the Governor is attempting to use "divide and conquer" tactics by pitting various interests—cities, towns, counties, education, social services, child care, law enforcement—against each other. The good news is that such tactics will not work. On both a state and local level, coalitions have been formed to insist that fairness prevails and to insure that all agencies are working together to provide the best possible support for all of the residents of our community and our state. The crisis in confidence in government and the cynicism about elected leaders comes from the lack of honesty with the residents of our state. Today, the demands for a world-class education are increasing exponentially, as they should be. The issue confronting us is whether or not public schools, which have been the foundation of our democracy and the common experience that has molded a diverse people into a nation, will survive. In California, we risk losing an entire generation of our youth. In Marin County where support for schools is unprecedented, this budget will mean that fiscal solvency for our districts will be a challenge. Now is not the time for tricks or dishonesty or demagoguery. It is time for bold leadership and action. Trust begins with honesty. We must let our elected leaders know that we will accept nothing less. This budget approach is unworthy of our state. STOP L.A. UNIFIED’S ‘CHARTERIZATION’: Handing over L.A. schools to outside operators will turn out to be yet another failed attempt at reform. EXPANDING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION HOLDS MERE PROMISE. By Gloria R. Lothrop and Ralph E. Shaffer | Blowback Op-Ed in the LA Times February 3, 2010 | As The Times continues to lead the parade to charterization of the Los Angeles Unified School District, one of the most overused and misunderstood phrases on the paper's editorial page is "reform." Change is not necessarily reform. Genuine reform produces lasting, beneficial improvements and isn't concocted by editors or frustrated school boards willing to try just about anything. That was never more evident than during the debate over the current plan to allow outsiders to operate dozens of LAUSD campuses. As The Times notes in its Feb. 1 editorial, "Bidding to run L.A.’s schools," the district's mislabeled Public School Choice initiative has resulted in ugly misinformation campaigns and popularity contests over which organizations should run several L.A. Unified schools. Change, yes; reform, hardly. Privatizing public education is but one of many elixirs offered over the years as panaceas for whatever ails California's schools. One fad after another has been foisted on children, their parents and teachers by supposed do-gooders, many of whom really wanted to promote a particular ideology or seek financial gain. The once tried but eventually discarded fads include "new math," single-sex classrooms and the nearly forgotten 6-4-4 plan, under which students spent the final two years of high school on a junior college campus. Other reforms tried over the last century include the look-say approach to reading and integrated English and social studies classes. Today we have vouchers, charters, the No Child Left Behind Act and the Obama administration's misnamed Race to the Top fund. Some "reforms" have been reinvented through the generations. Bilingual education was a problem some 160 years ago when English-speaking Americans moving to Los Angeles overwhelmed the existing schools -- in which the language of instruction was Spanish. Modern reformers have attempted to solve the problem of multilingual classrooms by immersion, sheltered instruction, the use of a native language to teach basic subjects and so on. The method varies with the political mood of the day. One of the genuine reforms, championed by early 20th century progressives, was vocational education. A 1901 Times editorial called for the establishment of a polytechnic high school in Los Angeles emphasizing manual training. Such instruction was not part of the traditional curriculum, as teaching young people a trade had been the responsibility of the home, craft guilds and unions or private businesses. Times Publisher Harrison Gray Otis was no progressive, but as a businessman he realized the need for high school graduates trained in occupations that an industrial society needed. When such a school, Manual Arts High, opened in 1910, The Times was ecstatic. Now, ironically, vocational education doesn't have a place at Manual Arts, an L.A. Unified school operated by a nonprofit organization. At Locke High School in L.A., a campus operated by charter school organization Green Dot, everyone must take a college-bound curriculum. Both schools are at the forefront of the "everyone goes to college" movement. The possibility of economic improvement appeals to parents and students who desperately want to escape the circumstances they're in. But assigning unprepared and disinterested students to a University of California or California State University curriculum is a disservice to them. Furthermore, the wisdom of offering vocational training is demonstrated by high enrollments at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, DeVry and similar institutions. Even Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa now supports expanding vocational education classes at public schools. It won't be long before the folly of today's experiment of putting control of schools up to bid is seen by another set of editors and school board members who will have to undo the damage done by today's "reformers." Unfortunately, legal and financial barriers will keep the schools in the hands of entrepreneurs long after the public, Times editors and school board members realize that this "reform" was more detrimental to our children than any of the failed experiments of the past. * Gloria R. Lothrop and Ralph E. Shaffer are, respectively, professors emeritus of history at Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly Pomona. THE CORE STANDARDS FOR WRITING: ANOTHER FAILURE OF IMAGINATION? By Edgar H. Schuster | Commentary in Ed Week February 3, 2010 – When the 9/11 Commission reviewed factors that made our country vulnerable to the 2001 terrorist attacks, it found that “the most important failure was one of imagination.” Imagination, defined by one dictionary as “the ability to confront and deal with reality by using the creative power of the mind,” is a critical faculty in our world. And where better for it to be nurtured and to flower forth than in the writing classroom? Yet, if we examine the draft standards for English language arts from the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a project led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, we find imagination mentioned nowhere. In fact, most of the 18 proposed writing standards are singularly unimaginative. They are also woefully out of balance, in the direction of relatively noncreative forms of writing. It comes as no surprise that many of these standards are already reflected in state documents. Who would quarrel with students’ need to establish a topic, sustain focus, represent data accurately, revise their own writing “when necessary,” or use technology as a tool? Or, consider the proposed 9th standard: Students are expected to “demonstrate command of the conventions of standard written English, including grammar, usage, and mechanics.” English teachers have been asking students to demonstrate such command ever since standard English arose. Yet what is “standard written English”? If it is the English of our best essayists, then we will find that sentence fragments are not uncommon. In fact, many of the “rules” of the grammar classroom—never end a sentence with a preposition or split an infinitive, for instance—simply are not rules here and never have been. Moreover, when standard and rhetorically effective English clash, imaginative writers of both fiction and nonfiction typically opt for the latter. Even the great usage expert H.W. Fowler preferred “idiom” to grammar when the two were in conflict. This is not to say that such standards should be scrapped. But they badly need to be leavened by fresher, more imaginative ingredients. Despite their unoriginal, even pedestrian, view of writing instruction, there is one respect in which the NGA-CCSSO standards-makers have veered far from the ordinary. Of the 18 proposed core writing standards, eight, or nearly half, refer explicitly to writing arguments or explanations: the second and fourth, and standards 13 through 18. Do these two modes of writing deserve this much attention? And, for that matter, do those who write in these modes follow the standards of the core-standards-makers? To be sure, the standards-makers know that other modes exist. They even devote a sidebar in the draft to narrative writing and concede its importance. But in their initial sentence, they note that narrative is “a component of making an argument and writing to inform or explain.” "When standard and rhetorically effective English clash, imaginative writers of both fiction and nonfiction typically opt for the latter." To see what good, real-world writing is really like, let’s look at some of the selections from Joyce Carol Oates and Robert Atwan’s anthology, The Best American Essays of the Century. It is not easy to find essays that are purely explanatory or argumentative, but Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is clearly an attempt to explain. In doing this type of writing, the proposed core standards say, students “must do” the following: “Synthesize information from multiple relevant sources ... to provide an accurate picture of that information.” (Standard 13) “Convey complex information clearly and coherently ... through purposeful selection and organization of content.” (Standard 14) “Demonstrate understanding of content by reporting facts accurately and anticipating reader misconceptions.” (Standard 15) Hurston seems blithely unaware of these standards. She opens her essay: I am colored but I offer nothing in the way of extenuating circumstances except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief. I remember the very day that I became colored. … Her penultimate paragraph reads: Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company! It’s beyond me. Hurston follows none of the standards above, for “writing to inform or explain.” She doesn’t need “multiple sources,” her explanation is not “complex,” and the reader is not likely to have misconceptions in the first place. What she does do in this essay, however, is remind us in the grim, gray world of writing standards that there is also humor in the world. The following are additional standards, for “writing arguments”: “Establish a substantive claim, distinguishing it from alternate or opposing claims.” (Standard 16) “Link claims and evidence with clear reasons, and ensure that the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.” (Standard 17) “Acknowledge competing arguments or information, defending or qualifying the initial claim as appropriate.” (Standard 18) Are we in high school or law school? And again, are these standards that real writers follow? Some do follow them. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” does, for example. But another brilliant essay, H.L. Mencken’s “The Hills of Zion,” a passionate argument against evangelical Christianity and anti-intellectualism, does not. Like Hurston, Mencken chooses, with good effect, to do none of the things that students “must do.” He attends a revival meeting, and essentially lets the facts speak for themselves. I don’t want to argue that these standards are not worthwhile. But I do maintain that they are not a realistic reflection of arguments in everyday life (letters to newspaper editors, for example, are often limited to 150 words). And I am convinced that, were they to be adopted, the dropout rates among students bound for the working world would make our current rates tidings of comfort and joy. I offer one more standards-breaking illustration from the Oates-Atwan anthology: William Manchester’s “Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All,” one of the best essays of the lot. It has everything: humor, passion, pathos, information, description, narration, argument, and more broken rules than a Rabelaisian convent. The essay does not “establish and refine a topic or thesis” (Standard 1), it establishes several. It does not “sustain focus on a specific” anything (Standard 3). It does not even “create a logical progression of ideas or events” (Standard 5). And as for the “conventions of standard written English” (Standard 9), most English teachers I’ve known would not approve of starting 12 sentences with “but” and 11 others with “and,” “yet,” or “so.” Or with using a total of 30 sets of dashes in one essay, not to mention using “I” 12 times in 20 lines. They might also question using a colon after “said” to introduce a quotation, or having single-sentence paragraphs such as this: “And now it is time to set down what this modern battlefield was like.” Last fall, the National Council of Teachers of English issued the following call to everyone for submissions to the National Day on Writing (Oct. 20, 2009): “We invite letters, memoirs, lists, poems, podcasts, essays, short stories, instructions, reports, editorials, video clips, biographical sketches, speeches, invitations, hopes and dreams—writing that matters most to you.” “Writing that matters most to you”—that’s the spirit that animates all good writing, from William Manchester’s essay, to kids’ kindergarten attempts. I urge the core-standards-makers to reconsider the excessively narrow and unrealistic standards they have proposed. Were those standards to be implemented K through 12, they would kill that spirit and diminish the role of imagination, which the poet Wallace Stevens once aptly described as “one of the forces of nature” in the world of words. ●Edgar H. Schuster has taught English at both the high school and college levels. He is the author of Breaking the Rules: Liberating Writers Through Innovative Grammar Instruction (Heinemann, 2003). GULAG POLITICS OR SPENDING FOR THE FUTURE - OUR CHOICE by Kenneth J. Bernstein | a blog entry in TeacherKens Diary http://teacherken.dailykos.com/ ●● smf: Bernstein, a Social Studies teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Prince George’s County, Maryland, wanders afield but finds and ties up some loose ends as he shares his thinking on The School-to-Prison Pipeline Gulag politics. The idea of locking up your opponents. In the old USSR it was political opponents and critics of the Communist regime. Perhaps it seems inappropriate to use that term here, in what is supposedly a democratic republic. But consider this: “With 1 out of every 100 Americans - more than 2.3 million - now behind bars, the United States imprisons far more people - both proportionally and absolutely - than any other country in the world, including China. Representing only 5% of the world's population, America has 25% of the world's inmates.” Those words are from a book by Linda Darling-Hammond titled The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. The application of the term "Gulag politics" is courtesy of Derrick Jackson, who writes “It is a good bet that the United States has frittered away a decent chunk of our former global advantages with gulag politics.” Darling-Hammond is a major figure in education policy. Now holding an endowed chair at Stanford University, she was a close adviser to Obama during the campaign, and was the favorite of many of those with whom I associate in educational policy circles to be the Secretary of Education, if for no other reason that besides being a well-known writer and policy expert, she actually taught school. Current National Teacher of the Year Anthony Mullen recently wrote in his "Road Diaries: Teacher of the Year" blog, in a piece titled Teachers Should Be Seen and Not Heard, about his experiences at a recent conference with three governors, a professor and others describing how schools need to be redesigned. Eventually the moderator asked Mullen what he thought. The response?” “Where do I begin? I spent the last thirty minutes listening to a group of arrogant and condescending non educators disrespect my colleagues and profession. I listened to a group of disingenuous people whose own self-interests guide their policies rather than the interests of children. I listened to a cabal of people who sit on national education committees that will have a profound impact on classroom teaching practices. And I heard nothing of value. "I'm thinking about the current health care debate," I said. "And I am wondering if I will be asked to sit on a national committee charged with the task of creating a core curriculum of medical procedures to be used in hospital emergency rooms." The strange little man cocks his head and, suddenly, the fly on the wall has everyone's attention. "I realize that most people would think I am unqualified to sit on such a committee because I am not a doctor, I have never worked in an emergency room, and I have never treated a single patient. So what? Today I have listened to people who are not teachers, have never worked in a classroom, and have never taught a single student tell me how to teach." Perhaps that selection from Mullen seems like a distraction from the topic of this diary. It is not. Those of us who teach understand we cannot continue to cut our spending for education and expect to effectively educate our children, especially those most in need of our attention, those who if they do not get our help are far more likely to wind up as part of our penal system, and not contributing to our economy and our society. In effect we will be treating them as the Soviet Union treated their political prisoners - lock them up and forget about them. Let me try to explain my understanding. States are in economic crisis. Bob Herbert's column, Invitation to Disaster, takes us through the scale of the crisis. Immediate disaster was staved off by the stimulus, but that money will be running out. “The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has pointed out that if you add up the state budget gaps that have recently been plugged (in most cases, temporarily and haphazardly) and those that remain to be dealt with, you’ll likely reach a staggering $350 billion for the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years.” The impact of this will be heavily felt in education: “Without substantial new federal help, state cuts that are now merely drastic will become draconian, and hundreds of thousands of additional jobs will be lost. The suffering is already widespread. Some states have laid off or furloughed employees. Tens of thousands of teachers have been let go as cuts have been made to public schools and critically important preschool programs. California has bludgeoned its public higher education system, one of the finest in the world.” Of course, as Herbert points out, education is not the only area which will suffer. But let me point this out: states are severely cutting the money they give to local school districts at precisely the same time the tax base of the localities has collapsed as a consequence of the housing disaster. Teachers will lose jobs, class sizes will grow, electives and services will be cut. And even if this is only for two or three years, for younger children that could be crucial as it undermines their gaining the foundation for long-term educational success, and for older children they will not gain the knowledge necessary to be prepared for college. Of course, the college issue might not matter, as state schools see their support cut from financially distressed states, and as increasing number of students need financial aid for themselves because their families are under financial distress. The combination is effectively eating the seed corn of the future - theirs as individuals and ours as an economy, a society, a nation. How does this relate to my use of the term Gulag? Jackson's column is titled Common sense on prison, education funds, and is occasioned by Gov. Schwarzenegger of California this week proposing a state Constitutional amendment that would prohibit spending more on prisons than on education. The Governor said that in the last 30 years, prison spending increased from 3 percent of the state general fund to 11 percent while higher education spending declined from 10 percent to 7.5 percent. "Spending 45 percent more on prisons than universities is no way to proceed into the future,’’ he said. Jackson provides data similar to that I encountered in Darling-Hammond's book: “Nationwide, the Pew Center on the States says prison spending rose six times more than spending for higher education in adjusted dollars from 1987 to 2007. The national federal and state prison population nearly tripled in that time, from 585,000 to 1.6 million. Including local jails, the United States had 2.3 million people locked up by 2007. This is more than the 1.5 million inmates in more-numerous China and 2 1/2 times more than third-place Russia.” He has written on this issue several times, and reminds us “New York State went from spending twice as much on universities in 1988 to spending more on prisons than higher education in 1996. President Clinton’s push for national service was dwarfed by a $23 billion 1993 Senate crime bill that spent twice as much on boot camps than national service and $3 billion for prisons but only $1.2 billion for job training and drug treatment for nonviolent offenders.” Allow me to return if I may to Darling-Hammond. She notes that the money states spend prison costs are eating into funds they would otherwise spend on early childhood education, an investment that has been found to dramatically increase graduation rates and reduce participation in juvenile and adult crime. We squander our human capital, first by not educating, and then by paying to incarcerate, many of those locked up lacking the education and skills to contribute to our economy. “The implications of these social choices for our national well-being are enormous. Dropouts cost the country at least $200 billion a year in lost ages and taxes, costs for social services, and crime. With only three potential workers for every one person on Social Security in 2020 (as compared to 20 workers for every retiree in 1950), having one-thrid on the nonproductive side of the equation will undermine the social compact on which the nation depends.” We know that one major contributor to our burgeoning prison population is a set of drug laws that are inequitable, and fall disproportionally on the poor and minorities. Jackson explores that, and notes that Massachusetts Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate called such laws crazy. He concludes his column like this: “It is refreshing to hear a Democrat like her and a Republican like Schwarzenegger say that our criminal justice priorities are insane, with education always getting the strait-jacket. It is the first step out of the asylum.” Is the term"gulag" inappropriate? I think not. Perhaps those locked up, often repeatedly, in our penal system are not political prisoners the way those in the Soviet Gulags were. They are certainly at least political footballs. And they are removed from society - often permanently, with the loss of the right of vote, being barred from many occupations. Increasingly we have charged young people as adults, meaning their records do not get expunged. We permanently bar those with drug offenses from many federal benefit. We thereby increase the percentage of our population that we exclude from the full benefits of a society for which in many cases we have failed to prepare them with proper education. And because prisons are expensive, and too many will still demagogue the issue crime, our expenditures for our penal system continue to escalate at a time when the funds for government as a whole are plummeting, with a consequence that we further cut education, thereby contributing to a future increase in crime - a real Catch 22. There are other ways. As it happens I am also reading a book by a college friend, Mark Kleiman, on a different approach to the issue of crime. I will when I can also offer a review of When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment. Perhaps is is Serendipity to encounter the columns by Jackson and Herbert at the same time I am reading the books by Darling-Hammond and Kleiman. Perhaps I might have eventually made the connections among them anyhow, who knows? What I do know is this: we face some stark choices. We are going to have to decide what really matters to our future. If our answer is punitive, increasing the use of the penal system rather than attempting to avoid having to incarcerate people in the first place, we will find ourselves on a path that is not only financially unaffordable, it should be morally unacceptable. What is even worse - as our prison population continues to expand, we are cutting the services in those prisons that could educate and rehabilitate first-time offenders. I think Jackson's term "Gulag politics" is appropriate. I think we need to address this issue. I know we cannot address this issue if states, which in many cases cannot have unbalanced budgets, do not get additional assistance from the Federal government, which can. We face some critical choices. Our future as a nation may well depend upon our decision. What do you think we should do? Peace. HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources Update: SUPT. CORTINES TO TAKE MONDAY AS A FURLOUGH DAY + smf’s 2¢: L.A. schools chief to work for free for a d... http://bit.ly/cLwVU2 Update: THE ECONOMY, THE MAYOR AND THE CITY OF LA: Good Grief: February 6, 2010 | LA Times L.A. city official sa... http://bit.ly/bIRonU LOBBYING BY BANKING INDUSTRY THREATENS STUDENT LOAN OVEHAUL: By JACQUES STEINBERG | from The Choice, a NY Times Ed... http://bit.ly/cBRZwh 3:49 PM Feb 5th ROLLING BACK BROWN v. BOARD OF ED, ONE CHARTER SCHOOL AT A TIME + OTHER COVERAGE OF THE UCLA CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT ... http://bit.ly/9xvvOq 3:36 PM Feb 5th SUPT. CORTINES TO TAKE MONDAY AS A FURLOUGH DAY; SANTA CLARITA DISTRICT DEADLOCKS ON HEBREW LANGUAGE CHARTER: City... http://bit.ly/9MbQoM 9:31 AM Feb 5th Report: CHARTER SCHOOLS TOO SEGREGATED: Study finds inequities based on race, class and language.: By Connie Llano... http://bit.ly/aw0O1a 9:17 AM Feb 5th New Report: CHARTER SCHOOLS’ POLITICAL SUCCESS IS A CIVIL RIGHTS FAILURE: from the civil rights project @ ucla Fe... http://bit.ly/cfeOc8 9:16 AM Feb 5th Editorial: PARENTS SHOULD SHARE BLAME FOR STUDENT FAILURE: By EGP News Service| Eastside Sun / Northeast Sun / Mex... http://bit.ly/bY57iA 8:43 AM Feb 5th THE ECONOMY, THE MAYOR AND THE CITY OF LA: Good Grief.: by smf for 4LAKids I went to art opening on Monday, I’ll ... http://bit.ly/8Zb39o 9:27 PM Feb 4th BOARD WITH SCHOOL: The Hollywood middle school teacher behind a unique gang diversion program seeks new backers, a... http://bit.ly/9iQfSO 4:22 PM Feb 4th A JOKE OF A VOTE: LAUSD board should take reform advisory election with a grain of salt: LA Daily News Editorial ... http://bit.ly/bZF6Hs 11:59 AM Feb 4th RACE TO THE TOP AND REALITY: In applying for the federal funding program, California's proposal on how to rate sch... http://bit.ly/djhtlx 11:55 AM Feb 4th NATIONAL PTA ACTION ALERT: PRESIDENT'S EDUCATION BUDGET ELIMINATES SOLE FEDERAL PARENT ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM: PTA “Un... http://bit.ly/dwEmnr 10:29 AM Feb 4th SOME SOUTH-BAY/SAN PEDRO SIXTH-GRADERS WOULD STAY AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS UNDER LAUSD PLAN: By Melissa Pamer Staff W... http://bit.ly/9OHY8h 7:52 AM Feb 4th TRUANCY POLICY: Cleveland High School Principal Responds | AUSENCIA DE POLÍTICA: Director de Cleveland High School... http://bit.ly/bRu9lY 7:39 AM Feb 4th PARENTS VOTE ON PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE PLAN | PADRES DECIDEN SOBRE EL CONTROL DE SAN FERNANDO MIDDLE SCHOOL: Written... http://bit.ly/a38lYa 7:15 AM Feb 4th SCHWARZENEGGER’S EDUCATION CABINET SECRETARY STEPS DOWN: from CaliforniasCapitol.com February 2nd, 2010 -- Vete... http://bit.ly/9yir9s 7:38 AM Feb 3rd HEBREW LANGUAGE CHARTER SCHOOL CONSIDERED IN SANTA CLARITA VALLEY: The proposed school would be open to students o... http://bit.ly/cy0MIj 7:28 AM Feb 3rd DUNCAN APOLGIZES FOR SAYING “THE BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO THE EDUCATION SYSTEM IN NEW ORLEANS WAS HURRICANE KAT... http://bit.ly/avsSyg 7:18 AM Feb 3rd GOOD REPORT, FOR THE MOMENT, ON CALIFORNIA SCHOOL DISTRICT’S FINANCES: By John Fensterwald | The Educated Guess | ... http://bit.ly/chht5b 7:17 AM Feb 3rd UNION, NAACP SUE OVER NYC SCHOOL CLOSINGS: The union said the plan to close the schools violates state law because... http://bit.ly/cCT8gR 7:16 AM Feb 3rd LAUSD BEGINS REFORM PROCESS OF LOW PERFORMING (…and brand new!) SCHOOLS: 89.3 KPCC - [Go to story and podcast] ... http://bit.ly/cup7EI 7:11 AM Feb 3rd Briefly: A GLBT HARASSMENT-FREE SCHOOL OPENS IN L.A.: By Nicole Santa Cruz | LA Times February 2, 2010 | Aiden Aiz... http://bit.ly/bg8w3x 9:00 AM Feb 2nd Groundhog Day: ABSTINENCE-ONLY CLASSES MAY BE EFFECTIVE FOR YOUNG TEENS - Other forms of sex education may work to... http://bit.ly/atfL7u 8:52 AM Feb 2nd Groundhog Day: CRAZY-QUILT DEMOCRACY IN ACTION TODAY IN LAUSD SCHOOL REFORM - Ballot stuffing expected. Results co... http://bit.ly/bTvIld 7:41 AM Feb 2nd CHARTER SCHOOL ADVOCATE CHOSEN AS VIRGINIA SECRETARY OF ED: from the US Charter Schools Resource Update Gerard R... http://bit.ly/bv2UR6 5:54 PM Feb 1st Cartoon.: http://bit.ly/a8D0rq 10:06 AM Feb 1st BE CAREFUL OF THE CHARTER SCHOOL BANDWAGON: Studies in California and elsewhere have shown mixed results: ... http://bit.ly/b41RD9 8:01 AM Feb 1st OBAMA BUDGET PLAN: Increased Federal Spending for Education: The LA Times reports | http://bit. ly/bHGFbv : A ... http://bit.ly/d6cLue 6:28 AM Feb 1st SURGEON GENERAL & FIRST LADY UNVEIL PLAN FOR HEALTHY CHILD CARE SETTINGS: from California’s Children blog | http:/... http://bit.ly/9vBOrK 5:19 PM Jan 31st LAO BLASTS SCHWARZENEGGAR’S “ILL-CONCEIVED” AMMENDMENT TO REVERSE PRISON AND HIGHER ED SPENDING: Posted in Educate... http://bit.ly/d16xfV 4:48 PM Jan 31st ESEA/NCLB: EXPERTS SAY REWRITE OF NATION’S MAIN EDUCATION LAW WILL BE HARD THIS YEAR: By SAM DILLON | New York Tim... http://bit.ly/9GANI5 4:39 PM Jan 31st BILL GATES: $335 million investment in teacher pay incentives has high risk of failure.: 2010 Annual Letter from B... http://bit.ly/b4G9On 4:01 PM Jan 31st EDUCATION HEADLINES FROM AROUND CALIFORNIA: from Rough & Tumble and FCMAT News Class cuts wreak havoc at Californ... http://bit.ly/bRzh2A 3:38 PM Jan 31st NYC MAYOR IS A BILLIONAIRE, LA MAYOR HIRES HIMSELF ONE: What does Steve Lopez think about that? http://bit.ly/9AJ... http://bit.ly/9oxKw2 3:05 PM Jan 31st IGNORANCE BITES CALIFORNIA IN THE WALLET: A new poll [http://bit.ly/9GqcFP] shows that the people want control of ... http://bit.ly/bFncIF 2:22 PM Jan 31st “The Master Plan at 50: Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts" - LAO STUDY [http://bit.ly/c2l39n] ACCUSES CALIFORNIA’S... http://bit.ly/bixNUj 1:36 PM Jan 31st CLASS WARRIOR: Profile of Arne Duncan: Carlo Rotella, The New Yorker, February 1, 2010, p. 24 "How... http://bit.ly/d0QwgC 1:17 PM Jan 31st FRESNO USD’s CHARTER PLAN SPARKS CONFLICT OF INTEREST CONCERNS: Corey G. Johnson | California Watch Blog January ... http://bit.ly/9T15lG 1:17 PM Jan 31st California Education News Roundup from UCLA/IDEA EVENTS: Coming up next week... *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-241.8700 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR What can YOU do? • E-mail, call or write your school board member: Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383 Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386 Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180 Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382 Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388 Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385 Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387 ...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600 • Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ • Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school. • Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it! • Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child. • If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE. • If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE. • If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. He is an elected Representative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served as a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

...if you want to know the truth.

4LAKids: Sunday 31•Jan•2010 In This Issue: • HOWARD ZINN 1922 - 2010 • CLASS WARRIOR: New Yorker Profile of Education Secretary Arne Duncan • LA SCHOOLS’ BIG EXPERIMENT • LAUSD MAY FACE BIGGER BUDGET HOLE: Cuts in state budget plan could mean loss of another $200 million. • HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources • EVENTS: Coming up next week... • What can YOU do? Featured Links: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website • 4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved! • 4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." -- J.D. Salinger, the opening lines of the Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger would not appreciate much being made of his passing this week — or of me sending out this sentence of his. As a writer he opened a door that others …Kerouac and Heller and Vonnegut walked through. Salinger wasn't happy with some of what he found and retreated back inside ...but he left us Holden Caulfield and the Glass Family. Bob Seger called his generation in music "Chuck (Berry)'s children, out there playing his licks". Salinger may not've taught the band to play … but he set the tone. There is an irony that Salinger took his leave in the same week that enlightened school boards are attempting to censor Merriam-Webster ...but it's only irony. Grasping for irony and mixing bathos and the bathwater: The New Yorker - which first brought us Salinger and Caulfield and the Glasses published a profile of Arne Duncan this week. This week we also lost Howard Zinn, a voice of reason amidst unreasonableness. Zinn said both "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." and “If the gods had intended for people to vote, they would have given us candidates". That's a range of beliefs within which one can live a full life of truth, passion and humor. We move onward/adelante! - smf HOWARD ZINN 1922 - 2010 ZINN HAS DIED. LONG LIVE "ZINN"! By Fred Branfman in the Huffington Post January 28, 2010 -- I sit here in shock, having just read the Boston Globe headline, "Howard Zinn, historian who challenged status quo, dies at 87." I knew the day would come. I dreaded it. I flew to Boston last year to spend a day with him just so I wouldn't read a headline like this without having seen him at least one last time. And now I sit here. Devastated. Much will and should be written about Howard's contributions to the world: how his People's History of the U.S. changed how many of us understand America and, like all great histories, shed the great light of Truth upon our present, explaining what cannot be understood by official propaganda; the pivotal role he played in the civil rights movement during the tough years when he, like so many others, took enormous physical risks for simply wanting justice, a period he told me was the highlight of his life; the thousands of people, well-known and not, whose lives were politically transformed by their encounters with him. And the personal remembrances of Howard the human being will be no less moving and true. I have met many political people in my lifetime. Howard was by far the most honest, human, open, kind, generous, gracious, sweetest, humorous and charming of them all. By far. I am not the first to be reminded of Abraham Lincoln when talking with him, not only because of the physical resemblance but his profound humanity. His personal warmth and gentleness, combined with his political fire and passion, were entirely unique in my experience. He looked you in the eyes. He listened. He reacted appropriately to what you were saying. He was as interested in my ideas and experience when we talked last January as he had been 40 years ago. Looking back on his life he was as open and honest about his regrets as well as satisfactions as anyone I have ever met. But to me there is an even more important aspect of his life, like that of his friend and colleague Noam Chomsky, that transcends the personal. To many of us "Zinn" and "Chomsky" have not only been admirable human beings. They have been something far more, something difficult to put into words, something perhaps even risky to try and capture but something that, nonetheless, one feels driven to express at a moment like this. Many of us were upended on the deepest possible level during the '60s. Growing up in the aftermath of the "Good War", many of us the children or grandchildren of immigrants who believed deeply in the America to which they owed their very lives, we profoundly believed in America's goodness and decency. And when we saw not only our leaders, but an entire older generation not only betray but spit upon and destroy these values in Indochina, we were undone. When we saw them mercilessly, pitilessly, amorally, criminally, deceitfully and undemocratically murder millions of innocent civilians over a period of weeks, months and years - each week a lifetime of agony - we were thrown into an emotional, intellectual and spiritual abyss, an abyss from which we have never really fully emerged. Our moral universe, the basic set of understandings needed to remain human, was shattered. It was particularly during those morally chaotic years that "Zinn" and "Chomsky" became more than people to many of us. As elders who did not sell out, who acted as well as taught, who did not compromise, who did not abandon genuine American values and ideals, who did not lose their passion for social justice, who did not fail to side with the poor and downtrodden and victimized, and who above all spoke the truth, they became to many of us, quite simply, some of the most important nouns of our life. Even if we did not always agree this or that "position" they took, they represented something far higher. "Zinn" and "Chomsky" represented a tradition and state of being that meant we were not entirely on our own, beacons of: • The deepest possible compassion. At any given moment the world is divided into those who hear the screams of the innocent victims and those who do not. Most of us, certainly myself, go in and out of hearing the screams. We fight this injustice but ignore that one. "Zinn" and "Chomsky" is a state of being that consistently hears the screams, from Vietnam to inner city ghettoes, from East Timor to Haiti. It is a state that is unable to close itself off from the pain of the world. • Intellectual clarity, as they have told their truths in their writings and speeches to millions, never compromising for the sake of political expediency like so many of their contemporaries. Many of us were terminally confused by the conflict between America's image and reality. "Zinn" and "Chomsky" provide explanations and understandings that helped keep us sane. • Moral courage, as they went beyond mere speech-making and writing, and joined with those opposing the war, risking imprisonment or physical injury - as in our "affinity group" during Mayday when either could have been arrested, beaten up or maced in the eyes like Dan Ellsberg who was standing next to them, or when Chomsky was a leader of the draft resistance movement. "Zinn" and "Chomsky" mean "committed intellectuals" who do not compromise, intellectuals who align their bodies and actions with their minds and thoughts. • Passion for social justice, an antiquated concept these days, in which a new generation of Americans has come to believe that "collateral damage" is inevitable in war, the very idea of war crimes irrelevant, and that the poor are responsible for their poverty. "Zinn" and "Chomsky" has meant never losing the passion for justice, a passion that began for Howard when he realized, as a bombardier in WWII, that he was often bombing the innocent not out of military necessity but mere inertia and indifference. • Above all integrity, authenticity, wholeness. "Zinn" and "Chomsky" are embodiments of that word so often praised but so rarely practiced. They have practiced what they have preached. I have never seen either act out of character. I remember well when I first met Howard in Laos in 1968 as he and Dan Berrigan were on their way to Hanoi to escort U.S. POWs home. What political system did he believe in?, I asked. He smiled in his wry way, grinned his wide grin, and answered in that soft, Brooklyn-tinged but clear way of his: "I guess the closest is the kind of anarcho-syndicalism they had in the Spanish Civil War", he responded. As we talked I understood that he knew too much to put faith in any government, right or left, that "anarcho-syndicalism" was a way of saying he remained idealistic that humans could theoretically live sanely. But he never fell into the trap that many of us have of projecting our ideals onto the fallible humans who hold power in any system, left or right, and are inevitably corrupted by it. The integrity conveyed by the words "Zinn" and "Chomsky" is, in the end, impossible to pin down. They have been cut from an older, different cloth. Their roots lie in an earlier time when those fighting for peace and social justice did so because of who they were, not because they sought personal power or to realize fantasies of "revolution". I asked Howard last January what kept him continuing to fight, write and speak for peace and social justice when it all seemed so hopeless. His answer was as simple as it was profound. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't." The meaning of the words were far less important than the wave of feeling that moved through me as he said them, a wave of feeling that cut through the rationalizing and intellectualizing and connected with the deepest part of me that feels the same way. The most important role that "Zinn" and "Chomsky" (whom I also met in Laos, in 1970) have played in my life has been to serve as nouns reminding me of my highest self. I cannot describe how often, consciously or unbidden, I have found myself thinking "how would Howard see this?," "what would Howard say?", "what would Noam do in this case?". And the deepest role they have played in my life only became apparent to me in recent years, as I began to explore my unconscious. I realized that they represented a kind of moral center in my life, a compass, a guiding star. This or that politician in whom I had believed might turn out to have feet of clay. I might betray my own ideals. I might drop out for a while, become despairing. But knowing that "Zinn" and "Chomsky" did not, that they fought consistently for their ideas, did not get corrupted by the temptations of power, meant that somewhere, some place, there remained a still point of integrity in this world. Somewhere, some place, it was possible to remain a human being with compassion, intellectual clarity, moral courage, a passion for social justice and, above all, integrity. Somewhere, someplace, the world was not entirely sick, corrupted, confused or compromised. These "Zinn" and "Chomsky" states of being, which meant so much to me, also made me feel conflicted about the persons Zinn and Chomsky at various points in my life, particularly when I went into electoral politics in the 1980s. I projected onto them that they, who had kept their integrity, would look down on me for getting involved in electoral politics. I assumed they would find my rationale for doing so morally or intellectually compromised. I tended to avoid them during this period. I also sometimes saw them as naive. When I talked to Howard shortly after John Kerry was nominated for President he said forcefully that Kerry had better run against the Iraq war if he wanted to win. My internal reaction was something along the lines of "oh, there he is, good old Howard, naive romantic to the end. Noone can hope to win the Presidency without supporting the Iraq war." I did not foresee that Kerry's key losing moment of the campaign would be saying he voted for the Iraq war before he voted against it, or that Barack Obama would win the Presidency largely for opposing the Iraq war at a time when the conventional wisdom, embodied by Hillary Clinton, still held that supporting it was necessary to win. I did not foresee that a few years hence I would see myself as naive on this question, and Howard more realistic. Nor did I foresee that when I met with them again neither would judge me negatively for my forays into electoral politics. It had all been a projection on my part. I also did not foresee that as the horrors of the Bush Years wore on, and the disappointment of Obama Year One would kick in, that I would find myself increasingly embracing what they have taught and what they have embodied; that they would be serving even more as a lodestone to me in these years than they did in my youth. Howard's death is thus a shock transcending the normal death of a friend or even loved one. Yes, the personal memories come tumbling out: watching a theatrical presentation in a cave north of Hanoi as Nixon got elected in November 1972, marveling at the morale of the Vietnamese compared to the despair we felt at the prospect of four more years of killing; spending the night in adjoining jail cells during the Redress demonstration, being so buoyed in the morning by his cheerfulness, smiles, wry but never cynical humor; marching together in a small march in Lexington, Massachusetts, and then hearing him speak, out of the deepest possible knowledge and feeling, about how the ideals of the American Revolution, as contrasted with its reality, required opposing the Vietnam today; our emails, phone conversations and visits over these 40 years - with Howard always gracious, always committed, always kind, always interested, and always interesting. But this feeling of devastation at his loss far transcends even these personal memories. There is, you see, no "Zinn" or "Chomsky" among we baby-boomers, let alone the generations that follows us. One of our beacons of integrity has now flickered out. Our world has suddenly become a little darker, a little colder, little more bitter, a litte more insane. It is bad enough when a loved and admirable person dies and one realizes they can never be replaced, that there will never be another one remotely like them. It is worse when that person's death leaves a hole in the entire moral universe, that a spiritual vacuum has been created that can never be filled. The pain is more intense, the feeling of irreplaceable loss even stronger. My only consolation at this moment is knowing that though Howard Zinn the man has died, "Zinn" has not. I know that many of us will continue to be sustained in the difficult years to come by the answers we will receive when we find ourselves asking: • What would Howard think, how would he see it? • What would Howard say? • How would Howard feel? And, most importantly: • What would Howard do? Zinn has died. Long live "Zinn". CLASS WARRIOR: New Yorker Profile of Education Secretary Arne Duncan ►Block that mataphor: In his New Yorker profile (May 11, 2009|http://bit.ly/d0O15Y) , Steve Barr led "a crusade", Duncan is "a class warrior". by Carlo Rotella, The New Yorker, February 1, 2010, p. 24 Excerpt: "How you read Duncan's record (in Chicago) depends to some extent on what you think of his approach to reform. His signature move as C.E,O. was the turnaround: shutting down a school that has a chronic record of poor performance and reopening it with an entirely new staff. (NY City Schools chancellor) Joel Klein told me, 'Closing a school is worse than a root canal. You're disrupting people's lives,' and it makes a superintendent very unpopular." ABSTRACT: PROFILE of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. President Obama has allotted Duncan more than seventy billion dollars in federal economic-stimulus funds to hand out to the states—more money “by a factor of a lot,” as Duncan puts it, than any Secretary of Education has had before him. The stimulus money and the close relationship Duncan, who was the C.E.O. of the Chicago Public Schools before coming to Washington with Obama, has to the President give him extraordinary leverage. Duncan has the potential to be a uniquely influential Secretary of Education. Any state that wants its full share of stimulus money needs to give the Department of Education what are known as the “four assurances”: progress in raising standards; in recruiting and retaining effective teachers; in tracking students’ and teachers’ performance; and in turning around failing schools. Duncan has played basketball with Barack Obama for nearly two decades, and first met him through Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama’s older brother, who now coaches Oregon State University’s men’s basketball team. In the fight over education in America today, there are, roughly speaking, two major camps: free-market reformers, who believe that competition, choice, and incentives must have greater play in education; and liberal traditionalists who rally around teachers’ unions and education schools. Obama’s choice of Duncan was widely received as a compromise. His appointment was a loss for the unions. Republicans approve of Duncan’s commitment to market-based reforms. Duncan must contend with critics on the right who don’t accept the federal government’s active role in education, and ones on the left who see him as a neoliberal enforcer, exploiting Obama’s Democratic bona fides to impose the free-market reform agenda on the unions. Tells about Duncan’s childhood on the South Side of Chicago and the after-school program his mother ran and continues to run in North Kenwood-Oakland. After graduating from Harvard, Duncan played professional basketball in Australia before returning to Chicago. Describes Duncan’s career in Chicago, leading up to him being named C.E.O. of the Chicago Public Schools in 2001. Writer discusses Duncan’s tenure as C.E.O. and interviews several critics of his policies. Tells about the rules by which the stimulus finds will be awarded to states and considers the legacy of No Child Left Behind. Many people who voted for Obama are finding out that on education, as on other issues, he is more of a centrist than they ever imagined. ● Read the full text of this article in the digital edition | http://bit.ly/cnSm2b(Subscription required.) ● or listen to a podcast: http://bit.ly/btxFq5 LA SCHOOLS’ BIG EXPERIMENT LA SCHOOLS’ BIG EXPERIMENT by Charles Kerchner - Research Professor of Education at Claremont Graduate University | HUFFINGTON POST | http://bit.ly/b5T2r3 January 29, 2010 -- Think of it as a big chem lab experiment. The Los Angeles Unified School District is testing the hypothesis that allowing a bunch of people to compete for running schools will yield better ones. It's a starkly different idea than the traditional civil service model and probably the boldest experiment taking place in public education in America. So, what are the results so far? Hypothesis 1: In a contest to run public schools, lots of teams will show up. Result: it depends. The public school choice resolution passed by the school board last summer, created two different contests. The first was for the operation of 18 newly constructed schools, built with bonds approved by voters several years ago. One would think that occupying a sparkling new school would be incentive enough to bring forward great numbers of charter school and other potential providers. There is significant competition, but not as much as one might think. Charter school management companies that did not already operate schools did not jump into the game in large numbers. The only new-to-LA charter provider to submit a proposal was Aspire, which runs schools in Oakland and the San Francisco Bay area. The for-profit providers that operate multiple charters across the country are forbidden by law from applying, and so Los Angeles' education competition has a decidedly home-grown look. The Sansei Foundation, a non-profit arm of a school consulting firm in Chicago that has ties to Paul Vallas, that city's peripatetic former superintendent who now heads schools in New Orleans, filed an intent-to-participate for all the schools, but was a dropout. The American Charter Schools Foundation that operates charters in Arizona also failed to submit any proposals. In most new-school competitions, existing charter operators squared off against proposals from teams of administrators and teachers from LAUSD. The Julie Korenstein Elementary school in the San Fernando Valley has five competitors, for example, as does a new elementary school in South LA Four competitors vie to run the new Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy in South LA. There, the Inner City Education Foundation, which operates 10 schools in South Los Angeles, and sees its mission as drastically increasing the number of college graduates from the area, is competing with a District team and two other charters. KIPP, whose charters have garnered media attention for their success among African-American students, did not submit a proposal. Green Dot, which has been depicted as a tidal wave, submitted only one proposal. It is in competition with the Alliance for College Ready Schools and others for one of the components of the newly constructed Esteban Torres high schools on the Eastside. A second contest involves plans to run one of the 12 chronically underperforming schools, dubbed Focus Schools by LAUSD. These campuses have failed to meet their federal performance targets for more than three years, have proficiency rates of less than 21 percent in either math or English, and had no growth in state's Academic Performance Index last year. The chosen high schools also had greater than 10 percent dropout rates. Nothing bright and shiny here: the prospect of running these schools offers only an invitation to run some of the toughest schools in America. As one might expect, there are fewer competitors. Only the existing schools proposed to run Burbank Middle, Gardena High, Maywood High, and San Pedro High. But some of these proposals were quite innovative and sought to come to grips with the reasons achievement had lagged. The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, begun by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, was the most vigorous competitor. It submitted proposals for three Focus schools including Jefferson High School on the near Southside. It faces vigorous contest by the existing faculty and staff. See Howard Blume's coverage [http://bit.ly/9HE7oo] of the community meetings where proposals were presented. The most vigorous challenge from an existing charter operator is taking place at Hillcrest Elementary School where the Inner City Education Foundation, is competing with the existing school and another charter, Be the Change in Education Foundation. That proposal, co-sponsored by 100 Black Men of Los Angeles, anticipates separating students by gender, a practice used in the 100 Black Men charter school in New York. Another potentially interesting contest may develop on the Eastside, where the Montebello Unified School District, which operates the schools just outside of LAUSD, has submitted a proposal to operate Garfield High School. Hypothesis 2: Competition will yield strong and innovative proposals. Result: a qualified yes. I was struck by the extent to which existing District administrator and teacher teams created coherent plans that targeted student achievement. Although there are some clunkers, as a group these plans were much stronger than those produced during the school reform era of the 1990s. For a history of this era, see Learning from L.A.: Institutional Change in American Education [http://bit.ly/aJhFxO]. Clearly, the participants have learned about targeting student achievement directly rather than assuming that rearranging what adults do would boost student outcomes. One of the legacies of past reform efforts is to give the schools a much higher capacity to focus on student achievement. Both District and charter proposals showed this capacity. The stronger proposals also had linkages to resources outside the district. Some, like the ICEF middle school proposal, had strong ties to the University of Southern California. Several cited relationships with UCLA and some with CSU system schools and private colleges and universities. Many of the proposals link to community service providers. All reveal a network-of-experts organizational structure that I believe will become the essential structure for public education in the future, the alternative to an old fashioned hierarchy. Perhaps the most interesting player in all this is United Teachers Los Angeles, which has had a schizophrenic relationship to the whole choice process. Violently opposed to it, UTLA is challenging its legality. At the same time it registered intents to propose in all the new schools. In the end only one teacher team submitted a new school proposal, the South Area Teacher Collaborative that bid for a newly constructed South Los Angeles middle school. Their proposal made a bow toward non-hierarchical management and greater involvement of parents and community in school operations, but it didn't sketch out a school where students would learn in radically different ways or where teachers would have radically different jobs. No updated Summerhill or John Dewey Lab School. No teachers' cooperative. However, high teacher and union involvement can be seen in several of the proposals, including those at Burbank Middle School, where the existing staff seeks to transform the school into three smaller ones run on the Pilot school model that gives participants some flexibility to change their work rules. In other, proposals, such as the one for San Pedro High School, the union chapter chair emerges as one of the key participants in reorganization. Yet, in the political bump and rub of proposal adoption, UTLA's raw union muscle has emerged. Boisterous and contentious community meetings have featured rough attempts at intimidation, prompting a blunt letter from Superintendent Ramon Cortines to union president A. J. Duffy. All the proposals included ways to gather student achievement data from classrooms and make mid-course corrections during the school year and before the high-stakes state tests are given in the spring. All of them included ideas for linking on-going professional development with improving the schools. A close reading of these sections distinguishes the good from not so good proposals. (Full disclosure: I reviewed a handful of proposals for the District.) All of the proposals recognize that parents, family and community are a student's first educators. And there are some inventive ideas about engaging families and using community resources. But there was also an almost universal belief in programs rather than people. The proposal template itself, and most all of the proposals I perused placed great reliance on picking a set of proven programs. No one, even among the charter operators, said that their proposal would work because they had the capacity to assemble a better-trained, more dedicated staff than their competitors. Everyone gave a nod to accountability--it was required by the proposal template--but no one stood up and said in effect "if we can't teach these kids we'll step aside." All these proposals are online [http://bit.ly/cJeuOS]. I have skimmed all of them, and read many of them carefully. You can too. It's also an experiment in local democracy, with public hearings, advisory votes, and ultimately a decision by Superintendent Cortines on February 23. The lives of 40,000 students are involved. It's time for your voice to be heard. ●●smf's 2¢: Heard… but as the votes are non-binding and advisory – not necessarily paid attention to. LAUSD MAY FACE BIGGER BUDGET HOLE: Cuts in state budget plan could mean loss of another $200 million. By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News 01/26/2010 | 08:35:20 PM PST -- Already reeling from a series of financial hits in the past year, Los Angeles Unified School District officials recently learned that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new state budget plan could chop an additional $200 million from the district next year. _____________________________________ “After carving deeply into California’s K-12 budget over the past two years, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed Wednesday to spare schools from further cuts in the budget he will propose for fiscal 2011.” - Ed Week | Jan 6, 2010 | http://bit.ly/d6avDc _____________________________________ LAUSD was already facing an expected budget deficit of $470 million next year. But officials found tucked in the fine print of the governor's budget an additional, unexpected cut of $250 per student for 2010-11, potentially raising the district's deficit to $670 million. The discovery comes just six weeks before the district faces a state deadline to begin handing out pink slips to teachers and administrators who could be laid off next year. LAUSD Chief Financial Officer Megan Reilly said while the governor's plan keeps education funding at last year's level, it also retains cuts that were supposed to be restored. "More cuts will have to happen to address these hidden cuts to education," Reilly said. The grim news comes a month after district officials approved a two-year budget plan that included eliminating some 5,000 jobs, including 1,400 teachers, 1,000 janitors and maintenance workers and 520 school office workers through 2012. That plan also left K-3 student-teacher ratios at 29:1; slashed arts and music programs at elementary schools in half; and cut back school nurses, cops and aides. LAUSD Board president Monica Garcia urged employee unions to share the pain and agree to other cuts that could help avoid another devastating round of layoffs. LAUSD laid off about 2,500 teachers and 2,800 non-teaching school workers in 2009. "The choices we face now are hard and we are at a place where no one wants to be," Garcia said. "We need to work together with our bargaining units. ... In 2010 to tell a family that they do not have a job is a very serious thing." Officials said the district can save $40 million for every 1percent salary cut approved by bargaining units. One furlough day saves about $15 million. To date, SEIU Local 99, representing mostly custodians and cafeteria workers, has agreed to four furlough days for 2009-10 and the union's bus drivers have approved 10furlough days this year to prevent cuts to their unit. Also, the California School Employees Association and the Building and Trades Council Unit E reached a tentative agreement last month for four unpaid work days. A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles - LAUSD's largest employee union - said teachers would not accept furloughs or pay cuts until district officials proved all other cuts had been made. "We'll sit down and talk to the district about how we can help it find its way out of this financial crisis ... but only if they open their books and let us make suggestions on what else they can cut," Duffy said. District officials have also talked about asking voters in November 2010 to approve a limited parcel tax, for up to $200 million. HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources L.A. SCHOOLS WORRY ABOUT TOXIC PLAYGROUNDS: by ELIZABETH BANICKI | Courthouse News Service Friday, Ja... http://bit.ly/9X3SKe e-mail from LAUSD(C):: In a message dated 01/27/10 22:14:55 Pacific Standard Time, The Los Angeles School Developm... http://bit.ly/arZ4RF CSU SYSTEM TO PUSH STUDENTS TOWARDS GRADUATION: By Carla Rivera | LA Times | http://bit.ly/9Ff4tz Students are to... http://bit.ly/d9mU3P LACC ACCUSED OF CENSORING STUDENT NEWSPAPER: "Finding a 1st Amendment violation at LACC is like looking for a need... http://bit.ly/c5ePWS SUNDAY MORNING 31 JAN @ 7 AM -- Knowledge is Power 106: 4LAKids in Big Boy’s ‘hood!: Knowledge is Power hosted by Wendy Carrillo LIVE!! Will be fe... http://bit.ly/cg1veE Re: New Yorker Article: PROTEST STUDIES - “Restoring [CA] state investment to a truly accountable system[ of high... http://bit.ly/bnQ38n TEACHER BANNED FROM CLASS 7 YEARS AGO AND FIRED 6 YEARS AGO FINALLY FIRED …APPEAL PENDING: by Jason Song – LA Tim... http://bit.ly/beCGK5 Briefly: SCHOOL REPORT CARDS: Thursday AM Jan 28 LAUSD schools' grades are improving Los Angeles Daily News - Co... http://bit.ly/a9BQmr 3 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS TO HELP OUR SCHOOLS: by A.J. Duffy, UTLA President – from United Teacher, the newspaper of ... http://bit.ly/c85dJc Passed along: ADVISORY VOTE VOLUNTEER PARENT POWER + smf’s 2¢: By Bill Boyarsky | Los Angeles Jewish Journal “Raw power, an unabashed transfer of polit... http://bit.ly/apzwyN 7th AND FINAL STATE OF EDUCATION ADDRESS BY SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INTRUCTION O’CONNELL: By Canan Tasci | In... http://bit.ly/7b8V68 FEMALE TEACHERS MAY PASS ON MATH ANXIETY TO GIRLS, STUDY FINDS: After a year in the classroom with female teachers... http://bit.ly/8c6cLj SOME SCHOOL DISTRICTS UNSURE ABOUT ‘RACE TO THE TOP’ FUNDING: North County Times [North San Diego and Southwest Ri... http://bit.ly/6rtt4o 5 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS: Los Angeles City Section faces $1.4-million budget cut | http://bit.ly/8evznW: The 20% loss in... http://bit.ly/4ZIe0v 5 TEACHERS PUSH GARDENA HIGH REFORMS – proposal ‘met with mixed reactions and some befuddlement’: By Melissa Pamer S... http://bit.ly/4Esojw RECOMMENDATIONS THRICE REMOVED:PSC UPDATE: SUPERINTENDENT’S LETTER, REVISED SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS & ADVISORY VOTE SCHEDULE AND PROTOCOL. “As a reminder, advisory votes are only recommendations to me. They are not a binding vote. I will include the results of the advisory vote recommendations in my final recommendations to the board.” . http://bit.ly/7OCo74 The soft bigotry of low expectations v.2.0: BERKELEY HIGH MAY CUT SCIENCE LAB CLASSES TO FUND PROGRAMS FOR STRUGGLING STDENTS.. http://bit.ly/6CWLwY EVENTS: Coming up next week... *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-893-6800 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR What can YOU do? • E-mail, call or write your school board member: Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383 Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386 Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180 Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382 Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388 Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385 Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387 ...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600 • Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ • Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school. • Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it! • Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child. • If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE. • If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE. • If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee and the BOC on the Board of Education Facilities Committee. He is an elected repreprentative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

mi hermano.

4LAKids: Sunday 24•Jan•2010 In This Issue: • EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families • STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO LAUSD: IOU $1 BILLION + GIVE US SOME TRUTH • DUNCAN TELLS MAYORS TO EXPECT INCENTIVES IN ESEA • GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE TO HELP COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS + GATEWAY TO COLLEGE EXPANDS WITH $13 MILLION IN GRANTS • HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources • EVENTS: Coming up next week... • What can YOU do? Featured Links: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website • 4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved! • 4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. The principal told the story quietly to a crowd of politicians and policymakers and the usual crowd from academe, all-so-very-concerned about the economy and low test scores and dropouts and not enough money for education. He was on noon duty in the lunch shelter of his inner city school, an elementary in the shadow of downtown. He watched as a young girl carefully put the plastic package of little carrots in her pocket and then asked her table mates if they had any carrots or fruit they didn't want; scoring a few more carrots – and a piece of fruit – and carefully stashing them in her pocket. He approached her, doing as elementary school principals do, kneeling or sitting reduce his scale – trying hard not be the big scary principal. He asked her if she was OK, concerned she might not be getting enough to eat. She was terrified, sure she had been caught taking wasn't rightfully hers. Little tears started to form. He had a difficult time finishing the story because he had his own little tears; writing this I know the feeling. “Oh no.”she said. She was just trying to bring home food for her little brother, too young for school. Too little for the free lunch program. She was afraid he wasn't getting enough to eat. That's the situation. All he rest is just words on the page, pixels on the screen. Onward/Adelante - smf EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families ►AT HOME OR IN SCHOOL, CALIFORNIA STUDENTS FACE HARDER TIMES, SURVEY FINDS: Statewide poll of principals reveals an increase in cutbacks and layoffs at schools, and unemployment and homelessness among families. Howard Blume | LA Times January 21, 2010 | 12:16 a.m -- The state's children found no escape from harder times last year whether at school, where they endured larger classes, unfamiliar teachers and scarce supplies -- or at home, where they faced family stresses from emptier refrigerators, job losses and more frequent dislocation. The grim compilation comes in a report to be released today by UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access and the University of California All Campus Consortium on Research for Diversity. [article continues@http://bit.ly/7uSmSR] ►EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families ●Executive Summary of the UCLA/Institute for Demmocracy, Education and Access Study Released Friday Jan 22 “It’s the bleakest I’ve ever seen.” — Principal of a southern California high school describing the impact of the recession on her school and students EVEN BEFORE THE CURRENT RECESSION BEGAN, California public schools were ill-equipped to meet the learning and social welfare needs of many students. Consider this brief glimpse of California’s serious education challenges, and standing compared to therest of the nation, just a year and a half ago. BEFORE THE RECESSION - - • One in six California students lived in families that earned below the federal poverty level, and more than a half lived in families with earning that qualified students for the federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program. • Many California students experienced unstable housing and lack of secure access to food. • Ranking 46th of all states in per pupil expenditures, California provided its students with less access to quality learningconditions than the rest of the nation. • California’s middle school and high school classrooms were more overcrowded than classrooms in any other state. • California’s high school counselors served more students than counselors anywhere else in the nation. • While almost all California students receive less than students in other states, students attending schools serving primarily low-income Latino, African American, and American Indian students were the most likely to experience critical problems in their schools. For example, such schools were 8 times as likely as other schools in the state to face severe shortages of qualified teachers. Today, these conditions, challenges, and comparisons are worse. Much worse. Today, for example, one in four California students lives in poverty and is likely attending a school with reduced funding, larger classes, and fewer instructional materials. To illuminate the current, “real time” effects of the recession on California children and public schools, UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) conducted interviews with a representative sample of 87 principals from across the state. The immediacy of these interviews removes a certain abstraction that often accompanies data reports on California’s schools. The principals speak of conditions that children face today, on Monday morning when the school bell rings, and when they leave school and return to their families. The principals in our study lead public schools that proportionately represent California’s wide diversity of geography, school size, school type, and student demographics. Our interviews reveal common themes across the socio-economic and demographic diversity of the principals’ communities and differences in the degree of impact on families and school programs. KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE: 1.THE NEEDS OF CALIFORNIA’S CHILDREN AND YOUTH HAVE GROWN AND ARE NOT BEING MET DESPITE EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS BY CALIFORNIA EDUCATORS. More than half of the principals report that students’ needs for health, psychological, or social services have increased with the recession; many other principals report a continuation of extremely high social needs. “There is “an epidemic [of hunger]….” “A lot of students don’t eat at all when they go home.” “I don’t go through a day that I don’t hear three or four people say they need to move because of layoffs.” Educators have responded by connecting students and families with social service providers or by contributing food and clothing. In extraordinary cases some have taken in homeless youth to live with them. Nonetheless, budget cuts to social welfare program and school services have left the system with less capacity to respond to these growing needs. “We make referrals, but they’re having a hard time keeping up.” 2. BUDGET CUTS HAVE LED TO TEACHER LAY OFFS AND LARGER CLASSES. The vast majority of principals reported that teachers in their schools have been laid off, “bumped,” or threatened with lay off. Actual lay offs were far more likely to be reported ind high-poverty as low-poverty schools. Principals reported that such layoffs affect school culture and teaching and learning. “As we lose teachers, critical mass changes … it will trickle into the classroom.” Teacher layoffs also led to class size increases in most California schools. Class size increases were particularly pronounced in elementary schools. 3. BUDGET CUTS ALSO HAVE AFFECTED STUDENTS’ ACCESS TO LEARNING MATERIALS. Most principals reported delaying or cutting back scheduled purchase of new textbooks. “It’s almost like the state is giving you one year worth of money but you have two years [of need]. … The state doesn’t give you enough, you are always a year behind.” Similarly, almost all principals reported reductions to instructional materials and supplies. “We have almost nothing to get through the year. This is terrible.” 4. PROGRAMS OUTSIDE THE INSTRUCTIONAL CORE (OF READING AND MATH) WERE CUT BACK OR ELIMINATED, WITH MANY COSTS SHIFTED TO PARENTS. Most principals reported that summer school was reduced or eliminated. High-poverty schools were farm more likely than low-poverty schools to eliminate summer school outright. At times, this elimination of summer school was quite dramatic. Students in one Central Valley elementary school were “literally told to go home.” In addition, roughly half of principals surveyed reported reductions to after school programs, field trips, art and music. Programs are “hanging by the skin of their teeth.” 5. THE VAST MAJORITY OF PRINCIPALS REPORT REDUCTIONS TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Many described how budget cuts limited instructional improvement. “Principals [are] dealing with problems on campus instead of focus[ing] on student learning as we should be and the state is mandating us to do. It’s less resources, more distractions, while trying to run the school.” 6. LOCAL STRATEGIES AIMED AT FILLING BUDGET GAPS ARE LIKELY TO EXACERBATE INEQUALITIES. On average, low-poverty schools in our study received far more in donations than high poverty schools. These findings point to tremendous needs of California students and California public schools—needs that the federal government is best positioned to address in the short term. The short term is crucial for the millions of students who can’t wait for the economy to improve. They only get one chance to have a high-quality and equal education. But California also needs to reform its system for funding public schools. “I’ve lived in California most of my life and I find it hard to believe how bad we have become with our funding for education.” This report represents the fourth annual California Educational Opportunity Report produced by UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access (IDEA) in partnership with UC ACCORD. As in past reports, we examine the quality and distribution of educational opportunities across California’s public schools. A broader set of analyses of educational conditions and outcomes, including reports on each California legislative district and reports on each public high school and middle school in the state, can be found online at www.edopp.org. En Español : RESUMEN EJECUTIVO DEL REPORTE DE OPORTUNIDAD EDUCATIVA EN CALIFORNIA | http://bit.ly/80QuxW The Entire Report: EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: - The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Public Schools and Working Families: is available at http://bit.ly/5eiXVE STATE OF CALIFORNIA TO LAUSD: IOU $1 BILLION + GIVE US SOME TRUTH IOU $1 Billion by smf for 4LAKids School Boardmemeber Tamar Galatzan in her weekly constituent e-newsletter (see below) questions the disingenuousness of the governor in promising No Further Cuts to Education – and enumerates previous, ongoing and upcoming cuts to LAUSD – hundreds of millions of dollars. What she doesn't say is that LAUSD is owed close-enough to-a-billion-to-call-it-a-billion in promised funding for school construction and modernization and repair already done or in the works. That's not money that LAUSD “would like to have” – or even money bait+switched around the budget table in Sacramento. We are talking about $986,817.157 in outstanding debt and obligations; money the State of California has promised to pay – with bills and invoices approved and sent to the treasury – bills sitting on a desk somewhere, stamped “OK-to-Pay”, unpaid. This makes LAUSD the state's biggest creditor. The state of California, teetering on insolvency with a credit rating between zilch-and-nada owes more money to the schoolchildren of Los Angeles than it owes anyone else. The upshot of this: The LAUSD Facilities Division is looking at a cash shortfall of $204 million as of Nov 30, 2009. (LAUSD can borrow money, but it must pay interest and debt service – there is little [no] likelihood of interest paid on the money CA owes the district..) District workers are being laid off; folks with jobs to do but no money to pay them Needed repairs are not being made. Safety is being compromised Repair and modernization projects are being delayed, 'Shovel-Ready' projects aren't being started. In a time when the economy is down and public sector construction is the easiest-quickest employer-and-stimulator (The LAUSD building and modernization program is the biggest public sector construction program in the nation) – the program is being cut back. THIS IS THE RAINY DAY! Roofs are leaking. Buckets are being put out rather than roofers being called. In a presentation to the Bond Oversight Committee on Wednesday Interim Chief Facilities Executive James Sohn said the District anticipates that this bill might be paid in 2011. When questioned about his confidence in that date – and how it was arrived at – Sohn referred to hopes and expectations …and actually used the words “crystal ball” in his response. The state simply doesn't have the money or the ability to borrow it - which it would do by selling bonds it can't sell LAUSD is not alone here, we are just the biggest creditor in line. In the dearth of revenue collection, cash flow, budget balancing skills, the ability to borrow and political leadership – LAUSD and the others in line - school districts and schoolchildren up-and-down the state - are in similar positions. Part of LAUSD's responsibility as the ten-ton-gorilla is to be their advocate: As soon as the revenue stream returns and the ability to borrow returns we must make sure that the money goes first to where it's owed ...not to high-speed-rail and other shiny sparkly things so attractive to the easily distracted. ►Message to the Governor: GIVE US SOME TRUTH! Note from the Board Member: Tamar Galatzan | Galatzan Gazette January 21, 2010 – Recently, Governor Schwarzenegger announced that he did not plan any additional cuts to public education for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Unfortunately, he is not being entirely accurate. By "additional" let's remember the cuts he already imposed: Last year, the state caused approximately $250 million in budget cuts for LAUSD that are scheduled to begin in 2010-2011. In addition, California has used about $154 million in State Fiscal Stabilization Funds that LAUSD rightfully expected to receive. As if that wasn't enough, you have to also subtract the $70 million in “adjustments” that pre-date the Governor’s pronouncement. Now when he says this, there is actuallyan additional $100-200 million of changes in the Governor’s January budget. The District is approximately more than half a billion in the hole. (And this assumes that the state gets all or most of the $6.9 billion of federal funds on which it is relying.) I believe that the Governor wants to prioritize public education, but please be transparent about the numbers. Even in good times, education spending in Californiais performed with tricks, feints, and dodges. This is bad enough when times are good, but downright cruel in the midst of a budget crisis. -Tamar GALATZAN GAZETTE Issue #104 DUNCAN TELLS MAYORS TO EXPECT INCENTIVES IN ESEA By Alyson Klein | EdWeek Vol. 29, Issue 19 Jan 20 – Washington - Providing incentives for districts that are making progress on student achievement will be a key element of the Obama administration’s plan for renewing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told the U.S. Conference of Mayors Wednesday. “There are 50 ways to fail” under the No Child Left Behind Act, the current version of the law, said Mr. Duncan, a critique he has raised in the past. But there are “very little, if any, rewards if you do a good job. … We want to put unprecedented resources out there on a competitive basis for those who are committed” to boosting student achievement. Secretary Duncan reminded mayors gathered at the Capital Hilton Jan. 20 that the Obama administration is seeking to make the economic-stimulus program’s Race to the Top Fund a permanent fixture in the U.S. Department of Education’s budget. That fund will provide up to $4 billion in competitive grants to states to spur education reform efforts. The administration will ask Congress to provide $1.35 billion to extend the program beyond next year. Mr. Duncan told mayors that, under the administration’s proposal, the expanded Race to the Top would be opened to school districts, not just states, and that the mayors should work with their local districts to apply for the new funds. He also reiterated what has become a standard part of his speech on ESEA reauthorization, saying that the administration wants to see “higher standards and higher expectations” from states and districts. Duncan on ESEA Reauthorization ►In an exclusive interview this month with Education Week, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan discusses the future of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. • See more from this interview: http://bit.ly/7mfYQj He said that he wants the new version of the law to be “tight on goals” but looser in terms of how states should achieve them. That line got enthusiastic applause from the audience of local leaders. The education secretary also encouraged mayors to work with their local school districts to go after other competitive grants yet to be allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic-stimulus law passed in February. They include $650 million in Investing in Innovation grants, which are aimed at scaling up promising practices at the local level, and $200 million in new money for the Teacher Incentive Fund, which helps districts create pay-for-performance programs. Role of Incentives This is not the first time that Secretary Duncan has said he envisions an important role for such incentives in the next version of the ESEA law, which was scheduled for reauthorization in 2007. ("Duncan Aims to Make Incentives Key Element of ESEA," Dec. 9, 2009.http://bit.ly/8HfeKw) Many advocates expect that some of the policies states are asked to embrace in Race to the Top—such as a focus on the lowest-performing schools and an emphasis on using student-achievement data to inform personnel and programmatic decisions—will likely be promoted in the Obama administration’s forthcoming ESEA proposal. ("'Race to Top' Viewed as Template for a New ESEA," Jan. 6, 2010.http://bit.ly/5eGU0l) Salvatore J. Panto Jr., the mayor of Easton, Pa., gave Mr. Duncan high marks for the Race to the Top, calling it “an excellent” program. He said his local school district was able to get the superintendent on board with the state’s application for Race to the Top money, but that the teachers’ union, an affliliate of the 3.2 million National Education Association, did not sign onto the state’s plan. He asked Mr. Duncan for his advice on how to get unions to go along with the agenda. The secretary said that, in the applications submitted Jan. 19 for the first round of the Race to the Top grants, 600 state and local unions “signed on the dotted line” in support of their states’ bids, although he said that it had been a problem in some places to get unions on board. But he said there have been encouraging signs that unions are ready to embrace significant change, including a speech last week in which Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, a 1.4 million-member union based in Washington, acknowledged that there need to be changes to due-process protections for teachers who attain tenured status. ("AFT Chief Promises Due-Process Reform," Jan. 20, 2010.http://bit.ly/5Y9419) Mr. Duncan called that speech “an absolute breakthrough” and urged mayors to get a copy. But he repeated what has become his signature tough talk when it comes to teacher quality, saying that unions need to “stop protecting the small percentage of teachers who need to find another profession.” Jerry Abramson, the mayor of Louisville, Ky., asked how the Education Department plans to encourage districts to create racial diversity in their schools. He made reference to a landmark 2007 U.S. Supreme Court case in which his local school district was a defendant, Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education. In its decision, the court barred districts from using race as the primary factor in assigning individual students to schools. ("Louisville District Unveils New Student-Assignment Plan," Feb. 6, 2008.http://bit.ly/7TmG1v) “You can’t put a price” on the value of ensuring that students get a chance to attend school in a diverse environment, Secretary Duncan said. He said the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights had been “to say the very least, underutilized over the last eight years,” an apparent reference to President George W. Bush’s tenure. But he said that department officials, including Russlyn H. Ali, the assistant secretary for civil rights, and Charlie Rose, the department’s general counsel, are now considering next steps on the diversity issue. He wasn’t specific about their plans, though. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Mr. Duncan said. “Stay tuned.” GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE TO HELP COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS + GATEWAY TO COLLEGE EXPANDS WITH $13 MILLION IN GRANTS ►GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE TO HELP COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS by Carla Rivera | LA Times LA Now blog January 22, 2010 | 12:08 pm – California Community Colleges and Southern California Edison have launched a $1-million green jobs initiative to help train financially needy students for jobs that benefit the environment. The gift from the electric utility will provide $2,000 scholarships to students at 10 colleges offering "green" education and job training in six key areas in which workforce demand is expected to grow. Those sectors include solar panel installation, water and waste water management, transportation and alternative fuels, biofuels production and farming, green building and energy efficiency, and environmental compliance, such as air quality and pollution prevention. It is the first time that Edison has aimed grants specifically at expanding job opportunities in eco-friendly technology, said SCE President John R. Fielder. "It seemed to be a good fit with our focus on the environment and renewable energy and providing workers for Edison as well as other companies in the region," Fielder said. "We think we know a bit about the kinds of jobs needed." Recent reports have documented a growing green economy, especially in California, where the number of green companies increased 45% from 1995 to 2008, according to Next 10, a nonprofit group based in Palo Alto, Calif. The Pew Charitable Trusts reported recently that the growth rate of green jobs nationwide was 9.1% from 1998 to 2007, compared with a 3.7% increase for all jobs during the same nine-year period. The Edison initiative will provide $100,000 to each of 10 grant recipients: Cerritos College in Norwalk, Cerro Coso Community College in Ridgecrest, El Camino College in Torrance, Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Long Beach City College, Los Angeles Southwest College, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, Rio Hondo College in Whittier, San Bernardino Valley College and Ventura College. Los Angeles Southwest College is developing a new associate's degree program in environmental science and technology with the first three courses offered this spring, said Alistaire Callender, an instructor who developed the program. "This [grant] is really helpful, especially when we’re starting a new program," Callender said. "And in this economy, students can use every bit of assistance they can get." ►GATEWAY TO COLLEGE EXPANDS WITH $13 MILLION IN GRANTS LA Times LA Now blog January 22, 2010 | 12:01 am – The Gateway to College National Network announced today that it has received $13 million in grants to expand programs that help high school dropouts earn a diploma while also amassing college credits. The grants include $7.28 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, $3.8 million from the Foundation to Promote Open Society and $1 million each from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Kresge Foundation. Gateway to College serves students who are 16 to 21 years old and have dropped out of school or are unlikely to graduate. They study basic reading, writing and math in community and technical colleges and then transition to regular college courses. Students also receive training in study skills, time management and stress reduction. HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT THIS WEEK is slow – but the underlying current is swift. It rained but no schools were flooded – Cal State Long Beach wasn't so lucky. There was the denouement of the Zachariah-and-the-Badge incident - with the former superintendent being the stand-in for poor previous decision making – and the final (?) removal of the unfortunate Matthew Kim - the long-term-substitute for 'bad teachers' – both oversimplifications so gross that even 4LAKids won't go there! The FEDERAL HEALTHCARE REFORM FIASCO isn't our issue any more than it's always been –the lack of healthcare for LAUSD's kids is critical to the education mission.(The BBC political backgrounder [http://bit.ly/6f6ES0] is telling.) The CAMPAIGN FINANCE DECISION is worrisome – especially viewed through the prism of that BBC politics-of-healthcare piece . We've seen corporate power when it was limited ...what happens when big business cranks it up to 11? The Public Schools Choice Resolution community meetings have been unreported on ...I did see The Times at one and EGP at another. In my opinion the plans put forward by the schools themselves have been strong and well received – I sat on the District task force that reviewed Small Learning Communities and these are good well-developed plans. At the Jefferson HS meeting where the Mayor's Partnership's presentation was weak – but their two strongest advocates: Mayor Tony and Marshal Tuck were not there – leading one to believe they will rely on their own meetings without the opposition to debate. The Box Score: HISTORY/LITERATURE/GEOGRAPHY - 0 | CHARTER SCHOOLS - 29: "Take a look at Arne Duncan's speeches. O... http://bit.ly/5AtqFd EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES IN HARD TIMES: see: AT HOME OR IN SCHOOL, CALIFORNIA STUDENTS FACE HARDER TIMES, SURVEY ... http://bit.ly/4ui433 Dumb superintendent tricks: FORMER L.A. SCHOOLS CHIEF FINED IN BADGE INCIDENT: by Jason Song | LATimes/LA Now blog... http://bit.ly/8bF4Kw HISTORIC TIME FOR ‘CHOICE’ IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS + DO THE APPLICANTS HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? - Parents, students and teach... http://bit.ly/4vXmak ‘DESPERATE’ UC STUDENTS SCURRY TO SNAG KEY CLASSES: By Larry Gordon | LA Times LA Now blog | http://bit.ly/8mgdsp ... http://bit.ly/6H4jUp RttT/NCLB v.2.0: OBAMA PUSHES $1.35 BILLION OF EDUCATION PLAN: By Mark Silva | LA Times LA Now blog | http://bit.l... http://bit.ly/5Zt8QI UC TO ESTABLISH WAITING LISTS FOR FRESHMAN APPLICANTS: LA Times/ LA Now blog| http://bit.ly/6RvGIg January 20, 20... http://bit.ly/5NgoqX QUOTE O’ TH’ WEEK: "We've worked hard to get parents more involved in their children's education but how can they help if they don't know there's a problem?” http://bit.ly/4ssmoE AT HOME OR IN SCHOOL, CALIFORNIA STUDENTS FACE HARDER TIMES, SURVEY FINDS + Survey rollout invite: Statewide poll ... http://bit.ly/8pPBrv SAN FERNANDO VALLEY SUN INTERVIEW RE: SAN FERNANDO MS ‘CHOICE’ PROPOSAL PT2 http://bit.ly/6yOPBF | EN ESPAÑOL htt... http://bit.ly/6LQxzo As wet as it gets!: LAUSD[c] MARCHES IN MLKingdom DAY PARADE, WILL RALLY @ JEFFERSON HS WEDNESDAY EVENING: from th... http://bit.ly/6mvn73 UC APPLICATIONS UP; TRANSFER INTEREST ESPECIALLY STRONG: LA Times/LA Now blog smf: Education funding cuts acr... http://bit.ly/4SJIkH OBAMA WANTS 2 EXTEND RttT - asks $1.35 billion in '11 budget for competitive funding for states who don't get '10 RttT http://bit.ly/8mgdsp ON FIRING BAD TEACHERS: Cases such as the one involving the LAUSD's Matthew Kim show the need for change.: LA Time... http://bit.ly/84cV28 AUTISM PARENTS SUE TO RESTORE BUDGET-CUT PROGRAM IN LA - California's Children http://bit.ly/53W9Oy OPINION: SCHWARZENEGGER'S BUDGET DOESN'T REFLECT CALIFORNIA'S PRIORITIES By Darrell Steinberg - Mercury News http://bit.ly/6IbPl1 O'CONNELL's SWAN SONG: State education chief to give final address - ContraCostaTimes.com http://bit.ly/8ipO2G SCHWARZENEGGER BUDGET PROJECTS LESS SPENDING FOR CLASS-SIZE REDUCTION - San Jose Mercury News http://bit.ly/6SjmfR ACA-DECA: IT'S CRUNCH TIME FOR KIDS ON ACADEMIC DECATHLON TEAMS - Call it the bookworm season... LA Daily News http://bit.ly/6TTWgy :LAUSD[C]: by smf for 4LAKids In the past few weeks a number of educators, parents students and community members ... http://bit.ly/8DcCUR EVENTS: Coming up next week... *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-893-6800 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR What can YOU do? • E-mail, call or write your school board member: Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383 Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386 Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180 Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382 Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388 Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385 Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387 ...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600 • Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ • Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school. • Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it! • Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child. • If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE. • If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE. • If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee and the BOC on the Board of Education Facilities Committee. He is an elected repreprentative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

4LAKids: Sunday 17•Jan•2010 MLK Weekend In This Issue: • Testing: COMMUNITY-BASED ASSESSMENT MAKES THE GRADE • DEBUNKING THE CASE FOR NATIONAL STANDARDS • TOP-SCORING CHARTER SCHOOL NAMED FOR UCLA PROFESSOR + smf’s 2¢ • HOW TO DISCUSS THE HAITI DISASTER WITH YOUR STUDENTS • HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources • EVENTS: Coming up next week... • What can YOU do? Featured Links: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website • 4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved! • 4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.’’ - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968 “Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” - MLK ______________ EL DORADO, BEFORE IT WAS A TAIL-FINNED CADILLAC was a fabulous place where – myth has it – a prince or priest of the Amazonian Musica people coated himself in gold, dove into a clear mountain lake and emerged a king. In translation (“The Golden One”) this legend obsessed the Conquistadors – and after them Sir Walter Raleigh (who sought his El Dorado up the Orinoco rather than the Amazon) - and Milton in Paradise Lost and Voltaire in Candide. In Heart of Darkness Conrad (and The Company) sends Marlow up the Congo in search of Kurtz on a boat of the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. Edgar Allan Poe in 1848 – the year California gold fever swept the nation, wrote: Gaily bedight, A gallant knight, In sunshine and in shadow, Had journeyed long, Singing a song, In search of El Dorado. But he grew old- This knight so bold- And o'er his heart a shadow Fell as he found No spot of ground That looked like El Dorado. And, as his strength Failed him at length, He met a pilgrim shadow- "Shadow," said he, "Where can it be- This land of El Dorado?" "Over the Mountains Of the Moon, Down the Valley of the Shadow, Ride, boldly ride," The shade replied- "If you seek for El Dorado!" LAST WEEK, IN A MOMENT OF BIZARRE THAT EVEN HARPER'S WOULD FIND OUTLANDISH, the State Board of Education proved Mark Twain's Maxim of Educational Leadership yet again. [“First God made idiots; that was for practice. Then He made school boards.”] It ruled that charter schools need not follow the Special Education Plan of the school district they serve – or even the County they're in. [State Board of Ed Agenda Item # 32 - http://bit.ly/5CwL78] Charter Schools – never strong at serving Special Ed and Special Needs students - can, the board ruled, shop around for a better deal in Special Ed and services for Students with Disabilities. A better deal for charter schools ...not kids! And for good measure they served it up on a golden platter. WELCOME TO EL DORADO COUNTY on the Eastern slope of the Sierra, Population 172,889. And the El Dorado Charter Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA | definition: http://bit.ly/4RmTG5). And the “Local” in “Local Planning Area”? Everywhere is local to somewhere -- in Beverly Hills the schools are “Locals Only!” This amounts to El Dorado for the folks up there because they get a piece of federal buckos for overseeing and administering all those special ed big city charter school children. And El Dorado for the charter operators because well – how much accountability is there gonna be from or to El Dorado County? And the county seat of Placerville.(formerly Hangtown)? And if the Special Ed parents get their knickers in a twist because Amino Hypothetical Charter School #4 isn't serving their child they can go straight to the El Dorado Charter SELPA Community Advisory Committee up in Placervillle (353 miles from LA) ...and straighten that matter out! There are 118 Local SELPAs in California – and one exception: The El Dorado Statewide “Local” Charter SELPA. Dr. Barber, the El Dorado County Superintendent writes: "On July 9, 2007, the State Board of Education approved a three year pilot for the El Dorado County Charter SELPA. Although we believe it is always preferable for a charter school to participate with their geographic SELPA, we do realize that choice regarding SELPA participation may be of interest to some. On January 7, 2010 the State Board of Education took action to lift our pilot status and approved the continuance of the El Dorado County Charter SELPA." [http://bit.ly/4JBYve] "Although we believe it is always preferable for a charter school to participate with their geographic SELPA......?" C'mon: If Dr. Barber truly believes that it is 'always preferable' (...and she is right!) she shouldn't be the enabler for the contrary because "...it may be of interest to some". This is the Tyranny of the Some; a prime example/easy answer/ half-baked solution. With unintended consequences and children left behind queued up from here to kingdom come. Unless you have a child attending a charter school in El Dorado County (there are a few - though the official list [http://bit.ly/5VWrXk] includes schools in Sacramento, Costa Mesa and Huntington Park) this is about the worst Special Ed policy decision imaginable! They call them Special Education LOCAL Plan Areas for a reason. What part of Local is it that's so hard to understand? Gentle Reader, it's federal funds that underfund Special Ed – and I'm looking forward to some very amusing testimony in a federal courthouse. And I seriously doubt if it will be in Placerville! ¡Onward/Adelante! --smf The story/The spin: STATE BOARD GIVES MORE CONTROL TO CHARTER SCHOOLS FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS by Connie Llanos, Staff Writer | LA Daily News 01/08/2010 | http://bit.ly/7zMbwh Testing: COMMUNITY-BASED ASSESSMENT MAKES THE GRADE by Todd Farley | from the Feb & March issue | www.edutopia.org/ 12/23/2009 – We're fast approaching a point in this country when the promotion or graduation of students will result not from their classroom work or the opinions of the educators who spend each day with them but from their performance on a single standardized test. Because I've spent the last 15 years inside the testing industry -- working for many of the biggest companies on many of the biggest tests -- this trend doesn't seem so smart to me. In fact, I'd say linking federal education funds to regional standardized test scores (as No Child Left Behind does) or teacher pay to student test results (the probable, but unintended, outcome of President Obama's Race to the Top [1] program) are ideas that should be reconsidered. My complaint with large-scale assessment does not lie with the multiple-choice tests, because those are scored electronically. The real trouble begins in the realm of open-ended tests, where students answer questions in their own words and are assessed by fallible human beings. The testing industry wants those subjective student responses to be scored as consistently as multiple-choice tests. To do this, the industry establishes hard-and-fast rules for its short-term "professional scorers" to adhere to. In my experience, these rules -- written for recently hired temporary employees -- ultimately turn the process into a theater of the absurd. I know, because I've sat through the training sessions. Working on a national assessment test in 2005, I helped establish scoring rules for a test question that asked students performing a hands-on science task to describe what happened when they mixed a liquid and a solid. The rubric, written by classroom teachers, said full credit should be awarded to answers showing "complete understanding." But everyone had a different idea of "complete understanding." So the test company tried to specify exactly what that meant. I sat in on a lengthy conference call filled with test developers and science teachers as we tried to hammer out the right and wrong student responses, and I was amazed as those earnest educators considered potential responses. "If we accept 'The liquid bubbled,'" one scientist said, "then I don't see how we can't accept 'It sizzled.'" "But sizzled isn't the same as bubbled," another argued, and soon everyone on the phone was debating whether boiled meant the same as sizzled, fizzled the same as sizzled, fizzed the same as fizzled. When people ask how I would reform standardized testing, I point to models that work on a smaller scale. In the current system, temporary employees must adhere to unyielding rules established to deal with tens of thousands of student responses. A reformed system would have a smaller number of scorers assessing the work of a smaller number of students. This means placing assessment back in the hands of the teacher who can make thoughtful decisions about the students he or she knows. If small-scale assessment sounds like an expensive solution that won't fly in today's economy, consider Washington State's recent achievements. In response to a 2004 ballot initiative, the state rolled out a comprehensive classroom-based-assessment program for social studies, health, and the arts. These CBAs are written and administered on the state level, but student results are assessed by classroom teachers. This makes for a win-win: Administrators and policy makers receive standardized results across the state, and students are spared the obvious downfalls of large-scale test scoring. Organizations like Boston-based FairTest [2] consider programs such as Washington's to be authentic assessments. This is because the CBAs are based on student performances or portfolios they produce over a period of time. In this scenario, assessment no longer rests on the open-ended answers that students recall on one stressful day. It is increasingly important to change the testing industry. Race to the Top is based on national assessment criteria, and that is set to become the new gatekeeper for federal education funding. Absent reform, we are placing life-changing assessments about students in the hands of bored temps who give fleeting glances to students' work. - Todd Farley is the author of Making the Grades: My Misadventures in the Standardized Testing Industry [3]. More on 21st-Century Assessment Share your thoughts on this topic at Edutopia.org's Assessment group. [4] Source URL: http://www.edutopia.org/community-based-assessment-testing-reform Footnote Links: [1] http://www.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html [2] http://www.fairtest.org [3] http://p3books.com/makingthegrades [4] http://www.edutopia.org/groups/assessment/11400 DEBUNKING THE CASE FOR NATIONAL STANDARDS Commentary By Alfie Kohn in EdWeek January 14, 2010 – I keep thinking it can’t get much worse, and then it does. Throughout the 1990s, one state after another adopted prescriptive education standards enforced by frequent standardized testing, often of the high-stakes variety. A top-down, get-tough movement to impose “accountability” began to squeeze the life out of classrooms. A decade ago, many of us thought we had hit bottom—until the floor gave way and we found ourselves in a basement we didn’t know existed. Now every state had to test every student every year in grades 3-8, judging them (and their schools) almost exclusively by test scores and hurting the schools that needed the most help. Ludicrously unrealistic proficiency targets suggested that the federal law responsible was intended to sabotage rather than improve public education. Today, we survey the wreckage. Talented teachers have abandoned the profession after having been turned into glorified test-prep technicians. Low-income teenagers have been forced out of school by do-or-die graduation exams. Countless inventive learning activities have been eliminated in favor of prefabricated lessons pegged to state standards. And now we’re informed that what we really need … is to standardize this whole operation from coast to coast. Have we lost our minds? Because we’re certainly in the process of losing our children’s minds. Let’s be clear about this latest initiative, which is being spearheaded by politicians, corporate CEOs, and companies that produce standardized tests. First, what they’re trying to sell us are national standards. They carefully point out that the effort isn’t driven by the federal government. But if all, or nearly all, states end up adopting identical mandates, that distinction doesn’t amount to much. Second, these standards will inevitably be accompanied by a national standardized test. “Standards alone,” warns Dane Linn, a key player, “will not drive teaching and learning”—meaning, of course, the specific type of teaching and learning that the authorities require. Even if we took the advice of the late Harold Howe II, a former U.S. commissioner of education, and made the standards “as vague as possible,” a national test creates a de facto national curriculum, particularly if high stakes are attached. Third, a relatively small group of experts—far from classrooms—will be designing standards, test questions, and curricula for the rest of us. Incredibly, the official Web site of the Common Core State Standards Initiative insists that these will be “based on evidence” rather than reflecting anyone’s “individual beliefs about what is important.” But evidence can tell us only whether a certain method is effective for reaching a certain objective—for example, how instruction aligned to this standard will affect a score on that test. The selection of the goal itself—what our children will be taught and tested on—unavoidably reflects values and beliefs. Should those of a single group of individuals determine what happens in every public school in the country? Advocates of national standards say they want all (American) students to attain excellence, no matter where they happen to live. The problem is that excellence is being confused with entirely different attributes, such as uniformity, rigor, specificity, and victory. Let’s consider each in turn. Are all kids entitled to a great education? Of course. But that doesn’t mean all kids should get the same education. High standards don’t require common standards. Uniformity is not the same thing as excellence—or equity. (In fact, one-size-fits-all demands may offer the illusion of fairness, setting back the cause of genuine equity.) To recognize these simple truths is to watch the rationale for national standards collapse into a heap of intellectual rubble. "Uniformity is not the same thing as excellence—or equity." I know of no evidence that students in countries as diverse as ours with national standards or curricula engage in unusually deep thinking or are particularly excited about learning. Even standardized-test results, such as those of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, provide no support. On 8th grade math and science exams, eight of the 10 top-scoring countries had centralized education systems, but so did nine of the 10 lowest-scoring countries in math and eight of the 10 lowest-scoring countries in science. So if students don’t benefit from uniformity, who does? Presumably, corporations that sell curriculum materials and tests will enjoy lower costs. And then there are the policymakers who confuse doing well with beating others. If you’re determined to evaluate students or schools in relative terms, it helps if they’re all doing the same thing. But why would we want to turn learning into a competitive sport? It’s not only that national standards are unnecessary, they’re also based on the premise that “our teachers cannot be trusted to make decisions about which curriculum is best for their schools,” as the University of Chicago’s Zalman Usiskin put it. Moreover, uniformity doesn’t just happen—and continue—on its own. Someone has to make everyone apply the same standards. What happens, then, to educators who disagree with some of them or with, say, the premise that teaching must be split into separate disciplines? What are the implications of accepting a system characterized by what Deborah Meier has called “centralized power over ideas”? I’ve written elsewhere about another error: equating harder with better and making a fetish of “rigorous” demands or tests whose primary virtue (if it’s a virtue at all) is that they’re really difficult. Read just about any brief for national standards and you’ll witness this confusion in full bloom. A key selling point is that we’re “raising the bar”—even though, as Voltaire reminded us, “That which is merely difficult gives no pleasure in the end.” Nor does it enhance learning. Then, too, there is a conflation of quality with specificity. If children—and communities—are different from one another, the only safe way to apply one standard to all of them is to operate at a high level of abstraction: “We will help all students to communicate effectively,” for example. (Hence Harold Howe’s enduring wisdom about the need to keep things vague.) The more specific the standard, the more problematic to impose it on everyone. Pretty soon you’re gratuitously defining some children as failures, particularly if standards are broken down by grade level. The reasonable-sounding adjectives employed to defend an agenda of specificity—“focused,” “coherent,” “precise,” “clear”—ought to make us nervous. If standards comprise narrowly defined facts and skills, then education consists of transmitting vast quantities of material to students, material that even the most successful may not remember, care about, or be able to use. This is exactly what most state standards have already become, and it’s where national standards are heading (even if, in theory, they could be otherwise). Specificity is what business groups and newspaper editorialists want. It’s demanded by theorists who think being well educated mostly means knowing lots of facts. It’s been a major criterion by which Education Week and conservative think tanks like the Thomas B. Fordham Institute evaluate standards documents. In any case, Achieve Inc. and the governors probably won’t need much convincing; they’ll give us specific in spades. Finally, what’s the purpose of demanding that every kid in every school in every state must be able to do the same thing in the same year, with teachers pressured to “align” their instruction to a master curriculum and a standardized test? "A prescription for uniform, specific, rigorous standards is made to order for those whose chief concern is to pump up the American economy." I once imagined a drinking game in which a few of those education reform papers from corporate groups and politicians were read aloud: You take a shot every time you hear “rigorous,” “measurable,” “accountable,” “competitive,” “world-class,” “high(er) expectations,” or “raising the bar.” Within a few minutes, everyone would be so inebriated that they’d no longer be able to recall a time when discussions about schooling weren’t studded with these macho managerial buzzwords. But not all jargon is meaningless. This language has very real implications for what classrooms will look like and what education is (and isn’t) all about. The goal here isn’t to nourish children’s curiosity, to help them fall in love with reading, to promote both the ability and the disposition to think critically, or to support a democratic society. Rather, a prescription for uniform, specific, rigorous standards is made to order for those whose chief concern is to pump up the American economy and triumph over people who live in other countries. If you read the FAQs page on the common-core-standards Web site, don’t bother looking for words like “exploration,” “intrinsic motivation,” “developmentally appropriate,” or “democracy.” Instead, the very first sentence contains the phrase “success in the global economy,” followed immediately by “America’s competitive edge.” If these standards are more economic than educational in their inspiration, more about winning than learning, devoted more to serving the interests of business than to meeting the needs of kids, then we’ve merely painted a 21st-century facade on a hoary, dreary model of school-as-employee-training. Anyone who recoils from that vision should strenuously resist a proposal for national standards that embodies it. Yes, we want excellent teaching and learning for all—although our emphasis should be less on achievement (read: test scores) than on students’ achievements. Offered a list of standards, we should scrutinize each one, but also ask who came up with them and for what purpose. Is there room for discussion and disagreement—and not just by experts—regarding what, and how, we’re teaching and how authentic our criteria are for judging success? Or is this a matter of “obey or else,” with tests to enforce compliance? The standards movement, sad to say, morphed long ago into a push for standardization. The last thing we need is more of the same. - Alfie Kohn's 11 books about education and human behavior include The Schools Our Children Deserve, The Homework Myth, and What to Look for in a Classroom. He lives (actually) in the Boston area and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org TOP-SCORING CHARTER SCHOOL NAMED FOR UCLA PROFESSOR + smf’s 2¢ by Howard Blume | LA Times L.A. NOW Blog January 14, 2010 | 6:51 pm A four-year-old high school that became a 2009 California Distinguished School was formally named today for a respected expert on education and business management and his civic activist spouse. The new William and Carol Ouchi High School is in its first school year in its new, $17-million Hyde Park-area campus, which was built in 56 days, officials said. The simple, two-story structure has two computer labs and updated technology hookups, but no cafeteria, no gym and limited recreation space on its 2.5-acre site, which includes an adjacent middle school. The school’s test scores dipped slightly this year but its Academic Performance Index score of 799 ranks it among the best-scoring high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The school is operated by the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, a locally based charter school management organization that also operates other high-scoring schools. About 100 of the school’s original 189 ninth-graders will be in the school’s first graduating class this year, said Principal Ena LaVan. All graduates must fulfill entrance requirements to apply for the University of California/Cal State system. And the first class had to endure a temporary location and a stint in trailers while awaiting the completion of the campus. Charters are independently run and free of some restrictions that govern traditional schools, including strict state school-construction rules that drive up construction costs and slow down the building process for schools built by L.A. Unified. Charters instead can erect their schools under city building codes. As a fundraising tool, the Alliance sells naming rights for its schools, and in this instance, Ouchi was nominated by former Mayor Richard Riordan, an education philanthropist and political power broker who has long relied on Ouchi, a UCLA professor, for expert guidance. Riordan has donated or committed a total of $2.8 million to Alliance schools. Ouchi has long promoted a form of school decentralization. He says principals — not a school district central office — should make decisions on how to spend a school’s money and then be held accountable for the results. In his most recent book, “The Secret of TSL,” he chronicled how principals, especially in New York City, have used autonomy to reduce the total number of students that each teacher must manage in a year. He says this allows teachers to get to know and to better assist each student. Principals have accordingly reduced support and administrative staff to pursue this strategy — because it yields results, Ouchi wrote. At his namesake school, Ouchi helped establish a Saturday business academy offering tutoring and enrichment classes to introduce students to potential careers. Carol Ouchi has served on the boards of philanthropic organizations including the Santa Monica YWCA, Santa Monica College Foundation and Children’s Home Society. ________________ ●●smf’s 2¢: The story above is reprinted entire as it appeared in the Times blog – in the print edition the Times editors removed all reference to the school being a charter school. As it is the poster child for successful charters one would almost think anti-charter forces were at work in the newsroom. Almost. Ouchi is an educator – but his expertise is in business, not in education. And in politics – he was Mayor Riordan’s chief of staff. Ouchi’s book: "Making Schools Work" - championed the concept of local control – empowering principals to run their own schools at the expense of central district control. He proposed this at the time when centralist Roy Romer was LAUSD superintendent – and UTLA has a hard time empowering principals to do anything except take notes at faculty meetings. 4LAKids supports much of Ouchi’s message – but as a business school scholar and a retired businessperson I question how far business school business practices go in public education. Balancing the checkbook would be good, but in K-12 education Return on Investment is measured a generation later, not in a quarterly report. And today’s LAUSD principal; has not been prepared to run their school – especially in a world where entrepreneurship collides with governance by the pink memo from downtown. Today’s pink memo seems to say: “You will be independent and that’s an order.” Ouchi’s original message wasn’t in advocacy of charters, but the charter community has embraced it and made it their own. TIMING IS EVERTHING This announcement is trobling against the backdrop of the Haiti Earthquake. One must remember that charter schools built with private funds – such as the Ouchi School – “Built in 56 days!” - are not subject to the same stringent building codes and earthquake standards (“The Field Act”) as publicly funded/publicly owned schools; charters only conform to local building codes. Haitian schools and Sichuan schools conformed to local building codes. The California charter law permits this …but how many parents with their children in charter schools are aware of this? And how will they feel after The Big One? HOW TO DISCUSS THE HAITI DISASTER WITH YOUR STUDENTS By Elena Aguilar, Teacher | from the Edutopia blog | http://bit.ly/8EjN9f 1/14/2010 – The unthinkable happened in Haiti on January 12, when a massive earthquake destroyed the nation's capital city and killed tens of thousands of people. The magnitude of the devastation is still unknown, but the stories and images coming out of Port-au-Prince are haunting. There is no doubt that life in Haiti -- already the poorest country in the hemisphere -- has just become much, much more difficult. All day long, as I heard the news and read reports coming from the island, I was overwhelmed by my feelings of wanting to do something, and by the frustration of not feeling like there is anything I can do. It doesn't feel like it's enough to donate money to relief organizations (although it's definitely needed). TEACHABLE MOMENTS Today, I really missed being in the classroom. When I was teaching and a catastrophic event happened, I felt like I could do something: I could support kids in how to think about a tragedy like this one, I could cultivate empathy in children, I could help them analyze media coverage, or I could provide them with history to understand the situation. If I was in the classroom right now, I think I'd also take the opportunity to teach kids something about Haiti: play Haitian music, read a folktale, learn some geography -- and for older students, I'd teach them something about Haiti's amazing history. For those who don't know, Haiti was the first independent nation in Latin America, the only nation whose independence was gained as part of a successful slave rebellion, and the first postcolonial independent, black-led nation in the world. I'd expand students' knowledge of the country and its people so that their impressions of Haiti are not only one of tragedy. I was teaching when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans. I helped students organize a drive to collect donations for schools. I designed a number of lessons on critically analyzing the media coverage. I also pushed students to explore the concept of a natural disaster. I thought about this today. The earthquake in Haiti is not a natural disaster; the disaster is the result of underdevelopment, poverty, and a complex series of political and economic decisions made by first world powers over the last 200 years. The earthquake has exposed Haiti's desperate poverty; it is underdevelopment that is a disaster. If I was teaching kids right now, I'd find some way to communicate this fact to them. It feels urgent. It makes what has happened in Haiti something that the world is responsible for -- particularly the United States and France, Haiti's former colonizers. But you'd have to understand something about Haiti's history in order to understand why I'm saying that. SERVICE AND SOLIDARITY I'd help students think about what they could do to help others -- what they can do right now to help Haitians, and what they might do one day to help others. I'm really big on the idea that everyone should contribute to the world, and I find that children are easily engaged with this notion. They want to be of service to people, or animals, or the environment. In my experience, kids really want opportunities to volunteer and help. Perhaps in learning about the desperate need in Haiti right now for doctors or nurses, or for sniffer dogs or people who speak French or Creole, a child might be inspired to pursue a career that one day could lead them into a tragedy like this one to help others. And so I'd use this situation to push this idea: We all belong to the same planet and have a responsibility to help each other. What can you do? What will you do? I think I'd also push the idea of solidarity, a concept we should reclaim and resurrect: What can a group of kindergartners do in solidarity with the people of Haiti? What does it mean to be in solidarity with a group of people? What are the many ways we can show our solidarity? It's really about building empathy, opening our hearts, and expanding our notion of who belongs in our community. As an educator, I often feel like this is my primary charge -- all I really aspire to do. Readers, please share: How have you addressed catastrophes like the earthquake in Haiti in the classroom? What have you done or what might you do with students in response to the earthquake? What are the opportunities for teaching that can come out of this tragedy? Please contribute your thoughts and ideas. _____________________ - ELENA AGUILAR has taught in Oakland, California, since 1995. She was a founding member of ASCEND, a small autonomous school in the Oakland Unified School District, which opened in 2001. At ASCEND, she taught history and language arts to children in grades 6-8 using project learning. Aguilar has also taught at the elementary school and high school levels. She is a lecturer in San Francisco State University's Department of Elementary Education and an instructional coach in one of Oakland's middle schools. She works closely with BayCES, the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools, to dramatically improve educational experiences, outcomes, and life options for students and families who have been historically underserved by their schools and districts. HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources Letters to the Times: CHARTER SCHOOLS, BEVERLY HILLS ‘LOCALS ONLY’ SCHOOLS: LA Times Letters to the Editor 1/16 C... http://bit.ly/7J5MjO LAUSD RECALLS 3 HIGHLY REGARDED CAMS TEACHERS IN BUDGET MOVE: By Melissa Pamer Staff Writer | Daily Breeze 01/15/... http://bit.ly/7KJh8x BIDDERS FOR LAUSD SCHOOLS BEGIN PRESENTING PLANS TO PARENTS TODAY: meeting schedule: http://bit.ly/5NrxqK Howard... http://bit.ly/4BhkbJ JAN 15: MLK’s ‘REAL’ BIRTHDAY — “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think criti... http://bit.ly/4K01GV THE FUTURE (OF ARTS EDUCATION) BELONGS TO US? Sign the Petition! | http://bit.ly/arts_petition: LA WEEKLY ARTS NEW... http://bit.ly/7NGeVq Friday, January 15, 2010 7:02 AM BERKELEY CHARTER SCHOOL PRAISED AND DENOUNCED AT HEARING: By Doug Oakley - Berkeley Voice 01/14/2010 04:56:24 PM ... http://bit.ly/7f4HVH SCHEDULE FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE APPLICANT PRESENTATION MEETINGS FOR PARENTS AND THE COMMUNITY: check District We... http://bit.ly/5NrxqK ONLY TWO APPLICATIONS RECEIVED TO OPERATE AND IMPROVE SAN FERNANDO MIDDLE SCHOOL: Written by Diana Martinez, Edito... http://bit.ly/6gGVVj Daily News: BANNINGS COACH FERRAGAMO STEPS DOWN, STRICTER RULES FOR CHARTERS, PSC APPLICATIONS IN: Banning's Ferr... http://bit.ly/57B8Jz Fiscal malfeasance?: L.A. SCHOOLS PAID $200 MILLION MORE IN SALARIES THAN BUDGETED: By Howard Blume | LA Times | h... http://bit.ly/4w1uWd TEACHER EVALUATIONS, UC BERKELEY RANKS HIGH IN MINORITY ENROLLMENT, CHARTER ACCOUNTABLITY IN LAUSD: from L.A. Time... http://bit.ly/8P2pmq LAUSD RECEIVES APPLICATIONS TO OPERATE AND IMPROVE SCHOOLS :Superintendent Ramon Cortines Encouraged by Continued ... http://bit.ly/5PLx2V SCHOOL BUILT ON SITE WHERE RFK SHOT NAMED FOR HIM: By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS From the NY TIMES 12 Jan - 9:23 p.... http://bit.ly/6ExeWz LAO: SCHWARZENEGGER’S ASSUMPTIONS FOR FEDERAL AID UNREALISTIC: It is "unclear" whether the governor has complied w... http://bit.ly/7vcueg ED WEEK REPORT CARD IGNORES FAMILY DATA + CA LAWMAKERS APPROVE GAS & OIL TAX FOR EDUCATION + …POT TOO!: States' re... http://bit.ly/7Rt9fe MOST ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICTS SAY NO TO OBAMA EDUCATION REFORMS: By SCOTT MARTINDALE and FERMIN LEAL | O.C. Registe... http://bit.ly/64oqx8 NYT: AS SCHOOL EXIT TEST PROVE TOUGH, STATES EASE STANDARDS: By IAN URBINA | New York Times | http://bit.ly/7959Kq... http://bit.ly/6Sms7u EVENTS: Coming up next week... • PUBLIC SCHOOL CHOICE: BIDDERS TO TAKE OVER LAUSD SCHOOLS ARE PRESENTING PLANS TO COMMUNITIES OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS - A SCHOOL NEAR YOU YOU IS "UP FOR GRABS"! meeting schedule: http://bit.ly/5NrxqK *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-893-6800 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR What can YOU do? • E-mail, call or write your school board member: Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383 Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386 Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180 Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382 Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388 Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385 Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387 ...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600 • Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ • Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school. • Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it! • Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child. • If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE. • If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE. • If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee and the BOC on the Board of Education Facilities Committee. He is an elected repreprentative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

Deus ex Obama.

4LAKids: Sunday 01.10.01 Binary Day In This Issue: • Op-Ed #1: BETTER TEACHERS, THE UNION WAY. United Teachers Los Angeles leaders offer ways to improve teachers and the education system. • Op-Ed #2: REVOLUTION IN U.S. EDUCATION IS IN LAUSD SAYS VOUCHER ADVOCATE • The ‘Houston Miracle’ + Rod Paige revisited: EDUCATION CHIEF ARNE DUNCAN’S LEGACY AS CHICAGO SCHOOLS CHIEF QUESTIONED • Themes in the News: PARENTS TO JOIN "RACE TO THE TOP"...but Who and How Many Will Participate? And Will it Matter? • HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources • EVENTS: Coming up next week... • What can YOU do? Featured Links: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website • 4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved! • 4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. Desperately listening to Governor Schwarzenegger's State of the State Address [http://bit.ly/4UJxNj] for some good news among the humorous anecdotes about the pony and the pig, I heard the Governator say: “But I am drawing this line. Because our future economic well-being is so dependent upon education, I will protect education funding in this budget. (Applause) “ That sounds like a line in the sand: “Read my lips: No Cuts to Education”. But the tide came in and went out four times and washed away that line between the State of the State on Wednesday and the unveiling of Arnold's actual budget plan on Friday. Here's what The Times had to say about that: “Under the governor's plan, state funding formulas would be changed to reduce payments to schools and community colleges by $2.4 billion. The proposed cuts come after school spending has already been rolled back considerably and many districts have been forced to impose layoffs, eliminate programs and increase class sizes. “Schools would be given the option of reducing the academic year by up to five days to absorb the effect of the cuts. Specific programs targeted for cuts include class-size reduction.” [http://bit.ly/52TmAQ] One feels something deep inside … and it isn't warm+fuzzy. If you're the dog, the pony and the pig eating your food isn't amusing – it's tragedy. How one aligns the speech with the proposed budget cuts eludes me. But the man's an movie actor, he enters the light, stands on his mark and delivers the line on the page of the script he's been handed. Suspension of disbelief is the audience's job. In the entertainment biz there's the Script, the Shooting Script and the As-Produced Script. The FIRST used to finance the project and attract the talent. It's meant to sell the deal. The State o' th' State speech. The SECOND is based on the reality of the budget and the actual world of the production schedule and the whims of the director and producers. Not enough money for that scene? Can't find that location? Every change to every scene or scrap of dialog is printed on a different colored page – blue pages replace white; yellow: blue. The spectrum of revision goes on through pink and canary and goldenrod to lilac. The governor's proposed budget is the blue pages of the bright vision of the State o' th' State ...soon everyone will put-in and take-out their 2¢ worth. The THIRD is what comes out at the end, where a stenographer – not a writer – writes down the dialog and screen direction from the final movie as it was made. In our metaphor this is not the budget as produced in Sacramento but the the final movie as in plays on the screen of life. And our hopeful little comedy about the miniature pony and the pot-bellied pig becomes Animal Farm as produced by Wes Craven. Other telling quotes from the speech: “For too many years, too many children were trapped in low-performing schools. The exit doors may as well have been chained. Now, for the first time, parents -- without the principal's permission -- have the right to free their children from these destructive schools. That is great freedom.” [smf: “Freedom”, Kris Kristofferson tells us,“...is just another word for nothing left to lose”.] “Also in the past, parents had no power to bring about change in their children's schools but that will now change too. Parents will now have the means to get rid of incompetent principals and take other necessary steps to improve their children's education.” Principals seem to be the boogieman & boogiewomen du jour in Arnold's Ed Reform; what's with that? For the last month in LA we've heard how unqualified new teachers are the problem when it's really incompetent principals? OMG, who to believe? The teacher's unions (CTA and CFT) have a lot of political clout in Sacramento, the principal's union (ACSA) not so much. Am I being cynical ...or is Arnie? CYNICISM 2.0 : Also as part of his budget proposal Schwarzenegger called for other criteria besides seniority [aka: tenure] in teacher dismissals and advocated reducing power of the state oversight panel that can overturn decisions. [LA Times:Governor seeks to ease rules on firing weak teachers http://bit.ly/5r5WVt] C'mon ….removing weak, bad or incompetent teachers, principals or politicians and replacing them with good ones is a good idea ... but it is NOT a cost saving one! CYNICISM 2.1: In a radio interview [KPCC: “LAUSD chief applauds governor's proposed $50 billion for education” http://bit.ly/7tqLqQ] Superintendent Cortines praised Gov. Schwarzenegger for vowing to commit $50 billion in funding for education in the state budget proposal unveiled Friday. . $50 Billion is not enough to educate California's schoolchildren! The Prop 98 guarantee is a minimum level of funding ('A floor, not a ceiling!') and the superintendent is praising the governor for NOT violating the constitution? No mention is made of repaying the money previously taken, borrowed or stolen from the guarantee ...or the breaking of Wednesday's line in the sand promise with $1.5 – 2.4 billion in proposed cuts on Friday. Thank you for not kicking us after you took our lunch money and beat us up. CYNICISM 3.0+: By pretending to hold the line on Education the governor commits to slashing social programs – including children's health insurance. He calls for the California congressional delegation to oppose federal Health Insurance Reform. THE SMOKE+MIRRORS: All of Schwarzenegger's budget projections rely upon the federal government riding in to the rescue with an infusion of billions in as yet un-earmarked-and-undreamt-of stimulus or bailout dollars. Chrysler and GM and AIG and the Banks got loans;; California wants a handout. The Deus ex Obama scenario. Nobody in the governor's political party – or from the other party – sees much hope for this. But hope is audacious. And remains eternal. And floats. ¡Onward/Adelante! -smf ________________ ●● HORSES WITH FEATHERS: a response to email to 4LAKids A longtime 4LAKids reader – a retired teacher/administrator/union leader (once an educator/always an educator!) - writes, apropos of last week's “Cheerio” rant [http://bit.ly/7K282r] - about NCLB/Race2theTop/Public School Choice (all horses of the same feather) - and the previous one “Y2K+10” [http://bit.ly/4GG9Ys] and the Grab4theMoney rush to deregulate Public Education: “Good analysis of the trend in education in the first decade of the new millennium. We have a new breed of politician/educators or politicators. We used to have the Deweys and Hunters of the world who were actually looking at how children learned....now we have the Cortines and Mitchells of the world who are looking for ways to placate their political benefactors. You are correct.....actual student learning is not discussed or considered.....that is too much like pragmatic work.” 4LAKids wrote previously about the penchant for US Secretaries of Education and the presidents they serve to look wistfully upon their previous employment as Civic Miracles/Paradigms of Wonderfulness. [IOUs ON IOUs 12July09 http://bit.ly/A7Yax] That penchant and those paradigms are further developed in a series of articles in the Washington Post here. http://bit.ly/92k8J7 [synopsized following in The Houston Miracle, etc.] __________ ●● 4LAKids is still agonizing over publishing only abridged teasers to stories – along with links to “the rest of the story”. (Lemme know if this makes you crazy!) I do this in support of reporters and writers – and by extension, their employers, the publishers. The copyright law 'fair-use-doctrine' permits further distribution of copyrighted material for non-profit education and information sharing ...but publishers are entitled to some click-thru revenues – and reader exposure to their advertisers messages. (If you note many charter school organizations and supporters are advertisers on newspaper's Ed webpages – consider this in your consideration!) FOLLOWING ARE TWO OP-ED'S FROM TWO POLAR OPPOSITE POINTS OF VIEW ...and some might say similarly pointed-headed! I republish both in their entirely. Op-Ed content is uncompensated – and in fairness, 4LAKids shouldn't be editorially limiting it beyond the usual attaboy or cheap-shot criticism. One cannot miss that both sides are wrapping themselves in parent empowerment – though the charter/voucher advocate's wrapping his argument in the United Nations Charter of Universal Human Rights stretches rhetorical credibility! - smf Op-Ed #1: BETTER TEACHERS, THE UNION WAY. United Teachers Los Angeles leaders offer ways to improve teachers and the education system. LA Times Opinion by A.J. Duffy, Julie Washington and Gregg Solkovits January 8, 2010 -- Great teachers aren't born -- they evolve. They must have certain things starting out, of course: a passion for knowledge and a love of working with children, to cite two. But it then takes years of study and practice to master the art of teaching. The recent focus on evaluations as the overriding problem with teacher quality ignores the arc of an educator's career. Yes, honest feedback and assessment is crucial. But if we truly want to have an impact on teaching and learning, more effective evaluations alone aren't enough. Teachers need better training programs, better professional development and additional peer support. As teachers, we want to see our profession strengthened. But that won't happen simply through punitive measures. HERE IS OUR FRAMEWORK FOR POSITIVE CHANGE: ● OVERHAUL THE WAY WE EVALUATE TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS: Most teachers agree that the evaluation system needs to be fixed. Far too often, evaluations are carried out almost as afterthoughts by overloaded administrators who have received little training in assessing a teacher's performance. We would like to work with the school district to improve teacher evaluations so they can be used to identify areas of strength and weakness, but the process must include a plan to provide the support and resources an educator may need in order to improve. The school district makes a large investment in a new teacher, and it would be counterproductive to simply cast him or her aside without first giving him or her help to become a more effective educator. As officers for the teachers union, we will protect our members' professional rights. That said, no one supports keeping someone in the classroom who clearly isn't making the grade. Evaluations should also be a two-way street, with teachers involved in evaluating the administrators they work with every day. ● HAVE TOP-NOTCH TEACHERS HELP THEIR COLLEAGUES: In 1999, United Teachers Los Angeles was instrumental in passing a state law to bring peer assistance and review to school districts statewide. The Los Angeles Unified School District program, a collaborative effort with the union, provides both new teachers and struggling veterans with ongoing peer coaching from trained consulting teachers. Teachers who receive a below-standard evaluation are automatically referred to the program. So far, nearly 850 teachers have been referred to the program, and more than two-thirds of them have successfully improved their practice or decided to leave the profession. Many more could be helped if the program received more funding. We also need to reinstate the highly effective mentor teaching program (a victim of budget cuts) and tap into the wealth of national board certified teachers in the LAUSD. More than 1,000 in number, these educators have met rigorous national standards for teaching, and their expertise should be put to work helping struggling teachers. ● OFFER PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT THROUGHOUT A TEACHER'S CAREER: The best teachers are lifelong learners, and they need a system that sustains that. Every school should have effective, teacher-driven professional development and common planning periods for collaboration and sharing of best practices. UTLA helps by providing year-round professional development at our headquarters and supporting lesson study, in which teachers work together to design and field-test lesson plans for maximum effectiveness. In LAUSD, lesson study has been incorporated into the intern training program, where it has helped shape more than 15,000 educators, and is being used intensively with staff at five overcrowded inner-city schools. ● OFFER INCENTIVES TO KEEP ACCOMPLISHED TEACHERS IN THE CLASSROOM: Too many teachers move to administration or out-of-classroom positions simply to earn higher pay or avoid classroom pressures. California has among the highest student learning standards in the country, but the state continues to rank almost dead last in per-pupil funding. As part of an overall increased investment in our schools, we must raise teacher salaries and lower class sizes to match the higher demands of the profession. We should also look at pay initiatives that are working, such as the salary increase for educators who earn national board certification. That incentive has kept countless exceptional teachers in the classroom. ● REVAMP TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMS AT COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: Teacher certification programs need to concentrate on the skills teachers need the minute they step into their own classrooms. When we talk to new teachers, they give us similar feedback about what they felt was missing in their training: They want more classes in student discipline. They want to know how to talk with parents about their child's performance. They need help planning lessons that take into account the different ability levels of their students. Above all, they wish they had had more on-the-job experience in real-world classrooms similar to the ones in which they ended up teaching. ● GIVE TEACHERS A SAY IN HIRING THEIR COLLEAGUES: A fourth-grade teacher pays the price if a teacher in grade three is not doing the job. At some schools in LAUSD, teachers routinely interview teacher candidates. This should be expanded to all schools. Given the opportunity, teachers will choose to work with the best colleagues. All of the above will take resources, commitment and follow-through on many levels. We can't ignore that the task will be made much more difficult by the chronic underfunding of public education and the severe budget cuts, which threaten to cut the heart out of our schools and our communities. The most ineffective thing we can do to improve teacher quality is a tweak here and a tweak there. If we use this moment as the chance to look at the big picture and make systemwide changes, we will be helping not only those students who are in our classrooms now, but generations of students to come. ● A.J. Duffy is president of United Teachers Los Angeles. Julie Washington and Gregg Solkovits are both vice presidents in the union. Op-Ed #2: REVOLUTION IN U.S. EDUCATION IS IN LAUSD SAYS VOUCHER ADVOCATE by Alan Bonsteel | OpEd in the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday, January 10, 2010 - The greatest revolution in education in the United States today is taking place in Los Angeles. It is the mandate of the Los Angeles Unified School District School Board to convert almost a third of its schools either to charter schools, the public schools of choice that are the one shining light in an otherwise dysfunctional system, or other alternatives such as magnet schools. The change is not only a mighty one for the state's largest school district, but in time it could double the number of public schools of choice in California. What is remarkable is not just the magnitude of this earth-shaking change, but the complete shift of the paradigm about how we think about public education. The driving force behind this revolution is Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who is not only a Democrat but also a former organizer for the United Teachers of Los Angeles, Los Angeles teachers' union. Villaraigosa took his nontraditional stand because, as he noted, LAUSD was racked with violence and plagued with a dropout rate of 50 percent, and showed no signs of improving. Even more astounding: With the doors open to making bids to the school board to launch pioneering schools, groups of public school teachers and the teachers' unions themselves are submitting proposals. "This is the power that teachers have always been asking for, the authority to choose what is happening in our schools," Monterey Park English teacher Patricia Jauregui told the Los Angeles Times. She added, "With power comes responsibility. We are accountable for the results, and I don't mind that." In his 1978 book, "Education by Choice," John Coons, UC Berkeley School of Law professor and father of the American charter school movement, predicted that one day public school teachers would see the benefit of teaching in schools in which they had professional autonomy, and in which every child wanted to be there and valued what that school had to offer. It has taken 32 years for that prediction to come to pass. California public schools, once the envy of the nation, have students performing on some tests of reading skills barely above Mississippi students. Our once-vaunted high technology sector must import engineers from Asia. And our state budget has been busted in large part because of a bulging prison system, with more than 85 percent of the convicts high school dropouts. At the state level too, school choice has become a far more bipartisan issue than could have been imagined even a year ago. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and his colleague Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, teamed up to get legislation passed that mandates more complete reporting of dropout rates. Four of the candidates for governor of California, Republicans and Democrats both, are charter school advocates. This is public education's fall of the Berlin Wall. The old model of the compulsory, one-size-fits-all, factory-style public school is being tossed on the scrap heap of history, to be replaced by upholding the U.N. Charter of Universal Human Rights, which guarantees the right of parents to direct the education of their children. Someday soon, all of our children will be enrolled in schools that their families have freely chosen and that give them the sense of community, even of family, that will keep them in school and get them safely to graduation day. ● Alan Bonsteel, M.D., is president of California Parents for Educational Choice, www.cpeconline.org. ●● Connect the Dots - Choice to Charters to Vouchers to Deregulation to Privatization of public schools: California Parents for Educational Choice (CPEC) has its roots in the 1993 campaign for Proposition 174, the School Voucher Initiative. The ‘Houston Miracle’ + Rod Paige revisited: EDUCATION CHIEF ARNE DUNCAN’S LEGACY AS CHICAGO SCHOOLS CHIEF QUESTIONED by Nick Anderson |Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, December 29, 2009; -- CHICAGO -- Soon after Arne Duncan left his job as schools chief here to become one of the most powerful U.S. education secretaries ever, his former students sat for federal achievement tests. This month, the mathematics report card was delivered: Chicago trailed several cities in performance and progress made over six years. _____________________________ ►smf: One of the cities it trailed was LA and LAUSD: Read full article with additional links and a chart with the NAEP results at:http://bit.ly/92k8J7 _____________________________ Miami, Houston and New York had higher scores than Chicago on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Boston, San Diego and Atlanta had bigger gains. Even fourth-graders in the much-maligned D.C. schools improved nearly twice as much since 2003. The federal readout is just one measure of Duncan's record as chief executive of the nation's third-largest system. Others show advances on various fronts. But the new math scores signal that Chicago is nowhere near the head of the pack in urban school improvement, even though Duncan often cites the successes of his tenure as he crusades to fix public education. "Chicago is not the story of an education miracle," said Chester E. Finn Jr. of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an education think tank in Washington. "It is, however, the story of a large urban system that has made some gains and has made some promising structural changes." For more than seven years, starting in 2001, Duncan tried to rejuvenate his city's struggling schools: jettisoning staff, hiring turnaround specialists, shutting down those deemed beyond hope. He pushed a back-to-basics curriculum, spawned dozens of charter schools and experimented with performance pay. State and federal test scores and graduation rates rose on his watch, and Chicago became a laboratory for innovation. As a result, the reputation of its schools has improved markedly since 1987, when an earlier education secretary, William Bennett, called them the worst in the country. 'FOCUSED ON OUTCOMES' Yet questions have arisen this year about the magnitude of Duncan's accomplishments. The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, which represents business, professional, education and cultural leaders, concluded in June that gains on state test scores were inflated when Illinois relaxed passing standards and that too many students still drop out of high school or graduate unprepared for college. The Consortium on Chicago School Research, a nonpartisan group at the University of Chicago, reported in October that Duncan's closure of low-performing schools often shuffled students into comparable schools, yielding little or no academic benefit. "Obviously, you always want to get better faster," Duncan said in an interview when asked about the federal math scores. "I was focused on outcomes -- improving graduation rates, making sure that students who graduated had a chance to pursue higher ed. You can have the best test scores in the world, but if kids aren't going that next step, you're not changing their lives." Duncan also said he had adjusted his school closure policy a few years ago to ensure better opportunities for students. He said that he was unhappy that the state had relaxed passing standards and that graduation rates remain unacceptable. About half of Chicago students fail to graduate on time with their peers. In January, Duncan said at his Senate confirmation hearing: "We're proud to have made significant progress . . . and to really be a model of national reform. But again, hard work is going to continue there and is far from done." In the interview, Duncan said he is careful not to exaggerate his record. Critics, however, say his legacy is routinely overblown. "There's been this rhetoric about dramatic gains, dramatic success, that we have to replicate this model because of its dramatic success," said Julie Woestehoff of the advocacy group Parents United for Responsible Education. "And here in Chicago, we're looking at these schools and going, 'Uh . . . ' " In 2003, President George W. Bush's education secretary, Rod Paige, faced similar, perhaps stronger, criticism when his much-highlighted record as leader of Houston's schools in the 1990s came under scrutiny. Questions were raised that year about the reliability of Houston's reported dropout rates. Duncan's record is of more than historical interest. He wields considerable power through the combination of his Chicago connections, shared with President Obama, and his oversight of billions of dollars in reform funding. The Education Department is dangling an unprecedented $3.5 billion in grants for school systems to turn around weak schools and $4 billion for states to pursue innovation. HUGE CHALLENGES With 418,000 students in 675 schools, Chicago faces challenges on a scale exceeded only in Los Angeles and New York. Eighty-five percent of students come from poor families, and 12 percent have limited English skills. Tours in a handful of Chicago schools this month found educators pushing against formidable obstacles to establish a climate of learning. For some, simply asserting control over a campus represents a big victory. In the North Lawndale neighborhood west of downtown, dotted by decaying rowhouses and apartments, Johnson Elementary School was given a new staff this year and renamed the Johnson School of Excellence. Duncan, in one of his last actions before leaving Chicago, proposed the restart in January because of the school's perennially low test scores. The nonprofit Academy for Urban School Leadership, which pairs master's degree candidates with teaching mentors in a residency program, runs the school and 13 others under contract. Johnson serves 300 students from pre-K through grade 8. In the last school year, officials said, police were called to the campus nearly every day to deal with angry parents or disruptive students. "It was a war scene," said Jennifer Earthley, mother of a fourth-grader and a fan of the new regime. "The administrators were afraid of the children. The children did what they wanted to do. We have been on the low end for a long time. All we have been looking for is a passionate group of people who care." Now, attendance is up and fights are down. Students are drilled on respect, manners and lining up in the halls. In one fourth-grade classroom, teacher Katelyn Funderburk counted "5-4-3-2-1" after asking students to pull out their textbooks. "Steven Earthley got it opened fast and folded his hands," she said. "Thank you." [more.....] Read full article with additional links and a chart with the NAEP results Themes in the News: PARENTS TO JOIN "RACE TO THE TOP"...but Who and How Many Will Participate? And Will it Matter? Themes in the News for the week of January 4-8, 2010 By UCLA IDEA staff | A weekly summary of themes in education news provided by UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. Hoping to qualify the state to receive federal ‘Race to the Top’ funds, California lawmakers passed legislation designed to empower parents and lead to meaningful school reforms. On Wednesday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to sign the bills into law. The new laws allow parents of children in the state's 1,000 lowest-scoring schools to apply to have their children enrolled in schools in other districts. And they allow parents “to overhaul up to 75 chronically underperforming schools each year by collecting signatures from a majority of parents” (Sacramento Bee). The challenge for the law is whether parents—acting individually and with school and community organizations— can access the resources and clout to press for substantive changes. Or will parents compete among themselves—school-by-school—for the scarce education funds that the state and federal governments make available? Ben Austin, executive director of Los Angeles based Parent Revolution told the Christian Science Monitor: “This is a groundbreaking and historic new policy. We think this is a 21st century roadmap to transform public education in America … around what’s good for kids, and not for grownups” (Christian Science Monitor). Parent Revolution “has close ties to Green Dot Public Schools, a charter school management organization based in Southern California. Charters are public schools that operate independently of many district rules and are mostly nonunion” (Los Angeles Times). “Is it a dawning of a new era of parent power?. . . It really depends on how many parents can be organized to take action here, how well informed they can be about their choices and how much pressure they can put on their school boards," according to Stanford Education Professor, Michael Kirst (Sacramento Bee). The Christian Science Monitor reports, “Some critics question the rush to embrace certain measures – like charter schools and turnaround measures for failing schools – that have little basis in research.” Others note that the new reforms don’t amount to much change from the Bush-era ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ (NCLB). Under NCLB, students in schools with the lowest test scores must be allowed to transfer to a different school within their district. Also, “many districts, such as Sacramento City Unified, have an open-enrollment process that lets parents choose a school for their child outside their neighborhood.” However, one important distinction is that these new bills take “open enrollment” a step further by allowing designated students to transfer to a better school outside their district (Sacramento Bee). Whether parents are able to move their children into new schools also will depend on rules established by “receiving” school districts. SB X5 4 requires districts to “adopt specific, written standards for acceptance and rejection of applications for enrollment subject to specified conditions and a specified priority scheme for applicants” (Around the Capitol). As Beverly Hills’ recent decision to rescind out of district permits suggests, some districts may be reluctant to accept students from outside their boundaries and hence create standards that lead most open enrollment applicants to be rejected (Los Angeles Times). Further, the California School Boards Association worries that “the bill does not provide enough real protection against “cherry picking,” the process of recruiting and accepting the best students from neighboring districts” (California School Boards Association). Other skeptics, even if they are well-wishers, raise questions about whether schools (from individual charters to entire districts) can mobilize to accept shifts in student enrollments as students move to different schools across neighborhoods and across school districts. For example, Debbie Look of the Sacramento chapter of the Parent Teacher Association was concerned that funding mechanisms don’t exist to transport students in high-poverty areas to a better school in another district (Sacramento Bee). Torie England, principal of F.C. Joyce Elementary in North Highlands, says it's tough to get parents engaged in difficult economic times. “Most of her students come from families that struggle with basic necessities. Many are homeless, sleeping in cars or staying with friends. Lots of her students live in single-parent homes with moms working multiple jobs to make ends meet. Other children are in foster care or have parents who don't speak English” (Sacramento Bee). Jeff Freitas, an advocate for the California Federation of Teachers, said the measures would divide parents and teachers at schools. While some students could transfer to other campuses, Freitas said, "you are leaving students behind with no reform for that school”” (Los Angeles Times). “We've got to strengthen the quality of all schools rather than allowing parents to search from among fairly mediocre alternatives in a lot of communities,” said UC Berkeley education professor Bruce Fuller (Sacramento Bee). According to Fuller, “We're creating the illusion of choice among schools that are collapsing among less and less state support” (San Francisco Chronicle). VISIT UCLA IDEA FOR THIS ARTICLE WITH ALL LINKS & CITATIONS HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources This just in: “AN UNPLANNED REVOLUTION?” Please! smf opines re: Sunday's Front page puff pieces on charter schools in the Times Calling the ‘revolution’ ”unplanned” is like calling reality television “real”. Or even “unscripted”. What of the premeditation and designs of Villaraigosa, Barr, Riordan, Broad, Gates, Garcia and Co? Helped by Schwarzenegger, Mitchell, Hastings, Romero, etc.? Do the names Gates and Walmart ring a bell? Not to mention the Times Editorial Board, which is playing LAUSD like the Chandlers played the City and the DWP back in the day. AN UNPLANNED REVOLUTION IN L.A.'s PUBLIC SCHOOLS http://bit.ly/7By2W9 By Mitchell Landsberg, Doug Smith and Howard Blume - Enrollment is up, and overall, standardized test scores outshine those at traditional campuses. Even the L.A. Unified board has eased its resistance. [smf: …being bought and paid for – however fair and squarely - has that effect] COUNTY GIVES LA INTERNATIONAL CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL A SECOND CHANCE http://bit.ly/7SGcaK By Mitchell Landsberg - The charter had a rough start with L.A. Unified but is gaining strength with a county charter. LAUSD IN THE NEWS: Friday, January 8, 2010: from LAUSD LOS ANGELES TIMES Opinion Better teachers, the union way .....and more .. http://bit.ly/6nUrZB COURT(?) TO DECIDE LAUSD’S BATTLE WITH CHARTERS: “The debate is more about adult politics than improving children'... http://bit.ly/6QCUYV UTLA v. LAUSD: Lawsuit filing contending the Public School Choice Resolution: UTLA v LAUSD - [FULL TEXT OF THE LAWSUIT] - http://bit.ly/7l0GOG HORSES WITH FEATHERS: response to email to 4LAKids A longtime 4LAKids reader – a retired teacher/administrator/u... http://bit.ly/7RZLz1 Race to the Top/Grab for the Money: LAUSD AGREES TO STATE MANDATE + ASSEMBLY OK’s BILLS TO CHANGE CA SCHOOLS + Mor... http://bit.ly/8Y5JlE L.A. UNION SUES OVER CHARTER PLAN: News in Brief In Ed Week Vol. 29, Issue 16, Page 4| By Lesli A. Maxwell Publi... http://bit.ly/7jEEpO Wednesday, January 06, 2010 8:06 AM COURT RULES THAT SCHOOL BOARD E-MAILS ARE PUBLIC INFORMATION: Massachusetts court also finds that superintendent’... http://bit.ly/8hrpUh MORE HEADLINES: Knowledgeable parents trigger autism, Another emergency session, Union leaders plead for education,... http://bit.ly/6veyah 1●5●2010 UCLA/IDEA CALIFORNIA EDUCATION NEWS ROUNDUP: Districts ready to Race …but will they really sign..Bl... http://bit.ly/4BkPN3 Read the 4LAKidsNews Update Blog ...or http://twitter.com/4LAKids EVENTS: Coming up next week... *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-893-6800 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR What can YOU do? • E-mail, call or write your school board member: Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383 Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386 Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180 Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382 Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388 Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385 Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387 ...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600 • Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ • Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school. • Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it! • Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child. • If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE. • If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE. • If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee and the BOC on the Board of Education Facilities Committee. He is an elected repreprentative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

Cheerio.

4LAKids: Sunday 3•Jan•2010 Happy New Year In This Issue: • TEACHERS SEEK CONTROL AT UP-FOR-BID L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS: Educators say they know the children best and can build programs that will succeed. • More from The Times • HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources • EVENTS: Coming up next week... • What can YOU do? Featured Links: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website • 4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved! • 4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. LAUSD has been pretty much shut down since the last 4LAKids went out, so the powers-that-be at Beaudry haven't had much of an opportunity to create much mayhem+havoc – schools without student and adult troublemakers are like that. All are back on Monday; the Board meets on Tuesday, The black diamond slippery slope will reopen along with contract negotiations, budget cuts, the deal making and giveaways in Public School Choice and – oh yes – students (It's about students! Who knew?) will be in classrooms. Stay tuned and Happy New Year. THE DECADE PAST is already universally disliked, reviled and unlamented – even by the young adults who came of age during it. [See Pew Study: “Current Decade Rated Worst in 50 Years” http://bit.ly/4vVTge]. Mathematicians correctly remind us that decades continue into years ending in zero. But “us” - whoever we are – are so glad to be rid of the “Aughts” – or as a a BBC wag [see The view in the rear-view-mirror from the other side of the pond/the other side of the road - EDUCATIONAL REVIEW OF THE DECADE... http://bit.ly ] names them: “The Naughties” – that we aren't waiting! Be gone! The decade with the 'O's - ¿The Cheerios Decade? - was book-ended by 9/11 and the election of Barack Obama (the Great Recession began earlier) ...arguably an upward arc. In 2001 suicide terrorists flew airplanes into buildings; on Christmas Day of '09 a suicidal terrorist wearing exploding underwear unsuccessfully attempted to blow up an airliner over Detroit. A better Outcome? Yes. A desirable outcome? Not really. Educationally the Naughties' bookends are NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND and RACE TO THE TOP – a continuum of bad thinking/flat-line/no progress at best. THE NEW NORMAL – the status quo if you will – is Ed Reform driven by incremental quick fixes and cost neutral tweaks - complicated by unintended consequences, mired in the photo-op-now of term limited politicians, lowered expectations, and ever decreasing funding – public education-driven-by-private-agendas and an overwhelming lack of long-range vision. “Urgency” is well-and good – but the short term solutions for that are Detrol® for women and Flomax® for men. (4LAKids is a blog about education, talk to your doctor about overactive bladder treatment) LAUSD once had a vision and a plan. We would build and modernize our way out of overcrowding and poor facilities – and in so doing create the infrastructure to support a world class educational system. The voters and taxpayers voted overwhelmingly for that plan – five times - approving $30 billion over five local bonds and their supporting state match. Now, as we begin to really deliver on the new and modernized schools promise – the current Board of Education (without anything like an overwhelming mandate) is literally giving schools away. This isn't a metaphorical or rhetorical giveaway. THIS IS GIVING SCHOOLS AWAY. In the case of the Felicitas and Gonzalo Mendez Learning Center it wasn't even a giveaway to the Mayor's Partnership. The Mayor simply took possession – without there ever being a vote or a public hearing by the Board of Education authorizing or even discussing it. That's a takeaway. of a school district asset that cost $108 million ...before the debt service cost! The limited vision is probably best typified by Open Court and scripted instruction – a temporary fix for inexperienced teachers driven my Class Size Reduction that has become institutionalized over time. Gentle Reader: CSR is as extinct as the Passenger Pigeon - Class Size Increase is the Order of the Day. The unintended consequences of elementary students spoon fed daily rations of prepackaged knowledge by teachers following a script and a lockstep schedule is showing up as those kids enter secondary ed – unprepared to individually evaluate and unequipped to independently study. Unable to think for themselves; the critical skill set for a 21st Century Education. Open Court is a program created by textbook publishers it address low performance in high stakes testing ...the very high stakes tests they also publish. At the risk of a bit of th' ol' over-the-top 4LAKids rhetorical overstatement: Isn't this akin to the Mafia and/or Trial Attorney's business model? “LET US PROTECT YOU FROM THE THREAT WE POSE!” (4LAKids realizes it has just antagonized organized crime and the legal profession and wishes to apologize to both parties for lumping them in such unsavory company.) But stay tuned. Things may get worse. Or, parents and educators and students and the community might yet seize the day and the opportunity for real school choice. They, we, might choose-to-choose. We might choose Excellence. And Quality. And Progress. That is the hope that begins in this new decade and leads onward Bless us all / bless you all / bless the children / Cheerio. ¡Onward/Hasta Alelante! - smf TEACHERS SEEK CONTROL AT UP-FOR-BID L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS: Educators say they know the children best and can build programs that will succeed. By Howard Blume | LA times January 2, 2010 - A plan to let outside groups bid for control of dozens of long-struggling and new local campuses has unleashed a formidable competitor: Groups of teachers from inside the Los Angeles Unified School District are vying to take charge of their schools. At every location up for bid -- 12 existing schools and 18 new campuses -- teams of teachers and the L.A. teachers union are working nights and weekends to decide what to offer students and parents and what they would require of them and of themselves. They are trying to take advantage of a reform strategy, approved in August, that envisioned bringing in privately operated charter schools to set the standard for a school system widely seen as dysfunctional. The union, United Teachers Los Angeles, also is trying to block charter takeovers through litigation. But rank-and-file teachers, with backing from the union and, in some cases, from the school district, are planning to compete with the charters, and they plan to win. "For the first time we're trying to show that we can, as teacher-educators, build a school that will benefit our children because we know our children best," said Hillcrest first-grade teacher Josephine Miller. "That's what makes this exciting." Room 12 at Hillcrest Drive Elementary School in the Baldwin Hills-Crenshaw neighborhood, has become an unofficial command post for the effort there, a mini-Pentagon of academic mobilization. Oversized white flip-chart sheets are affixed to cabinets, walls and whiteboards. On one sheet, a giant to-do list includes "investigate playground and lunch procedures." On another, a brainstormed list for parent and community involvement includes opening the library and computer lab to the public, holding literacy classes for parents and appointing room mothers. In the center of the room, six double desks of various heights are pushed together to form a makeshift conference table. Down the middle are packages of Fritos and Doritos, mini Kit Kat bars, and a box of supermarket Christmas cookies. A case of bottled water sits on a nearby table. On a recent weekday afternoon, a group of Hillcrest teachers reported to one another about arts programs they are considering for their proposal -- what they cost and what they offer. The teachers hope to offer enrichment programs as well as rigorous, enlivened academics. They also talked about how to instill a new attitude among students who stop trying early on in their educations. "I'm trying all my tricks, and it's working for seven or eight students," said third-grade teacher Tonya Boyd. "We need a shift in culture so the kids know we all care about them," said Amanda Kiehle, who also teaches third grade, "and that we're all holding them accountable." More than a third of students at Hillcrest speak limited English and virtually all are poor. Last year, nearly half the school's students either moved out of the neighborhood or arrived during the school year, making academic continuity difficult. Fewer than a fourth of students outside the school's magnet program test as proficient in either math or English. The Hillcrest teachers, even though they have been part of a school deemed "failing," insist that they know best how to turn things around. And they worry that their home-grown proposals might not get a fair hearing against charter schools with well-regarded track records, in-house data analysts, legal support and public relations professionals. Full proposals are due to the district by Jan. 11 and will be reviewed internally and externally, including by parents and, at the high school level, by students. In February, L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines will make a single recommendation for each school to the Board of Education, which will have the final say. Cortines said he applauds the teachers' initiatives. But he urged the groups to "show some sort of evidence or I will not recommend them -- evidence of some academic improvement, evidence that they have been dealing with English language learners, evidence that special education students are being taken care of, evidence that parents are involved." Article continues More from The Times HIGHER EDUCATION IN CALIFORNIA SHOULD BETTER REFLECT THE TIMES By William Tierney | LA Times As the crisis persists, it's time for a new master plan that would streamline curriculum, bring funding in line with students' ability to pay and put UC, Cal State and community colleges in sync. http://bit.ly/6cDZL5 THE SCIENCE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION By Irving R. Epstein | LA Times More minority students need to be lured into the sciences. One program has been a resounding success. http://bit.ly/5rAlPh LA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS SETS APLLICATION DEADLINE LA Times 12/31/2009, 11:54 a.m. http://bit.ly/77Yd7q HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources The view in the rear-view-mirror from the other side of the pond/the other side of the road: EDUCATIONAL REVIEW OF THE DECADE + RECESSION 'THREAT' TO EDUCATION - BBC... http://bit.ly/5BaLbY VILLARAIGOSA JOINS 8 MAYORS TO PRESS FOR RACE TO THE TOP BILL: from The Associated Press Dec. 29, 2009 -- SACRAM... http://bit.ly/5CULe0 TEACHER'S UNION SUES LAUSD OVER PLAN FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS: from EGP Publications | Eastside Sun / Northeast Sun / Me... http://bit.ly/6mRaHs TWO TEACHERS ORDERED TO RETURN MORE THAN $148,000 IN OVERPAYMENTS: L.A. Unified's action is part of increased effor... http://bit.ly/6kNg03 RESTORING AN EDUCATIONAL GEM’S LUSTER: Cuts are fast eroding California's once-vaunted system of public colleges ... http://bit.ly/786s2P THE VIEW FROM BALTIMORE IN THREE PARTS: Focus on principals carries benefits and risks, Expand 'No Child' through f... http://bit.ly/7PV4sv EVENTS: Coming up next week... *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-893-6800 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR What can YOU do? • E-mail, call or write your school board member: Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383 Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386 Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180 Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382 Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388 Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385 Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387 ...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600 • Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ • Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school. • Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it! • Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child. • If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE. • If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE. • If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee and the BOC on the Board of Education Facilities Committee. He is an elected repreprentative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. All other material copyright © 4LAKids. • FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 4LAKids makes such material available in an effort to advance understanding of education issues vital to parents, teachers, students and community members in a democracy. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. • To SUBSCRIBE e-mail: 4LAKids-subscribe@topica.email-publisher.com - or -TO ADD YOUR OR ANOTHER'S NAME TO THE 4LAKids SUBSCRIPTION LIST E-MAIL smfolsom@aol.com with "SUBSCRIBE" AS THE SUBJECT. Thank you.

Y2K+10 :: Resolved

4LAKids: Sunday 27•Dec•2009 ¡Happy New Year! In This Issue: • LETTER TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST DURING TROUBLED TIMES • THERE'S ONLY ETHICS • L.A. UNIFIED, IT’S ABOUT TIME + Oct 3, 2001: STATE STEPS IN AT TEN LAGGING SCHOOLS • HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources • EVENTS: Coming up next week... • What can YOU do? Featured Links: • 4 LAKids on Twitter • PUBLIC SCHOOLS: an investment we can't afford to cut! - The Education Coalition Website • 4LAKids Anthology: All the Past Issues, solved, resolved and unsolved! • 4LAKidsNews: a compendium of recent items of interest - news stories, scurrilous rumors, links, academic papers, rants and amusing anecdotes, etc. At some point, while I was blathering on about something-or-another, someone accused me of being a moral voice. It is not a mantle I meant to take up; I am happy to be a curmudgeon or even a gadfly. An optimistic cynic; a happy warrior with words taking on a very odd windmill. I do take delight in speaking truth to power – but it is my truth ...not to be confused with The Truth. That said I am concerned with ethics as they are practiced and observed and ignored in this school district. Ethics, like democracy, is not a spectator sport. You will read below of ethical relativism; over-prescribed/overindulged/overdosed ...with a pandemic of collateral damage as the unintended consequence. We do not teach our students values – or to value values - in our schools and homes and communities. We are pretending that not teaching ethics is somehow ethical: “Whose ethic's would we teach?” We are compounding that twisted logic by not practicing and/or modeling ethical behavior in those venues. Students aren't going to learn this stuff from the news or the popular media or on the playground. It is not the End of Civilization as we know it that worries me; CAWKI is not a standard we should be all that proud of. I AM AS LOST AS ANYONE ELSE IN THIS WILDERNESS, but I'm sharing forward two bits of someone-else's-thinking for The New Year. The first, “LETTER TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST IN TROUBLED TIMES,” resonates within me – not as a Call to Arms or even to Action – but as a Resolution to be Resolute. It is a decidedly post-feminist voice, a Latina who speaks of cojones and ovarios and in metaphors of the sea so even gray old white men can get it. Maybe throwing open the window and shouting that We're Mad As Hell and Not Going To Take It Anymore is a First Step. Maybe the Second Step is to take up a can of Krylon and and spray-paint What Great Ships are Built For on our walls ...it's not graffiti if it's your wall! Maybe it's a Twelve Step Program. A private sharing of the previous resolution prompted the sharing with me of the second: THERE'S ONLY ETHICS. the truth that the Ethics of the 20th Century will not serve us for 21st is Cartesian, the division between Obedience to the Unenforceable vs. Obedience to the Enforceable cries out to us from the Nineteenth Century. What we do not learn we are doomed to repeat. What's past is prolix. Next Friday ushers in the second decade of the Twenty-first Century and of the Third Millennium; that first ten years (The Aughts?) are behind us as unlamented as the Go-Go '90's and the Great Y2K Panic. If you are looking for Something to be Resolved About for 2010 + Century XXI + Millennium III consider these. Looking towards and beyond the horizon let us be resolute: ¡EverOnward/Hasta Adelante! - smf LETTER TO A YOUNG ACTIVIST DURING TROUBLED TIMES by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D. Mis estimados: Do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. It is true, one has to have strong cojones and ovarios to withstand much of what passes for "good" in our culture today. Abject disregard of what the soul finds most precious and irreplaceable and the corruption of principled ideals have become, in some large societal arenas, "the new normal," the grotesquerie of the week. It is hard to say which one of the current egregious matters has rocked people's worlds and beliefs more. Ours is a time of almost daily jaw-dropping astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people. You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet ... I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is — we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement. I cannot tell you often enough that we are definitely the leaders we have been waiting for, and that we have been raised since childhood for this time precisely. I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able crafts in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind. I would like to take your hands for a moment and assure you that you are built well for these times. Despite your stints of doubt, your frustrations in arighting all that needs change right now, or even feeling you have lost the map entirely, you are not without resource, you are not alone. Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. In your deepest bones, you have always known this is so. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless. We have been in training for a dark time such as this, since the day we assented to come to Earth. For many decades, worldwide, souls just like us have been felled and left for dead in so many ways over and over — brought down by naiveté, by lack of love, by suddenly realizing one deadly thing or another, by not realizing something else soon enough, by being ambushed and assaulted by various cultural and personal shocks in the extreme. We have a history of being gutted, and yet remember this especially ... we have also, of necessity, perfected the knack of resurrection. Over and over again we have been the living proof that that which has been exiled, lost, or foundered — can be restored to life again. This is as true and sturdy a prognosis for the destroyed worlds around us as it was for our own once mortally wounded selves. Though we are not invulnerable, our risibility supports us to laugh in the face of cynics who say "fat chance," and "management before mercy," and other evidences of complete absence of soul sense. This, and our having been to Hell and back on at least one momentous occasion, makes us seasoned vessels for certain. Even if you do not feel that you are, you are. Even if your puny little ego wants to contest the enormity of your soul, that smaller self can never for long subordinate the larger Self. In matters of death and rebirth, you have surpassed the benchmarks many times. Believe the evidence of any one of your past testings and trials. Here it is: Are you still standing? The answer is, Yes! (And no adverbs like "barely" are allowed here). If you are still standing, ragged flags or no, you are able. Thus, you have passed the bar. And even raised it. You are seaworthy. In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. Do not make yourself ill with overwhelm. There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by perseverating on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater? You have all the resource you need to ride any wave, to surface from any trough. In the language of aviators and sailors, ours is to sail forward now, all balls out. Understand the paradox: If you study the physics of a waterspout, you will see that the outer vortex whirls far more quickly than the inner one. To calm the storm means to quiet the outer layer, to cause it, by whatever countervailing means, to swirl much less, to more evenly match the velocity of the inner, far less volatile core — till whatever has been lifted into such a vicious funnel falls back to Earth, lays down, is peaceable again. One of the most important steps you can take to help calm the storm is to not allow yourself to be taken in a flurry of overwrought emotion or despair — thereby accidentally contributing to the swale and the swirl. Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts — adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale. One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires ... causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these — to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both — are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times in the midst of "success right around the corner, but as yet still unseen" when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But ... that is not what great ships are built for. This comes with much love and prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth, Clarissa Pinkola Estés, Ph.D. ___________ Dr. Estés is a psychoanalyst; Member Hispanic Journalists; Post-trauma specialist and Storyteller. She is the author of Women Who Run With Wolves among other books. THERE'S ONLY ETHICS by Rushworth M. Kidder Ethics is not a luxury or an option. It is essential to our survival. To support that point, let me give you three assertions, two definitions, and one conclusion. HERE IS THE FIRST ASSERTION: We will not survive the 21st century with the ethics of the 20th century. Why do I say that? Well, a few years ago, in 1989, I discovered myself one Monday morning in March standing a few hundred yards from the wall of Reactor Number Four at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union. Looking back later, and checking the clips to see what else had been written on that subject, I discovered that I was probably the first western journalist ever to get that close to Chernobyl. I was taken there in the company of two members of an emergency response team who had come in right after the accident on April 26, 1986, to help clean up the mess. The fallout from that disaster was detected in every country in the world capable of sensing radioactivity in the atmosphere. The explosion and its aftermath killed thousands of Soviets. Why did it happen? That night in 1986 there were two electrical engineers—not nuclear but electrical engineers—in charge of the control room. Perhaps the most charitable way to put it is that they were "fiddling around" with the reactors. They wanted to see what would happen as they performed an unauthorized experiment. According to Soviet accounts, they were trying to see how long the turbine would freewheel if they took the power off it. In order to take the power off, they had to shut down the reactor. To do that, they manually overrode six separate computer-driven alarm systems. Each system would come up and say, "Stop! Don't do this! Terribly dangerous!" But instead of shutting off the experiment, they shut off the alarms. When my friends got in there, they discovered there were valves padlocked in the open position so that they would not automatically shut down and turn off this experiment. That is how deliberate this whole thing was. Now, the question this raises for me is, What was going on in the minds of those electrical engineers as they did that? Obviously, these were bright people. Jobs at Chernobyl are plum jobs, and they go to the equivalent of the Russian 4.0 grade-point average, the 800 on the SATs, the Phi Beta Kappas of the Soviet Union. These two knew what they were doing: If knowledge alone were all that mattered, they would have been doing fine. So what went wrong? It seems to me that before they could have overridden a single computer alarm system, there must have been an ethical override. Somewhere the conscience had to shut down before the alarm systems could be turned off. They could not have been unaware of the possible consequences of what they were doing. What blew up Chernobyl was not a lack of knowledge. It was a lack of ethics. That's a crucial point for the 21st century. There is no machine you could have put those engineers in front of in the 19th century and said, "Do the most amoral thing you can to this machine," that would have produced the damage of Chernobyl. Or, to change examples, what substance could you have loaded into the 19th century’s biggest ship, put a drunken captain in charge, and run it aground in Prince William Sound in Alaska to create the environmental damage the Exxon Valdez did? How in the 19th century could a private bank – a bank that helped to fund the Napoleonic wars, that still held deposits from the Queen of England – have been brought to bankruptcy in three weeks through the activities of a 29-year-old employee in Singapore who was trading derivatives on the Nikkei exchange and using fraudulent faxes to cover his horrendous losses? How in the 19th century could a few young people in Manila have developed an intellectual creation – since that’s what a computer virus is – and launched it out into the world to do an estimated $10 billion (U.S.) in damage? These stories – of Exxon Valdez, the Barings Bank, and the “I Love You” virus” – have something in common with Chernobyl. Each points to the way in which our technologies leverage our ethics in ways we never saw in the past. And that is a new phenomenon. Every managerial system, however large or small, rises in its structure to the apex of one or two decision-makers. What is going on in the conscience of those individuals directly determines the use of that system. So, however large and powerful the technologies, what governs them is the ethics of those in charge. And make no mistake about it: The scale of our technology is increasing rapidly. In the 21st century, Chernobyl itself will be small potatoes indeed. Imagine the scale of our future technologies. Then imagine the ethical sophistication needed to manage them. There is a risk here that can be expressed very simply: We may not survive the 21st century with the ethics of the 20th century. Something significant has to change. THAT BRINGS ME TO MY SECOND ASSERTION, which is that we are not in good shape to promote such change. What's the reading on the nation's ethical barometer? Well, there are some good signs. When a McKenzie Quarterly survey in 1998 looked at what made bright young business students accept one job offer over another, “high compensation” was only a tiny part of the equation. The top reason, they found, was a desire to work where the “values and culture” of the organization are in good shape. And when the Gallup Organization asked the U.S. public to identify the “most important problem” facing the nation in 1999, “ethics, morality, and family values” came out at the very top – for the first time in the 50 years that Gallup has asked that question. In other words, there is increasing interest in the question of ethics, and increasing evidence of wanting stronger ethics. But while we're interested in ethics, there is a serious concern about whether we're doing anything about it. That's especially evident as you look at our educational institutions. The 1998 annual survey by “Who’ s Who Among American High School Students” asked more than 3,000 of the nation’s best and brightest whether they cheated to pass exams. That year, after 29 years of asking the same question, a new record was set: 80 percent admitted to cheating on exams. Why? The top answer, given by 56 percent, was “competition for good grades.” But a nearly equal number (53 percent) said that cheating “didn’t seem like a big deal.” They simply didn’t understand the importance of ethics. A survey a couple of years ago by the Pinnacle Group in Minnesota found that 59 percent of the high-school students surveyed would willingly face six months probation in order to do an illegal deal worth $10 million. Sixty-seven percent of them said, "Yes, I plan to inflate my expense account when I get out in the business world." Fifty percent would pad insurance claims. Sixty-six percent said they would lie to achieve a business objective. Or look at a survey of almost 16,000 students at 31 top universities by Professor Donald McCabe of Rutgers University: 76 percent of those planning careers in business admitted to having cheated at least once on a test. Nineteen percent admitted to having cheated four or more times. In addition, 68 percent of future doctors, 63 percent of future lawyers, and 57 percent of future educators admitted to having cheated at least once. You may think we are only talking about students. We're not. We are talking about America's middle managers in the year 2020—and about the CEOs, the senators and representatives, the heads of major nonprofits in the year 2030. We are talking about the people who are going to be piloting your airplanes while you sit back wondering, "Does this guy really know how to fly, or did he just fake his way through his exams?" We are talking about the people who are going to be managing your pension funds. Is the fault with the kids? I don't think so. There was a story reported in one of the New York newspapers a while ago about a ten-year-old child who found on the street a wallet full of money, full of credit cards, and full of identification. He reportedly took the wallet to school, where he could find no one—no teacher, no administrator—willing to tell him what was the right thing to do with that wallet. Essentially they all said, "Gee, I can't impose my values on you, kid. I mean, if I told you what to do, that would not be right. You have to sort it out for yourself—otherwise it's my ethics and not yours. Besides, you're poor and this guy is obviously rich. Your mother might be mad I told you to send the wallet back. No, you figure it out for yourself." I once raised this example at the dinner table at a small liberal arts college in California, telling the story and asking the students what they thought. All of them, to a person, said, "Those teachers and those administrators were absolutely right. There was no way you should impose your values on that kid." What's going on? Why do they feel this way? Why has our educational system delivered us into a situation where even the most fundamental concepts of honesty, responsibility, and respect for others are not being taught? THAT QUESTION PROMPTS MY THIRD ASSERTION, WHICH IS SIMPLY THIS: The difficulty we are up against is what the philosophers describe as ethical relativism. It is the notion that there are no absolutes, no common values, no core set of moral ideas out there that can be shared and understood. It is the notion that all ethics is situational, negotiable, fluid, intensely personal. Let me give you an example of where it surfaces: a school committee meeting. Let's say the board members get thinking about the big issues facing the world in the next century and how to shape an education system so the kids are best prepared. Pretty quickly someone realizes that we've been teaching kids mostly about the facts—of the environment, or of math, or of history. And they realize that that's good, but it's not enough—that we will not survive the next century without a better ethical sense. So someone proposes that we teach character and ethics. And no sooner is that said than somebody else in the back of the room stands up and says, "But whose ethics will you teach?" It's a question intended to squelch further discussion. What is behind it is this notion that there is no ethical commonalty—and that, if you dare to teach ethics, you are imposing your values on my kid, and I won't have it! So let's examine this issue of ethical relativism further. That, after all, is the subtext of many of the arguments you will hear when you raise the question of ethics these days. Start talking about ethics, in fact, and oddly enough up pops the name of somebody who would be horrified to see himself used in this way: Albert Einstein. "See," people are fond of saying, "Einstein proved that everything is relative. There are no absolutes out there in the physical world. So how do you expect there to be absolutes in the moral realm? This is the 20th century: We no longer believe in absolutes and constants." Well, the next time you run into your friendly neighborhood physicist, ask her what would happen if when she went into her laboratory tomorrow she said, "Okay, everything is relative. Today I think we will set the speed of light at sort of at . . . well, about here! And we'll say Planck's Constant is this, and Avogadro's number is that, and the acceleration due to gravity is right about here for today." Ask her how successful she's going to be in physics if she genuinely believes that Einstein was saying that all things are relative and that there are no constants. Don't fall for that argument. There are constants in the physical realm. But are there any constants in the moral realm? A friend of mine who teaches at Stanford, when his students raise the issue of ethical relativism, says, "Okay, I am going to parachute you into some country, and you do not know where it is. When you get out of your parachute, walk up to the first person you see, take away what that person has, and run away with it. And see what happens." With the possible exception, he says, that you have landed in front of a Buddhist monk and taken away his begging bowl and he says, "Ah, that's karma!," you will have run squarely into property laws. We summarize them in the Ten Commandments as, "Thou shalt not steal." But you will find them in any culture into which you drop. It would appear, then, that there is at least one universal moral element out there: Culture by culture, people by people, there is profound agreement that stealing is wrong. That constitutes, it seems, at least one solid piece of ethical common ground. Yet much of the so-called "ethics" taught in the last 30 years was done in ignorance of this apparent fact. It was done under a regime described by educators as "values neutral education." The teacher, in this regime, is supposed to have no particular point of view—to be a sort of moral blob who leads the students into "clarifying" their own values without in any way suggesting that there are sets of values that the teacher himself or herself holds and operates under or that are widely accepted as standards. The fact that we have produced an educational system in which our teachers have regularly been told that it is not correct for them to take a stand on some of those fundamental moral principles suggests the depth of the problem we are facing. Yet all is not lost. I remember talking to a fifth-grade teacher in Pennsylvania. She had shown her students a video tape of the news coverage of the riots following the Rodney King verdict in Los Angeles in 1992. When she asked her students how many of them would have broken into stores and stolen stuff if they had been there, every hand went up. She was taken aback, but she used that moment to engage them in what she felt was a really good discussion of property rights, respect for others, and the Golden Rule. But the point of the story, as she was telling me, was the comment she made later to her principal. She told him that she was so grateful that her school had a character education program that allowed her to talk about values in the classroom – a program that had just been launched, after full discussion with the community, the year before. Why did that matter? Because, as she said to him, “If this had happened in my classroom last year, the only thing I would have dared to say would have been, “Well, kids, if that’s the way you feel, let’s get out our arithmetic books and talk about subtraction – because I’m not allowed to talk about this in class!” What would have kept her from having that discussion? The false notion that you can’t teach values because “whose values will you teach?” Fortunately, the community had answered that question for her. They had agreed on a set of core values that is so widely shared by every culture that they would raise no difficulties if a teacher worked with it in the classroom. What's needed, then, is a recognition that there is a core set of values that can be and must be taught. What are they? We've found one—the idea of not stealing. Are there others? Well, what about the Golden Rule? Who said, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets"? That was Jesus. But who said, "That which you hold as detestable, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole law: the rest is but commentary"? That's how the Talmud puts it. Islam says it this way: "None of you is a believer if he does not desire for his brother that which he desires for himself." Or, as Confucius said, "Here certainly is the golden maxim: Do not do to others that which we do not want them to do to us." And so it goes, down through Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, and the rest of the world's great religions. Common ethical ground? I would say so! Teachable? Certainly! NOW, I PROMISED YOU TWO USEFUL DEFINITIONS OF "ETHICS," SO HERE THEY ARE. The first one resides in a phrase we used as the subtitle for the recently published report on ethics prepared by Independent Sector. It is a phrase from Lord Moulton, a British jurist in the 19th century, who described ethics simply as "obedience to the unenforceable." Obedience to the enforceable? That, he said, was merely law—an important part, but only a small part, of the reason we behave as we do. Obedience to the enforceable is what prevents us from driving 65 miles an hour in a school zone: You get caught. Obedience to the unenforceable, however, is what keeps you from going into a supermarket and, just as a little old lady is about to put her hand on the last shopping cart, elbowing her away, seizing the cart, and running off down the aisle with it. There is no law that says, "Thou shalt not steal shopping carts from little old ladies." You don't do it because people don't do those things—because of the very real but ultimately unenforceable canons of society. This concept of ethics as obedience to the unenforceable helps explain some of the things we see going on around us in the regulatory and legislative climate today. We clearly will be regulated one way or another—that is the nature of the human experience. Our choice is only whether to be self-regulated or to be regulated by externalities. When I was growing up, we didn't throw litter out of the car window because "people don't do those things." Now you don't throw litter out of the car window because there is a $500 fine. Why? Because it was discovered that people did do those things. As the ethics of self-regulation dropped away, in other words, the law rushed in to fill the void. And that will ever be the case. If you ask yourself why we are such a litigious society, regulated by vast bodies of law at every turn, is it not largely because our ethics has dropped away and the law has swept in to replace it? What used to be obedience to the unenforceable has become obedience to the enforceable. What used to be regulation by our own good habits has become regulation by the will of the legislators. THE SECOND DEFINITION I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU grows out of our concern over dictionary definitions of the word ethics. They usually talk about ethics in relation to the difference between right and wrong. Frankly, for most of us, most of the time, ethics is the battle of right versus right. Few people, facing an ethical dilemma, say to themselves, "Here, on one hand, is the great, the good, the wonderful, and the pure and, on the other hand, the awful, the evil, the miserable, and the terrible—and here I stand equally torn between them." We don't do that. Once we define one side as evil, we've pretty much dismissed it. It really doesn't cross our minds, for example, that the way to resolve a problem we have with the chairman of our board is either to go talk to him or to go poison his chowder. NOW, I ALSO PROMISED YOU A CONCLUSION, SO HERE IT IS. After all we've talked about, it may not surprise you to learn that there really is no such thing as "nonprofit ethics." Neither is there any such thing as "medical ethics," or "business ethics," or "legal ethics," or "journalism ethics." There is only ethics. It applies to all kinds of ways, and it applies across the board. Don't be under any illusion that somehow one can be unethical in personal financial matters but ethical as the manager of a nonprofit. Don't be under any illusion that a corporate executive can be a cad in family matters but a paragon of virtue at work. Don't be under any illusion that an elected official can say, "Oh, that is my private life. You should not take that into account. Judge me as a politician." The public no longer credits that line of reasoning—as our politicians keep finding out. There is no dividing up ethics into compartments: There's only ethics. ____________ Rushworth M. Kidder was a professor of English at Wichita State University for ten years before becoming an award-winning columnist and editor at the Christian Science Monitor. He founded the Institute for Global Ethics in 1990. The author of ten books on subjects ranging from international ethics to the global future, he won the 1980 Explicator Literary Foundation Award for his book on the poetry of E.E. cummings. He and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Lincolnville, Maine. The foregoing is based on a keynote speech presented to the Human Services Council of Northeast Florida, an organization of nonprofit entities, in Jacksonville on October 1, 1992. Revised January 2001. ©2001 by the Institute for Global Ethics. Bio from Wikipedia & Harper Collins website. L.A. UNIFIED, IT’S ABOUT TIME + Oct 3, 2001: STATE STEPS IN AT TEN LAGGING SCHOOLS IT SHOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN OUTSIDE PRESSURE FOR THE DISTRICT TO ACT ON TEACHER EVALUATION AND FREMONT HIGH. BUT AT LEAST IT RESPONDED CONSTRUCTIVELY LA Times Editorial ●●smf's 2¢: Self-congratulating, The Times acknowledges its proper Fourth Estate role (plus an impending visit of the Secretary of Education) in overdue Reform @ Fremont …and the tooth-gnashing finger-pointing over Teacher Tenure. (However, It isn’t just new teachers evaluated solely on how well they follow the Open Court script that are LAUSD’s problem!) The Editorial Board is absolutely correct …It shouldn’t have taken outside pressure or so long. But, they remind us: “eight years ago, the state took on decision-making authority over [Fremont]” (see: 3 Oct 01 article, following). So primary (if not exclusive) responsibility and accountability for Teacher Tenure – which comes too soon and too easily and lasts too long - and for Fremont lies in Sacramento. Not to mention cash flow. December 27, 2009 -- These are welcome, if basic, changes for L.A. schools: Evaluating new teachers properly and letting go of the substandard ones before they gain tenure. Restructuring a high school that despite years of effort has remained in the basement of educational achievement. As glad as we are to see Supt. Ramon C. Cortines institute such reforms, we wonder why Los Angeles Unified School District hasn't been doing these things for years. Instead, the announcements came only when the district was under heavy outside pressure. The first came just days before The Times was to publish an expose of the district's lackadaisical evaluation of new teachers. The reconstitution of Fremont High School was announced on the day U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan was in town. Duncan has made hard-nosed reforms such as restructuring failing schools a priority, and the school district is hoping to get a sizable chunk of the $4.3 billion in grants he has to bestow. That's not to diminish Cortines' role in pushing the pace of educational change. He has been superintendent for just one year and has accomplished more than his predecessor, retired Vice Adm. David L. Brewer, did in two. But these two long-overdue changes demonstrate that although district officials have historically and to some extent legitimately blamed the teachers union, lack of money or state regulations for achievement lapses, they also have failed to undertake meaningful improvements that were within their grasp. Teacher tenure laws and the district's contract with United Teachers Los Angeles may make it nearly impossible to fire bad teachers, but there's nothing to stop L.A. Unified from firing unpromising instructors during their first two years. Meanwhile, L.A. Unified did so little to improve Fremont High School that eight years ago, the state took on decision-making authority over the school and nine others in L.A. Unified. Students were reading primary-grade picture books; dropout rates were legendary. The state was supposed to provide an improvement plan that would show results within 18 months; if that failed, it would take over the school entirely or impose other sanctions. But no sanctions were imposed, and here's where Fremont is now: 12% or so of students are proficient in reading and writing. About 2,000 students start out as freshmen; by senior year, there are proficientless than 600. Reconstitution is a fresh-start attempt for failing schools. The staff is let go, but can reapply to continue working there. The school would require uniforms or a stricter dress code. These restructured schools don't always succeed, and Duncan's push to increase their numbers might be misplaced. But Fremont can't do much worse than it has since the beginning of the decade. We admire Cortines for responding to Duncan's visit and to the Times story on teacher evaluations with corrective action instead of defensive posturing. We just wish the district hadn't waited so long to do the right thing. _______________ Oct 3, 2001: STATE STEPS IN AT TEN LAGGING SCHOOLS:Audit teams are visiting the campuses and will recommend plans to shore up weaknesses. by RICHARD LEE COLVIN and ERIKA HAYASAKI, LA TIMES STAFF WRITERS October 03, 2001 -- The state Department of Education is poised to assume broad decision-making authority at 10 Los Angeles Unified School District campuses that have failed to meet goals for improving their test scores despite four years of warnings. Only three other schools in the state were targeted by the highly unusual intervention. Partly in response to his district's poor showing, Supt. Roy Romer will announce a turnaround plan today to retrain principals and boost reading and math teaching at those and as many as 10 other low-performing schools. He also warned that principals at schools that do not improve rapidly enough could lose their jobs. "We've got to elevate these lowest-performing schools," Romer said. "We have to have this happen." Another reason for urgency, he said, is new figures showing that only 44% of the district's ninth-graders passed the English-language arts portion of the state's high school exit exam this year. Only 24% passed the math portion. All students must pass both sections of the test by 2004 in order to earn a diploma. The test was voluntary this year only. "Our performance is not good, we know it and we're focusing on changes," Romer said in an interview. The schools where the state will intervene include: Avalon Gardens Elementary School; Gompers, Mt. Vernon and Sun Valley middle schools; Mann Junior High School; and Fremont, Locke, Roosevelt, Jefferson and Wilson high schools. Of the three other schools in California coming under state scrutiny for their weak performance, two are in the Visalia Unified School District in the Central Valley: Goshen and Houston elementary schools. The other school is Lower Lake High in the Konocti Unified School District in Lake County. The schools were first identified based on their test scores on the Stanford 9 test in 1997; each failed every year since then to make improvement targets and did not avail itself of funds from a key state school improvement program. David Tokofsky, a member of the Los Angeles Board of Education, said the district's dominance on the target list demonstrates "a failure of instructional urgency." Each of the 13 targeted schools will be visited within the next few weeks by a state-appointed scholastic audit team that will recommend a detailed plan for shoring up weaknesses. If the schools do not improve, the state can ultimately convert them into charter schools or authorize students to transfer elsewhere. [article continues: part 2 http://bit.ly/4Z93c9 | part 3 http://bit.ly/56Ij0N] HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest of the Stories from Other Sources No budget/No clue: SCHWARZENEGGER: "Dear Santa:" …with a cc: to Uncle Sam: from various newsfeeds Schwarzenegge... http://bit.ly/4V58Kh LAUSD'S RACE TO THE TOP: Amber Banks | Examiner.com December 26, 10:13 AM -- January 19, 2010 marks the first of t... http://bit.ly/5BvCB5 SAN FRANCISCO PENINSULA SCHOOL DISTRICTS UNSURE OF 'RACE TO THE TOP' PROPOSAL: Even districts that intend to partic... http://bit.ly/6JAQ9S SCHOOLING LOW-INCOME PARENTS IN HELPING STUDENTS: Educators have long believed that low-income students would soar ... http://bit.ly/8O1fej UNION SUES LAUSD OVER CHARTER SCHOOLS/SINDICATO DEMANADA A LAUSD POR ESCUELAS CHARTER: Union Sues LAUSD over Charte... http://bit.ly/757pW2 THE TURNAROUNT FALLACY: School turnaround efforts have consistently fallen far short of hopes and expectations.: By... http://bit.ly/82Dzup UTLA FILES LAWSUIT ON SCHOOL GIVEAWAYS: Ed Code states that schools can’t convert to charters without majority te... http://bit.ly/6qZhAT TEACHER'S UNION SUES OVER CHARTER SCHOOL: By Dennis Romero in LA Weekly News Blog | http://bit.ly/7CUGJy Tue., D... http://bit.ly/4FvNyB Breaking News 12/21: UTLA SUES OVER NEW SCHOOLS GIVEAWAY: Union sues LA school district over charter plan San ... http://bit.ly/4KFhyj Follow the $: SCHWARZENEGGER + ROMERO SPELL ED REFORM C-H-A-R-T-E-R-S: by Steven Harmon | Contra Costa Times excer... http://bit.ly/6XocbZ EVENTS: Coming up next week... *Dates and times subject to change. ________________________________________ • SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: http://www.laschools.org/bond/ Phone: 213-241-5183 ____________________________________________________ • LAUSD FACILITIES COMMUNITY OUTREACH CALENDAR: http://www.laschools.org/happenings/ Phone: 213-893-6800 • LAUSD BOARD OF EDUCATION & COMMITTEES MEETING CALENDAR What can YOU do? • E-mail, call or write your school board member: Yolie.Flores.Aguilar@lausd.net • 213-241-6383 Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386 Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180 Marguerite.LaMotte@lausd.net • 213-241-6382 Nury.Martinez@lausd.net • 213-241-6388 Richard.Vladovic@lausd.net • 213-241-6385 Steve.Zimmer@lausd.net • 213-241-6387 ...or your city councilperson, mayor, the governor, member of congress, senator - or the president. Tell them what you really think! • There are 26 mayors and five county supervisors representing jurisdictions within LAUSD, the mayor of LA can be reached at mayor@lacity.org • 213.978.0600 • Call or e-mail Governor Schwarzenegger: 213-897-0322 e-mail: http://www.govmail.ca.gov/ • Open the dialogue. Write a letter to the editor. Circulate these thoughts. Talk to the principal and teachers at your local school. • Speak with your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Stay on top of education issues. Don't take my word for it! • Get involved at your neighborhood school. Join your PTA. Serve on a School Site Council. Be there for a child. • If you are eligible to become a citizen, BECOME ONE. • If you a a citizen, REGISTER TO VOTE. • If you are registered, VOTE LIKE THE FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT. Who are your elected federal & state representatives? How do you contact them? Scott Folsom is a parent leader in LAUSD. He is Past President of Los Angeles Tenth District PTSA and represents PTA on the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee and the BOC on the Board of Education Facilities Committee. He is an elected repreprentative on his neighborhood council. He is a Health Commissioner, Legislation Team member and a member of the Board of Managers of the California State PTA. He serves on numerous school district advisory and policy committees and has served a PTA officer and governance council member at three LAUSD schools. He is the recipient of the UTLA/AFT 2009 "WHO" Gold Award for his support of education and public schools - an honor he hopes to someday deserve. • In this forum his opinions are his own and your opinions and feedback are invited. Quoted and/or cited content copyright © the original author and/or publisher. 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