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Monday, June 25, 2012

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Education Headlines

Monday, June 25, 2012

Test scores drop after state rule change

The Lake Elsinore Unified School District’s standardized test scores, recently lauded as some of the most improved in Riverside County, have dropped significantly because of a change in state rules.

Perris school board approves budget

Perris Union High School District trustees approved a budget for 2012-13 at their meeting Wednesday. The spending plan calls for $69 million in revenue and $73 million in expenses.

State payment delays to schools seen as gimmick

Think of state payment delays as a paycheck that never arrives, a carrot hanging just out of reach. But local educators are giving an effort to stop the practice a wary welcome, applauding the intent but afraid an honest budget could spell disaster.

Modesto area schools will tap into reserves to make ends meet

Uncertainty was a given for schools. But an uneasy economy means state figures, too, are up in the air. Telling details will be in budget trailer bills yet to be printed, said education analysts.

Teacher, students arrested in alleged hazing at Fontana high school

Four students and a teacher were arrested Saturday in connection with an alleged in-classroom hazing incident at a Fontana high school, police said.

16 LAUSD schools to lose $60 million in student-achievement funds for failing to meet standards

Sixteen struggling Los Angeles Unified schools will lose nearly $60 million from a state program designed to boost student achievement after they fell short in raising scores on standardized tests, according to officials.

Solar panels at LAUSD schools convert Valley's blazing sun into energy

When triple-digit temperatures hit Woodland Hills this summer, Alma Aguirre isn't going to be thinking about her vehicle baking in the parking lot at Taft High, but the electricity generated by the solar panels covering the school's new carport.

First, keep the lights on

Given more control over how they could spend state money, school districts not surprisingly chose survival over experimentation.

Spending, governance questions still dog migrant worker ed program

For the first time in decades, a troubled parent advisory panel representing migrant farmworkers has completed its primary mission to provide a report to the state superintendent of schools on their community’s K-12 educational needs.

LAUSD will not close continuation schools

Thirteen continuation high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District - including two locally - will not be closed as initially proposed, schools officials said last week.

Debt-ridden ICEF spent nearly $1.4 million on harassment claims

A financially struggling charter school organization has paid nearly $1.4 million to settle three sexual-harassment claims against its highest-profile educator, Fernando Pullum, a widely honored musician and teacher, The Times has learned.
Friday, June 22, 2012

Rowland superintendent leaves legacy at district; Ott takes job at USC

Maria Ott's 41-year career as an educator has taken her from the classroom to the chief administrator's office. And it is the former that she says has shaped her.

Inspire charter school to get more space on Chico High campus

Inspire School of Arts and Sciences won't be getting a new home this year, but it will be getting more space, based on a decision made Wednesday.

Class sizes are likely to increase

Sonora Elementary School District’s Board of Trustees discussed a dour financial forecast at Wednesday’s meeting, confronting the possibility that the district will need to increase class size in coming years to survive.

Student faces charges for spitting from bus

A Chula Vista middle school student whose spit sailed out a school bus window and into a nearby sunroof says the landing was inadvertent. The recipient of the saliva was so incensed by the act that he chased down the bus and pressed criminal charges.

Examining San Diego Unified's tentative jobs pact