Education Headlines
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tamien residents object to plans for Rocketship school
Rocketship, the darling of the national charter movement, hit a speed bump Tuesday in its quest to open more schools that serve low-income, disadvantaged children. The Santa Clara County Board of Education unanimously postponed a decision affecting a parcel where Rocketship wants to open another school.Moreno Valley trustee cases cost district thousands
The Moreno Valley Unified School District has spent more than $9,000 in legal costs as a result of two criminal cases involving trustee Mike Rios. A review of invoices through July 31, 2012, revealed that the district has spent $9,145.88 in legal costs in response to board member Mike Rios’ arrests, incarcerations and court orders, according to Mays Kakish, assistant superintendent of business services.LAUSD, teachers union spar over voluntary evaluation system
The district hopes to train all administrators and at least one teacher at each school in the program that includes student test scores. Union chief urges instructors not to take part.Berkeley: Still no schools chief after 9-month search
Nine months after Berkeley schools Superintendent Bill Huyett announced his retirement, the board of education still has not found a suitable person to manage the 9,200-student district.S.F. schools complete ADA access work
After 13 years under the shadow of a lawsuit, San Francisco Unified has spent about $250 million to fix some 50,000 code violations to ensure nearly 100 school buildings are fully accessible to the disabled. The last legally required drinking fountain, elevator, ramp and toilet were installed in several schools this summer to complete work outlined in a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed in 1999.Assembly to decide future of school seismic safety bill
A state Assembly committee will decide today the fate of legislation seeking to improve the seismic safety of public schools.Boy’s ejection from SF school illustrates struggles in violence prevention
An 11-year-old boy in San Francisco made headlines early last year when a shooting near his Western Addition home left a random bullet lodged permanently in his abdomen. For a brief moment after the shooting, the boy, who was 9 at the time, became the city’s latest example of how violence touches vulnerable young people. Then in February, the boy turned from the victim to the accused.Fensterwald: Fuentes finds possible $60 million for evaluation bill
The author of a bill revising the law on teacher evaluations has pushed up the start date to two years from now, found a $60 million pot of money to jump-start the process in districts with the lowest-performing schools, and given parents and students a role advising teachers and districts on criteria to use in the evaluations.Teacher evaluation changes threatened by California bill
A long-dormant bill that could significantly impede efforts in Los Angeles and elsewhere to use student test scores to evaluate teachers has been revived and faces a key legislative test Thursday.Brown moves tax campaign to the classroom, downplays parks scandal
Gov. Jerry Brown, starting to campaign in earnest for his Nov. 6 ballot initiative to raise taxes, labored Wednesday to put the state parks scandal and other potentially damaging developments at the Capitol behind him, hoping to refocus public attention on schools.Wednesday, August 15, 2012
