Proposed school report card (California Department of Education).

*UPDATED

A contingent of LA parents, armed with a petition of about 420 signatures, will ask the state Board of Education this week to adopt a summative rating to evaluate schools in addition to a number of proposed measures that move beyond ranking schools solely based on test scores.

The Board of Education is expected to vote Thursday on its rubric that will be used to evaluate California public schools under the new federal education law, Every Student Succeeds Act. The state must approve this evaluation by Oct. 1 to comply with federal law.

The new law is aimed at moving away from solely evaluating schools based on standardized test scores as has been done in public education from 2002 to 2015 under ESSA’s precursor No Child Left Behind. In California, all schools were given a ranking called an Academic Performance Index, or API, which was a number between 200 and 1,000.

Under the new federal law, which will go into effect in 2017-18, states must evaluate schools based on a number of “indicators” in addition to performance on state tests and growth over time.

After months of public comment, meetings and discussion, the state board has decided on several indicators that will be evaluated and compared over time. Those indicators will be finalized Thursday. The federal law requires that states use academic achievement, academic progress, graduation rate, progress on achieving English proficiency and school quality or student success.

The state has proposed using English language arts and math standardized test scores in grades 3 to 8, science test scores when available, an English learner indicator, high school graduation rates, suspension rates, chronic absenteeism, college and career readiness, school climate, parent engagement and school conditions as part of its evaluation.   

But a number of parent activist groups and others are pushing the state board to adopt a summative rating for schools based on the chosen indicators and that without it, it will be difficult for families to compare schools or know how well their school is educating their students. They also point to the “sea of colors” on the proposed school report cards covering 17 categories, each of which is rated by one of five colors.

“In the absence of a summative rating for a school, it becomes very difficult for families to hold schools accountable for what happens within the walls,” said Seth Litt, executive director of Parent Revolution, an organization that helps parents push for better educational opportunities in their neighborhoods including using the “parent trigger” law to take over low-performing schools.

His group, as well as Families in Schools, Innovate Public Schools, Speak UP and Students for Education Reform have launched a petition asking the state Board of Education to adopt an overall rating system.

Litt said even though schools’ API scores haven’t been updated for two years, parents are still relying on them to evaluate a school because it’s something they can understand.

Litt said he is encouraged by some moves the board has made in choosing specific indicators, such as evaluating schools based on climate and how many students are being suspended.

“We just think the state board needs to finish the job and provide an overall summative rating,” he said.

A summative rating might be a number or a letter, or it could be a categorization of a school based on a color (green, yellow or red), or an assessment, such as low, improving, quality or excellent, Litt said. The group is not advocating for a return to the API score.

It doesn’t appear the state board will move in that direction, though, unless it is forced to do so by the federal government. Under its proposed regulations, the federal government is considering forcing states to give schools a summative rating.

In an Aug. 1 letter, California State Board of Education President Michael Kirst and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson urged the U.S. Department of Education not to adopt a single summative rating saying it “undercuts the value of a multiple measures system.”

“A summative rating, in contrast, necessarily glosses over differences in performance across indicators and inappropriately draws school leaders, stakeholders and the public focus on the single rating rather than a more robust reflection of performance demonstrated by the individual indicators,” they wrote.

“Importantly, reducing a student group’s performance down to a single rating on all indicators could mask serious disparities that should be addressed for that student group, for example, English learners or students with disabilities.”

Parent Revolution, in addition to 13 other California education advocacy groups, like United Way, California Charter Schools Association, Students Matter and The Education Trust-West, submitted their own joint letter to the U.S. Department of Education supporting the proposed regulations.

“Providing a summative measure does not have to conflict with the multiple indicator approach that California has adopted and can build on it, to ensure that parents have a clear entry point to interact with the richer performance data and the state can clearly identify those LEAs and schools with wide achievement gaps and in need of extra attention,” the letter says.

The federal law requires that states provide help to the schools that are performing at the bottom 5 percent in the state. Litt said since the state will have to develop some kind of rating to determine which schools are lowest-performing, it should extend that rating to all of the schools.

He said if there are a variety of measures without a summative rating, parents will likely default to using test scores to determine how a school is doing.

Chris Hofmann, a fourth-grade teacher at KIPP Raices Academy in East LA, will also attend Thursday’s state Board of Education meeting. A Teach Plus Teaching Policy Fellowship alum, Hofmann has been following the state’s process on its accountability system over the past several years.

He said he hopes the state board will clarify how they will identify schools that need additional support.

“At this current moment, it’s not necessarily very obvious what the clear next steps will be for how to address the problems highlighted,” Hofmann said.

“I still strongly believe that the most fundamental aspect of schooling is what students learn and how they grow,” he added. “My hope would be whatever system of intervention is adopted, it still strongly focuses on that aspect of schooling.”

The board must submit its plan by March.

*This article has been updated to explain that the summative rating being sought is not a single number.

State Superintendent of Instruction Tom Torlakson, left, LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King and LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer at Eagle Rock Elementary School to discuss new standardized test results.

LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer and other leaders called a press conference this morning at Eagle Rock Elementary School to tout the results of the newly released standardized test scores.

Scores in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) went up both statewide and districtwide in the second year the Common Core-aligned tests were given. King was quick to point out that LA Unified’s gains were among the best of any large district.

“These represent some of the highest gains that were achieved among urban districts in California,” King said.

LA Unified’s score jumped six percentage points in the English test — from 33 percent to 39 percent — and three or four percentage points in the math test, from 25 to 28 or 29 percent. (There is a discrepancy between what the CDE website shows and LA Unified said the score was. Officially, LA Unified said the total was 28.696 percent.)

King also pointed out that nearly every important subgroup like English learners and students from economically challenged households also saw gains.

Statewide, students jumped five percentage points to 49 percent meeting or exceeding the English standard, while jumping four percentage points to 37 percent who met or exceeded the math standard.

Zimmer, who is running for reelection, said he does not put all his faith in test scores but was happy to brag about the results. The board president has received financial support and the endorsement of the LA teachers union, UTLA, which has a policy of downplaying the importance of standardized tests, in particular when they are used to judge the performance of teachers.

“Those of you who know me know that I don’t believe that test scores tell us everything. I don’t even believe that test scores always tell us the most important things. But they are an indicator of progress, and the scores that we are releasing today show that in almost every significant area this district continues to make progress,” Zimmer said.

Zimmer, King and Torlakson stayed away from some of less positive news from the test results, including that the achievement gaps between some minority groups and white students, and between students from economically challenged backgrounds and their wealthier peers, remained close to the same as last year. While minorities and subgroups showed improvements, so did white students and those not from wealthier backgrounds, so the gaps remained at close to the same levels.

“Yes, absolutely, we have a lot of work to do. Yes, unfortunately, we did not see the achievement gap narrow. It’s real and we have to redouble our efforts,” Torlakson said when asked by a reporter about the achievement gap. He then added that he is working to create a team on equity in education to focus on the achievement gap.

Zimmer said the new results should “supercharge our urgency around the achievement gap and take very, very clear steps in terms of our investments.”

When it came to the improvements that have occurred, Torlakson said not all the reasons are known, but he did credit the increased education budgets over the last few years from Gov. Jerry Brown as a key factor.

“Why did this occur? We don’t have all the answers to that question. There is research and further analysis of data to be done, but I believe that it is because we have set new, higher, rigorous standards, relevant standards to our students, and it is because we have had better budgets, so we have had the resources to make a difference,” Torlakson said.

The bill is sponsored by Early Edge California, an educational advocacy group that is working to ensure that children have early experiences to be successful learners by the end of third grade. The agencies are hoping that the broad coalition will be an impetus to win the governor’s support.

“AB 47 will keep the promise to preschoolers,” said Deborah Kong, president of Early Edge California. “Far too many of our vulnerable children are starting behind and staying behind simply because they don’t have access to a preschool program. AB 47 helps us right this wrong.”

Support also comes from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, who issued a statement saying, “Preschool programs are a wise investment for our society. Research shows that these programs help lower the achievement gap and the high school drop-out rate, while also reducing crime and teenage pregnancies.”

The President’s Council of Economic Advisers showed in a study that every dollar invested in high-quality early education can save more than $8 in the form of students being held back, dropping out or getting involved in crime.

Known as the Preschool for All Act of 2015, AB 47 was proposed by Assembly Member Kevin McCarty and would ensure that all eligible 4-year-old children who aren’t currently enrolled preschool or transitional kindergarten will have access to the California State Preschool Program by June 30, 2018. Funding is contingent upon appropriations in the annual budget. The Assembly voted 69 to 4 and the Senate approved it 28 to 11, with Republicans joining in support.

McCarty, a Democrat who represents parts of Sacramento, said, “Thanks to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the Legislature, and to this broad coalition of supporters who helped me push this bill to the Governor’s desk. I am proud to author a bill that invests in quality early childhood education and puts California’s future first.”

LA Unified is listed as a supporter along with the Los Angeles Urban League, Los Angeles Universal Preschool, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, Jewish Community Relations Council and United Way of California. School districts including Alamada, Butte, Santa Barbara, Compton, Santa Clara and Sacramento are also in support.

Click here for a full list of supporters.

Three local television stations — NBC, ABC and CBS — all pegged the number at roughly 550,000, likely ignoring students enrolled at district charter schools. The Los Angeles Times said 650,000, as did City News Service. KPCC said the district has “over 600,00 students.”

So just how many students are there, anyway?

The district’s annual “fingertip facts,” which reflects the most recent data available, put the K-12 enrollment at 643,483, a number determined from the 2014-2015 school year, broken down to 101,060 at charters and 542,433 at traditional schools.

The number for this year will be set on “norm day,” usually the fifth Friday of the school year, which would make it Sept. 18. The number of students enrolled on that day represents the enrollment for the year, and if the district’s recent predictions are accurate, it will be 3 percent fewer than last year.

Everybody got that?

Crying kid goes viral 

The “crying kid” story made the rounds yesterday, including into our Morning Read. It focused on an LAUSD preschooler named Andrew, being interviewed by a reporter before he broke down and cried. It was viewed 7.6 million times through yesterday, making him a bona fide viral sensation.

When asked by a reporter if he would miss his mom on his first day of school, Andrew bravely answered “No.” But it didn’t last. Within moments, the look on his face revealed that yes, he will be missing his mom very much. The tears flowed.

View the video below.

New online tool has searchable data by school

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced earlier this week that his office had created a new online tool that makes searching for vital information school by school easy and user friendly. 

The California Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) State Priorities Snapshot includes three years of data on schools on three topics: student achievement, student engagement and school climate.

By typing in the name of a school, you are led to a list of vital information such as demographics, graduation and dropout rates, the number of suspensions and expulsions, Advanced Placement exam results, the number of English learners and more.

School district goes organic

LA Unified has taken big strides over the last few years to make improvements to the quality of food served in its cafeterias, but another California district is turning heads for raising the bar.

The Sausalito Marin City School District this year will become the first district in the nation to serve 100 percent organic and non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) food.

“Most people don’t realize that GMOs are everywhere, especially in processed foods,” says Justin Everett, a consulting chef for The Concious Kitchen, which partnered with the district on the food program. “By embracing fresh, local, organic, non-GMO food, this program successfully disrupts the cycle of unhealthy, pre-packaged, heat and serve meals that dominate school kitchens.”

Study finds disturbing conclusions about teacher/student race relations

A recent study by researchers at American University and Johns Hopkins University reached disturbing conclusions about how non-black teachers view their black students. One of the authors wrote about the study recently on the Brookings Institute’s blog:

We find evidence of systematic biases in teachers’ expectations for the educational attainment of black students. Specifically, non-black teachers have significantly lower educational expectations for black students than black teachers do when evaluating the same students. We cannot determine whether the black teachers are too optimistic, the non-black teachers are too pessimistic, or some combination of the two.

The study also said:

These results are not meant to, nor should they, demonize or implicate teachers. Biases in expectations are generally unintentional and are an artifact of how humans categorize complex information. Rather, we hope to start a dialogue between educators, policymakers, parents, researchers, and other stakeholders about the possible causes and consequences of systematic biases in teachers’ expectations for student achievement and attainment.

The study is especially revealing for LA Unified in light of a recent Los Angeles Times analysis that found a great mismatch in diversity between the study body and its teachers.

State politicians and educators are scrambling to cope with the fallout after the abrupt cancelation of an exam by the California Department of Education left over 5,000 high school students across the state — 492 of them in LA Unified –unable to graduate, despite having completed all other necessary course work.

The California High School Exit Exam, known as the CAHSEE, was required for students graduating in 2015 and before. It was meant to test students’ mastery of English and mathematics.

With the introduction of the new Common Core curriculum, the exam no longer tested what students were to have learned, so “the $11 million-a-year contract to administer the test was not renewed, and therefore the July exam was not offered as in past years,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said in a statement.

Unfortunately for those students across California who had counted on taking the July test to graduate, they were left with no possibility of completing their high school graduation requirements. Many had been accepted into colleges but would have been unable to attend because they hadn’t taken the final test.

Politicians piled on to condemn the decision. State Attorney General Kamala Harris was especially harsh.

“As the result of a thoughtless bureaucratic blunder, thousands of high school graduates face the prospect of not being able to enroll in college, serve their country through the military, or pursue other professional goals,” she said in a statement.

Governor Jerry Brown and the president of the state Board of Education, Mike Kirst, issued a joint statement: “Students who have been accepted into college should not be prevented from starting class this fall because of a test cancellation they could not control.”

To fix the problem, state legislators on Monday set to work gutting Senate Bill 725, which originally dealt with visual and performing arts education, and replacing it with language that would exempt the class of 2015 from the requirement to pass the exam.

The bill is expected to be earmarked today and go before the full Assembly for a vote tomorrow, according to the office of Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, Democrat from San Diego.

Some school districts aren’t waiting for the legislature. In an emergency meeting on Friday, San Francisco’s School Board voted to amend its graduation requirements and grant diplomas to 107 San Francisco high school seniors who hadn’t been able to take the exam.

“This is a decision that’s right for students,” said Superintendent Richard Carranza.

Tom Torlakson

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson came to the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce today to announce his latest action plan for California’s education system.

The five-year plan is a continuation of his 2011 effort, called A Blueprint for Great Schools, which has been updated and rebranded as A Blueprint for Great Schools Version 2.0.

The new plan includes outlines of the state’s ambitions for better teacher recruitment and training, a new school accountability system and continued incorporation of Common Core Standards.

“Blueprint 2.0 is the next stage of a rocket that is propelling California into a bright future in which every child receives a world-class education,” he said in a released statement. “I look forward to implementing these recommendations, which will help us better prepare students for college and careers in the 21st century.”

The plan was developed by a team comprised of 29 education leaders and experts, including co-chair Martha Infante, a teacher at the Los Angeles Academy Middle School.

Torlakson thanked the team for its “hard work, leadership, and thoughtfulness,” adding, “We have made great progress in recent years, but much more needs to be done to ensure all California children receive the education they deserve. Blueprint 2.0 provides a road map for the next phase of our journey.”

The part of the plan that will receive a lot of attention will be development of a new accountability system, a persistent hot-button and controversial issue in California. The state has no current system as it transitions to the new Common Core standards.

The Blueprint plan calls for the formation of a committee to formulate a new system and would need to be approved by state lawmakers. The committee will be co-chaired by two union leaders — California Teachers Association President Eric Heins and Association of California School Administrators Director Wes Smith, Torlakson told the Los Angeles Daily News.

“We’ll have a solid recommendation to [lawmakers] as to what a new, multi-dimensional system for school success should be,” Torlakson told the Daily News.

Tom Torlakson

For anyone bemoaning current trends in state public education, hold your complaints, at least until tomorrow.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has scheduled an event downtown at the LA Area Chamber of Commerce to unveil “a new action plan,” that his office says will provide “the steps to take in the next four years to enhance learning, capitalize on the state’s recent progress, and provide all California children with a world-class education in the 21st century.”

A slew of education and business leaders from throughout the state has been invited to join him in presenting what he’s calling, “A Blueprint for Great Schools, Version 2.0.” His office says it builds on the 2011 report. “A Blueprint for Great Schools,” which helped transform California’s education system and turn the state into a national model.

Torlakson was aided in developing the 2.0 version by “education leaders and experts from across the sate,” said his office. The report focuses on how California can improve in five key areas: state standards, teaching and leading excellence, student success, continuous improvement and accountability systems, and systems change and supports.

Assemblywoman Shirley Weber

A state lawmaker is challenging California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson‘s recent assertion that grants intended to help low-income, English learners and foster youth can be used for across-the-board teacher raises.

Assemblymember Shirley Weber, a Democrat from San Diego, says Torlakson’s interpretation of the law could completely erode the purpose of the grants, opening up other uses of the money that the legislature did not contemplate.

“That is not what we intended at the state level,” she told LA School Report.

“It seems like it’s never going to end, there is no question about it, and that’s my great concern,” she added. “Once you open up this, you open up something else, and then you find yourself in a position having taken this money for these schools and these kids and not being able to produce the results.”

The California Teachers Association, a major donor to Torlakson’s relection campaign last year, backed Torlakson’s interpretation and said it “believes the law is clear: The money can be used to attract and retain quality teachers in the classroom,” according to California Public Radio.

Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) grants were created by the legislature to help school district provide greater academic support for three categories of students — those from low-income families, English learners and foster youth.

Torlakson’s approval of using the money for teacher raises came within a June 10 letter to county and district superintendents and charter school administrators. He said districts must simply be able to argue in their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP) that the raises would make a difference.

He said “A district may be able to document in its LCAP that its salaries result in difficulties in recruiting, hiring, or retaining qualified staff which adversely affects the quality of the district’s educational program, particularly for [these] pupils, and that the salary increase will address these adverse impacts.” Guidelines for using the funds for raises is more restrictive for districts with less than 55 percent of those categories of students, but is still possible, he said.

To Weber, that explanation rings hollow. She said Torlakson’s letter is a complete reversal of his own previous opinion on the matter. She also said she has not spoken to a single state legislator who shares Torlakson’s view.

Torlakson’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

“I think the superintendent has changed his interpretation from his original interpretation. And now he is saying if you can justify it somehow or another in some way that this really fits into the overall — I don’t know, the justification doesn’t seem to wash well,” Weber said.

Weber is a former college professor, a former president of the San Diego Board of Education, a member of the Assembly Education Committee and has a reputation for speaking her mind on education issues.

She argued that Torlakson’s letter opens the door to looser and looser interpretations of the LCFF, a law that went into effect in 2013.

“Some district might want to say, ‘Let’s take the money and have summer school.’ Well OK, is every kid that we are going to give summer school to going to have the same challenges? If not, then why are we funding the district’s summer school that should have been in another pot of money?” she said.

Weber also said using the funds for raises will create unfair advantages for certain districts when it comes to offering competitive wages.

“You are also saying that school districts that do not have these unique challenges are not going to be able to pay their teachers in the same way,” she said.

Weber said she has spoken to a few colleagues about Torlakson’s letter but it is not clear if anyone in the Legislature will try to clarify the issue through a new bill. She did acknowledge that lawsuits may result from districts using LCFF funds for raises and that clarity on the issue may need to come from the courts.

LA Unified has already been the target of a major lawsuit in how it spends its LCFF funds, but the issue is not over raises. The district was also criticized in a recent UC Berkeley study over how it was distributing its LCFF funds, but that was for using them in part to hire new staff and teachers, not over raises.

*UPDATED

LA Unified’s Luther Burbank Middle School in Highland Park was honored today as a model middle school by the state program, “Schools to Watch-Taking Center Stage.”

Luther Burbank was one of only seven new schools given the designation by the program, which is sponsored by the California Department of Education, California League of Middle Schools and  California Middle Grades Alliance. Fifteen previously honored schools also retained their designation.

Winners of the “Schools to Watch” program will host visitors from California and around the world who are looking for “replicable practices that will help them improve their middle grades schools and close the achievement gap,” according to a press release from the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson

“These 22 schools are being recognized for their outstanding work in keeping students engaged and motivated during this critical juncture in education,” Torlakson said. “I congratulate them for their efforts to exceed challenging goals, narrow the achievement gap, and set their students on a solid path toward high school and future success.”

Schools are chosen based on exceeding the state’s API growth target for thee of the last five years scores were calculated. Administrators must also submit a self-study evaluation and narrative application, and each school is then reviewed by a team of experts.

Luther Burbank was once one of LAUSD’s worst-performing schools and plagued with gang problems, according to a 2012 story by EGP News. The school was reconstituted by the district in 2011, which meant that all of the school’s teachers and staff had to reapply for their jobs.

In 2010, Luther Burbank had an API growth score of 663. By 2012, about 80 percent of the school’s teachers were replaced as a result of the reconstitution, according to Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch. The school’s growth API score reached 794 in 2012 and 786 in 2013, the last year scores were calculated.

*An earlier version of this story incorrectly labeled EGP News as “EDP News.” We have also removed a quote that was attributed to EGP News, but the source contacted LA School Report and claims to have never made the statement.

Anyone interested can enter a contest to go “lowriding” with Lopez around Los Angeles in a vintage lowrider, join him for a meal at one of his favorite LA restaurants and be put up in a four-star hotel for two nights. The contest works like a charity raffle with the winner randomly selected. The cost to enter spans from $10 to $10,000, and the more one spends the higher the chances to win are. 

Lopez graduated from San Fernando High School in 1979 and has previously donated funds and participated in charities for San Fernando and LAUSD schools. In 2011, the auditorium at San Fernando Elementary, where Lopez said he first performed at the age of 6, was named after him.

Robotics students gather for film screening

About 900 students on robotics teams from 11 LA Unified schools are gathering at 4:30 p.m. today at the Cesar Chavez Auditorium at San Fernando High School for a screening of the film “Spare Parts,” according to a district press release.

The film is based on a true story about a team of robotics students from Phoenix who were undocumented immigrants and beat MIT students in a robotics competition. Co-starring in the film as the students’ teacher is … George Lopez.

Actors Carolos Penavega and Alexa Penavega from the film are expected to be in attendance, according to a district spokesperson.

‘Parent Trigger’ pulled in Orange County

Parents at Palm Lane Elementary School in Anaheim have filed petitions to overhaul their school through the state Parent Empowerment Act of 2010. It is the first school in Orange County to use the so-called “parent trigger” law, according to the California Center for Parent Empowerment.

A press release from the Center said the school “has been identified by the California Department of Education as an underperforming school since 2003, posting an anemic 746 Academic Performance Index, dropping 33 API points in the last three years. Student testing results indicate that 60 percent of 5th graders are below basic levels of proficiency in mathematics, while 63 percent are below basic levels of proficiency in English Language Arts.” 

Expulsions, suspensions fall in California and LAUSD

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson yesterday announced a 15.2 drop in the number of students suspended and a 20 percent drop in the number of students expelled in 2013-14. It is the second year in a row the two statistics have declined, according to a press release from Torlakson’s office.

In LAUSD, suspensions fell 25.5 percent, according the Los Angeles Daily News, which also pointed out that African American students received 32.3 percent of suspensions while only making up 9.2 percent of the entire student body, a suggestion that the district still has progress to make on the issue.

The statewide drop was attributed to a focus on “restorative justice,” which LA Unified has committed to enacting at every school by 2020.

“These numbers show that the work of the department, districts, teachers, parents, and students around the state is paying off by keeping more students in school and learning,” Torlakson said in a press release. “You can have the best facilities, the best teachers, and the best curriculum in the world, but none of that matters if students are not in school. That’s why we have put so much effort into increasing school attendance and reducing expulsions and suspensions and will continue to do so.”

Torlakson to celebrate reelection

After defeating challenger Marshall Tuck in November and being officially re-sworn into office on Jan. 5, Torlakson is holding a Southern California inauguration reception on Friday at the William Turner Gallery in Santa Monica.

New York magazine profiles ‘the most controversial woman in school reform’

New York magazine this week profiled Campbell Brown, the former TV journalist and CNN anchor who has become the face of the education reform movement on the East Coast. Brown is the founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice, a group that has filed a lawsuit in New York state similar to the Vergara v. California case that challenged teacher job protection laws.

Tom Torlakson

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that 227 school sites, including 33 in LA Unified, will share nearly $27 million in Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grants (BIIG) to help school districts increase their ability to administer the state’s new online tests this spring.

“These state grants provide the critical last step needed to connect an additional 63,000 students to the state education network that will give them access to technology, which will prepare them for college and careers, and let them take the new computer-based California assessments,” Torlakson said in a press release.

The Common Core-aligned Smarter Balanced Field Test is scheduled to be administered by the district in the spring, although it is still unclear if the results will be used. Over the winter break, the LA Unified ordered 21,000 iPad Airs and 6,000 Chromebooks, at a cost of $13 million, to help administer the test, bringing the number of testing iPads the district owns at just over 73,000.

During practice tests last spring, about 300 schools in the state either lacked the ability administer the test or were able to only accommodate the tests by shutting down all other online activities, according to Torlakson’s office. Of these 300 sites, 227 will be awarded BIIG funding.

“While school sites with the most need were selected to receive the grants, this process has provided further data to help those schools that didn’t receive funding at this time,” Imperial County Superintendent of Schools Todd Finnell, whose agency administers the K12HSN program, said in a press release. “Additional work is needed to secure funding and identify possible solutions for these schools.”

LAUSD Superintedent Ramon Cortines

Responding to a barrage of requests from district superintendents around the state, including a recent appeal from LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines, state education officials will consider a delay in using the results of the 2014-15 Smarter Balanced computerized test as means of measuring academic growth next year.

“This will be a public discussion beginning with the next scheduled State Board meeting in January,” Keric Ashley, a deputy to Tom Torlakson, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, said in a written statement.

He added, “Regardless of this public discussion of the API, schools and parents will receive scores and the Superintendent strongly urges all schools to continue their preparation for the computer-adaptive assessments coming in the spring.”

The outcomes of this year’s reading and math tests are supposed to be used to establish a base in calculating Academic Performance Index (API) scores in 2015-16. But, at a meeting with the California Department of Education in November, leaders from several statewide educational organizations suggested a year-long postponement. They argued that many districts need more time to implement the state’s new Common Core curriculum while others do not posses the technological infrastructure to carry out the exam.

In a letter to Torlakson last week, Cortines joined a growing group of local superintendents’ seeking permission to ignore the test results for “high stakes accountability purposes.”

“We do not feel that our students have had adequate time practicing on the testing devices,” Cortines explained.

As a result, he added, “I would like to ask that any data or scores derived from [testing] not have a negative impact on state and/or federal funds that are allocated for the students in LAUSD.”

The Smarter Balanced tests have replaced California’s statewide exams as the state is transitioning to the Common Core State Standards. All students in third through eighth grade and high school juniors are required to take the exam. In all, nearly 350,000 LA Unified students will take the test in April.

The poll, conducted by Lake Research Partners on behalf of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the largest number of voters, 76 percent, cited equity in school funding in deciding whom to vote for, with 76 percent saying it was “important” and with 50 percent considering it “very important.” That latter group favored Torlakson by 57 percent to 43 percent for Tuck, according to the study.

Voters in both major parties favored making school funding more
equitable moving — 90 percent of registered Democrats, 69 percent
of registered Republicans and 78 percent of voters who declined to give a party preference.

Torlakson was the teachers union candidate while Tuck was backed by so-called education reformers. Both their campaigns received record-breaking financial support — an estimated $30 million — from their respective backers, making it the most expensive political contest in the state, almost three-times more expensive than that of the governor’s seat.

The report also showed that 70 percent of voters said that “Stopping Wall Street and corporations from taking over schools for profits” was important in their decision-making process, with 56 percent rating it as a top priority.

But the public seemed split on the issues around teacher tenure and due process. Two-thirds of voters reported that “removing teacher tenure protections” was important in casting a ballot. Yet, nearly the same number said that “preserving due process protections for teachers” was important.

Nearly 4 of 5 Tuck supporters, 79 percent, said they wanted to eliminate teacher tenure protections while 69 percent of Torlakson voters said preserving due process protection was a higher priority.

Other key issues for voters were reducing standardized testing, which 61 percent of voters agreed should change, and increasing the number of charter schools. More than half of voters said they would like to see a boost in charter school options.

Dani Klein Modisett

Via Mom.me | By Dani Klein Modisett

If you walked in the backdoor of my house this week unannounced, the one right next to the refrigerator, you may have found yourself looking straight at my ass. That’s because, more than once, I was bent over the freezer, my hand trolling around in my son’s Halloween candy bag for a “fun” size Snicker’s — or 6. I was aware that if my kids knew I did this they would not be happy, so I had a candy excuse strategy in place if they caught me and challenged me on my choice to pilfer their stash.

“My eating this candy is in your best interest,” I’d say. “It is better for you on a few levels. Number one, it makes me happy, and if I’m happy, then I will be a better mother. Number two, the more I eat of it the less you will be eating, which means less sugar coursing through your small veins and less tooth decay. My eating your Halloween candy, despite what it looks like, is a win-win situation for everyone.” Obviously I knew eating their candy was a mistake, but I took comfort in knowing it’s a common one. Heck, Jimmy Kimmel has had an ongoing bit about it for at least three years.

I was unexpectedly reminded of my crafty Mom spin this past Thursday morning while in a bit of a sugar fog, having polished off everything but the Laffy Taffy the night before. I was settling in to read the paper, jolted awake seeing the Los Angeles Times’ figures on how much the race for State Superintendent cost. Over $31 million dollars. Let me repeat this figure: THIRTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS for a position described by more than one source as having very little clout. Immediately incensed, I went looking for more details.

One article I found, “The most expensive political contest in California is for an office nobody’s heard of,” described the limitations of the position.

“The superintendent post has little political power. The governor appoints the state Board of Education and typically has his own education advisers. In any case, the state Department of Education doesn’t directly run California’s schools and has limited policy sway.”

Call me naive, but $30 million dollars is a lot of money to spend on anything, let alone an elected office with very little power. This news wouldn’t have hit me so hard if I hadn’t just been at a meeting at my son’s middle school, Thomas Starr King in Los Angeles, where they were assigning shifts for parents to don plastic gloves and show up with buckets of ammonia to clean the bathrooms. Apparently, there is not enough money in the school’s budget to hire adequate custodial staff. That fact made this quote I read from incumbent and victor Tom Torlakson, and a lot of the other soundbites from teachers’ union members, sound a little insincere and a lot like my Halloween candy spin.

“We are all committed to making our schools better and helping our students achieve their dreams. No one wants that more than California’s teachers.” Huh. Tough to buy that helping students “achieve their dreams” is their priority given that the teachers’ unions spent over $10 million dollars keeping Torlakson in office. They could have paid for a lot of dreams with that money.

Among all these presumably brilliant business minds and passionately committed educators on Torlakson’s side, couldn’t someone have pulled out of the maelstrom of campaign excess and said, “Hey, guys and gals, maybe we could take a few million and help an actual child!”

But it’s not just the unions that are to be held accountable in this spending debacle. If making the schools and curriculum better for students was No. 1 on everyone’s list, wouldn’t someone in this insanely expensive campaign on either side have interjected some reason? Torlakson’s opponent, Marshall Tuck, raised most of his money through wealthy independent donors, including Steve Jobs’ widow, the heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and L.A. philanthropist Eli Broad.

Among all these presumably brilliant business minds and passionately committed educators on Torlakson’s side, couldn’t someone have pulled out of the maelstrom of campaign excess and said, “Hey, guys and gals, maybe we could take a few million and help an actual child!”

Clearly the answer is no. And that, for those of you kicking yourselves for slipping a Hershey’s bar in the pocket of your bathrobe while no one was looking, is by far the biggest mistake of this week.

According to figures released yesterday by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, the LA Unified fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders who participated in the six-part test during the 2013-14 school year are significantly behind their state peers in physical fitness.

More than 1.3 million California students took six separate tests that measure aerobic capacity, body composition, abdominal strength, trunk extensor strength, upper body strength and flexibility, according to Torlakson’s office.

Students who performed at the highest level in all six tests reach the Healthy Fitness Zone, and this number increased both in the state and the district this year. Statewide, 26.6 percent of fifth graders, 33 percent of seventh graders, and 38.1 percent of ninth graders reached the Healthy Fitness Zone, compared with 19.8 percent of LA Unified fifth graders, 22.3 percent of seventh graders and 29.6 percent of ninth graders.

The numbers for LAUSD are slight increases from the 2012-13 school year, which showed 18.7 percent of fifth graders, 21.4 percent seventh graders and 28.4 percent ninth graders reaching the Healthy Fitness Zone.

“It’s encouraging to see our students becoming more fit and healthy,” said Torlakson in a statement. “Students have to be healthy and alert to succeed in the classroom, in college, and in their careers, but also to lead a more fulfilling life. That’s why it is so important that all of us—teachers, parents and community leaders—teach our children the importance of eating right, and exercising regularly and following healthy lifestyles ourselves so we can serve as role models.”

LA Unified board member Steve Zimmer

Steve Zimmer was the only member of the LA school board with a public response to yesterday’s victory by Tom Torlakson, who won a second term as state Superintendent for Public Instruction.

In it, Zimmer makes clear his disdain for the wealthy funders who backed the losing candidate, Marshall Tuck, congratulating the state teacher unions for standing up to them and urging them to continue, with a particular eye on next year’s LA Unified school board elections.

At the same time, Zimmer decries the millions of dollars spent on the campaign, arguing that the money could have been better used for programs benefitting students.

While Zimmer argues that “collaboration trumps conflict,” his disregard for Tuck supporters is, nonetheless, unequivocal, as he points to the “corporate education reform billionaires who have an endless magazine of resources to shoot at folks trying to solve the problems facing our schools.” 

Here is his complete statement:

“The results of yesterday’s election once again confirm that public education is not for sale. Against a gale storm of unprecedented funding, Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Instruction narrowly won re-election.

This was the most expensive State Superintendent race in U. S. history. I congratulate Superintendent Torlakson and urge him to continue his collaborative approach to transforming outcomes for all students in California. I look forward to continuing our close working relationship so that the Department of Education expands the resources available to classrooms in support of student learning throughout our District.

I also offer my best wishes to Marshall Tuck whom I have known well for many years. I know that Marshall will continue to be a passionate advocate for schools serving students in the most peril.

While it is tempting to feel exhilarated in the wake of this important victory, I mostly feel exhausted. I am sick and tired of dodging bullets from corporate education reform billionaires who have an endless magazine of resources to shoot at folks trying to solve the problems facing our schools.

There must be another way we can have this important conversation. Instead of reflecting on how the millions we spend distorting truths, attacking and bullying one another could help real kids in real classrooms today, the California Charter Schools Association is simply reloading their guns for the Spring School Board elections.

I am sure CTA and our other labor partners will gear up their defense systems again in response. I have a long list of programs we could fund in LAUSD with the close to $20 million dollars that went into this latest battle. More and more it seems like a zero sum game in which kids lose every time.

The solutions to the problems facing our kids are never simple. They require us to roll up our sleeves and work together to find the difficult answers in policy, in pedagogy and in practice. Finding solutions starts with listening. Teachers listening to parents, parents listening to teachers, school leaders listening to the community and everyone listening to our students. The last half dozen election cycles have had a ton of screaming. Close to $50 million dollars worth. And barely an ounce of listening.

I still believe that collaboration trumps conflict and that we can find common ground. I still have hope that we can transcend the power struggles in the name of the promise that public education still holds for families who dream of a better life for their children.

If we remember that we hold those dreams in our hands, maybe we can do more than dust ourselves off and prepare for the next battle.”

Marshall Tuck, who lost a close race to incumbent Tom Torlakson for state Superintendent of Public Instruction, had this to say after the votes were counted:

“Sixteen months ago we set out on this journey to do one thing: put children first and ensure that every child has equal access to a quality education. And despite yesterday’s loss, I couldn’t be prouder of the unique coalition of parents, community leaders, teachers, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents we built along the way. 

Together we proved that in California there is a growing call for change and that parents, kids and families can have a voice in education.

I am very thankful for the countless hours of hard work and dedication from the thousands of supporters who came together and supported our campaign. I am proud to stand with such an amazing group of people who – despite our differences – have stood together with one goal:  Bring a kids first agenda to Sacramento and major change for California’s schools.

And major change is definitely needed.

Today, one day after this election, there are still 2.5 million children in California public schools who can’t read and write at grade level.  Those children are counting on all of us to take every action necessary to give them a better education and a chance at a better future.

I look forward to continuing to do my part in the collective effort to ensure that each child gets the education they need to achieve their dreams.”

Tom Torlakson

Tom Torlakson was re-elected yesterday as California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, with 52.1 percent of the vote to 47.9 for Marshall Tuck, making it the closest of all statewide races.

This was his victory statement:

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy. They were strong, but we were stronger. They were tough, but we were tougher. After all, we’re teachers – we did our homework.

We knew that when Californians look for direction on how to improve education — they don’t look to Wall Street. They don’t look to Silicon Valley. They look to the people who are in the schools in their neighborhood every day – the teachers, the school employees, the teacher’s aides, the nurses, the counselors.

There are still many votes to count. But it looks like tonight is a win for the people who do more than talk about improving education – tonight is a win for the people who do something about it.

I congratulate my opponent for running a strong campaign. And while I disagree with him in many respects — I believe he truly wants California’s children to succeed — and I wish him well.

We are all committed to making our schools better and helping our students achieve their dreams. No one wants that more than California’s teachers. But teachers cannot do it alone — and we cannot do it under siege.

So if you truly care about our schools, our children and their futures — wonderful. Join us. We’re right down the street — at a school in your neighborhood. We want your help. We need your help.

We said it a lot during our campaign – because it’s true: Our students only get one chance at a great education – let’s all keep working together for a better future for California and our kids.”

“Education has now surpassed the economy as the No. 1 issue on voters’ minds in this election, so it’s a race that’s being conducted outside the confines of partisanship that marks the other down ballot races,” Drew Lieberman of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research said on a call with reporters yesterday, discussing the poll. “It’s also a race that sort of features an issue on which people are particularly concerned and aware, but have not yet made up their minds.”

One topic at the heart of the race is the state’s reform movement, which is backed by deep-pocketed supporters and aims to expand charter schools, versus the power and influence of the teacher unions.

Torlakson, the incumbent, has the backing of the political establishment and the state’s two large teachers unions, while Tuck was a charter school administrator and has the backing of reform groups as well as editorial boards throughout the state.

“The argument can be made that this is the most important election on the California ballot this year. That’s not because the superintendent’s office is particularly powerful. But no matter what the outcome, this represents a very important step in the growing debate over education policy in California,” Dan Schnur, director of the USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll, told reporters.

Schnur added that the superintendent’s race “is one of those rare campaigns that is much more important than the office itself.”

Dave Kanevsky of American Viewpoint theorized that the reason there are so many undecided voters despite education being the top issue is because people can’t fall back onto any partisan lines, and that both sides have spent about the same large amount of money getting their message out.

“There’s a lot of information on both sides, but [voters] don’t know how to vote and they in essence don’t want to make the wrong vote,” Kanevsky said.

So, if you are one of those undecided voters out there and you still haven’t voted, below is a roundup of LA School Report‘s important stories about the state superintendent race:

• Top Five issues in Tuck vs. Torlakson race
• Poll: Minorities, Republicans key in close state superintendent race
• Vergara appeal (or not) divisive issue for Torkalson and Tuck
• Marshall Tuck: ‘We need fundamental and urgent change’
• The debate — Torlakson vs.Tuck — that only a few people noticed
• Race for California school chief a referendum on change
• Garcetti endorses Torlakson in state superintendent race

Polls in California close at 8 pm.

“There’s going to be a coalition of Republicans and minority voters if Tuck is going to do well on election day,” said Michael Madrid, an Unruh Institute fellow, on a panel conference call with reporters discussing the the latest results from a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll. Only 10 percent of Latino voters in California are registered Republicans and only 1 percent of blacks are Republicans, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

The poll shows Torlakson ahead of Tuck 32 percent to 29 percent with likely voters, with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points and a huge percentage of likely voters, 28 percent, still undecided. The election will be held tomorrow.

“This race could easily go either way,” said Drew Lieberman of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research on the conference call.

Torlakson, a former teacher and state legislator, has the backing of the Democratic establishment and the state’s two large teachers unions. Tuck was a charter school administrator and has the backing of reform groups as well as editorial boards throughout the state.

Both candidates are Democrats, but Tuck has a 20 percent advantage with Republicans, according to the poll. Combined with the fact that the Latino vote tracks almost the same as likely voters, 33 percent favoring Torlakson to 28 percent for Tuck,  the two other groups are key to Tuck’s chances, according to Madrid, who is an expert on Latino voting trends and a former political director for the California Republican Party.

“I know there has been a concerted effort to make the argument, especially with the Vergara decision, the charter schools argument, where Marshall Tuck was overseeing some of those charter schools, there’s clearly going to be a push to turn out ethnic minority voters,” Madrid said. “That’s an area where you are seeing Marshall Tuck gain some more support than you might otherwise envision in a traditional Democrat on Democrat race.”

Click here to learn more about the Tuck vs. Torlakson race.