Schools: October 2007 Archives

Just a single San Fernando Valley school is in the running to participate in two key reform efforts widely touted by the mayor and schools chief as a key to boosting performance at Los Angeles Unified. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

Superintendent David Brewer III said Thursday that he has cut five of the six Valley schools named in his original reform effort targeting 44 low-performing sites.

And Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has 34 confirmed meetings with LAUSD schools through November to determine which two high schools and their related elementary and middle schools he'll manage - but none of them are in the Valley.

More than 300 California educators had their teaching licenses revoked or suspended because of sex-related offenses from 2001 through 2005. AP in the Daily News.

But you can't tell that from the state's enforcement records - at least not those available to the public.

While some of the most egregious sex abuse is flagged, California law allows many offenses to remain confidential in education records, even when teachers go to prison and register as sex offenders.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law on Sunday a measure designed to provide up to $640 million to Los Angeles schools from a voter-approved bond. Daily News.

The governor signed AB 1014, authored by Assemblywoman Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, designed to fill a loophole in Proposition 1D, the school-construction measure approved last November as part of Schwarzenegger's package of bonds aimed at improving California's infrastructure.

A provision in the measure, however, would have placed severe limits on the ability of the Los Angeles Unified - the largest school district in the state - from getting its fair share of the funds.

Bass' measure changed the formula for funding from looking at new-student growth to considering traditionally overcrowded school districts, such as the LAUSD.

Just days after unveiling an overhaul plan for dozens of Los Angeles' lowest-performing schools, Superintendent David Brewer III on Thursday targeted nearly 100 underachieving and long-neglected middle schools for reform. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

Brewer said he hopes to roll out "personalized learning environments" at all 92 of the district's middle schools by the 2009-10 school year to raise achievement and retention rates.

The move is significant for Los Angeles Unified School District middle schools, overlooked for years as the district focused on improving elementary schools, then high schools.

Aiming to overhaul Los Angeles Unified's lowest-performing schools, Superintendent David Brewer III unveiled a plan Tuesday to essentially carve out a separate, targeted district for 44 of the neediest schools.Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

Brewer's senior staff and local superintendents still are developing details, but the new district would be made up of middle and high schools - including several in the San Fernando Valley - and would have its own rules of governance, separate curriculum and instructional planning.

Brewer hopes to roll out the district next fall and said schools in the group would be candidates for drastic reforms such as all-boys academies and neighborhood literacy centers for parents.

More than a year after rolling out a $10 million effort to keep at-risk students in school and re-enroll those who have left, Los Angeles Unified's dropout rate has seen little improvement. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

But the nation's second-largest school district announced Monday that it will expand its anti-dropout efforts to the Internet and radio airwaves and send even more counselors door-to-door.

The new program - "My Future, My Decision" - is a broad effort that includes spots on KPWR-FM (105.9), a text-messaging campaign and interaction through popular social networking Web sites MySpace and Facebook.

Zella Knight and her 15-year-old daughter were evicted from their Sun Valley apartment last year as the condo-conversion craze swept the San Fernando Valley. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

Anastassia helped her mother hunt long and hard for an affordable place to live, and they finally settled in an L.A. Family Housing shelter in North Hollywood.

The situation is far from ideal, however, and their struggles continue: Zella to find support services and Anastassia to find a quiet place to study so she can maintain her high grades.

United Teachers Los Angeles officers will camp out in an RV at Los Angeles Unified headquarters starting today to protest payroll glitches that have led to over- and underpayments for thousands of employees since February. Naush Boghossian in the Daily News.

The camp-out is the latest effort by the union to step up pressure against the district to resolve the problems. Superintendent David Brewer III has said the district can fix all the problems by next July.

"July 2008 is way too late," UTLA President A.J. Duffy said. "We're going to continue to support our teachers and highlight the problems for the community.

"They have sent out so many contradictory messages that we're not sure what's accurate and what's not and what's true and what's not."