A Level Playing Field for Transgender Students
In February, the California Interscholastic Federation adopted a progressive policy, which takes effect in the fall, under which transgender students must be allowed to participate on sports teams of the gender they identify with rather than the teams of their physical gender — after a panel reviews each situation to determine that the athlete truly is transgender. LA Times Editorial

Why We Need to Reform Education Now
To improve our schools, we have to humanize them and make education personal to every student and teacher in the system. Education is always about relationships. HuffPo Opinion (TED Talks Education)

Bill Aims to Help Expelled and Truant Students Get Back on Track
The purpose of a complicated bill aimed at preventing students from languishing in alternative schools became much clearer after the testimony of a former student who got stuck in one. EdSource

Leveling the Playing Field
Beach City schools stand to lose millions under Governor Jerry Brown’s plan to create a more equitable education system. Easy Reader

California Looks to Ontario Schools’ Reformer for Guidance
Michael Fullan may be coming soon to a school district near you.  The man credited with transforming the Canadian province of Ontario into one of the world’s most effective school systems is ready to help California do the same. EdSource

Lynwood Schools Take Part in State Pilot Testing Program
With California’s transition to the new common core education standards quickly approaching, the Lynwood Unified School District has been gearing up for the changes with specialized training and pilot testing that will prepare local schools for the switch to a new state standardized testing system, which is expected to take place in 2014-15. LA Wave

Special Education: California Parents’ Lawsuit Could Force Expansion of Programs
Initiated by dissatisfied Morgan Hill parents, a lawsuit that could vastly expand services for disabled students in California, and greatly increase the costs of educating them, is inching toward trial. Mercury News

Charter Advocacy Organization Calls for Independent Authorizers
A charter school advocacy organization has laid out its case for state lawmakers to pass policies that support using independent authorizers of those schools, an approach that it says is the best one for bringing both accountability and autonomy to the sector. EdWeek

Suspect Who Allegedly Brought Handgun to Canoga Park High School Arrested
A 19-year-old man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of bringing a handgun onto the Canoga Park High School campus, officials said.  The unidentified suspect was apprehended about 1 p.m. just outside the school’s agricultural area, Los Angeles Unified spokeswoman Monica Carazo said. LA Daily News
See also: LA Times

Read the full LA School Report story here.

Brown’s plan to give struggling school districts like LAUSD, which have higher numbers of low-income and English language learner students, higher funding than more successful districts, has divided Democrats in the California legislature. Listen here:

Decrease in Pink Slips Thanks to Prop 30
The sharp decrease in the number of pink slips from 20,000 last year to 3,000 this March can be directly attributed to the historic passage of the CTA-supported Proposition 30 in November. CTA Blog

Senate Counters Governor’s Funding Plan for Disadvantaged Students
Brown wants to make sure disadvantaged students get more of the funding pie, but the Senate disagrees with the formula the governor wants to use. KPCC
See also: LA Times, EdSource, SI&A Cabinet Report

Endorsement: Monica Ratliff in L.A. Unified District 6
She would, she said, terminate Supt. John Deasy’s contract and initiate a new search for a superintendent, in which he would be invited to reapply. That would be a mistake. LA Times Editorial

LAUSD Reassigns Valley Superintendent, 3 Other Administrators
Four senior Los Angeles Unified officials, including the San Fernando Valley’s local superintendent, have been removed from their positions pending an internal investigation into “a confidential personnel matter,” a district spokesman said Thursday. LA Daily News
See also: LA Times, CBS LA

Giving Every Kid in L.A. a Computer Tablet? Pros and Cons
My wife and I have tried, with mixed results, to keep our daughter from becoming too obsessed with digital electronics. And yet her school district, L.A. Unified, has a plan to give every child in every school a digital tablet. LA Times Column (Steve Lopez)

A Dangerous Game for UTLA
Superintendent John Deasy’s popularity and direct approach have been seen by United Teachers Los Angeles as immensely threatening. The union plays an outsized role in Los Angeles, in large part because we are one of the last large cities in which the superintendent reports to an elected school board, not the mayor. LA Times Op-Ed (Jamie Alter Lynton)

Alice Waters, School Officials Talk Teaching With Food
Fast food begets a fast-food culture that has seeped into pretty much everything going on in the world today, the chef Alice Waters told a crowd gathered at UCLA for a presentation about edible education. LA Times

Democrats Are Inviting Trouble Over Education Reform
One of the nation’s biggest teachers’ groups has just attacked Democrats for Education Reform. Is the party itself pushing people who want to improve schools into the Republican camp? Crosscut Op-Ed

Private Groups Balk at Running LAUSD Science Center in San Pedro
It’s back to square one for Los Angeles school officials trying to keep San Pedro’s science center open beyond next year. Daily Breeze

Locke High School Joins List of South LA Schools With On-Campus Health Centers
The Watts Healthcare Corporation opened its second school-based clinic in three weeks on Thursday morning at Locke High School in South Los Angeles. KPCC

Sal Castro Recalled As Inspiring Teacher
More than 1,000 people attend the funeral for the activist, who urged a 1968 student walkout demanding better education for Latinos. LA Times

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Donates $350,000 to LAUSD Reformer’s Campaign
With the runoff now less than a month away, Bloomberg has given the coalition an additional $350,000 – again at Villaraigosa’s request – to support the election of Antonio Sanchez to the District 6 seat. LA Daily News
See also: LA School Report

Teacher Evaluation Bill Opposed by Unions Dies in Committee
Legislation that would have required more frequent evaluations of educators was killed by a state Senate committee Wednesday under strong opposition from teachers’ unions. LA Times
See also: LA School Report, SI&A Cabinet Report

Jerry Brown Vows Battle With Democratic Critics of Education Plan
Gov. Jerry Brown offered a spirited defense of his plan to overhaul the state’s education system Wednesday and warned Democratic critics of his plan that they were “going to get the battle of their lives” if they attempt to change key parts of his proposal. LA Times
See also: EdSource, Fresno Bee

Law That Holds Parents Accountable for Kids Truancy Applied Differently Across Southern California
Last week, six parents in Orange County who had let their kids miss up to 22 days from school were charged with two misdemeanors: contributing to the delinquency of a minor and failure to reasonably supervise or encourage school attendance. KPCC

Calif. Neglecting Thousands of English-Learners, Lawsuit Claims
More than 20,000 English-learners in California’s public schools are not receiving language instruction and the state department of education is failing in its role to ensure that schools educate such students, alleges a lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union. EdWeek
See also: LA Times, KPCC

Tom Bartman, Who Helped End LA School Busing, Dies
Tom Bartman, who helped end forced busing for integration in the Los Angeles Unified School District, has died. He was 67. KPCC

Funeral Today for Sal Castro, Who Led ’68 Chicano Student Walkouts
Funeral services will be held Thursday morning for former teacher Salvador “Sal” Castro, who played a central role in the 1968 Eastside school walkouts to protest inequalities in education for Latinos in the Los Angeles Unified School District. LA Times

Arrests Made in Fatal Stabbing at High School
An 18-year-old man was playing handball at Cleveland High School in Reseda when he was fatally stabbed and three suspects were arrested in connection with the death, police said on Thursday. NBC LA

A Student With Promise, a Teacher Who Had to Help
Brought to the U.S. as a baby, Itzel Ortega had no way to get financial aid to become an architect. Then a former teacher, recalling her own story, stepped in. LA Times

L.A. Unified Teacher Arrested for Alleged Child Porn Possession
Douglas Randolph Collins, 46, of Valencia, was taken into custody at the Van Nuys Education Center, where he had been sent after being removed from the classroom after authorities began investigating child porn allegations in October. LA Times
See also: LA Daily News, HuffPo

LA Mayor’s Race: How the Candidates Stand on Your Issues
Even though the mayor doesn’t have any direct authority over the Los Angeles Unified School District, many voters said they want the next major to play a role in education. Neither Greuel nor Garcetti has indicated they would follow Antonio Villaraigosa’s lead. KPCC

Five Gates Millennium Scholars Selected From Paramount High School
Five Paramount High School students have been selected as Gates Millennium Scholars — a rare achievement among high schools. Funded in 1999, the minority scholarships pay for up to 10 years of study, room and board. KPCC

Pasadena Unified Plans to Slash 48 Additional Jobs Across District
Pasadena school board members voted Tuesday to slash 48 jobs — this on top of 94 teacher, librarian and counselor pink slips in March — in their ongoing struggle to close a projected $8.8-million budget gap. Pasadena Sun

Thousands of Los Angeles County Fifth-Graders Enjoy a Day at Music Center
More than 18,000 fifth grade students from schools throughout Los Angeles County experienced the power of live performing arts beginning Tuesday and going on though Thursday at The Music Center. Pasadena Star News

Panel Moves to Include Grad Rates As Part of the API
A state advisory panel got its first look Tuesday at a new formula that will integrate graduation rates into the state’s school accountability system but asked staff to circulate the proposal among stakeholders and bring it back before they will contemplate a final recommendation to the Legislature. SI&A Cabinet Report

Democratic Senators Offer Alternative to Brown’s Funding Formula
Democratic leaders of the state Senate want to delay Gov. Brown’s sweeping plan for changing how schools are funded by a year and will recommend significant changes to it in a bill that they will reveal on Thursday. EdSource

Villaraigosa Criticizes Mayoral Candidates Over Education Goals
In the last major speech of his mayoral career, Antonio Villaraigosa chastised the two politicians seeking to replace him for not laying out visionary education goals, urging the candidates to look to other big cities for inspiration. LA Daily News
See also: Associated Press, LA School Report

The Greuel-Garcetti Conundrum
Here’s why two San Fernando Valley voters have switched allegiances, and why a third is still pondering. LA Times Column (Steve Lopez)

Los Angeles Unified School District Hires Security Aides to Watch for Threats
Tenth Street Elementary is in the Pico-Union district of Los Angeles, a few blocks west of the Staples Center and downtown skyscrapers. It’s a tough neighborhood; school security is always an issue. KPCC

Apples to Apples Comparison of Brown’s Funding Formula
Twenty-two of the 50 largest districts in the state would receive more money under Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed K-12 funding formula when it’s fully funded, potentially in seven years, while 28 districts would do better if additional money were simply divvied up under the current system, with no reforms, according to data provided this week by the state Department of Finance. EdSource
See also: SI&A Cabinet Report

New Teaching Standards Delve More Deeply Into Climate Change
The politically touchy topic of climate change will be taught more deeply to students under proposed new national science standards released Tuesday. LA Times
See also: KPCC

Home Economics: Then and Now in Los Angeles
Thirty years ago, when I was attending junior high school at Gaspar de Portola magnet in the West San Fernando Valley, home economics was still a class designed to teach girls how to be good housewives. LA Weekly

Bigger Math Gains Seen In Middle School TFA Teachers’ Pupils
Middle school Teach For America teachers in Texas seem to be holding their own in the classroom, outperforming other novice teachers in math, according to a recently released study from the San Antonio, Texas-based Edvance, an independent evaluation firm. EdWeek

A Huffington Post article on Wednesday pointed to a recent report from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, which warned that the teachers pension fund is $73 billion and counting in debt, and if nothing is done to intervene, the fund will disappear completely in 30 years.  A recent Bloomberg op-ed speculated that some of Prop 30’s $6.8 billion annual funds could be funneled away from schools and used to repair the teachers pension system.

Previous posts:  Deasy & Zimmer Praise Prop. 30 Passage; UTLA, LAUSD Prep for Prop. 30 Budget Battle

O.C. Olympians Raise the Bar for L.A. Kids
Peter Vidmar, 51, is among dozens of Olympians who regularly visit Los Angeles schools to inspire kids, and maybe cajole them, to perform well on the California Physical Fitness test. O.C. Register

Michelle Rhee Hires Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez
As Michelle Rhee pushes her controversial brand of education reform in California’s capital, she has tapped one of the town’s most influential power brokers, Fabian Nunez, to guide her strategy. LA Times

A New Play About…LAUSD School Lunch?
The play’s high school may be fictional, but the story stuff that comprises it is anything but. Howard spent the better part of a year traveling to various high schools throughout the LAUSD, speaking to both students as well as food service professionals. LA Weekly

California’s New Taxes Are Paying for Pensions
Last November, California politicians persuaded voters to support a proposed seven-year, $50 billion tax increase, largely on the vow that the money would go to public education. Now, the state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office has announced that the California State Teachers’ Retirement System requires an extra $4.5 billion a year for 30 years — $135 billion — and that the money will have to come from some combination of school districts and the state. Bloomberg Opinion

Boys’ Volleyball: A Proud Coach at Van Nuys High
The Van Nuys High boys’ volleyball team just returned from a trip to Hawaii to play in the prestigious Iolani tournament that included nationally ranked Punohou. LA Times

Calif., Texas, and N.C. Districts Tapped As Broad Prize Finalists
The four finalists for the 2013 Broad Prize in Urban Education are the Corona-Norco and San Diego school districts in California, the Houston Independent School District, and the school system in Cumberland County, N.C. EdWeek

Schools Need Local Funding Control
Gov. Jerry Brown is providing a historic opportunity to realize the equity, transparency and local control that our public schools need. LA Daily News Opinion

Bringing Babies to the Classroom to Teach Empathy, Prevent Bullying
Roots of Empathy, first started in 1996 in Toronto and introduced into U.S. schools in 2007, aims to build more peaceful and caring societies by increasing the level of empathy in children. In the last six years, the program has spread to California, New York and other parts of Washington. PBS NewsHour

Hold Districts Accountable for Restoring Funding for the Arts
A well-rounded education that includes the arts is essential to prepare California students for college and careers. Further, the skills students gain in the arts – imagination, creativity and innovation – are essential for success in the California economy, no matter the industry or sector. EdSource Commentary

Family Members of Accident Victims Sue LAUSD
The Los Angeles Unified School District is being sued by family members of a man who was killed and a young girl who was injured when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver outside a Watts school last year. City News Service

The Secret to Fixing School Discipline? Change the Behavior of Adults
A sea change is coursing slowly but resolutely through this nation’s K-12 education system. More than 23,000 schools out of 132,000 nationwide have or are discarding a highly punitive approach to school discipline in favor of supportive, compassionate, and solution-oriented methods. New American Media

Poll Finds the Less You Make, the More You Like Brown’s School Finance Reform
An even 50 percent of respondents told pollsters they favored – while 39 percent opposed – the idea of having “some money diverted from middle and upper class children to low income children and English language learners.” EdSource

Lockyer Widens Request for Legal Opinion on School Bond Campaigns
California Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Monday expanded his request for a legal opinion to determine if some local education officials and the financial underwriters they hire are violating state law by campaigning for school bond measures. LA Times

Long Beach Middle Schools to Start Day an Hour Later
The Long Beach school board voted Monday to push start times at the district’s five middle schools from 8 to 9 a.m. — a cost-cutting move officials believe will also boost student success. LA Times

Bill Clinton Endorses Wendy Greuel for Los Angeles Mayor
Former President Bill Clinton weighed in on the Los Angeles mayoral race Monday with an endorsement for City Controller Wendy Greuel. HuffPo

Orville Wright Middle School in Westchester Reinvents Itself in Bid to Improve Enrollment
Trying to reverse a plunge in enrollment and the effects of a high-profile principal kerfuffle, Orville Wright Middle School in Westchester – currently an aerospace magnet where students learn how to use flight simulators – is trying to recast itself as a magnet school with an expanded focus. Daily Breeze

St. Genevieve High’s ‘Cabaret’ Draws Ire of Conservative Catholics
St. Genevieve High in Panorama City, which won accolades as a National School of Character, now finds itself under fire, targeted by a cadre of conservative Catholics hoping to halt the production of its spring musical, “Cabaret.” LA Daily News

Partnership Blends Science and English Proficiency
Pupils at El Verano Elementary School are learning about science as they also improve their English-language skills. Their instruction is part of a federally funded collaborative project between the 4,600-student Sonoma district and the Exploratorium, a science museum in San Francisco. EdWeek

California Voters Split on Jerry Brown School Plans
Fifty percent agree with the governor’s proposal to give more funds to school districts that serve low-income children. A separate Brown plan to give local districts more funding control is favored by 59%. LA Times

LAUSD Salvages Summer School, but Classes Will Be Limited
Despite fears that Los Angeles Unified would have to cancel summer school this year, officials say they’ll be able to hold a limited number of credit-recovery classes at 16 high school campuses across the sprawling district. LA Daily News

State Educators Support LAUSD Waiver From No Child Left Behind Law
State education officials support efforts by Los Angeles Unified and eight other school districts to get a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law, but remain concerned about who would monitor a new accountability system. LA Daily News
See also: EdSource

The Downside of Superstar Schools
It’s no surprise that parents go to great lengths to get their children into the coveted classrooms. But other campuses suffer a loss from such lopsided enthusiasm. LA Times Commentary

Teacher-Prep Programs Zero In on Effective ‘Practice’
The Match Teacher Residency is one of a small number of teacher-preparation programs focusing on what’s coming to be called “practice-based” teacher education. The approach is growing in popularity among charter groups and beginning to emerge in university-based programs as well. EdWeek

Paralympian John Siciliano Coaches North Hollywood Students
Paralympian John Siciliano’s face lit up as he gave Fitnessgram certificates to two fifth grade classes at Julie Korenstein Elementary School on Friday. LA Daily News

State Must Fix Liabilities That Loom at CalSTRS
If corrective action is not taken – that is, if the state, school districts or teachers don’t contribute more into the fund – CalSTRS could deplete all its assets by 2044. Sac Bee Editorial

Connection to Education Research Elusive for States
State education officials are open to using research to shape policy and practice decisions, but they say that it remains difficult to make practical use of most studies. EdWeek

LAO Suggests Curtailing Accreditation of Teacher Prep Programs by CTC
A policy paper from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst released late last week suggests lawmakers consider curtailing the accreditation of teacher training programs by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. SI&A Cabinet Report

Same-Sex-Marriage Cases Hold Implications for Schools
Among the scores of briefs filed on different sides of the cases are several that address same-sex marriage and the schools. The issues include schools’ treatment of same-sex parents and their children, the impact of the debate on gay students and on those who object to same-sex marriage on religious grounds, and the influence of the trend on the curriculum. EdWeek
See also: KPCC

LAUSD Can Balance Budget This Year, but Potential Losses Loom
Los Angeles Unified can balance its budget this year thanks to a windfall from voter-approved Proposition 30, but needs lawmakers to pass Gov. Jerry Brown’s new student funding formula to keep its coffers filled next year, district officials said Tuesday. LA Daily News

New School to Teach Entrepreneurship Is Approved, Location Isn’t
A new school to teach middle school students about entrepreneurship was approved Tuesday by the Los Angeles Board of Education. But the board stepped back from original plans to place it at Venice High after several parents and students complained that it would siphon off needed space and resources. LA Times

LAUSD Considers Allowing Students to Enter Magnets All Year Long
Officials are working to set up a system that would allow students to enter popular magnet programs all year long in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The revamped admission process would address a long-standing problem: Programs are oversubscribed during the once-a-year admissions process, but underenrolled during the subsequent academic year. LA Times

Alternative Bill to Speed up Teacher Dismissals Introduced
A year ago, Assemblymember Joan Buchanan cast a deciding vote killing a bill that would have pared back the process for firing teachers and administrators alleged to have done egregious acts against children. EdSource
See also: San Jose Mercury News

Arne Duncan Spars With State K-12 Chiefs Over District Waivers
While most of Duncan’s discussion with the Council of Chief State School Officers was congenial, one point of contention was over district-level No Child Left Behind Act waivers. EdWeek

Assembly Committee Rejects Moving Adult Ed to Community Colleges
In a clear message to Gov. Jerry Brown, an Assembly subcommittee voted unanimously Tuesday to reject his proposal to shift responsibility for adult education programs from K-12 districts to community colleges. EdSource

LAUSD Mom’s Popular Fitness Program Attracts First Lady’s Attention
Before cracking a book or lifting a pencil, students at Overland Elementary School are lifting their arms and legs for 15 minutes. NBC LA

Parental Involvement Seen as Key to ELL Achievement
The number of ELL students has more than doubled since 1989, with Hispanics as the fastest-growing segment of this population. This problem is often mischaracterized as an immigration one, but ELL student demographics suggest otherwise: Only 24 percent of ELL elementary students are foreign-born. EdWeek

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

LAUSD Charters Would Lose Funding Under Gov. Jerry Brown’s Budget
Wilbur Elementary got $230,000 in state grants when it converted to a charter last fall. Now, administrators at Wilbur and other affiliated charters, nearly all of them in the San Fernando Valley, are struggling with the news that they stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants if lawmakers approve Gov. Jerry Brown’s new formula for funding public education. LA Daily News

L.A. Charter School Aims to Toss Out Students With Fake Addresses
Officials at Carpenter Community Charter, a top-notch elementary, think 120 children are enrolled fraudulently. They want to make room for students who live in the neighborhood. LA Times

Try a Different tack: Hold Teachers Responsible for Education Quality
The logic of the reformers seems to be that teachers unions are so wrongheaded, and the citizenry sufficiently tired of fights about seniority and teacher evaluation, that putting forward a slate of school board candidates is the way to change the balance of power in the school district and mute the pesky union.  But the strategy hasn’t worked. EdSource Opinion

Over-Praising Preschool
Obama wants the government to fund a free year of pre-kindergarten, but studies don’t back up his claims of long-term benefits. LA Times Opinion

L.A. Schools Falling Apart, Literally
Years of budget cuts have meant many repairs simply aren’t getting done. There are at least 35,442 unresolved calls for service and repairs, with about 1,100 more coming in each day. LA Times Column by Steve Lopez

State Board to Discuss Districts’ Request for NCLB Waiver
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction and members of the State Board of Education will speak publicly this week for the first time on the effort by a consortium of California school districts to seek their own waiver from some regulations and consequences of the federal No Child Left Behind law. EdSource

Sequestration Special Education Cuts May Put Disabled Californians at Risk
The potential impact the sequester will have on the daily lives of the more than 36,000 K-12 students with disabilities in California show how the across-the-board budget cuts can have harrowing implications for millions in the U.S. HuffPo

Defining Bullying Down
The March 3 death of Bailey O’Neill, a 12-year-old boy in Upper Darby, Pa., was widely attributed to bullying, based on allegations that a classmate hit the boy in the face in January. NY Times Op-Ed (Emily Bazelon)

No Pay to Play or Learn at Public Schools
Public schools must provide the clay used in art class, but they can charge a student for taking home his or her finished sculpture. Playing sports is considered part of the educational mission, so schools have to cover all the costs – including uniforms – but attending a game is just for fun so students can pay admission. EdSource

Brown’s School Funding Formula Lauded, Then Picked Apart at Hearing
To a person, every Assemblymember at a committee hearing Tuesday and the six superintendents who testified at it praised the principles behind Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed school finance reforms: simplicity, clarity and equity ­­– more money for the state’s neediest children. EdSource

Waiting for Recovery: U.S. Public Schools Continue to Lose Jobs
Since the peak in local public school employment in July 2008, about 361,000 jobs in the sector have been eliminated, roughly half of the 725,000 government jobs lost overall in the same period, Bureau of Labor Statistics data show. Reuters

Senator Proposes Pushing Back Teacher Layoff Deadlines
Huff said that moving the March 15th deadline for preliminary notices and May 15 deadline for final notices would save school districts millions. SacBee

Steve Barr’s Quest to Save a New Orleans High School (and Create Pilots in Los Angeles)
Barr is working in a behind-the-scenes manner in Los Angeles (not his usual modus operandi) to get approval for “pilot schools” that he supports in the district. EdWeek

What Makes a Good L.A. Mayor
Being a good politician is essential for winning a mayoral election. But the qualities that make a good politician are not necessarily those that make a good mayor. LA Times Editorial

Black Students’ Learning Gaps Start Early, Report Says
African-American public school students in Los Angeles County demonstrate significant learning gaps by second grade; those gaps widen with age and lead to the highest school dropout rate among all races, according to a report released Monday. LA Times

A Push Toward More Computer Science Education
The first step in solving a problem is to recognize it needs to be solved. Today only 2% of students study computer programming. If we triple that to 6%, we’d close the gap between students and jobs, driving $500 billion in economic value to our country. This is a giant opportunity, impacting every industry (70% of these jobs are outside the tech sector). USA Today Column

High School Graduation Rate up Sharply, but Red Flags Abound
For the first time in decades, the United States is making steady gains in the number of high school students earning diplomas, putting it on pace to reach a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020, according to a new analysis released Monday.  But the good news comes with a big asterisk. Reuters

Rebranding Public Schools as New Charter Schools
Charter schools are a silver bullet for urban education. But not for any of the reasons you might think. EdWeek Commentary

Pediatricians Oppose School Suspension, Expulsion
A group representing pediatricians says disciplining students with out-of-school suspension or expulsion is counterproductive to school goals and should only be used on case by case basis. LA Daily News

Glendale Schools Increasing Security
After several recent incidents, the school board moves to equip all schools with security cameras and panic buttons, among other measures. LA Times

Huge Spending Gaps Between School Districts, Report Finds
Vast inequities still exist in education funding across the nation, contributing to an academic achievement gap that separates the students at well-funded schools from those who attend campuses with fewer resources, according to a report released Tuesday. LA Times

Superintendents in D.C. to Talk District Waiver With Duncan
Superintendents representing a coalition of 10 California school districts, including LAUSD, are scheduled to meet with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan today to make a personal pitch for a district waiver from provisions of No Child Left Behind, which they plan to formally submit next week. EdSource

Schools in Crisis, Reforms Not Working, U.S. Federal Panel Declares
A federal commission on Tuesday said the U.S. education system had “thoroughly stacked the odds” against impoverished students and warned that an aggressive reform agenda embraced by both Democrats and Republicans had not done enough to improve public schools. Reuters

Charter Schools’ Discipline Policies Face Scrutiny
As the number of charter schools continues to grow, one facet of their autonomy—the ability to set and enforce independent disciplinary standards—has raised difficult questions about whether those schools are pushing out students who pose behavior or academic challenges and how their policies affect regular public schools. EdWeek

Calpers Will Sell Its Investments in Gun Makers
The investment committee of Calpers, the biggest American pension fund, voted Tuesday to divest itself of its holdings in two manufacturers of guns and high-capacity ammunition clips banned in California. NY Times

St. Genevieve High Honors Former President Jimmy Carter
A statesman, author and diplomat, Jimmy Carter hasn’t often found himself at a loss for words.  But on Tuesday, facing a wall covered with photos and mementos of his friendship with the community at St. Genevieve High School, the nation’s 39th president found it difficult to express himself. LA Daily News

Abuse of School Meals Funds Target of Cannella Bill
Acting on the financial abuses by school districts that “literally take food from the mouths of children,” a state legislator has introduced the School Lunch Protection Act. The Californian

Federal Grant Prospect Reignites Kindergarten-Assessment Debate
A federal grant program in the works to help states jump-start kindergarten-entry assessments is renewing debate among early-childhood educators about the benefits and pitfalls of evaluating young children. EdWeek

Congressional Panel Calls for Larger Federal Role in Directing Schools
A white paper released Tuesday on improving educational competitiveness and closing the achievement gap called for a significantly larger federal role in the management of the nation’s public school system. SI&A Cabinet Report

L.A. Schools Need Technology, but Can We Afford It?
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles School Board will consider a Common Core Technology Project Plan. If approved, the plan would initially fund computing devices for 30,000 students at 47 schools for $50 million, beginning in 2013. LA Daily News Op-Ed by LAUSD Board Member Tamar Galatzan

Districts to Seek NCLB Waiver Whether or Not They’re Invited
Rather than taking a position on the legality of district waivers, Duncan said his biggest concern is capacity. With 15,000 school districts that could potentially apply, it would be unmanageable. EdSource

LAUSD Petitions for Sweeping Relief From Class Size Requirements
The Los Angeles Unified School District is set to bring applications forward next month seeking relief for 78 school sites from class-size restrictions required under a special state funding program. SI&A Cabinet Report

Granada Hills Charter Wins LAUSD’s Academic Decathlon
Granada Hills Charter High clinched the top spot in Los Angeles Unified’s Academic Decathlon for the third straight year, raising hopes for a three-peat by the school at this year’s state and national contests. LA Daily News
See also: LA Times

L.A. Teachers Union Wins Grant for School-Reform Model
The union representing Los Angeles teachers has won a grant to help instructors play a prominent leadership role in their schools. LA Times
See also: LA School Report, LA Daily News

We Can Do More to Protect Children
Too often, the needs of adults and institutions come before those of youngsters they are supposed to safeguard. That could change if we all took it more personally. LA Times Opinion

Valentine’s Day Lesson Plans Aren’t Just for Teachers
The Texas-based teacher social network We Are Teachers has some Valentine’s Day classroom lesson plans that aren’t just for teachers. KPCC

Teachers Press Obama to Keep Promises as Spending Cuts Loom
The largest teachers union in the United States is telling President Barack Obama not to back down from promises he made in his January inauguration speech as the country prepares to begin a decade of billions of dollars in federal spending cuts. Reuters

Brown’s School Finance Reform Has the Right Intent but Major Flaws
Fresh on the heels of having saved – at least for now – California’s public education system through passage of his Proposition 30, Governor Jerry Brown is rededicating himself to the task of tearing down and redesigning the twisted maze that currently serves as the K-12 funding system. EdSource Opinion

As a recent UTLA newletter reveals, concerns about how the money will be spent are one of the reasons that the union is so focused on the outcome of the March 5 election. In the newsletter, UTLA President Warren Fletcher notes that the union’s ability to achieve its budget goals “will be immeasurably helped or hindered depending on the outcome of the March 5 School Board election.”

When it passed in November, Prop. 30 was lauded by just about everyone as a victory for education. For the first time in years, Prop. 30 offered financial relief for LAUSD’s cash-strapped schools, which have weathered a budget crisis, teacher layoffs, and dismally low per-pupil funding. In 2012, LAUSD’s per-pupil funding was $5,221, and California’s per-pupil spending ranked 47th out of 50 states.

And, at least initially, UTLA and the Board were in agreement. Once Prop. 30 passed, the Board immediately moved to restore the full, 180-day academic year and rescinded past teacher furloughs.

But the promise of this much-needed money now has LAUSD and UTLA preparing for a battle over how it will be spent, a process that begins now and happens for real next year.

The teachers union has proclaimed three main spending priorities for Prop. 30 revenue: It wants to protect and restore teacher jobs, to lower class sizes (which will also protect teacher jobs threatened by declining student enrollment in district schools), and to implement pay raises.

In the newsletter, Fletcher highlights the differences between what the union wants and what the district prioritizes. “[In the past,] Board members could always claim that budgetary necessity was driving their decisions,” writes Fletcher. “Now that Prop. 30 is the law, they no longer have that excuse.”

LAUSD teachers have experienced four years of furloughs, and there has been a six-year freeze on pay raises in the district.

However, the district, along with at least a part of the Board, is looking to spend Prop. 30 funds more directly on students, including by bringing more technology into classrooms.

The rift between UTLA and LAUSD on technology is nothing new (see: Union Head Opposes Tablet Initiative), and there have already been tense debates among Board members over Deasy’s push to give each LAUSD student a tablet computer (see: Technology or Salaries?). In a January interview with CBS LA, Deasy said preventing teacher layoffs was a possibility next year, but far from a certainty.

However, few of these decisions will be made before the Board election on March 5th. It will be a new Board — possibly with new members — that sifts through the different claims and priorities and determines how Prop. 30 funds are used.

L.A. Unified’s College-Prep Push Is Based on False Data
San Jose’s school district, which requires all students to pass the classes necessary to apply to California universities, initially reported strong results. But its success was overstated. Those results should raise warning flags for other school systems, including Los Angeles Unified, that based key policy decisions on San Jose’s misreported data. LA Times

LAUSD Plans to Add 1,000 New Campus Aides for Security at Elementary Schools
The Los Angeles Unified School District plans to make more than 1,000 new hires to bolster security at hundreds of campuses in a move some critics have called “security on the cheap.” LA Daily News
See also: KPCC, LA Times

State Legislators Seek Crackdown on Expensive Form of School Finance
Two state lawmakers moved on Friday to crack down on a costly method of finance that hundreds of school districts have been relying on to pay for new construction. LA Times

Teachers Flip for ‘Flipped Learning’ Class Model
When Timmy Nguyen comes to his pre-calculus class, he’s already learned the day’s lesson – he watched it on a short online video prepared by his teacher for homework. AP

Days of Small K-3 Classes Look Done for in California
California embarked on an ambitious experiment in 1996 to improve its public schools by putting its youngest students in smaller classes. Nearly 17 years later, the goal of maintaining classrooms of no more than 20 pupils in the earliest grades has been all but discarded. KPCC

Students Struggling With English Not Getting Help
More than 20,000 California students struggling with English are not receiving legally required services to help them, setting them up for academic failure, says a report by two civil rights groups. LA Times

Arrest of LAUSD Teacher May Bolster Lawmaker’s Case to Speed up Dismissals
In California, school districts can remove a teacher accused of serious misconduct from the classroom, but must put them on paid leave through the dismissal process — and during appeals — if the employee contests the action. KPCC

Attorney: Alleged LAUSD Abusers Mostly at Low-Income Schools
Attorney Martha Escutia said in a statement that the public deserves to “know why LAUSD is unable to protect children and why a majority of alleged sex abusers appear to end up teaching at economically disadvantaged schools.” CBS LA

Calif. Agency Takes Months to Review Misconduct
Months after the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing was notified of a Los Angeles Unified elementary school teacher suspected of molesting at least a dozen students and a principal who failed to report him to authorities, the agency has not taken action on the cases. AP

North Hollywood High’s Cyber Patriot Team Heads to National Finals
North Hollywood High School is one of three Los Angeles Unified campuses that will send teams to the National High School Cyber Defense Competition in Washington, D.C. in March. LA Daily News

Russia Is Topic as LAUSD Academic Decathlon Begins
The topic is Russia for the more than 500 students from 58 high schools gathered at Roybal Learning Center in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday for the Los Angeles Unified School District Academic Decathlon. LA Times

Southern California Schools to Benefit From Gov. Jerry Brown’s Budget
California’s public schools are the big winners in Gov. Jerry Brown’s “breakthrough” budget plan, with education leaders saying they hope to have the money to restore many of the public services gutted by years of recession. LA Daily News, KPCC

With More Money to Spend, Brown Launches K-12 Funding Reform
Gov. Jerry Brown yesterday proposed an unfamiliar budget for public education in the state – one with actual increases. EdSource

In CA, Standardized Teacher Evaluations Trip Over Wealth Gap
As California tries to come up with a more robust way of evaluating teachers, the biggest hurdle could be something educators don’t have any control over: the state’s increasing socioeconomic disparities. La Opinion/New American Media

L.A.’s Economy Depends on Higher Education
Education attainment — or lack thereof — is poised to singlehandedly decide our economic future. LA Daily News Op-Ed

Early Childhood Funding Stays Flat in Governor’s Budget
After years of funding cuts to early childhood programs, Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed budget would keep funding levels nearly the same as last year. EdSource

College Admission May Get Easier as Ranks of High School Graduates Drop
High school graduates will face less competition for college admission in the next decade due to a demographic decline in their ranks, according to a report on education enrollment trends released Wednesday. LA Times

Brown Contemplates Withdrawing From School Construction Funding
With one hand, Gov. Jerry Brown gave school facility managers the proposed benefit of $450 million generated by the closing of tax loopholes from the passage of Proposition 39 in November. But with the other hand, the governor raised the specter of the state leaving altogether its traditional role as a funding partner in school construction projects overall. SI&A Cabinet Report

Suspension, Expulsion Data Cast Harsh Light on Some Schools
An Education Week analysis of data collected by the U.S. Department of Education illustrates the wide variation in how schools use out-of-school suspension and expulsion to discipline students. It also calls into question the validity of the data for some schools. EdWeek