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Facing its First Budget Increase in Years, LA Unified Board Members Set to Debate How to Spend it
Los Angeles Unified School District’s board of education is set to vote Tuesday on next fiscal year’s budget. For the first time in years, members will not be faced with figuring out where to make drastic cuts. KPCC
Schools with Fewer Needy Students Decry California Funding Change
About 170 students, who are from Mexico, Vietnam, Egypt, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and elsewhere, at Torrance’s North High are struggling to catch up to grade-level standards. Although they have the same academic needs as limited-English speakers in a nearby school district in Lawndale, North High’s school district, Torrance Unified, is slated to receive less than half as many dollars under Gov. Jerry Brown’s school funding overhaul. LA Times
Was adopting Common Core a mistake?
In theory, the new standards, which cover only math and English for the moment, look promising. At the same time, there are valid concerns about mandates to reduce the amount of fiction read in English classes and about material that won’t be taught because of the focus on learning fewer subjects in more depth. LA Times (editorial page)
Brown Retreats from Conditions on University Funding
Gov. Jerry Brown has backed off his proposal to tie some money for California’s public universities to such requirements as improving graduation rates, enrolling more low-income students and freezing tuition for four years. LA Times
More Special-Ed Kids Head to Traditional Schools
Los Angeles Unified will shift hundreds of disabled students from special-education centers to traditional schools this fall as it accelerates efforts to integrate youngsters with physical and developmental handicaps. LA Daily News
LAUSD Teacher Suspected in Estranged Wife’s Stabbing Death Captured
An LAUSD elementary school teacher accused of stabbing his wife to death outside of a San Fernando Valley home was arrested Monday after two days on the run. CBS News
Questions Arise About Need for Algebra 2 for All
Should all students take Algebra 2? Florida seemed to say “no” this spring with the passage of a law striking it from graduation requirements. Texas said much the same in legislation Republican Gov. Rick Perry signed this week that also backs away from Algebra 2 for all. EdWeek
Reasons to Drop Out—and to Stay
If students drop out of high school because they are bored and don’t see what they are learning as relevant to their future, it can be tough to get them interested in more of the same. The Back on Track Through College model aims to re-engage out-of-school youths ages 16 to 26 by encouraging them to think about a career and earn college credentials as they work toward a high school diploma. EdWeek
Business, Military Signal Strong Support for Public Preschool, But Republican Lawmakers Unswayed
Early childhood education advocates are working to make it clear that not everyone supporting President Barack Obama’s proposal to vastly expand federal funding for preschool and infant and toddler care is a tax-and-spend liberal. EdSource