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Monday, October 1, 2012

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Education Headlines

Monday, October 1, 2012

Lucia Mar instructors reach deal on training program

Members of the Lucia Mar Unified Teachers Association have overwhelmingly approved changes to a training and evaluation program that was put in place at seven schools in the South County district in 2011.

Garvey school board members give superintendent raise, contract extension

The Garvey School board by a 3-2 vote Thursday approved a salary increase and contract extension for Superintendent Sandra Johnson over the opposition of hundreds of students, parents and teachers, who threatened employment strikes and recall elections.

West Marin voters face school tax renewal

In 1984, the Shoreline Unified School District became one of the first districts in California to receive voter approval for a parcel tax. Since then, the district's voters have renewed the tax every time they have been asked. This year's initiative, Measure C, would extend the $184.70-per-parcel annual tax for another eight years. The tax would increase 2 percent each year.

Financially struggling Sierra Unified draws wealth of candidates

School board candidates are hard to come by in some Valley school districts. Not in the Sierra Unified School District. Ten candidates -- three of them incumbents -- are vying for four seats on the Sierra Unified board, which oversees one elementary school, a middle school, a high school and an alternative school in the Fresno County foothills.

Board rules that Rocklin school district reinstate four nurses

The Public Employment Relations Board has found Rocklin Unified School District retaliated against four nurses and ordered the district to reinstate them with two years of back pay, plus 7 percent interest.

School board to welcome new superintendent

A rare mountain meeting of the Hemet Unified School District board Tuesday, Oct. 2 will double as the first public platform for the district’s newly hired superintendent.

Combination classes on the rise in elementary schools

In Temecula, the number of combination classes has doubled since last year, rising from 16 to 32. In Murrieta, combinations have more than tripled, from 11 last year to 35 this year. Even Romoland, a small K-8 district, has seen an increase in combination classes. District officials say after years of budget cuts, they can no longer afford the extra teachers needed to ensure that all students are in single-grade classrooms.

Santa Clara County school board may be stuck with former superintendent's condo

Whether they like it or not, the Santa Clara County Board of Education may be stuck with $175,000 or more in losses from the underwater luxury condominium that ex-Superintendent Charles Weis is trying to unload.

Program will link gas fill-ups with philanthropy site benefiting East Bay classrooms

Chevron USA is working with an online educational charity network to fund supplies and other classroom programs for K-12 teachers in public schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Throughout October, a dollar from all fill-ups of at least eight gallons at participating Chevron and Texaco stations, up to $5 million, will go to directly support public education in nine communities nationwide, including Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Banks: Prop. 30 isn't perfect, but if it fails, the results will be tragic

The measure's biggest selling point is what happens if it doesn't pass: Massive, crippling mid-year cuts in public schools — from pre-kindergarten programs to Cal State and University of California campuses.

Teaching teachers about students' grief

Every day, in every school, there are students who are grieving. Some mourn the loss of a parent. Others, the loss of a relative or friend. By high school graduation day, 90 percent of schoolchildren will experience the death of a loved one. Five percent will lose a parent by age 16. And they bring that mourning to school, a burden that can leave them unable to learn.

Educators greet changes to school-ranking system with cautious optimism

Local school officials are cautiously welcoming a new law that will reduce the emphasis on student testing when calculating school rankings and academic progress.

Baron: Governor signs off on bill ensuring free public education

Gov. Jerry Brown has approved legislation that settles a lawsuit over public schools illegally charging students for educational activities and materials such as textbooks, exams, and field trips.

Walters: California's school funding confusing

If you want your head to spin, try to figure out how much money we spend each year to educate California's 6 million K-12 school students. Official agencies and outside groups publish numbers, but they rarely agree.
Friday, September 28, 2012

New superintendent wants to make a difference

Pat Kelley admits he's not an exciting guy. There's no heavy metal music on the radio in his car or real housewives of anywhere on his DVR.

Coach vulgarity complaint shines light on sports culture

Sixteen-year-old Grant Sims says he's never been one to complain about expletives and vulgar language he hears daily at baseball practice. It's to be expected, he says, including from his coaches at Fullerton Union High School. But at a June baseball game, Sims said, head coach Marc Patino went too far.

Marin school district to remove 'heterosexual marriage' policy

The Rev. Lou Sheldon called the Tamalpais Union High School District board to task after learning it plans to remove a policy written 24 years ago by his group, the Traditional Values Coalition. The group's policy, which was adopted in a 1988 state law, requires sex education to emphasize abstinence and teach, among other things, "honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage."

Fensterwald: Once castigated, Commission on Teacher Credentialing