In This Issue:
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ADULT EDUCATION ON L.A. UNIFIED'S CHOPPING BLOCK |
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From the same wonderful folks who brought you 'Grading the Teachers': HOW TO GRADE A TEACHER |
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COST-CUTTING CHANGES SET FOR LAUSD |
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STAMP OUT ‘EARLY START’ NOW! - Avoid More Chaos at LA Unified! |
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HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T FIT: The Rest (but
not neccessariily the best) of the Stories from Other Sources |
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EVENTS: Coming up next week... |
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What can YOU do? |
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Featured Links:
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Someone thought up "Credit Default Swaps" and gave
them that name. Someone else imagined+named "Value Added Analysis of
Teacher Performance". Lewis Carroll said nonsensically to Beware the
Jabberwock – and George Orwell told us not to believe the Newspeak.
CAROL CORBETT BURRIS, principal of South Side High School on Long
Island, writes that she should be a cheerleader for the New York State
value-added/test-score-driven evaluation system for educators. She’s
the principal of a very successful high school where students get great
test scores, she has a supportive superintendent. Her personal “score,”
in all probability, will be high.
“However,” she warns: “The right question to ask is not whether this
evaluation system is good or bad for adults, but rather whether it is
good or bad for students.” | http://t.co/blb8NPE0
Lest we forget, test givers and test takers alike, there is no correct answer to the wrong question.
IN HIS STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS [http://1.usa.gov/zkyabp] President Obama said:
“Teachers matter.” (He delivered that line with a breathy confidentiality: ‘You and I, we know this is true’.)
“So instead of bashing them, or defending the status quo, let’s offer
schools a deal. Give them the resources to keep good teachers on the
job, and reward the best ones. In return, grant schools flexibility: To
teach with creativity and passion; to stop teaching to the test; and to
replace teachers who just aren’t helping kids learn.”
(Did he mean: I have come to praise teachers …and to bury them in
competition for merit pay? Note that I imply that ‘teaching to the test’
is a bad thing – but evaluating teacher performance and ‘rewarding the
best teachers’ and ‘replacing’ the unhelpful ones based on the test is
good thing.)
And remember: The status quo IS NCLB and Race to the Top and Gates+Broad ®eform, Inc.
The President also said:
“We also know that when students aren’t allowed to walk away from their
education, more of them walk the stage to get their diploma. So tonight,
I call on every State to require that all students stay in high school
until they graduate or turn 18.” [ see: Underwhelmed - Scratching the
Surface of Obama’s Education Rhetoric]
(Didn’t the president teach constitutional law at the University of
Chicago? Where is the constitutional provision about presidents
requiring states to do things? This sounds like a national mandate-for
(or a right-to) free universal public education. I’m for it – but is
that what he meant?)
The Federal Government’s previous forays in public education have not
exactly been all wonderfulness. See: Diane Ravitch Speaks Out: "NCLB HAS
BEEN A DISASTER, AND THE WAIVERS ARE A POISON PILL"
IN LAUSD THIRTY ADULT SCHOOLS offer 350,000 students a chance to earn
high school diplomas or learn English and career skills. In Sandy Banks
LA Times column [ADULT EDUCATION ON L.A. UNIFIED'S CHOPPING BLOCK] you
will read that Adult Ed - already cut in half - is being 'zeroed out' of
the budget.
Banks presciently opines that "zero" might turn out to be an accounting
gimmick or a political ploy… but for now, it has stoked the fears of
adult students and their teachers.
Superintendent Deasy disagrees that adult education's value is somehow reflected in his budget line.
“The program may be ‘zeroed out’, but it isn't being singled out, he said.
"There are so many things that are going to be zeroed out of the budget,
this is just the tip of the iceberg." Deasy ticked off a list of likely
cuts: preschool programs, elementary art, summer school and thousands
of administrators, teachers, nurses, custodians, gardeners and cafeteria
workers.”
Deasy’s argument here isn’t just disingenuous; it’s almost evil.
He’s saying that what’s being done is bad: cutting preschool and art and
summer school and Student Medical Services and custodians (not to
mention school libraries and librarians and after school programs – or
the Title One programs at 23 schools – those are so last semester!) …so
eliminating Adult Ed is no worse.
The 24th floor leadership aren’t reducing high-states testing or Deasy’s
signature value-added/test-score-driven evaluation system for teachers –
programs that reduce the value of instruction. It’s full-speed-ahead
with the “Early Start” calendar.
I was reminded by a reader last week that the late John Liechty grasped
the punitive and non-teaching character of standards based education
years ago. In institutionally underserving disadvantaged students of
color and poverty Liechty said: “No one creates more subcultures in Los
Angeles than LAUSD itself.”
A colleague of John’s wrote: “What was central to John was recognizing
the dignity and worth of each child. What he meant was thinking that
each child is the same - and delivering education with this wrong
premise, was completely wrong. And as the momentum for the attack on
schools and teachers began to rear its ugly head more prominently (it
began, after all, in the mid-1980s), John vehemently warned. ‘Pay
attention! You aren’t seeing what’s coming!’”
We were warned. And what was coming is upon us. Reform with an ®. [ see:
“®eformers” or “Post Reformers” or “Post-Post-Reformers”]
Adult and Vocational Ed – and those other expended/expended programs –
from early ed to after school programs and summer school to school
libraries and the arts and nurses etc. – especially serve those kids who
aren’t “just the same”. The ones who don’t have music lessons and AYSO
and Little League and home libraries and English-spoken-at home; who
don’t have Montessori preschools and medical insurance. The ones who
need to get a job at sixteen – or who can’t get the class they need
during the day because they don’t fit into the school’s master schedule.
Because, gentle readers, many of the ‘adults’ in Adult Ed are regular
students: sixteen-thru-nineteen year olds trying to make ends meet and
credits add up – maybe getting past mistakes they’ve made (or not of
their making) – not-yet-adults in the adult world.
Some are children raising children. Some adults in adult schools are
losing their Adult Ed programs and their opportunity while their
children are loosing their opportunity for quality Early Childhood
Education.
Did I mention how the economy has already hammered disadvantaged, under-educated youth?
After all, no one will ever miss Transitional Kindergarten because no one will ever have it!
But an unforeseen+unintended consequence of the so-called “new-freedom”
of “funding flexibility” allows Districts to ‘zero out’ specifically
targeted programs like Adult Ed and Early Childhood Ed and all the rest
and spend it on something else. After all, they did it in Oakland. And
we in L.A. want to so to be like Oakland! [see Gertrude Stein on
Oakland]
ELSEWHERE THE FALLOUT FROM THE LAUSD STEALTH
REDISTRICTING+REORGANIZATION fell with a soft thud – interestingly
enough with Dr. Jaime Aquino taking point. http://bit.ly/AldpB2 + http://lat.ms/wrrMLg
(This should not to be confused with the City of L.A. Council
Redistricting, which is proving ugly; The County of LA Supervisorial
Redistricting, which has proven ugly; and the LAUSD School Board
Redistricting, which hasn’t really started and has to be done by March
1.
GOINGS-ON AT LAUSD PROVED UNPOPULAR at a Valley Town Hall on Wednesday
Night – "Wednesday night was a tough one for LAUSD Superintendent John
Deasy..." - but the Superintendent used that forum to launch the
campaign for a too-little+mistimed parcel tax. http://bit.ly/ABOwX9 + http://bit.ly/zO01uW
EdVoice SENT OUT AN E-MAIL attacking people in LAUSD whom they agree
with and congratulating the brave (though anonymous) parents who are
suing over LAUSD mollycoddling the usual rats nest of bad teachers in
Doe v. Deasy. http://bit.ly/xUV7OO Mayor Tony weighed-in in support of the Does from somewhere out of town. http://bit.ly/xC4QpN
EdVoice (an asrtroturf front for ®eform) – the bankroller of the
lawsuit – stands behind (or hides behind) the brave anonymous parents.
As the Plaintiff Does and Defendant Deasy – and EdVoice and Mayor Tony
are all in agreement they should form a barbershop quartet and sing the
Theme from Bad Teacher: The Movie (sadly un-nominated for any Academy
Awards) in four part harmony down at the Courthouse.
Of course taxpayer (ie: the student’s) money is being used to “defend” the suit.
(There is another, real lawsuit on educational funding equity also being contested called Doe v. California. http://bit.ly/yrLkcp Different, non-anonymous Does, I assure you.)
So there you have it: the week ending Jan 28, 2012. Take it, I don’t want it anymore.
¡Onward/Adelante! - smf
ADULT EDUCATION ON L.A. UNIFIED'S CHOPPING BLOCK
WITH FINANCIAL WOES IN SACRAMENTO AND NEW FREEDOM ON
SPENDING EARMARKED FUNDS, THE DISTRICT PROPOSES A BUDGET THAT HAS NO
MONEY TO HELP ADULTS GET HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMAS, LEARN ENGLISH OR ACQUIRE
CAREER SKILLS.
By Sandy Banks | LA Times columnist | http://lat.ms/zVrNMS
January 28, 2012 :: Adult education teacher Planaria Price is used to
the ups and downs of budget planning in the giant Los Angeles Unified
School District.
Price remembers boom times in the late 1980s, when classes at Evans
Community Adult School near downtown ran 24 hours a day. Money was
flowing and immigrants flocked to English lessons, hoping for
legalization under federal amnesty programs.
And Price has stuck it out through tough downturns, when classes were
cut, teachers were laid off and many vocational programs closed.
Still, nothing in her 39 years as a teacher at Evans prepared her for
the news that the district's entire adult education division may be on
the chopping block.
"The program's already been cut in half," she said. "Now we find out that we are being 'zeroed out' of the budget."
Indeed, according to a proposal presented to the school board last
month, there is no money budgeted for the $120-million Division of Adult
and Career Education in 2012-2013.
But the district budget is a moving target. The spending plan goes to
the school board for public review in February. Then it faces a
months-long evolution as state financing numbers shift.
Down the line, that "zero" might turn out to be an accounting gimmick or
a political ploy. But for now, it has stoked the fears of adult
students and their teachers and spotlighted how vulnerable they are.
"We've had dramatic cuts over the years," said Julie Wetzel, a
teacher-advisor with a program that helps disabled adults learn life
skills.
"This feels like we're being forced out because they don't think what we're doing is important."
::
Supt. John Deasy disagreed that adult education's value is reflected in
his budget line. Thirty adult schools offer 350,000 students a chance to
earn high school diplomas or learn English and career skills.
The program may be "zeroed out," but it isn't being singled out, he
said. "There are so many things that are going to be zeroed out of the
budget, this is just the tip of the iceberg."
Deasy ticked off a list of likely cuts: preschool programs, elementary
art, summer school and thousands of administrators, teachers, nurses,
custodians, gardeners and cafeteria workers.
"We're talking about $540 million worth of reductions," he said. "Every
single one is important, and none of them should have to be made."
Adult education is an easy target because of forces coalescing in
Sacramento: The institutional penny-pinching required by the state's
ongoing budget problems and legislative changes that have given local
school systems more spending autonomy.
Three years ago, state legislators untied dozens of education programs
from their earmarked funding pools. That allowed districts to decide how
to spend money that had had been designated for specific services, such
as counseling, libraries or summer school.
The biggest pot of newly flexible money was in adult education.
"Some districts just wiped out adult ed and took the money," said Ed
Morris, Los Angeles Unified's director of the Division of Adult and
Career Education.
"Many never liked adult ed anyway," he said. "They look at the situation like this as 'Let's not waste a crisis.' "
Los Angeles didn't raid its program. Still, state funding cuts trimmed
the budget by 20% and the district — wary of looming reductions — chose
to lop off an additional 10%. "We had to economize," Morris said.
Now they have to prioritize. That means deciding what matters more: the
aspirations of hardworking adults trying to learn their way to
self-sufficiency or the needs of children trying to learn to read and
calculate and write.
::
This sort of resource-balancing act is going on across the country, in
schools reshaped by such disparate forces as immigration and technology.
Morris hears the clash of competing needs in private meetings and public
forums: "They say we need teachers, not administrators. We need
computers, but not books. We need K-through-12, but we don't need adult
education."
Some districts, including Oakland, have already gutted their adult
education programs. What officials will do in Los Angeles, Morris said,
"is anybody's guess."
A teacher I interviewed in the lunch room at Evans put it more bluntly.
"People are worried because they know what happens when all that money
goes to [district headquarters]. It goes to the fat cats and the
consultants, and the schools continue to suffer." He didn't want me to
use his name because he doesn't want a bull's-eye on his back when
layoffs come along.
Morris doesn't expect all adult schools to shut down, because ESL,
diploma and vocational programs draw, in part, on targeted federal
funds.
But in a cash-strapped district forced to cut basics at children's
schools, its hard to argue the importance of teaching a grown man to
upholster a chair or helping an elderly immigrant learn enough English
to pass her citizenship exam.
Adult education might seem like an unaffordable frill. But it's hard to
square that perception with what I heard from grateful students last
week in Price's ESL class.
I spoke with an ambitious young woman from Cameroon; a Catholic monk
from Colombia; and a college graduate from Mexico — she's a mother of
two daughters who spends six hours a day studying English so she can
understand their homework. "If you are a parent," she said, "and can't
communicate with your children, there will be a big mess in the family."
And I still recall a graduation I attended 10 years ago in Watts, where
the stage was crowded with beaming parents who had been nudged back to
class for high school diplomas by children rooting for their success.
This is not just about English lessons.
The debate, as it rolls along, may be waylaid by politics, hijacked by
immigration rants or bogged down in battles over funding streams. "It's
just another money game" to the bureaucrats, one teacher said. "Nobody
knows how much time they put in, how hard they work, what our students
are willing to do."
Adult school students don't have many defenders in high places. But
their efforts to make up for what they missed sends a message that young
students need.
Price expressed it best:
"The children of my students are wonderful students. That may have to do
with them seeing that their parents care so much about education. What
kind of bleak future are we leaving to them without the role models of
adults who are striving to do better in their lives?"
sandy.banks@latimes.com
From the same wonderful folks who brought you
'Grading the Teachers': HOW TO GRADE A TEACHER
By smf for 4LAKids – and our friends at the LA Times Editorial Board
The LA Times has singlehandedly, arbitrarily and with malice of
forethought done the most to muddy the waters around+about teacher
evaluation – without seriously advancing their or anyone’s arguments.
This morning they published three – count ‘em – three essays on the
subject under the headline above on the Op-Ed page, as a How-To …if not a
Why-Should-We?```
Without further water muddying – and in the interest of brevity if not wit – here they are as reading assignments:
•HOW TO GRADE A TEACHER by James Encinas, Kyle Hunsberger and Michael Stryer
We're teachers who believe that teacher evaluation, including the use of
reliable test data, can be good for students and for teachers. Yes,... http://lat.ms/x4Ft4f
•PUSHING PAST MEDIOCRITY IN THE CLASSROOM by Lisa Guernsey and Susan Ochshorn
Teacher wars are raging across the nation. One side blasts the "bad"
teachers, waving around student test-score data and demanding... http://lat.ms/AqHrGQ
•AN L.A. TEACHER REVIEWS HER REVIEW by Coleen Bondy
For the first time this year, LAUSD has prepared reports for teachers
that rate their effectiveness. When I received an email saying I
could... http://lat.ms/x0Mlba
….I also direct your attention to Diane Ravitch on NCLB and GOOD THINKING INSIDE THE BOX, both cited below.
COST-CUTTING CHANGES SET FOR LAUSD
By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News | http://t.co/yEF6muVP
01/24/2012 7:06 PM :: Superintendent John Deasy is taking the first
steps in restructuring Los Angeles Unified, with a plan that would thin
the district's administrative ranks and redirect resources to improving
classroom instruction.
Under a draft of the proposed reorganization obtained by the Daily News [published Thursday Jan 19 in 4LAKidsNews | http://bit.ly/xLIBS4],
LAUSD's eight local district offices would be squeezed down to four,
with a new structure that diversifies administrative responsibilities. A
fifth office would be responsible for overseeing the overhaul of dozens
of low-performing schools.
The plan would cut 64 of the system's 311 administrative positions,
shaving nearly $6.3 million from a deficit of nearly a half-billion
dollars.
Deasy was out of town Tuesday and could not be reached for comment.
However, Jaime Aquino, the deputy superintendent of instruction, said
the plan is designed to help improve student achievement while saving
the district money.
"This is an opportunity to reimagine what a new LAUSD should look like -
with limited resources but that better addresses the needs of
students," said Aquino, who crafted the plan.
Currently, Los Angeles Unified operates eight local districts, whose
superintendents oversee instruction, operations and parent-community
involvement.
The new plan puts Aquino in charge of the five area superintendents who,
in turn, would oversee a network of instructional directors responsible
for a small portfolio of schools. The local superintendents also would
supervise "teaching and learning support" coordinators, who would
provide professional development within their academic specialty.
Each local district would also have administrators to handle facilities and operations, and oversee parent and community issues.
"Right now, the eight local district superintendents handle everything,"
Aquino said. "The new structure would let a local superintendent target
achievement, teaching and learning ... This puts the focus of the
district more in the core of our work, which is improving instruction."
Judith Perez, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, the
union that represents the district's middle managers, said she was
awaiting more information from LAUSD and had no comment on the plan.
Under the current system, the eight local districts include two that divide the San Fernando Valley into east and west regions.
The new plan would put most of the Valley within a single, sprawling
district. The North Hollywood and Valley Glen neighborhoods would be
swept into a district stretching from the Pacific Palisades to the
Fairfax District and south to Westchester.
Hollywood, downtown and East Los Angeles would encompass a third
district, and the fourth would stretch from South L.A. to San Pedro.
Deasy foreshadowed the consolidation earlier this month, in discussing
the budget crisis facing the nation's second-largest school district.
Even if voters approve proposals for a parcel tax in LAUSD and a
statewide sales tax hike to boost education funding, Deasy has said
he'll have to make drastic cuts to LAUSD programs.
4 Your Review: The Shape of LA Schools to Come? - A DRAFT PLAN TO
REORGANIZE LAUSD INTO FOUR+1 ‘LOCAL EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTERS’ - AND
CREATES THE EDUCATION SILO, THE OPERATIONS SILO AND THE PARENT/COMMUNITY
SILO - BEGINNING NEXT YEAR
STAMP OUT ‘EARLY START’ NOW! - Avoid More Chaos at LA Unified!
Diana L. Chapman MY TURN – LA CITY WATCH | http://bit.ly/zRgTXQ
01.23.2012 :: So let me get this straight: Los Angeles Unified
School District allowed so many charters that now it has to woo students
back to its own campuses, overhauled its entire lunch menu to make
healthy food for kids who won’t eat it and now contemplates allowing
parents to pick the schools their children attend.
Talk about change.
With more pink slips looming on the horizon – and plenty of LAUSD
employees already gone -- one wonders how in these rough times of
economic turmoil – it makes any sense to adopt “early start,” which
means Los Angeles schools will start school this summer -- Aug. 14
district wide. That's three weeks earlier in blazing Los Angeles summer
days – an action School Board Member Richard Vladovic is still shaking
his head about.
No, the early start does not mean students will pick up more learning hours; they will just get out earlier –June 4 – in 2013.
No, this does not mean test scores will go up, which was one of kickers
that triggered this “early start” calendar. The district’s own report
reflects that test scores barely improved and that early start failed to
bring up grades or increase attendance.
Even Los Angeles schools superintendent John Deasy recommended to the
board that due to uncertainty with the state and federal budgets, it
made more sense to indefinitely postpone the calendar change.
So all I can ask is why are we doing this, something that will wind up
probably costing the district more than it expects and in which
Vladovic, reminds the board each meeting that “this is not the time” to
do this?
He was so concerned in fact, he filed a resolution to postpone the move –
an action he lost in a 4-3 vote in October. Board president Monica
Garcia voted no to the postponement along with Board Members Tamara
Gatzalan, Nury Martinez and Steve Zimmer.
Voting with Vladovic were the two board members who co-sponsored his resolution: Bennett Kayasar and Marguerite LaMotte.
Vladovic, who serves the entire Harbor Area along with Carson, Gardena,
Lomita and parts of south Los Angeles, bemoans the district wide action
after 19 schools in the valley piloted the early start to see how it
works.
According to Vladovic, it didn’t. It did improve the California Exit High School Exam, but did little else.
“It did not improve scoring,” complains Vladovic. “It did not improve AP
testing or attendance. It didn’t raise the scores of schools. It will
cause havoc for after school programs. Sometimes, change is good. In
this case, the timing is wrong.”
Because pink slips lawfully have to inform teachers of layoffs by March
15 -- and the state budget may not pass until the end of August --
Vladovic has decided to raise the issue at every board meeting imploring
other members to reconsider.
“We can’t rescind layoff notices until Sacramento passes their budget,”
Vladovic wrote on his blog. “If Sacramento passes their budget after
July, we will be hard pressed for a smooth opening. It now looks like
the budget might not pass until late August.”
I too am concerned even though it won’t impact me personally since my
son is graduating this year. But as a parent, I’ve been overwhelmed by
the erratic changes the district has undertaken, including putting my
son’s high school in the “public choice” category which meant outsiders
such as non-profits could bid on running the schools.
This quickly turned problematic – as I expected – when the non-profits
or charters went primarily after newly constructed schools and ignored
larger, cumbersome LAUSD schools, such as San Pedro, Gardena and Carson
high schools.
As fast as the “public school choice came,” it was quickly erased as
rugged competition emerged and the district began losing thousands of
students – meaning huge losses of money since it receives average daily
attendance (ADA) -- or $28 a day per student from the state.
Longtime San Pedro High School teacher Richard Wagoner said he’s still
trying to figure out what the entire purpose of the calendar change is.
The schools already on early-start would have been allowed to continue
to do so even if it wasn’t approved district wide.
It seems pointless, Wagoner argued.
“There is something very fishy about this initiative,” said Wagoner, a
vocal proponent against the early-start calendar. “The valley was going
to be allowed to keep their calendar. Yet principals from the valley
took time away from their duties…to ensure that all schools are forced
into early start in spite of the almost 100 percent opinion of those
against it by the few that actually knew the vote was coming.
“I want to know what the early start board members stand to gain from this because it otherwise makes no sense.”
Truly, Wagoner is right. Some argue that it helps align high school aged students to the August college calendar system.
But is that enough reason to undergo anymore upheaval?
To use early start, LAUSD will have to use $20 million to punch it
through, but it’s expected to recoup most – not all – of the money when
the state pays the district ADA, said Jacob Haik, Vladovic’s chief of
staff.
An LAUSD report says it will only cost $870,000 – but that probably
means if it goes without a hitch. And if we know one thing about LAUSD,
few things go without a hitch.
While I’ve talked to many teachers who aren’t troubled by it and a
handful of parents also who said it wasn’t an issue for them, I still
think there’s a key ingredient missing.
That is the why? Why, for heaven’s sake, would we do this?
Vladovic – please keep asking.
(Diana Chapman is a CityWatch contributor and has been a
writer/journalist for nearly thirty years. She has written for
magazines, newspapers and the best-seller series, Chicken Soup for the
Soul. You can reach her at: hartchap@cox.net or her website: theunderdogforkids.blogspot.com) –cw
HIGHLIGHTS, LOWLIGHTS & THE NEWS THAT DOESN'T
FIT: The Rest (but not neccessariily the best) of the Stories from Other
Sources
SAN FRANCISCO SCRAPS TRANSITIONAL KINDERGARTEN: District cites uncertainty over state budget
Kathryn Baron | TopEd | http://bit.ly/co89gG
January 27, 2012 :: San Francisco Unified School District, which
begins registration today for the next academic year, is the first
district in California to forgo plans for Transitional Kindergarten. The
decision leaves several hundred families, who thought their children
would be entering the new educational program, with few options. The
district on its website blames the governor’s proposed budget, which
would cut money for a program that San Francisco Unified can’t afford
on….]
LOOKING FOR THE “COMMON” IN “COMMON SENSE”
Themes in the News for the week of Jan. 23-27, 2012 by UCLA IDEA
1-26-2012 In his third State of the Union address Tuesday night,
President Obama grappled with America’s need to solve important
challenges in the midst of incivility and lack of shared focus. Obama
drew comparisons with America’s Armed Forces, whose successes in the
field depend on placing the mission ahead of individual interests:
“Imagine what we could accomplish if we followed their example.” Later
in his speech, he added, “We need to end the notion that the two parties
must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that
politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building
consensus around common-sense ideas.”
Of course, one party’s “common-sense ideas” can be another party’s
horrible ideas—which makes those ideas not at all common and nowhere
near a consensus. The challenge is to identify what is truly common once
one gets past the rhetorical generalities of our desires for a strong
economy, fair taxation, innovative business climate, educational
opportunities, and so forth.
Closer to home, California schools continue to be wracked by the pitched
battles among stakeholders who have decidedly different notions of
common sense. With this climate in mind, a new study from UCLA's
Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access (IDEA) looks for
promising consensus-building common ideas that may be obscured in the
daily acrimony over strategies and proposals.
In Finding Common Ground in Education Values, IDEA researchers
interviewed 50 influential Californians about their thoughts on the
purposes of public education. The individuals included state
legislators and legislative staff from both political parties, business
and labor leaders, and representatives of civic organizations. Though
they came from disparate political and ideological backgrounds, the
white paper reveals strong points of agreement.
For example, respondents thought that “powerful learning” depended on
personalized teacher-student interactions; respondents favored teaching
that draws upon student interest and is project-based; they valued
learning that can be used outside of classrooms. Experiences with
technology, teamwork, problem-solving, analytic skills and civic
participation were valued as inherently worthwhile rather than as means
to other ends. Each of the values represents a productive starting point
from which to develop not only “solutions,” but to gain the mutual
trust and political climate needed to realize those solutions.
Significantly, almost all of the survey respondents said that the
current education system does not support these values.
The values reported in the white paper resonate with Gov. Jerry Brown’s
recent comments about the need for California to develop new forms of
accountability that do not rely exclusively on standardized tests
(Washington Post). But, more than that, the white paper brings attention
to what California schools should be doing and why this matters.
In closing his address, Obama said: “As long as we are joined in common
purpose, as long as we maintain our common resolve, our journey moves
forward, and our future is hopeful, and the state of our Union will
always be strong.” Building such resolve and purpose in education policy
requires common education values that are not so lofty as to defy
disagreement and not so specific as to immediately draw oppositional
boundaries. Common values have to reside in the body of our
deliberations, not just in the introduction and conclusion of our
speeches.
DIANE RAVITCH SPEAKS OUT: "NCLB HAS BEEN A DISASTER, AND THE WAIVERS ARE A POISON PILL": EdBrief Interview |http... http://bit.ly/AAGTML
Underwhelmed: SCRATCHING THE SURFACE OF OBAMA’S EDUCATION RHETORIC + two updates: Dana Goldstein | The Nation bl... http://bit.ly/yPrsjN
Labels: “®EFORMERS” or “POST REFORMERS” or “POST-POST-REFORMERS”: from notyet LAUSD | http://bit.ly/wMrMQn
USING TEST SCORES TO EVALUATE TEACHERS IS BASED ON THE WRONG VALUES: By Carol Corbett Burris | New York Times Sc... http://bit.ly/yJr7oc
Kindergarten? Transitional class? More preschool? SHIFTING STATE LAW AND BUDGET HAS PARENTS CONFUSED: By Sharon ... http://bit.ly/zIi1iv
More from Town Hall: LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT ASKS FOR TAX INCREASE TO HELP PAY FOR FULL SCHOOL YEAR + smf’s 2¢: Rep... http://bit.ly/y40z8o
Briefly: SCHOOL LUNCH: selected by 4LAKIDS from various newsreaders School lunch gets a makeover Los Angele... http://bit.ly/zuYb6x
PLAN WOULD CLOSE HALF OF L.A. UNIFIED’S REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS: by Howard Blume / LA Times/LA Now |. http://bit.ly/wGNsBx
TWO L.A. UNIFIED SCHOOLS WIN $100,000 GRANTS FROM TARGET: -- Rick Rojas | LA %Time3s/LA Now!| .. http://bit.ly/wWysda
CALIFORNIA’S WHITE ELEPHANT BUDGET GIVES SCHOOLS THE GIFT OF UNCERTAINTY: by Beth Chagonjian‚ Beyond Chron/Schoo... http://bit.ly/xfnYpC
Doe v. CA: LAWSUIT TO BAN PUBLIC SCHOOL FEES CLEARS KEY HURDLE: BY Howard Blume, LA Times/LA Now |. http://bit.ly/wZqXIT
BOYS PULL OUT KNIFE, GUN IN 7th GRADE GLASS AT MAYOR’S SCHOOL: Robert J. Lopez | LA Times/LA Now |.. http://bit.ly/yiXLRk
EDUCATION TOWN HALL: Community fumes over schools: By Susan Abram, Staff Writer, LA Daily News |.. http://bit.ly/xOGMn2
COST-CUTTING CHANGES SET FOR LAUSD: By Barbara Jones, Staff Writer, LA Daily News |.. http://bit.ly/xoum2w
GENDER EQUITY: DOING THE MATH - As boys and girls become more equal in math skills, everyone benefits.: LA Times... http://bit.ly/xP7yGq
STAMP OUT ‘EARLY START’ NOW! - Avoid More Chaos at LA Unified!: Diana L. Chapman MY TURN – LA CITY WATCH |.. http://bit.ly/zmHMiH
GET YOUR LATTÉ, DONOR’S CHOOSE CARD (and soon) BEER + WINE AT STARBUCKS: Bake Sale Fundraising for the Socially Networked!... http://bit.ly/A40az0
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
What can YOU do?
• E-mail, call or write your school board member:
Tamar.Galatzan@lausd.net • 213-241-6386
Monica.Garcia@lausd.net • 213-241-6180
Bennett.Kayser@lausd.net • 213-241-5555
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! • Find
your state legislator based on your home address. Just go to: http://bit.ly/dqFdq2 • 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 Brown: 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. THEY DO!.
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