School for Young Global Leaders

Saw this the other day. Thought we should share.

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"Fame" High School Canceling Annual Show due to budget cuts

Since when does being Mayor make you an educator?

Cortines likely to take LAUSD Top Job

Obama Taps Duncan for Ed. Secretary

President-Elect Obama selected Arne Duncan to be Education Secretary. Duncan is head of the Chicago school system.

San Diego Schools Get Funds to Target recruitment of EXPERT Teachers

Debate lingers over Obama Education Sec. pick

Teacher selling ad space on student test

Let the search begin: LAUSD Supt. Brewer to step down

LA Times plays pile on with Brewer

Pressure Builds on Superintendent Brewer to leave District

In Some Schools 2 of 5 Math Teachers Don't Have Math Certif.

Generation Cheat

We were surprised that it was only 64% of high school students have EVER cheated. Thought it would have been higher.

Sain't Pride Returns to Locke High

LAUSD Reaches $15 Million Settlement over Payroll Issues

LA Students to Attend Inauguration

School Bus usage on the decline

More cuts expected at LAUSD

Is It Possible To "Fire" Bad LAUSD Teachers

The teachers that he is speaking of, are the let go from the district or are they transfered to another school?

9 Compton USD Schools Get New Playground Equipment

How is a school district allowed to have playgrounds that are out of compliance with safety regulations? Shouldn't the districts legal team be all over this issue?

Eye Witness Account of Manual Arts Lockdown

Rappin' Math Teacher to Represent CA Nationally

WANTED: Male Teachers

Voters Approve Measure Q

Feds say school districts must improve dropout rates

Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, Calif., has a 58 percent dropout rate — the worst record in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The district averages 33.6 percent dropouts, compared to a statewide average of 24.2 percent. New rules are coming to try to help curb these statistics.

State to cut funds for LAUSD by $440 million

Inglewood USD Teacher charged with assult

Sorry

Sorry for not having posted anything for the few weeks. Laptop issues!!!! uuugh Hopefully, i'll be back up and running soon.

Local Lynwood Teacher's Return to Lynwood USD to teach

Lawsuits filed against IUSD over district shake up

NCLB test score gains prove to be a challenge in San Diego County

The headline for the article is "questionable" at best. But the article shows the difficulty schools face with the accelerated test scores demands.

Nearly half of CA schools don't meet accelerated testing targets

Inglewood USD Superintendent shown the door.....

By one vote, the board declined to renew Superintendent Pamela Short-Powell's contract. What's really going on? The board has yet to answer why they will not renew the contract. Sounds like somethings not right.

Does LAUSD Deserve some credit?

The following is an open letter from LAUSD Senior Deputy Superintendent Cortinas. We are glad to see the improvements. Students and staff......keep up the good work. You have a long way still to go!!!

"Last summer's destructive fire season was a direct result of the California Supreme Court overturning a ban on same sex-marriage in May"

Here's an example of why the founding fathers put into our constitution the separation of church & state. A student at American River College (in Norther CA) blames wildfires on the CA Supreme Court ruling.

Mayor Villaraigosa wants exemption from state laws

LACOE to send monitors to 13 Lynwood USD Schools

LAUSD to get $165 Million more from State

This is not a good sign for Measure Q

If the LA Daily News said this we might not think of it the same way. But when the LA Times comes out against LAUSD's Measure Q, Superintendent Brewer & Mayor Villaraigosa may have some selling to do.

Average Superintendent on job an average of 36 months

We at TCI are doubtful, the Romer Building Plan would have been implemented had his tenure only spanned only 36 months. Especially, coming off the Belmont boondoggle.

How About "I Believe in Public Educaton"

Here's what John McCain had to say about education. Sounds like he really believes in privatization of education.

More Kids Take Algebra But Don't Learn More Math

Is This A Valid Reason To Protest????

There is a new coalition (Save California Summer) protesting that school should start after Labor Day Holiday. I thought they may have had a good reason until I read this:

Supporter Karen Vick, a Sacramento-area mother with two children in the San
Juan Unified School District, said it is unhealthy for her children to take
physical education classes and eat lunch outside in 100-degree August heat. The
school district’s August 18 start date also crunched vacation time for students
involved in summer swimming and other sports leagues.
The early school start dates have even affected attendance at the nearby state fair, she said. "We used to have a lot of kids participate in the science projects to show at the fair," Vick said. "A lot of families used to go but now nobody goes because school has started. Most families just say we’re in school mode and we can’t stay up late
and take the kids. It’s kind of chaotic with some schools starting in August and
some after Labor Day from neighborhood to neighborhood."

GIVE ME A BREAK. Attendance at the state fair is suffering. What a joke of a reason.

Good Ideas Sometimes Don't Work

A study done by the Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, CA shows that banning soda on school's had very little affect on the number of soda's a child drinks. Check out the study here.

California's 8th Grade Algebra Policy "A Set Up For Failure"

Comparing Education Plans

Finally A Budget....80 Days Late.

Seems the Govenator looks at the budget, kind of like a 7th grader looks at homework. Better late, than never.

70% of LAUSD Sophomors Can Pass Exit Exam

LAUSD Cops Recover Stolen Laptops

Looking Forward to Unexpected Success

Locke High in Watts, CA started the new year under the Green Dot Charter. Here's a video discussing the changes that have occurred. We look forward to seeing the "transformation".
Good Luck!!!

UTLA/LAUSD Talks Move To Mediation

Can't we all just get along? LOL. Looks like Mr. Duffy & Superintendent Brewer can't quite work it out, without help. Instead of these two fighting, they should be working together. At this moment in time in LAUSD, these two gentlemen should be joined at the hip. Mr. Duffy, instead of fighting against Charters. You should see them as future union member. Teachers at charter and public schools recognize that union membership is a benefit.

CA Court Slaps down Illegal Immagrants from Pre-Paying Tutition

The 3rd District California Court of Appeal issued a decision Monday that
challenges a state law allowing some undocumented students to pay in-state
college tuition.
The appeals court reversed a decision by Yolo Superior Court
Judge Thomas Warriner in 2006 that upheld a tuition law passed by the
Legislature in 2001 that allows undocumented students who attended state high
schools for at least three years to pay in-state tuition.

Software Allows Schools to Monitor Kids' Computer Use

I would assume that a school/district would have blocking software. But, I can see a need for this. If schools did nothing, that would leave the districts open to lawsuits. Do you think it okay for schools to monitor usage?

Some Good News

South LA High Schools Hit API Growth Targets
Bell, Huntington Park and South Gate high schools in the Southeast area all met their schoolwide growth targets for the year. Bell improved from 580 to 592 in its API score. Huntington Park improved from 543 to 562 and South Gate improved from 565 to 611.

Lynwood USD Addopts New Curriculum

Lynwood Unified voted to kick out the Kaplan curriculum after 4 years and 8 million dollars. Can you say, "big waste of money". On top of that, the district still has not put in place a curriculum to replace the Kaplan curriculum.

State Education Secratary Resigns After 18 Months

It's Been A Long Time Coming...........But A Change Is Gonna Come.

NBC News takes a look at the No Child Left Behind Act. After seven years, there's still no national test standard. In states that dumb down the test, more money flows in. With the NCLB Act renewal and a new President. There will be changes. Take a look, and let us know what your thoughts are.

Way To Go!!!!!!

Miller E.S. Principal Honored with Turnaround School Award
Jean Mitchell, principal at Loren Miller Elementary School, is honored as the first recipient of The Riordan Foundation's first School Turnaround Principal Award. The award, presented by former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, includes a $25,000 personal bonus for Ms. Mitchell and a $50,000 grant for the school itself. In addition, LAUSD Board Member Marguerite LaMotte pledged $50,000 in matching funds for capital improvements for the school.

Ms. Mitchell led the school from a API score of 354 to 709. The states goal for the school is 800, still leaving room for improvement. This shows that given the right leadership with exact goals, LAUSD can improve school by school.

We do have a few questions:

What does Ms. Mitchell think was at the root of the schools improvement? Does she think it can be replicated at other schools within the district?

What other schools were being considered? What is it that they did to improve the score?

W. Reed MS Get's a Shout-Out from the GOP

Ooooppps!!!! During the McCain/RNC political convention, a random image of Walter Reed Middle School was displayed on the giant monitor behind John McCain as he was about to delivery his acceptance speech. Many seem to assume that the campaign wanted to display a image of the well know Walter Reed Hospital. It appears that this was a sloppy usage of stage craft. The picture behind you should not step all over your message.

What Was She Thinking?

The family of a former Golden Valley High School student has filed a lawsuit against Hart Union High School District, claiming a former counselor of sexually abusing him. Roselyn Martinez Hubbell, 33, already has been charged by prosecutors with annoying or molesting another boy and faces a court date next month. The boy, who was 14 at the time, was assigned to Hubbell, and she became friends with him and his mother, according to the lawsuit. Hubbell drove the boy home from school each day. The alleged incidents occurred between January and September 2007 at the high school, in Hubbell's car and at the boy's home, according to the lawsuit. In addition to various sexual acts, Hubbell allegedly required the boy to smoke marijuana.

Back To A Traditional School Calendar

Some 10 to 15 year later. LAUSD returns some schools to a traditional calendar. The 19.2 billion dollar building plan the former Superintendent Romer pushed thru is finally starting to pay dividends. Not only is LAUSD finally developing the infrastructure of district, but the return to a traditional calendar must cut down on the administrative cost. This return to normalcy must be viewed as a good thing. With so little good news coming for the district, you would think they would be talking this up.

Here's Another Great Teacher's Link

Here's a link to the New York Times' Learning Network. A great resource for students, teacher, and parents. Our favorite section is Word of the Day. Check it out, let us know what you think.

Top Ten Things You Do Not Learn About Teaching in College

Yes, we are on the late freight with this one. But it's funny and we thought you might get a kick out it.

LAUSD Students Need "A Call To Action"

We've all heard a lot about Mayor Villaraigosa's improvement plan for LAUSD schools. We've heard a lot about the replacement of Principals and the need for swift resolution when under performing teacher are identified. What we haven't heard is a "call to action" for students and parents.

“Rather than blaming the abominable dropout statistics, if we are going to
decrease the number of dropouts, the responsibility must be approached as a
shared responsibility,” said LAUSD board member Marguerite LaMotte said. “Based
upon the expectation of all stakeholders that students will not dropout before
graduating, differentiated resources must be provided as needed.”

The first teacher of a child is their parents. Without students and parents stepping up and taking responsibility for learning it will be extremely difficult to change test scores and drop out rates. The best of the best teacher's would still have difficulty with unenthusiastic learners. The vast majority of the teacher's are there to see that their students learn. Mayor Villaraigosa and Superintendent Brewer need to focus on motivating students and parents, not bashing the easy targets, teachers and principals.

We all remember the emphasis that LAUSD District offices put on improving the API. You couldn't walk onto a campus without seeing the API score and what the importance of the score was. At each of the high schools within LAUSD, that same focus should be made on the graduation rate. Students can not achieve a goal; if they have not been asked to.

CTA's Response to State Budget Crisis

Principals Pushed Out

Just five months after Mayor Villaraigosa took control of 10 of Los Angeles' lowest-performing schools, principals at seven of the sites requested transfers.After the principals' transfer requests, the mayor's partnership sought applicants through advertisements within Los Angeles and across California. The new principals named Tuesday are: Tim Sullivan, Markham Middle School; Leo Gonzalez Jr., Stevenson Middle School; Sonia Miller, Gompers Middle School; Christina Rico, Hollenbeck Middle School; Charlene Green, Ritter Elementary School; Tanya Stokes-Mack, Figueroa Elementary School; and Sherri Williams, 99th Street Elementary School. Mayor Villaraigosa should work on cleaning up the surrounding
neighborhoods.

Five of the seven schools are within a 5 mile area. They all draw from the same neighborhoods. If the Mayor wants to do something about the schools. Maybe he should focus on cleaning up the area around the schools. On a daily basis, the students have to dodge prostitutes, gang-members, drug dealers, and the local drunk to get to school. How can you expect administration and staff to get the best from their students if the students do not come to school prepared and are distracted daily by outside influences. Yes, Mayor Villarigosa has to do something about the performance at these schools. But it is unfair to hang the performance solely on the principals head. Has he looked at the crime rate in these neighborhoods and looked to fire the LAPD Precinct Captains? Has the Mayor called on the local PTA to work more with families? Failing schools are not just one persons fault.

Lynwood Teachers Gets 6 1/2 Year for Child Porn

Sad, sad, sad........We never wish bad things to happen to people. But, as a teacher, this guy should have known he was doing wrong and should have searched for help.

A former first-grade teacher at Lynwood’s Lincoln Elementary School was
sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison Monday for possessing child
pornography.Kenneth Edward Kothe, 61, of Alhambra, was also ordered by U.S.
District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper to serve 10 years of supervised release — a
form of probation — after he is released from prison and to register with law
enforcement as a sex offender for the rest of his life.Kothe also cannot teach
children again unless he gets permission from a court or his probation officer.
Kothe pleaded guilty April 21 to one felony count of possession of child
pornography. Cooper set a self-surrender date of Aug. 11Kothe was arrested Nov.
28 in connection with a federal Internet child porn probe. Federal agents took
him into custody as he was leaving for work, prosecutors said.At the time of his
arrest, Kothe had stored at least 114 image files and 13 video files of child
pornography on his computer’s external hard drive, court documents state. Agents
also seized two bins full of child porn images Kothe had printed after
downloading them on his computer, as well as approximately four ounces of
marijuana, prosecutors said.During an interview with agents, Kothe admitted to
downloading and printing the images and paying for child pornography, which was
“entertainment to him, like a video game,” court papers state.Kothe stored the
sexually explicit images on a file folder labeled “XXX,” prosecutors
said.Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale said after Monday’s hearing that one
of the images Kothe possessed showed an infant being raped.Attempts to reach
Michael Berry, Kothe’s attorney, were unsuccessful.Berry appeared in court
Monday on behalf of Kothe, Dugdale said.The State Bar of California suspended
Berry July 1 for failure to pay bar member fees. Dugdale only learned of Berry’s
suspension following Monday’s hearing.

Excellent Work Done at Gage Middle School

Check out this very creative video.

This is the winning entry in the LAUSD InfoTech Student Video Competition 2008. Project X is our students vision of what Gage Middle School will be in the year 2015. The theme of the
competition is Excellence through Innovation.

Power Play of Week

Mayor Villarigosa has played a very shroud political move with the new LAUSD bond measure. Not only is he requesting additional funds, but he is tying those funds to both school improvement, and charter school expansion. What the mayor has done, is to tie two opposing forces (teacher union and charter schools) to getting additional funds for the district. A very dangerous move, but one that takes guts and a little muscle. If The Mayor can get the teachers union and the charter school community to publicly back the bond, he will have a team of spokes people that the fiscally conservative can not readily attack. Smart move Mr. Mayor! Good luck with keeping these two opposing interest in-line and on message.

P.S. Work on the transparency issue. It will be very difficult to push through, if LAUSD is not forthright and exact on how the funds are to be spent. The tax payers have not forgotten about Belmont.

Make Classroom Posters With Excel

We thought this might be helpful with BTS approaching. Our only advice is to be creative...........and laminate, laminate, laminate. It saves you money and time.

You Know Gas Is High When.........

Schools eye four-day week to cut fuel
costs

Facing a crippling increase in fuel costs, some
rural U.S. schools are mulling a solution born of the '70s oil crisis: a
four-day week.
Cutting out one day of school has been the key to preserving
educational programs and staff in parts of Kentucky, New Mexico and Minnesota,
outweighing some parents' concerns about finding day-care for the day
off.

Step in the Right Direction

We didn't know The Mayor reads TCI. A day after tackling the subject of the LAUSD & the Community College District exploring partnerships. This announcement appeared in the L.A. Times.

L.A.'s Santee school to team up with Trade-Tech College
Mayor Villaraigosa announces a program to train students in culinary arts and tourism while they complete high school. The goal is to prepare them for both a career and further college education.
A $1.2-million program designed to curb galloping high school dropout rates will send Santee Education Complex students to Los Angeles Trade Technical College to train in culinary arts and tourism Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced Tuesday.

We think this is the first step in the right direction. We hope the Mayor's office keeps good account of where the money goes. Let's make sure that the 1.2 million is EFFECTIVELY spent.

Rhetoric

I was reading the attached article when I read this quote from our Mayor:


Villaraigosa said dropout rates are one of the factors he will look at with his partnership schools. "We are going to track the dropout rates and focus on what it takes to keep kids in school. Our goal is to graduate every student and see them go on to college."

Yeah, and my goal is to win the lottery.
We here at TCI have yet to understand why the Mayor would want the albatross of LAUSD hanging anywhere on him. But since he decided to embark on this challenge of reform, his goals aren't quite realistic.

Every child going to college is unrealistic and impractical. If it were to happen, how much would it cost to go to USC? The better option for the District & Mayor to consider is implementing teaching these students a trade. What happened to schools teaching auto-mechanics and wood shop? The reason these subjects were taught, it was understood that not every student would go on to college and in order to be able to take care of yourself, students would have to have some type of skill.

Auto-mechanics and wood shop would be a good start. But it is 2008, what about culinary, computer graphics, cosmetology, child development, and office technology classes. I hope what the Mayor was thinking, trade schools and community colleges.

What Do You Make as a Teacher?

A DIFFERENCE!!!!!






This is a great clip to look at when your having one of those days. Or, next time someone ask you, "what do you make?"

Be Careful What U Ask For!

We asked to know how budget cuts are affecting school districts other than LAUSD and we get hit with this info. The Press-Telegram reported that Long Beach USD announced a $40 million budget reduction with an option for additional cuts mid year. Fortunately, it seems that LBUSD has been able to balance 08-09's budget without layoffs.

How Are The Budget Cuts Affecting Your District?

We hear a lot about LAUSD and the state's "belt tightening" on schools. Fortunately, they have not announced teacher layoffs. But I want to hear from those employees in smaller districts. Please post your comments or send us an email on how budget cuts are affecting your district

Free Webcast Event for Parents

Here's a free web event for parents. The National PTA is hosting a FREE web cast for parents on ways to better improve their families health, safety, and education. You can pre-submit questions to National Experts in parenting. Check it out, Tuesday, June 17, 2008 @ 2:00est.

http://www.visualwebcaster.com/event.asp?id=48895

The Importance of an Involved Parent

The attached link is to the new study done by the California Charter School Association comparing charter schools with nearby comparable public LAUSD schools. The study seems to show that the charter schools outperform the public school in most metrics. We here at TCI don't find that hard to believe. It would seem that most children who are attending charter schools have parents that are involved and concerned about their child's education. Where you find a involved and concerned parent, you will find a child progressing at or above grade level. You can scream and shout about teacher and school accountability. But, until you have parent accountability you will always have children who under perform.

In all fairness, this is just one comparison. There should be additional studies done to confirm these findings. But, this could serve as an opportunity for both the public and charter schools to share best practices.


http://www.myschool.org/Pressroom1/AM/ContentManagerNet/Default.aspx?Section=Pressroom1&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=15&ContentID=5673

Haven't you felt like doing this too.......at least once?

Now, don't take this as encouragement to go out and do this the next time you have a bad day at work. But you gotta admit, you have had a day that could justify you going off at work like this poor guy did. Hopefully, he got some help with his anger management.

Now That We Know Who The Candidates Are.......

I wanted to be like the rest of the Super Delegate and hold off on my endorsement. But, since we now know that Obama will be the Democratic Nominee, let's get a good understanding of what he plans to do to improve educaiton. Here's a speech Obama gave last week in Colorado. Take a listen, you be your own judge.


YES, WE CAN

At A Time When They Need To Stick Together

At a time when teacher's across the state need to be more unified. The LAUSD is thinking about not supporting its teahers when it comes to a one-hour strike. With the looming budget deficeit, and the potential for hundreds of teachers to be laid-off, you would think that the district would support the teachers and rally their parents to support this strike.

LAUSD will fight teacher walkout
Officials will seek court order banning 1-hour strike
By Brandon Lowrey, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 05/27/2008 09:17:31 PM PDT

With Los Angeles Unified School District teachers threatening a walkout next week to protest $353 million in budget cuts that could cost some their jobs, district officials said they would seek a court order today to keep teachers in class.
The planned June 6 hourlong walkout would be illegal because it would leave students unsupervised and vulnerable, district officials said.
"We have a legal, ethical, moral and every other obligation to make sure that the students' safety is being taken care of," said Maribel Medina, special counsel to the LAUSD board.
"One hour is sufficient to expose these students to a whole host of potential horrors."
The teachers union president defended plans for the walkout, refuting district claims that it would put students in harm's way.
"That's a lie," said A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. "We have directed our chapter chairs to sit down with the principals and create a one-hour safety plan.
"If the district is going to go for an injunction (against the walkout), then they're sending a clear-cut message to the students and the community of Los Angeles that they would rather not fight against the budget cuts, and that's sad because the students are gonna lose out."
District officials say they're cutting heavily into clerical and administrative staff to soften the impact on teachers.
LAUSD faces a $350 million budget cut - its share of a $4.3 billion
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slice out of education in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's widely criticized state budget proposal.
It remains unclear how many teachers could lose their jobs because of the cuts, said David Holmquist, LAUSD's chief operating officer.
But the district could only legally lay off teachers from a pool of about 5,200 still in their two-year probationary periods, he said. And the district has been cutting teachers from that group in recent years due to declining enrollment.
"There will definitely be layoffs," Holmquist said. "I would imagine we will be not inviting some of the probationary teachers back. I would like to think, and hope, it will be a small number."
Duffy said the walkout is intended to send a message to the governor and legislators that the cuts to education are too deep.
And even though the union and district are together in the fight to soften the impact of the statewide budget cuts on teachers and students, the prospect of the district fighting the union before a state labor board has strained their relationship, Duffy said.
Superintendent David Brewer III also bemoaned the state's cuts and said the district will do everything in its power to ensure that the cuts don't hit classrooms hard.
He said English-as-a-second- language programs, along with arts and music programs, may feel the pinch.
"We're trying to send a very strong signal to Sacramento that these cuts are unacceptable," Brewer said.
But he said the walkout isn't the right way to protest.
"We're not questioning the message," Brewer said. "We're just questioning the method."