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Monday, April 8, 2013

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LAUSD board member seeks overhaul of 'teacher jail' system






Education Headlines

Monday, April 8, 2013

Coast Unified employees thinking about the unthinkable

Cambria schools, students and teachers could be safer now, thanks to a daylong in-service day Monday, April 1, at which Coast Unified School District teachers, administrators, coaches, bus drivers and other staff members were taught how to prepare for, act and react during an attack or an “active shooter” incident.

Fate of New Millennium charter school rests with Fresno Unified

The future of a southwest Fresno charter school that the county grand jury says has "failed miserably" to educate students now rests with Fresno Unified officials who have been criticized for inadequate oversight of the school.

The Public Eye: FPPC reviews teachers union's donation to Twin Rivers trustee Quinn

Twin Rivers Unified School District board President Cortez Quinn was fined once by the state's political watchdog agency. Now he faces additional scrutiny for paying at least part of his initial fine with a donation from the teachers union.

Oakland Unified superintendent Tony Smith resigns to be with family in Chicago

In a move that stunned colleagues and parents, Oakland Unified school Superintendent Tony Smith announced his resignation Friday after nearly four years marked by a fractious school board and precarious finances.

Area makes a grab for Prop. 39 money

The Inland region is in a strong position to tap into some of the $2.5 billion from last year’s Prop. 39 for energy-saving projects over the next five years, speakers testified Friday at a special Senate hearing in Riverside Adult School. Utility bills pack a hit for school districts in Riverside and San Bernardino counties that have a lot of old buildings and the region has hot and cold extremes.

Assembly panel approves teacher dismissal bill

A key Assembly committee has approved legislation that would expedite the dismissal process for California teachers accused of misconduct.

Bennett: Brown’s funding formula must work for all districts

Many of us at School Services of California, Inc., have served in districts that would benefit from one formula or the other, and we feel the urgency to improve conditions for all children by any means possible. But we think that by bifurcating the debate into camps of “haves” and “have-nots” in 2013-14 funding, we fall into the trap of ignoring the fact that under either distribution formula, both groups will continue to be losers relative to other states.

Mongeau: Long Beach has jumpstart on transitional kindergarten

When California school districts were required by state law to start a new early kindergarten class for some 4-year-olds for the first time this year, Long Beach Unified had an easier task than most: to simply expand the existing “preppy kindergarten” program it started five years ago.

LAUSD board member seeks overhaul of 'teacher jail' system

Los Angeles Unified would create a team of professional investigators to handle serious misconduct complaints against teachers as part of a new plan to overhaul the district's disciplinary process, which has been criticized as costly, unwieldy and unfair.

San Fernando Valley's Ivy Academia charter school founders convicted of embezzling public funds

A jury convicted the founders of the San Fernando Valley-based Ivy Academia charter school Friday of embezzling public money and filing false tax returns.
Friday, April 5, 2013

Natomas district bus driver takes autistic boy to wrong school

A Sacramento mother said she felt panic Tuesday after learning that a substitute bus driver for the Natomas Unified School District dropped her 6-year-old autistic son at the wrong elementary school.

Claremont school district could send layoff notices to five classified employees; denies charter school request

Claremont Unified School District board members voted to send notices telling five classified employees that they could be laid off.