School Notebook

This morning I was going over the agenda for the Los Angeles Community College District's board meeting on Wednesday, and one thing popped out at me.

Two interim administration appointees -- selected to fill spots made empty by a retirement and a career change -- are getting some pretty nice benefits. They each get a car allowance of $1,530 per month.

*UPDATED on Aug. 31, see below

In these post-Bell days, every benefit and salary deserves scrutiny. And $1,530 is certainly more than any of our local officials get for a car allowance.

Of course, the nine-college district is huge, and driving around it could certainly rack up some mileage and might require multiple tanks of gas each week. Still, even if the new appointees were driving all over LACCD and were leasing a nice new car, I'd guess they'd have trouble racking up that kind of auto expense every month.

It looks like the board of trustees in 2006 approved raising the car allowance for college presidents from $700 to $900 -- and these two appointees are categorized as presidents for pay purposes. I put in a call to the district to find out what the car allowance policy is now.

The new appointees are: Yasmin Delahoussaye, set to fill the position of interim "Vice Chancellor for Educational Programs and Institutional Effectiveness" beginning Aug. 30; and Rose Marie Joyce, to act at interim president of West L.A. College.

From what I can tell from district salary scales posted online, Delahoussaye will make about $11,005 per month. Joyce will get about $11,610 monthly, as well as $1,600 per month in an "alternative retirement account."

While I'm at it, I should note this story, which shows that the executive director of the California School Boards Association earned more than $400,000 last year.

Now who says there no money in education right now?

*Michael Shanahan, associate vice chancellor for employer/employee relations, emailed me the agenda from the day this new car allowance was approved. On Sept. 17, 2008, the Board of Trustees approved increasing the car allowance for college presidents from $900 to $1,530 monthly. Then-Chancellor Mark Drummond recommended the bump, which also affected his compensation and that of seven other administrators.

Salary increases for many of those administrators were approved at the same time, as were contract extensions.

Shanahan said college presidents are expected to travel widely across the sprawling district. By my math, the perks mean the district pays about $26,000 per month for auto allowances.

The jobs bill signed by President Obama last week isn't likely to bring back any teacher jobs in Torrance this fall. Torrance Unified laid off about 90 teachers last year. I'm told they've since brought back about 40, but that had nothing to do with the federal bill. Rather, the teachers were re-hired all summer as class schedules were finalized. But it appears the remaining 50 or so out-of-work Torrance teachers are out of luck for now.

This week, a district official in Torrance told me that when it comes to the jobs bill, the district's hands are tied by red tape. Specifically, the feds still have to approve the state's application for the money, and after that, the state will need to allocate the money.

Of the $1.2 billion earmarked for California, I'm told Torrance could see as much as $5 million, which, if true, would be huge. ($1 million pays for about 14 full-time teachers.) But that amount is far from firm.

In any event, Torrance isn't likely to see any of that money until at least November. And by then, classes will be well under way. So the money -- if received at all -- might not be spent until 2011-12.

Torrance isn't alone. Here's a story in the NY Times about how many of the nation's largest districts -- including LAUSD -- won't be using the money to bring back teachers this school year.

Are you a teacher who lost your job this year? If so, please feel free to contact me at rob.kuznia@dailybreeze.com.

Rob Kuznia's report on local education agencies' performance on spring 2010 STAR exams showed some marked improvement, with the exception of beleaguered Centinela Valley Union High School District.

The gains were seen especially in our elementary school districts -- Hawthorne, Lawndale, Lennox and Wiseburn. They all up ticked several points in English and math scores.

But how did things go in Los Angeles Unified schools, which make up about half of our campuses here in the South Bay?

Pretty decently, it turns out. The district's analysis showed that nearly all grade levels showed increases on nearly all tests.

The Daily News' Connie Llanos has a look at the big picture in LAUSD, where officials stressed student improvement despite distressing budget cuts.

LAUSD high schools in the South Bay and the Harbor Area saw an uptick in all areas, with the exception of the percent of students scoring proficient of advanced in Gardena's history courses, Narbonne in math and science, and Westchester in science. Those declines were small.

San Pedro High well outpaced other area secondary schools in LAUSD, with 44.2 percent proficient or advanced in English. Its math percentage was 14.2, better than the rest but still pretty bad.

To look up your child's school's performance, go to the state's Dataquest site.

Did your school do particularly well or worse than expected? Post a comment here or email me at melissa.pamer@dailybreeze.com. Thanks!

A lot of the reaction I've gotten to our stories on LAUSD's planned $24 request to parents to pay for transportation to sporting events -- a fundraising effort that's been rescinded -- was about how tiny the dollar amount was in comparison to costs at other school districts.

I've heard about donation requests that appear less than voluntary in which schools ask for around $600 per sport, sometimes far more.

As I wrote last week, the state Supreme Court has ruled pay to play illegal. (Ruling in PDF here.) But the practice appears to continue.

California Watch reported in June that a San Diego grand jury has looked into this issue, finding many instances of pay to play. The state Department of Education didn't have much of a response, California Watch's Corey G. Johnson found.

What's the situation at your child's school? If you're a coach or a student, how do you feel about this? Contact me at melissa.pamer@dailybreeze.com.

There's an update to the story on the $24 contribution request for LAUSD athletes. It's been rescinded.

Here are a few links to some ed reporters' reflections on the California State Board of Education's vote last week to create emergency regulations that will force school districts to notify parents at 1,000 schools that children may transfer to higher-achieving campuses.

In the South Bay, 12 schools were named to the list of schools, which was created in response to an education reform bill from state Sen. Gloria Romero that was signed into law in January.

On the list: Banning, Carson, Gardena, Leuzinger, Inglewood and Morningside high schools; Monroe Middle school in Inglewood; Peary Middle School in Gardena; Eucalyptus and York elementaries in Hawthorne; Roosevelt Elementary in Lawndale; and Moffett Elementary in Lennox.

Over at California Watch, Louis Freedberg blogged yesterday about the reaction from the California State PTA to the state board of ed vote.

"Our concern is that parents will get that letter and will be needlessly alarmed," said Patty Scripter, an education advocate for the California State PTA. "They will be upset and ask, 'Why is my kid in this situation?' and not be able to do anything about it."

John Fensterwald, an education blogger in Silicon Valley, writes that the "not-ready-for-prime-time landmark law" will be bewildering to parents and an irritant to school districts.

He gets into the nitty-gritty of some of the problems we noted (before and after the SBE vote) with the 10-percent rule that led to the inclusion of some decent-to-good schools on the 1,000 open enrollment (née low-achieving) list.

*And here is a post on Fox & Hounds Daily from SBE member Ben Austin, who advocated for the "parent trigger," another of the reforms that moved forward last week through emergency regulations.

If you are a longtime Palos Verdes Peninsula resident and you read my story today on an effort to bring stadium lighting to a Pen High, you probably noticed a glaring error.

I stated that Pen High coach and former football star Kevin Moen graduated from the school in 1979. As any good citizen of The Hill knows, the school was then called Rolling Hills High, not Palos Verdes Peninsula High. I didn't think about that when writing that second-to-last line.

Sorry, Kevin, RHHS alumni and other sensitive readers -- my bad! Thanks for bringing it to my attention in the comments. Feel free to email me directly next time at melissa.pamer AT dailybreeze.com.

The story will be fixed shortly and we'll run a correction in tomorrow's paper.

The Associated Press published an interesting story on Saturday looking at the potential (or extant, as the case may be) disparity between school districts that persuade voters to pass parcel taxes and those that don't or can't.

The AP reports that so far this year, 20 California school districts have held parcel tax elections. Sixteen have seen the taxes, which assess an annual levy on property owners, passed by a state-mandated two-thirds majority.

Most of those taxes winning have been in smaller, wealthier school districts -- like Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified, which narrowly earned voter approval for a $165 parcel tax a year ago.

Earlier this month, after a lackluster campaign for Measure E, Los Angeles Unified failed to get voters to pass its $100 parcel tax.

"It's a story of widening disparity," said John Rogers, who heads the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. "Across the state, the pain is felt everywhere, but because of the unequal distribution of wealth, some areas are able to respond."

AP reports that between 2001 and last June, voters in 83 of the state's 980 school districts approved parcel taxes, according to advocacy group EdVoice. Most of those 83 have student populations of less than 10,000 and educate fewer low-income students than the average district.

The Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District announced this morning that Mitzi Cress is taking over the top post at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School following the retirement of longtime principal Kelly Johnson.

A Miraleste High graduate, Cress has been with PVPUSD for 41 years, including 19 years at Pen High as a counselor and associate principal at the high-achieving campus.

"She has proven to the educational community in Palos Verdes that she is a passionate instructional leader who cares deeply about each and every student," Superintendent Walker Williams said in a press release.

(Photo courtesy of Cal State Los Angeles)

Alexandria Huynh - at 17 the youngest graduating senior ever in the class of 2010 at California State University, Los Angeles - is heading to Harvard University this fall to pursue a doctorate in immunology.

Admitted to Harvard Medical School with full funding and an additional stipend, the Torrance girl also was accepted to doctoral programs at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Huynh was a member of the Golden Key Honor Society and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society at Cal State L.A. Recipient of the Kinecta Federal Credit Union Scholarship, she was recently named the winner of Cal State L.A.'s Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Senior Award and presented the Early Entrance Program Graduate of the Year scholarship. In addition, she has volunteered at Torrance Memorial Medical Center. When time allows, she also enjoys figure skating and playing the piano.

Huynh was admitted to Cal State L.A. at the age of 13.

According to officials from Cal State L.A., the university's youngest graduate ever is Cynthia Martel, who graduated with bachelor's degrees in biology and biochemistry at the age of 14 in 1990.

A bill proposed by state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palos Alto) would require that students entering kindergraten turn five by Sept. 1 of their first school year. The new bill, which lawmakers say would save California nearly $700 million annually, would be phased in over three years starting in 2012.

Currently, any child who turns five before Dec. 2 can enter kindergarten.

The bill, SB 1381, has been passed by the senate and will now move on to the state assembly. It has been opposed by the California Teacherrs Association, and teachers have voiced concerns about how the potential savings would be spent.

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

As currently written, the bill would require half the money saved by the state to be spent on preschool programs to serve disadvantaged children. Simitian would use the other half to help cover state budget shortfalls.

Some teachers said they want to see the money saved put into funding K-12 programs to make up for income lost to schools based on the lower enrollment.

But the measure's supporters say the gradual implementation of the law would help ease budget concerns and allow the state and schools to plan for the change.

***

Almost every other state in the country requires a September birthday cutoff, perhaps giving them a competitive academic edge. Simitian's bill would put California in line with those states eventually. His bill would phase in over three years, moving the eligibility date up a month each fall starting in 2012, until it becomes Sept. 1.

Many parents already voluntarily keep their children with summer or fall birthdays out of kindergarten for a year. It's more often a choice made by families with the financial resources to cover child care or preschool for the extra year.

On the other hand, low-income families - those whose children are more likely to struggle in school and on standardized tests - often can't afford the extra year of child care and aren't allowed to stay in public preschool programs.

The federal Head Start program, for example, pushes students into kindergarten when they are old enough, whether they are academically or developmentally ready to go.

CSU trustees will meet in Long Beach next Friday to discuss raising student fees an additional 10 percent.

From the Associated Press:

California State University is proposing another round of student fee increases this fall as the 23-campus system grapples with deep cuts in state funding, officials said Wednesday.

CSU Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting in Long Beach on June 18 to vote on raising fees by 5 percent for undergraduate, graduate and teacher credential students, and 10 percent for education doctorate students.

Under the proposal, fees would increase $204 to $4,230 a year for resident undergraduates, go up $234 to $4,908 for teacher credential students and increase $252 to $5,214 for graduate students, said CSU spokesman Michael Uhlenkamp.

The board also will vote on eliminating the cap on nonresident tuition, so out-of-state students would pay about $16,000 for a full course load of 30 units, up from $11,160 now, he said.

"We're facing an unprecedented budget crisis," Uhlenkamp said, adding that the board could revisit the fee issue in November if the CSU system does not receive as much state funding university officials anticipate.

Still, the proposed 5 percent fee increase is less than the 10 percent hike that many had expected, said Miles Nevin, executive director of the California State Student Association.

"I think this is palatable for our students," he said. "I think it's reasonable considering the climate."

As Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature seek to close a $20 billion state budget deficit, CSU students are encouraged that the governor and the Assembly have both proposed restoring $366 million in funding to the CSU system, Nevin said.

Over the past two years, the CSU and 10-campus University of California systems have reduced enrollment, furloughed faculty and cut course sections in response to steep reductions in state funding. Both systems have raised undergraduate fees by more than 30 percent over the past year.

President Obama delivered the commencement address this evening during graduation ceremonies at Kalamazoo Central High School, winner of the Race to the Top Commencement Challenge.

Lawndale's Environmental Charter High School was among six finalists in the competition, aimed at rewarding schools and students embracing efforts to reform public education.

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis will speak later this month at the school's graduation ceremonies.

Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education, wrote an Op-Ed lauding the local charter school for its efforts to actively engage students in their own education, prepare them for college and inspire them to volunteer in their local community. Duncan's Op-Ed appeared exclusively in today's Daily Breeze.

You can read more about Environmental Charter and Obama's Race to the Top Commencement Challenge here, here and here.

California education officials submitted an application Tuesday to compete in "Phase 2" of Obama's Race to the Top initiative. It is the second application the state has submitted and up to $700 million in federal funding could be allocated for California's financially beleaguered public school system If the application is approved.

Under the initiative, states would receive funding if they implemented reforms laid out by the Obama Administration. So far, only Delaware and Tennessee have had their applications approved.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was joined by Jack O'Connell, the state superintendent of public instruction, and Ted Mitchell, president of the state school board, at a signing ceremony earlier today in Long Beach.

"With the assistance of a team of exceptional district leaders, our application details how we will make changes to ensure there is an effective teacher in every classroom and strong leader in every school, and that these educators are provided with consistent, high-quality support so that every student is prepared for success in college or career," O'Connell said.

California's application was overseen by officials from the Clovis, Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Sanger, and San Francisco unified school districts.

Here's the press release from the U.S. Department of Education:

The second phase of the Obama administration's Race to the Top competition drew applications from 35 states and the District of Columbia seeking to win a share of $3.4 billion provided by Congress to drive education reform.  Between the current phase and the first phase, which drew 41 applications, 47 states have applied to this program.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan commended all of the states that applied saying, "This took a lot of hard work and political courage.  It required administrators, elected officials, union leaders, teachers, and advocates to work together and embrace a common reform agenda.  Every state that applied now has a blueprint for raising educational quality across America."
 
      Designed to incentivize excellence, drive reform, and promote the adoption and use of effective policies and practices, the Race to the Top program is backed by $4.35 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.  Of that money, the Department set aside $350 million for a separate competition to improve the quality of assessments and awarded approximately $600 million to Phase 1 winners Delaware and Tennessee, leaving $3.4 billion for Phase 2.
 
      The Department will select the Phase 2 winners over the summer using the same process as Phase 1.  In the panel review stage, five expert reviewers will read and discuss each application.  They will then score and comment on each application independently, and the applicant will be given a score based on the average of the five scores.
 
      The Department will look for a natural break in the scores to identify finalists and invite them to D.C. to make in-person presentations to their review panels.  Each reviewer will then submit final scores, and the Secretary will select awardees.  Depending on the size of the winning states, 10-15 states could win Race to the Top grants.  The administration will announce the winners before the end of September when the money must be legally obligated. 
 
      The Department of Education received the following applications prior to today's 4:30 deadline:
 
•     Alabama
•     Arizona
•     Arkansas
•     California
•     Colorado
•     Connecticut
•     District of Columbia
•     Florida
•     Georgia
•     Hawaii
•     Illinois
•     Iowa
•     Kentucky
•     Louisiana
•     Maine
•     Maryland
•     Massachusetts
•     Michigan
•     Mississippi
•     Missouri
•     Montana
•     Nebraska
•     Nevada
•     New Hampshire
•     New Jersey
•     New Mexico
•     New York
•     North Carolina
•     Ohio
•     Oklahoma
•     Pennsylvania
•     Rhode Island
•     South Carolina
•     Utah
•     Washington
•     Wisconsin

Los Angeles Unified School District board members Richard Vladovic and Tamar Galatzan are taking sides -- and placing bets -- in advance of the City Section Division I baseball final at Dodger Stadium Saturday.

Vladovic is of course rooting for his alma mater, San Pedro High School. Galatzan takes the side of the Conquistadores of El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills, in her board district 3.

The wager comes after the Pedro Pirates trounced top seed Chatsworth High in the semifinals Wednesday. It was the first at-home defeat for Chatsworth in a decade.

Go, Pirates! (Please note that I am completely impartial in this matter.)

Anyway, a Vladovic aide tells me that the losing board member in this friendly wager will be forced to wear the winning team's garb at the next board meeting on Tuesday. That'll be in keeping with those frequently colorful events.

Los Angeles Unified School District announced the names of 22 teachers who have been awarded the title of 2010-2011 LAUSD Teacher of the Year.

Four are locals. Here's the information directly from a district press release:

• Lisa Butler, a resident of Carson, has been a teacher for seven years. She teaches multiple subjects to second grade students at Budlong Avenue Elementary School.


• Karen Orpe, a resident of Lawndale, has been a social studies teacher at Henry Clay Middle School for nine years. She has been a teacher for 12 years.


• Trevor Oystrick has been a science teacher at Susan Miller Dorsey High School for nine years. He has been a teacher for 12 years and is a resident of Manhattan Beach.


• Patricia Thornton, from 15th Street Elementary School in San Pedro, has been a second grade teacher there for four years. She has been teaching for 34 years and is a resident of Carson.

The district says the teachers are chosen for "exemplary and creative teaching" that makes a difference in student lives, the school and the broader community.

The winners go on to compete for the L.A. County title, and that winner can compete to be California Teachers of the Year.

Los Angeles Unified School District watcher and blogger Scott Folsom makes a quick point about the design of the new Public School Choice website: the achievement arrow points down. And why aren't parents on there?

The new list of schools that will be up for bid by outside operators was released yesterday. A campus that's under construction in Long Beach -- set for students at Carson and Banning high schools -- is on the list (our story).

He's an insider.

The Board of Trustees this afternoon named Marvin Martinez as the new president of the Wilmington college. He's currently the L.A. Community College District's vice chancellor of economic and workforce development.

He'll start in July, with a month of overlap shared by outgoing President Linda Spink.

*A story with more info is up now. Press release with details follows.

Going against the trickle of editorials against L.A. Unified's parcel tax measure on next month's ballot, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez today tells readers to vote for the $100 levy.

He has special qualification to weigh in on Measure E, he says: an actual child in an actual LAUSD school.

It changes your whole perspective. You know the entrenched problems and challenges in greater detail, but you also know more about the good work done by so many unheralded teachers and administrators. More important, you appreciate that as adults in ivory towers debate the merits of an $8.33 monthly fee per household to help schools devastated by budget cuts, hundreds of thousands of children are waiting on an answer.

The district's essentially nonexistent campaign for the measure hasn't exactly generated enthusiasm among editorial boards locally (Breeze, LAT

A few people have emailed to ask for a printable version of the large chart we ran in the paper that shows 2009 Growth API scores and decile ranking. (The story explaining the material, along with the difficult-to-print chart, is here.)

Here's a PDF for your downloading and printing pleasure. Warning: if you print this out on an 8.5 by 11-inch sheet of paper, the text will be really tiny. It's better if you have access to a larger format printer.