Districts Face Questions in Spending Long-Term Bonds for Short-Lived Technology
Last month, the Bond Oversight Committee for  Los Angeles Unified balked at endorsing Superintendent John Deasy’s plan to buy tablet computers with bonds intended primarily for building and renovating schools. In doing so, the Committee raised questions that other school districts also should be asking. EdSource

South Bay Lawmaker Proposes Penalties for Schools Without Emergency Plans
Prompted by last week’s horrific school shooting in Connecticut, a South Bay lawmaker plans to introduce legislation that would impose penalties on California schools that fail to create or keep current an emergency response plan. Daily Breeze

Foshay Learning Center Basketball Team Gets New Uniforms, Shoes
Team sports usually require team uniforms. But for years, that hasn’t been the case for the basketball team at James A. Foshay Learning Center in South Los Angeles. Generous donations are outfitting the players to look more like a team. ABC LA

No Charges to Be Filed in Alleged Facebook School Threats
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office declined Monday to file charges against a 24-year-old Pomona man who was arrested after allegedly posting threats on Facebook about killing elementary school students. LA Times

LAUSD Board Confirms Its Union-Occupied Status
When I heard that the Los Angeles Unified school board had passed a resolution barring its superintendent from seeking grants without board approval, I was 10,000 percent certain it was because John Deasy had sought funding that had strings attached related to teacher performance. Cal Watchdog (Opinion)

Fuentes agrees to compromises on AB 5: Are they enough? Ed Source: At the 11th hour, the author of the bill to rewrite the teacher evaluation law has offered compromises intended to placate opponents and to qualify the state for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law. The latter may work, but probably not the former.

In California Politics, Teachers union are to fear Channel 6 News Online: In lawsuits against the state and the Los Angeles Unified School District, they allege that a number of union-backed laws “prevent school administrators from prioritizing or even considering the interests of their students.”

Many UC, CSU students aren’t ready for college-level writing; USC program tries to help KPCC: The 94 students in this year’s program competed to get in from Los Angeles urban high schools with low college attendance rates. For half of their six-hour days, they concentrate on intensive writing courses that offer what few of them have experienced before: one-on-one instruction, peer assistance and revision, revision, revision.

La Puente High School Student Injured in Stabbing NBC: The incident — an altercation between two students — took place just before 3 p.m. at Bassett High School.

Survey show student scores at heart of new teacher ratings nationally SI&A:  Of 21 states that passed major restructuring of educator evaluation systems during the past three years – all have included analysis of student performance as part the review, according to a new study released Thursday.

Offensive High School Tradition Finally Cancelled AP:  A Southern California high school canceled an annual dress-up day for seniors, saying that students who dressed as gang members, a U.S. Border Patrol agent and a pregnant woman pushing a stroller demeaned Latinos.