Morning Read: Deadline Nearing for CA ‘No Child’ Waiver
LA School Report | July 16, 2013
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CORE Districts to Make Final Personal Pitch for No Child Left Behind Waiver
Quickly running out of time, a delegation from nine California school districts will go to Washington this week to make a last pitch to federal officials for a waiver from the No Child Left Behind law. Districts are up against deadlines for contracts with companies that provide services, such as tutoring, in schools that have failed to meet NCLB’s academic targets. Especially for Los Angeles Unified, a CORE district, these must be signed within a week or so. EdSource
Montanez Attacks Martinez over Telfair Elementary Molestation Case
CD6 candidate Cindy Montanez is launching a fresh attack against rival Nury Martinez, accusing the former school board member of covering up the arrest of a Telfair Elementary School teacher accused of molestation.A recent mailer sent to voters suggests Martinez and the school district knew about Pacoima teacher Paul Chapel’s history of molesting children. LA Daily News
Seven Local Teens Win $10,000 Milken Foundation Scholarships
Seven outstanding high school seniors from the San Fernando Valley area have been named Milken Scholars by the Milken Family Foundation and will received $10,000 scholarships, mentoring and other opportunities, officials for the nonprofit group announced Monday. LA Daily News
Charter schools — A report card
What can the education world conclude about charter schools after their first couple of decades in existence? Something so simple that it’s almost earth-shattering: The best ones benefit students enormously, especially those students who are low income, African American or still learning English. And the bad ones are far worse than if the students had stayed in their public schools. LA Times
Critics Questions How Next UC President Was Chosen
The nomination of Janet Napolitano, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security and former governor of Arizona, to be UC president has elicited many positive comments about how her managerial and political skills can help the university system. But some skeptics are voicing concerns about her lack of education administrative credentials and question the secretive process that led to her selection. LA Times
Lawmakers May Debate Testing, Teacher Evaluations in NCLB Renewal
Big news of the week is that the U.S. House of Representatives may consider a long-stalled bill to renew the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. (It’s set for possible floor consideration on Thursday, according to the House schedule.) Ed Week
Bill Gates Expands Influence–and Money–Into Higher education
For years, Bill Gates has exercised extraordinary influence in shaping modern K-12 school reform to his liking, leveraging cash from his vast Microsoft fortune to drive the public agenda — and taxpayer funds – toward standardized test-based accountability. Now, the Chronicle of Higher Education has exposed how he is doing the same thing in higher education: spending his own money to remake the system. Washington Post
OMG! Survey, Like, Says Digital-Savvy Students Are Good At Writing!
Can kidz rite 2day? Despite popular perceptions that the onslaught of texting, tweeting and other digital technologies is ruining students writing skills, a national survey of teachers released Tuesday found such advantages as greater creativity, personal expression and increased collaboration. LA Times
Internecine Dramas at LAUSD: Which Comes First, Maturity or Accountability?
Opinion: Earlier this month the LAUSD board engaged in a complicated and abstruse argument about how Proposition 30 monies from the state should be distributed. While it seems as if there ought to be a huge windfall from its passage and a lot of claims were made at the time that the educational world would grind to a halt failing passage, still it seems now as if there will be nowhere near enough money just to hold things status quo. CityWatch
California Should Embrace New National Teacher Preparation Standards
Commentary: Are we finally about to get serious about improving the professional training of school teachers and principals in this country? And will California be a leader or laggard in this effort? EdSource