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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

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Prop. 8: Supreme Court clears way for gay marriage in California





Education Headlines

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Fillmore school officials optimistic about state budget, but uncertainty lingers

Interim Superintendent Dr. Alan Nishino was pleased with the state budget being passed through the Legislature by the deadline, but said it was still unclear how the new school funding system would affect the district.

Lincoln Unified budget: Sunny outlook for first time in years

Weeks earlier than expected, new solar-energy systems were powered on in early June at eight Lincoln Unified campuses, producing cost savings that have been factored into the new district budget that is expected to be approved tonight by the school board.

Claremont Unified School District board adopts budget

Claremont Unified School District board members recently passed their budget, with officials mostly positive in their financial outlook.

PSUSD officials rework graduation data policy

The Palm Springs Unified School District believes a reporting error is at least partially responsible for a sharp decrease in education statistics that measure how many high school graduates are eligible to attend California universities.

Santa Ana Unified taps reserves to avoid major cuts

Santa Ana Unified passed a budget on Tuesday that avoids major cuts in 2013-14 by draining reserve funds to plug a $20 million shortfall.

SD school board OKs unconventional budget

Adopting what’s been called an unconventional budget, the San Diego school board Tuesday approved a $1.2 billion spending plan for the 2013-14 academic year that calls for the sale of surplus property, increases in class size and elimination of jobs through attrition.

Upland school board reaches agreement with teachers

Upland Teachers Association and Upland Unified School District officials have reached a settlement after weeks of negotiations. The groups came to an agreement during a Tuesday morning negotiation session.Details of the agreement will be shared with members before being made public.

Denair school trustees scheduled to weigh pending cuts on Thursday

Denair Unified trustees on Thursday will weigh imposing cuts of up to 11 percent from pre-recession salary levels on all non-union staff, the same amount being sought from the district's teachers.

LAUSD launches website to explain Miramonte sex-abuse settlement offers

Having already agreed to pay $30 million to settle about 60 claims related to the Miramonte Elementary sex-abuse scandal, Los Angeles Unified School District launched a website Tuesday detailing its efforts to resolve some three dozen other cases.

Lawsuit claims Oakland school district leaders interfered in police shooting investigation

An Oakland schools police sergeant filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday claiming district leaders pressured him to change his statements about an incident in which his partner shot and killed a 20-year-old man outside a high school dance in 2011.

Martinez school board may pull the plug on building new facility for alternative education students

Deidre Siguenza, who was appointed to the school board in January, likely will decide whether the district will build a new facility for Vicente Martinez High School and Briones Independent Study School.

Mt. Diablo school board finalizes terminations of superintendent and general counsel

After months of haggling over proposed settlements for former Superintendent Steven Lawrence and General Counsel Greg Rolen -- both let go with more than a year left on their contracts -- the Mt. Diablo school board voted to send the pair termination letters and be done with it.

Adams: Schools would be required to track anti-gay bullying under new federal proposal

For the first time, the federal education department is proposing that schools collect data about anti-gay bullying in its biennial survey of civil rights compliance on school campuses, a move advocates said could drive policies to reduce bullying and improve school climate.

Common Core foes spreading misinformation, Duncan says

Education Secretary Arne Duncan planned a robust defense on Tuesday of the Common Core standards, new academic standards in reading and math that have been adopted by 45 states and D.C.

L.A. Unified presses families to settle Miramonte abuse claims

Alleged victims of abuse at Miramonte Elementary have until July 5 to accept recent settlement offers from the Los Angeles Unified School District, officials said Tuesday.

LAUSD summer school expects full house for limited courses

All 5,100 seats in Los Angeles Unified School District's summer school program have been snapped up by high schoolers needing to make up a failed class, with a wait list not available until classes start July 8, officials said.

No reprieve for Oakland Indian charter schools

Three controversial Oakland charter schools facing closure this summer failed to win a reprieve from the Alameda County Board of Education on Tuesday night.

Fensterwald: More charters, including those in California, outperform district schools in reading, study says

The nation’s charter schools, including those in California, have made “slow and steady” progress over the past four years, with students in nearly a quarter of charters now outperforming their traditional school peers in reading and, on average, catching up to them in math, a group of Stanford researchers reported. The study also found that charter schools excel in teaching poor minority students and English language learners.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Tea party activist criticizes Kern HSD board

A member of the Bakersfield Tea Party criticized the Kern High School District's bidding and contracting practices at a school board meeting Monday night.

New school funding plan will ask for community input

The Local Control Funding Formula, which will be enacted into law when Gov. Jerry Brown signs the budget, not only means more money for schools educating low income students and English learners. It will also mean a lot more community involvement will be asked for to ensure the money goes to the children it is intended to educate.

Raises on tap for some Elk Grove school officials

A proposed reorganization of Elk Grove Unified's administrative ranks will mean big raises for some top employees if school board members vote to approve it Wednesday afternoon.