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Morning Read: Fighting Underway over New State Funding

LA School Report | December 9, 2013



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Brown’s overhaul of California school finances sparks infighting
Commentary: Gov. Jerry Brown’s landmark overhaul of public schools’ finances was aimed at their most vexing issue – chronically low academic achievements among poor or “English-learner” students. Not only would more money be spent – billions more, in fact, thanks to a tax increase – but state aid would be “weighted” toward districts with large numbers of targeted kids. Sacramento Bee


Some sober words for school boards amid predictions of plenty
For the first time since the Great Recession, school districts are getting more money this year from the state; some – big beneficiaries of the new Local Control Funding Formula – are getting a lot. EdSource


Black college students face persistent hurdles, report finds
More black students in California are earning bachelor’s degrees than they were a decade ago, but enrollment in the state’s public universities is stagnant and many are turning to costly for-profit schools, according to a new report. LA Times


Schools and guns remain at issue, a year after Sandy Hook

As the nation turns later this week to acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the mass killing at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School, clashes over school safety and Second Amendment rights are becoming increasingly common. What once seemed an easy policy decision has become more complicated and politically-charged. SI&A Cabinet Report


Entrepreneur program helps South L.A. students realize potential
The 17-year-old high school senior lives in a neighborhood south of downtown where crime is still high, police sirens are ever-present, and fast-food joints line the block. She rarely leaves the area, never once having been to the beach with her family. But Maria Castro escaped her surroundings last summer and learned new ways to be healthy — physically and mentally. LA Times


Education innovation: A case study in what not to do
Commentary: The rollout of iPads in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is becoming a classic case study of what not-to-do when implementing any innovation whether it is high-tech or low-tech. Washington Post


Who says math has to be boring?
Editorial: American students are bored by math, science and engineering. They buy smartphones and tablets by the millions but don’t pursue the skills necessary to build them. Despite the high pay and the importance of such jobs to the country’s future, the vast majority of high school graduates don’t want to go after them. New York Times

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