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Friday, January 25, 2013

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A chipper Brown targets education funding





Education Headlines

Friday, January 25, 2013

Justice Dept. helps soothe issues on Stockton USD campuses

The campus climates at Edison and at Chavez High were a central topic at the schools this week. At the request of Stockton Unified, a representative from the United States Department of Justice's Community Relations Service led daylong gatherings at each school aimed at addressing a full range of student concerns.

Board vote will result in closure of Bayside School in Sausalito

Despite protests, the Sausalito Marin City School Board voted 4-1 to move ahead with financing for modular classrooms Thursday night, a move that will result in the closure of the Bayside Elementary school campus in Sausalito.

Fensterwald: Brown lashes out at regulators and testers, makes case for his reforms

With a caustic critique of excessive testing and overregulation and a fervent call for respecting the “dignity and freedom of teachers and students,” Gov. Jerry Brown laid out the case for returning primary control of education to local hands and distributing state money equitably in his State of the State address.

Districts deny that their language aid lags

A report released Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of California and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center lists 251 state school districts that failed to offer English learner classes to all students needing them in the 2010-11 school year, the most recent year that data is available.

Santa Clara County school board approves Rocketship school in San Jose's Tamien neighborhood

At a meeting packed with hundreds of parents and children, Rocketship Education won the go-ahead to develop an industrial site near the Tamien light-rail station into its eighth charter school in San Jose.

Denair school office staff's pay cut

Denair trustees extended a management pay cut to district office support staff and accepted an administrator's resignation Thursday night.

Alameda: School district unveils contract offer to teachers

Officials with the Alameda Unified School District say they are offering teachers an overall raise of 2 percent in their current contract talks, plus other financial rewards for those who participate in a pilot program aimed at boosting student achievement.

West Contra Costa school board ratifies labor agreements with three unions

West Contra Costa schools ratified labor agreements with three of its four unions this week, leaving only a new contract with its 1,400-member teachers union still to be negotiated.

Document: Teacher termination in California

The slideshow explaining how teachers can be terminated in California that was presented at a meeting of the Brentwood Union School District board meeting on Jan. 23, 2013 as officials explained why they couldn't just fire a teacher for kicking a young student.

Berkeley school safety estimate: $500,000

School officials here are estimating a half-million dollars for new school safety measures, including classroom door locks, pending a report from two consultants who will analyze needs for all 20 schools.

Did missed teacher evaluation prevent Brentwood from firing child abuser teacher?

School administrators and their attorney say they were unable to fire a teacher convicted of child abuse, but parents are crying foul.

LAUSD principal failed to report alleged molestation by teacher

A now-retired principal twice failed to report accusations of sexual misconduct by a teacher who this week was charged with molesting 12 students at a Wilmington elementary school, officials said.

A chipper Brown targets education funding

Saying California was “back” and “on the move,” a chipper Gov. Jerry Brown urged lawmakers in his annual State of the State speech to streamline funding for schools, focus on implementing federal health care reform and keep a tight rein on spending so the budget stays balanced.
Thursday, January 24, 2013

Students choose extra, not exodus, as Stockton USD lowers credit requirement

This year, it seemed more conceivable than ever that there could have been an early exodus from Stockton Unified of high school students who had more than enough credits to graduate ahead of time.

Rowland High begins major renovations

The modernization project is funded by a $118 million construction bond passed in 2006.

ACLU takes on state over English learners

The American Civil Liberties Union of California on Wednesday charged that about a quarter of California school districts — including most in the Salinas area — are violating state and federal laws by failing to provide English language instruction to all students who need it and demanded state education officials take action.