CTC to Survey New Teacher Prep Grads for Data on System Improvements
Concerned that too many of California’s teacher preparation programs don’t measure up to the state’s high standards, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing is set to undertake a data collection program aimed at pin-pointing strengths and weaknesses of specific institutions. SI&A Cabinet Report

California School Districts Send out Far Fewer Pink Slips
Thanks to a boost in money for public education, California school districts have issued just 3,000 pink slips to teachers this year, a dramatic drop from the 20,000 sent out last year, the California Teachers Assn. reported Monday. LA Times

School District Discriminated Against Gay Students, ACLU Alleges
In a letter from the ACLU, the Hesperia Unified School District is accused of discriminating against gay and lesbian students, including refusing to allow girls to wear tuxedos to the prom. LA Times
See also: AP

Lockyer Seeks Legal Opinion on School Construction Bond Campaigns
California Treasurer Bill Lockyer sought a legal opinion Monday to determine if some local education officials and the municipal finance firms they employ are violating state law by campaigning to get school construction bonds passed. LA Times

Highland Park School Wins $110K in National Educational Contest
A Highland Park high school is $110,000 richer after two students beat 1,600 other schools to win a national educational contest. CBS LA

Failure to Protect Kids Costs Millions
Los Angeles Unified School District, the state’s largest district and largest recipient of the Proposition 30 tax increases, figures to be writing a big check soon. Unfortunately, this check won’t be going to support math, reading or arts programs. OC Register Column by Gloria Romero

CDE, Torlakson Lead Effort to Forge Ahead on Common Core Despite Challenges
There’s no shortage of skeptics when it comes to the plan to begin testing students in the new common core curriculum standards beginning in the spring of 2015. SI&A Cabinet Report

Committee Wrestles With Incorporating Graduation Rate Into API
As part of a push to measure how well a school is educating its students based on more than just test scores, California for the first time is planning to factor graduation rates into the state’s main measure of a school’s academic achievement. EdSource

Police Union Backs Nury Martinez for LA City Council
The union that represents officers with the Los Angeles Police Department endorsed a school board member for an open L.A. City Council seat in the San Fernando Valley Monday. KPCC

Most State Board members Back Districts’ NCLB Waiver
A majority of State Board of Education members expressed strong support at their meeting Thursday for a consortium of districts’ unconventional request for a waiver from constraints of the federal No Child Left Behind law. EdSource

Aspire Surrenders Benefit Charter Status Under Settlement Terms
Aspire Charter Schools will surrender its statewide benefit charter status under terms of a settlement agreement reached today between the charter operator, the state board of education and the group of education advocates that brought the lawsuit. SI&A Cabinet Report

Teacher Evaluations: We’ve Got to Come up With a Better System
Two years ago we all jumped up and down against the emergence of Academic Growth Over Time (AGT), which is a prediction of student performance on the California Standards Test (CST).  Compared to raw test scores, AGT looks pretty good. TakePart Op-Ed

L.A. Chief John Deasy: Depoliticize Education Research
John Deasy, the superintendent of Los Angeles public schools, opened the annual meeting of the Association of Education Finance and Policy here today with a call for researchers to help school and district administrators making decisions in hot political environments. EdWeek

Have Charter Schools Grown Too Fast?
After two decades of offering educational choice to families, leaders of the charter-school movement in California are touting accomplishments but also calling for higher standards in light of some underperforming and mismanaged schools. San Diego Union Tribune

Stemming the Tide of English-Learner Dropouts
English-language learners are two times more likely to drop out of school than their peers who are either native English speakers or former ELLs who have become fluent in the language—a trend that, if unabated, will have far-reaching negative consequences, says a new report. EdWeek

Thousands in Los Angeles Marathon Will Test the Luck of the Irish on St. Patrick’s Day 
Ortega has been training for six months with Students Run L.A., an organization that challenges 1,300 youth within the Los Angeles Unified School district to finish the marathon. San Bernadino Sun

In Los Angeles, Focusing on Violence Before It Occurs
In the days after the elementary school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Tony Beliz and his staff at the county’s mental health department here made a series of calls. New York Times

Special Interests Spend Millions, Greuel and James on the Attack
Nearly $4 million in independent spending has poured into Los Angeles election campaigns in recent weeks. A Times analysis finds that more than three-quarters comes from groups tied to unions. LA Times

Why Did the L.A. Times Endorse Felipe Fuentes for City Council?
Last year, for example, the California Teachers Association wrote a bill for Fuentes that would have removed student test scores from teacher evaluations. LA Weekly

Low-Income Preschool Students Threatened Under Sequestration
Head Start programs in Los Angeles may have to close their doors if Congress doesn’t find a way to prevent billions of dollars in automatic spending cuts by March 1. NBC LA

LAUSD to Hire New Sex-Abuse Investigators
With awareness of child molestation heightened since the Miramonte Elementary case broke a year ago, Los Angeles Unified is creating a special team to investigate sex-abuse allegations. LA Daily News

Students Show Progress Under Teacher-Bonus System
A performance-bonus system that made use of “student learning objectives”—academic growth goals set by teachers in consultation with their principals—helped improve student achievement in schools using the measure, concludes a new study issued today. EdWeek

East L.A. Youth Football Leagues Lose Out After Adult Violence
Fearing a flare-up in gang activity, L.A. County and L.A. Unified have blocked the Bobcats and the Bulldogs from play after an adult fight turned fatal. LA Times

This Is What’s Wrong With Teacher Evaluations
As I write this article, debates and arguments surrounding teacher evaluations rage from coast to coast. While the introduction of a new teacher evaluation in Georgia hasn’t garnered the same amount of attention as New York or Los Angeles, it’s equally important. Take Part Op-Ed

Brown’s School Aid Plan Highlights Class Conflict
Whenever the governor or the Legislature proposes a change in how California’s public schools are financed, someone almost immediately creates a spreadsheet that shows which districts would gain money and which would lose. Modesto Bee Opinion

Americorps to Send Volunteers to Nation’s Worst Schools
U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, has announced a $15 million grant to deploy Americorps volunteers to some of the worst schools in the country. Schools have a little more than a month to apply for the volunteers—and there is a string or two attached. KPCC

Assembly Student Suspension Bill Fits Newest Pediatric Advice
A California lawmaker is back this session with another bill aimed at limiting school suspensions or expulsions.  But this time around, Democratic Assemblyman Roger Dickinson’s AB 420 is backed by further evidence and opinion. SI&A Cabinet Report

Deasy’s just-announced proposal is motivated by the November 6 passage of Prop. 30, whose approval means that LAUSD doesn’t have to cut $255 million from this year’s budget and, according to Deasy, can afford going back to 180 days of school. See the full press release here.

L.A. Unified Competes For U.S. Funds Without Key Element
A handful of California school districts have overcome hesitation or distrust from teacher unions to agree on applying for a high-profile, controversial federal grant. Los Angeles Unified, however, has opted to compete for the award without union endorsement, which it could not obtain. LA Times

Prop. 30 Fact Check
KPCC’s Tami Abdollah is fact checking the different arguments against proposition 30.  KPCC

Student-Centered Teacher Evaluations Focus on Learning Goals
Though the teacher evaluation bill, AB 5, collapsed again in August, there is wide agreement on the state’s responsibility to ensure that every student has an effective teacher.  Ed Source

California Ballot Holds Credit Risk for School Districts
If voters in California next week reject ballot measures to raise taxes, school districts in the Golden State will be among the first victims of spending cuts – a major concern not only for teachers and parents but also bondholders. Reuters