As you can see, LAUSD’s API score showed significant improvement, climbing 16 points to reach 745, but was still below California’s statewide goal for an 800 API score. When it came to the district’s AYP score, which is a broader federal measure of how a school district is progressing, LAUSD did not meet AYP target goals for student performance or graduation rates. LAUSD did, however, meet participation rates in math and English/language arts.

LAUSD was not alone in its struggle to meet AYP goals, and both AYP and API are incomplete measures of school effectiveness.

Previous posts: No NCLB Waiver — No “Freeze”, Testing Problems at 2 LAUSD Schools

See also the LA Times

Gov. Jerry Brown Has Yet to Pick a Central Prop. 30 Sales Pitch
Mixed messages about Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax-hike initiative underscore his struggle pitching Prop. 30 to voters and have provided fodder for foes. LA Times

Credit Rating for California School Districts Could be Downgraded if Props 30 & 38 Fail
Moody’s Investors Service says the forecast for California school districts is dire, and many are at risk of having their credit rating downgraded if both ballot measures fail. KPCC

Texas, California Do Compete – in Funding Race to the Bottom
In this state, where only 25 percent of schoolchildren are non-Hispanic whites, but 66 percent of likely voters are, it’s not hard to understand why voters are so resistant to tax increases even for public education. Ed Source

SBE’s Charter Network Struggles Like Other Schools With Federal AYP
A new report on the performance of the sprawling network of charter schools under the management of the California State Board of Education found most made progress last year – although like the majority of all other schools statewide, most board-authorized charters also failed to meet federal benchmarks. SI&A Cabinet Report

For These High School Grads, Pomp With Different Circumstances
A fall graduation ceremony in Montebello honors students who had a second chance to catch up. LA Times 

LAUSD Unveils State-of-the-Art Science Center Named for Astronaut Sally Ride
The Sally Ride Center for Environmental Science is a $4.8 million LEED-certified facility that sits behind the Sonia M. Sotomayor Learning Academies. KPCC

New Playa Vista Elementary School Opens After Overcoming Skeptics
On Monday, the brand-new Playa Vista Elementary School just off Lincoln Boulevard held its official grand opening ceremony, complete with statements from politicians, educators, parents and students – many of whom were not yet born when the plan to build the school was conceived. Daily Breeze 

Four L.A. Unified Schools to Offer Free Flu Clinics
Four schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District will offer free flu vaccination clinics Tuesday for students, their families and staff, district officials announced Monday at the Edward Roybal Learning Center. LA Times 

NCLB Freeze Gun

California appears to be the only state in the nation that has applied for — but not yet received — a so-called “waiver” from NCLB but doesn’t already have a one-year freeze on NCLB’s ever-escalating proficiency requirements in its back pocket.  That means California schools will be among the only ones in the nation operating under the full force of the original NCLB rating system during 2012-2013.  

WAIVERS:  States that receive waivers are free to vary from NCLB’s annual school rating system, called AYP (annual yearly progress), in exchange for committing to a series of additional reforms.   Nevada is the most recent state to receive waiver approval from Washington, bringing the total number of states with approved waivers up to 33 plus DC. There are a baker’s dozen of states that haven’t applied for a waiver at all. See EdWeek’s Politics K-12 for more details.

FREEZES:  States that receive a one-year freeze are still governed by NCLB but are not required to ratchet up the minimum proficiency scores required for next year, called AMO (annual measurable objectives). Seven of the states that have applied for a waiver already had a one-year freeze on that requirement, according to the US Department of Education: Alabama,  Alaska, Maine, West Virginia,  Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas.  (South Dakota requested a freeze but then got a waiver.  Wyoming’s freeze request is still pending.) I got this information from the USDE but there doesn’t seem to be a link listing states.

There leaves just four states — Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, and California — with waiver applications that have not yet been approved.  But three out of the four have freezes. The one that doesn’t?  The Golden State.  I’m told by the CDE that there’s no application for an AMO freeze in the works.