David Welch, StudentsMatter founder, speaking at a press conference after a Vergara decision.

The attorneys involved in Vergara v. California, a landmark case that challenged teacher tenure laws, announced Tuesday they have filed a federal lawsuit in Connecticut challenging that state’s laws that they say restrict school choice options.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of the California Supreme Court’s decision Monday to decline to review an appellate court ruling that overturned Vergara v. California, effectively putting an end to that case’s four-year journey through the courts. The battle now moves to the California Legislature.

In the new case, Martinez v. Malloy, the plaintiff attorneys argue that the state laws violate equal protection and due process clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit names 11 students and parents as plaintiffs. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy and other state leaders are named as defendants.

“These inner-city children are compelled to attend public schools that the State knows have been failing its students for decades—consistently failing to provide even a minimally adequate education,” attorneys write in the lawsuit. “Yet, at the same time, Connecticut has taken steps that prevent these poor and minority children from having viable public-school alternatives— knowingly depriving low-income and minority schoolchildren of the vital educational opportunities available to their more affluent and predominantly white peers.”

The attorneys cite three categories of laws that are being challenged: the state has put a moratorium on new magnet schools, “arcane and dysfunctional” laws that govern public charter schools and the state’s inter-district open choice enrollment program that penalizes school districts that accept students from inner-city school districts.

“Federal courts have a proud tradition of recognizing and protecting our most cherished fundamental rights — particularly when our children’s futures are at stake,” said Joshua Lipshutz, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “It is time for the federal courts to step in and stop states, like Connecticut, from forcing inner-city children to attend failing schools.  Under the U.S. Constitution, every child deserves a chance to succeed in life.”

“As urban parents, we have to work ten times as hard, be ten times as engaged, and be ten times as savvy about the system to give our children even a slim chance of getting into a quality school,” said Jessica Martinez in a statement, the mother of one of the plaintiffs. “Connecticut’s laws hurt and impede, rather than help us.”

StudentsMatter is sponsoring the lawsuit. They say tens of thousands of poor and minority students in Connecticut are harmed by the laws.

“Every child deserves access to a quality education and the opportunities it provides, but the state is effectively limiting that access for some children — a direct violation of their Constitutional rights,” said StudentsMatter founder David Welch, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. “This case is about parents standing up and demanding answers for a broken and harmful system.”

Information table for Parent Revolution’s Choice4LA school choice program. (courtesy)

Parent Revolution announced Tuesday that it has helped 321 students apply to new, higher performing schools through its Choice4LA pilot program launched in January.

The program is aimed at helping low-income families navigate a complex system of school choice by providing information on all types of schools, helping parents choose the right school for their children and providing support through the application process. In total the group has engaged with 734 families as of last week.

The group also announced it has received a $50,000 grant from the California Community Foundation toward the effort.

Choice4LA has been focused on a pilot area in South Los Angeles where it has partnered with community groups to reach out to parents who are interested in finding other school options for their students.

Seth Litt, executive director of Parent Revolution, said there are many barriers for families to applying to high-performing schools, including a lack of transportation and sometimes no internet access at home.

Many parents don’t have the type of jobs where they can take time off to tour new schools, he said.

“A lot of families are effectively shut out of choice,” Litt said.

Many parents do not even know about the options available, he said.

“Either school choice information doesn’t reach them through traditional methods, or the process is so complex that they don’t actually exercise those choices for their children,” Litt said.

Of the families that have applied to new schools, 63 percent have applied to both charter schools and district schools, according to statistics provided by the group. Twenty-six percent of families have applied only to charter schools, and 11 percent have applied only to district schools.

Litt said for families, it doesn’t matter what kind of school it is.

“Families are just like, ‘Where is the best school for my child?’” Litt said.

Parents complete an average of four applications per student, he said.

Parent Revolution’s Choice4LA school choice clinic. (courtesy)

One major barrier to parents being informed about different schools is that there is no central directory of schools, Litt said. Another challenge is that schools have their own applications and unique deadlines. And, finally, it is difficult to compare schools because right now there is no overall rating for schools. (The Academic Performance Index has been eliminated and the state Board of Education is still determining a new accountability system, which may include an overall rating.)

Parent Revolution is working on developing an online directory of schools, Litt said. He said he is encouraged by LA Unified’s interest in simplifying its application process, but said that should include charter schools.

“The simpler we can make this for families, the better,” Litt said.

He said he doesn’t believe the system is purposely complex but has developed that way accidentally and haphazardly over time.

The group has partnered with 45 community groups, including churches, government agencies like the Department of Children and Family Services, food banks and others to connect with families.

He said the group plans to expand the program based on where it has community partnerships.

• 17 percent of respondents said “education” was the most important issue facing the country right now, trailing only “economy and jobs” (31 percent) as a first priority.
• Six of 10 Americans are much more likely to think K–12 education has gotten off on the “wrong track,” compared with about one-third of adults who say it is heading in the “right direction.”
• Nearly three-quarters of Americans have a dim view of the federal government’s performance in K–12 education.
• 14 percent could estimate the correct per-student spending range for the national average, which is $10,700.
• 44 percent give an A or B to their local public schools; 58 percent give an A or B to local private/parochial schools; and 36 percent give those high grades to public charter schools.
• 53 percent of respondents said they favored charters, and 27 percent said they opposed them.
• Republicans (60 percent) and Independents (58 percent) are more likely to indicate support for charter schools than Democrats (47 percent).
• Approximately six out of 10 Americans (61 percent) say they support school vouchers, compared with 33 percent who said they oppose such a school choice system.
• 62 percent say they support an “education savings account” system (“ESA”).
• 42 percent said the amount of time spent on standardized testing is “too high,” compared with 19 percent who said “too low.
• When asked about what state government should do to intervene, if at all, in low-performing schools, the highest proportion of respondents (41 percent) said supplying vouchers/scholarships to affected families would be a useful state intervention
• Half of respondents said they support the Common Core State Standards compared with 40 percent who said they oppose.
• 46 percent said the a teacher unions’ endorsement of a political candidate has a positive influence on them. One-quarter said the teachers unions have a negative influence.

The grade is a slight fall from the C grade it earned last year from the Brown Center, which is part of the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C. think tank. The study ranks the largest school districts in the country based on the opportunities their students have to attend their preferred school. Out of 107 districts, LAUSD ranked 38th.

The study uses 13 categories to rank districts, indicators such as providing transportation to students who want to attend their preferred school, offering online courses and having available alternative schools like charters and magnets.

LAUSD measles free

Although 25 LA Unified schools have vaccination rates below the recommended levels, there have been no confirmed cases of any district student contracting the disease.

Still, more alarming news about measles keeps coming in. As of today, there are now 99 confirmed cases of measles in California, including 25 cases in Los Angeles County and 31 in Orange County, according to KTLA. On Jan. 31, a Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District daycare center was shut down after one of the children was confirmed to have measles.

Two state Senators yesterday proposed a law that would no longer allow parents to cite “personal beliefs” as an exemption to vaccinations for school children, and Gov. Brown is reportedly open to supporting the law.

North Hollywood High team defending ‘CyberPatriot’ title

Three teams from LA Unified, including the defending national champion Team Azure from North Hollywood High School, are among 12 finalists that will compete in the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition in Washington D.C. in March.

The other two teams are from North Hollywood High and Franklin High School. All three teams are part of the district’s after-school Beyond the Bell Program.

“This is an afterschool program for which we can all be very proud of,” Alvaro Cortés, executive director of Beyond the Bell, said in a statement. “This school year, we are dedicated to increasing the number of English Language Learners and female participation in STEM-related activities. We are proud of all of the students, including the five young women who make up 30 percent of the Beyond the Bell 2015 National CyberPatriot finalists.”

The CyberPatriot competition is part of the CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Education Program, which was created by the Air Force Association to inspire high school students to pursue careers in c​yber-security.

Video from District 5 forum

Last week, following the last-minute dropouts of LAUSD board member Bennet Kayser and challenger Andrew Thomas, challenger Ref Rodriguez had the floor to himself at a candidate forum on Jan. 28 at the Goodwill Center in Northeast Los Angeles. The United Way Los Angeles, which hosted the event, posted his appearance in its entirety on YouTube. Check out the video here.

The gathering, which is expected to attract a crowd of as large as 8,000, is intended to help parents learn more about the variety of school options available to their kids, according to the executive producer of the event, Xavier Reyes.

“We have a waiting list of schools. We are trying to create room for them right now,” he said.

Fifty schools, mostly LAUSD magnet programs and charter schools, will have booths at the event. Non-profits that work in schools, like First Five LA and the YWCA, will also be represented.

“We’re excited by the response,” said Reyes. “We’ll have to rent a bigger hall next time.”

The event is free. To find out more click here.

Los Angeles Unified School Board Election Has Nation’s Attention
The race for three Los Angeles Unified school board seats has drawn more than $4 million in donations – as well as the attention of education leaders nationwide – as the district’s powerful unions and the reform movement battle for control of public education. LA Daily News

Suit Against Ex-LAUSD Boss Ramon Cortines Tossed
A judge has thrown out a sexual-harassment lawsuit filed by a male LAUSD Facilities executive against retired Superintendent Ramon Cortines, saying the statute of limitations for filing a claim had expired, a district spokesman said Saturday. LA Daily News

A Round-Up of School Choice Legislation Across the U.S.
Charters & Choice is offering a round-up of school-choice legislation in play in statehouses, and in one case, at the federal level. Lawmakers are considering measures on tax credits, other types of vouchers, charter school expansion, and parent trigger policy. EdWeek

School Reform Through the Pre-K to Third Grade Continuum
For educational reforms to produce the gains that are needed in the information economy, two basic performance gaps must be addressed. They are gaps showing the difference between a standard of excellence and actual performance. HuffPo Opinion

Parents, Students Want to Rename Cortines Campus
Parents, students and staff have voted in favor of changing the name of the downtown Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts, setting up an unprecedented conflict within the nation’s second-largest school system. LA Times

L.A. Schools Supt. Deasy, 4 Predecessors Named in Miramonte Lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that the superintendents created an environment in which administrators were advised to dismiss complaints of misconduct, shielded teachers from scrutiny and kept allegations from being reported to state authorities and law enforcement. LA Times
See also: LA Daily News, AP, ABC LA

Applying for Kindergarten: What to Do If Your Child Is Too Young
It’s that time of the year when parents of four and five year old’s are busy with school tours and applications to secure a kindergarten spot. KPCC

In 2013, California Needs to Make Education a Top Priority
This year, my hope for our state is to fix our broken educational funding system. Yahoo News (editorial)

School Board Members to Arne Duncan: Back Off
After four years in office, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan still hasn’t won over local school board members. EdWeek

Teachers Get Hands-on Instructing Algebra to at Risk Middle School Students
There was a time when Mike Moser’s math classes at Park Middle School in Antioch would probably have looked a lot like every other in America. SI&A Cabinet Report

Organizing and Partnering for School Change in East Los Angeles
For more than 80 years, no new school was built in East Los Angeles. In the past several years, the efforts of a community organizing group, a dedicated group of teachers, an array of community partners, the students, and the parents converged to demand change — and to make it a reality. HuffPo Editorial

State Ordered to Pay Back Districts $1 Billion for 20-Year-Old Mandate
A state commission has ruled that the state must reimburse school districts about $1 billion in mandated special education costs dating back 20 years. EdSource

When You’re Black in America, School Choice Matters
Education reformer Howard Fuller shares why we ‘must not depend on any one strategy to achieve the goal of educating our young.’ Take Part Op-Ed

Portrait In Numbers Of LAUSD’s Decline In Arts Education
In the last three years, Los Angeles Unified has had to cut nearly $1.5 billion from its annual operating budget, which is now roughly $6 billion. “Arts education is one of the most impacted components of LAUSD instruction as a result,” according to the district. KPCC

Teacher evaluation resolution pulled from LAUSD agenda
School board member Steve Zimmer has pulled his controversial resolution on teacher evaluations from Tuesday’s board agenda because of concerns it could interfere with sensitive negotiations between the district and its teachers’ union. Daily News

Schools Urged To Use Up Technology Vouchers
About $66 million, including $10 million for LAUSD, remains from a state antitrust settlement with Microsoft, and officials want districts to use the vouchers before they expire during 2013. LA Times

LAUSD Moves Up Deadline For Magnet Schools
Applications for Los Angeles Unified’s 172 magnet programs are due on Nov. 16 because of the academic year’s early start. LA Times

Porter Ranch Community School To Get Short-Term Street Parking Under City Compromise
Plans are being finalized to allow short-term street parking near the new Porter Ranch Community School, and new signs should be going up by mid-October along Mason Avenue, officials said. Daily News 

How Gloria Romero Became the Face of Proposition 32
With Election Day still one month away, the battle to pass Prop. 32 has seen its share of political shockers, including the sudden injection of $4 million of Koch brother money to the Yes on 32 campaign, along with millions more from Charles Munger Jr. But nothing has been more surprising than the decision of Romero, a former California State Senate Democratic majority leader, to serve as the measure’s frontwoman. Frying Pan News (blog)

You can read the Zimmer press release announcing the withdrawal here.