Monday, March 10, 2014
Lodi Unified starts security upgrades
Lodi Unified risk manager Jill Davis and other district office employees are in the testing stage of a $20,000 technology upgrade that will grant access to most offices in the three-story building only to those who work there.Tam High embroiled over teacher firings and new teaching methods
The dismissal of three teachers at Tamalpais High School has ignited a bitter controversy on the Mill Valley campus and called into question new Tamalpais Union High School District teaching methods that claim to "transform schools into innovative learning environments."Pomona Unified has buyer for first piece of surplus property
A more than 3-acre parcel in southern part of the city that has been in the hands of the school district will soon have a new owner.Centinela Valley schools lag in academic performance despite paying superintendent $663K
The tiny Centinela Valley Union High School District employs one of the most expensive superintendents in the state of California, if not the nation. But the district’s test scores — while on the rise — remain the lowest among all 80 school districts in Los Angeles County.Embattled Rialto Unified superintendent to retire
Bringing six months of uncertainty to an end, the Rialto Unified school board accepted the retirement of embattled superintendent Harold Cebrun on Friday, saving the district 18 months of salary — $360,900 — that they would have owed him if he were fired.Gaston, Fresno High construction almost done
Bubble-gum pink insulation foam now covers what soon will be walls at Rutherford B. Gaston Middle School in southwest Fresno. The school's concrete floors are now polished, the windows are in their frames, but there still are a few months left of work on the $36.7 million project before next school year.Attorney urges appeal of Corona del Mar expulsions
Arguing that the expulsion agreements signed by 11 Corona del Mar students accused of cheating were fraudulent and coerced, an attorney is urging the Orange County Board of Education to listen to the appeals of at least two students implicated in the cheating scandal.Candidates vying to lead UTLA reflect recent teacher woes
The 10 candidates running for president of United Teachers-Los Angeles seek to lead a dispirited and divided teacher corps with common grievances but who lack consensus on how to move forward.News group's fight to obtain district documents heading to court
The jury trial for former Woodside Elementary teacher Joseph Martin -- who has been charged with 150 counts of molestation involving 14 former students while he taught at the Concord campus in the Mt. Diablo school district -- has been postponed until May. But, the Bay Area News Group lawsuit seeking district records related to an internal report about suspicions of abuse raised in 2006, along with any other relevant documents, is set to be heard March 19 in Contra Costa County Superior Court.In standoff with California over testing, US Education Department blinks
The U.S. Department of Education is allowing California to bypass federal requirements by giving standardized tests in math and reading to millions of public school students this spring without publicly reporting results or using them to hold schools or teachers accountable.US approves California's new K-12 testing plan
Federal education officials on Friday approved California's plan to roll out new computer-based standardized tests this spring, ending a months-long dispute that put the state at risk of sacrificing $1.5 billion in federal school funding.Vietnamese language program could be state's first
Garden Grove Unified is increasing its language offerings and outlining a path to creating a K-6 dual language immersion school by 2016-17 – one advocates hope will be the first Vietnamese/English school in California.A big early schooling shift
California’s new transitional kindergarten is designed to give the youngest students two years to prepare for the first grade. Schools across San Diego County have discovered a hidden and unintended benefit to the program: a new source of help for struggling kindergartners and first-graders who are on the wrong end of the academic achievement gap.EdSource: Hundreds of districts, partnerships signal interest in ‘career pathways’ grant program
Competition is shaping up to be fierce for a new state grant program supporting programs that link academics with real-world career opportunities.Frey: Innovative San Jose alternative school bucks ‘school of last resort’ label
Broadway High is a continuation high school in San Jose Unified, one of more than 500 such “second-chance” schools in California for students who are behind in course credits and in danger of not graduating.Fensterwald: Crisis over - California gets waiver for Common Core field tests without penalties
California will not face penalties or multimillion-dollar fines from the federal government for giving all students a preliminary test on the new Common Core standards, instead of on the old state standards that California has abandoned.Friday, March 7, 2014
Kern HSD teachers reach deal to get salary raises
The Kern High School District and its teachers union reached a tentative contract agreement Wednesday that would include the first on-schedule salary raise for teachers since pre-recession years, according to an email obtained by The Californian Thursday.Lincoln teachers, district still at odds
The Lincoln Unified School District and its teachers union are officially at an impasse in their contract negotiations, Superintendent Tom Uslan confirmed Wednesday evening.Why is traffic at schools so jammed?
A proposed $19 million project across from Aliso Viejo Middle School has sparked new debate about an eternal issue: school traffic.Teacher's arrest on sex abuse charges raises concerns about hiring practices
As shock spread Thursday about the arrest of a Richmond middle school teacher suspected of child sexual abuse, questions followed about how he landed a new teaching job at a public school even as police were investigating him on allegations that he had abused students from his previous school.Modesto school board eyes cutting librarian positions, focusing on tech instruction
Modesto City Schools is poised to cut 29 full-time teaching positions for next year, including most elementary school librarians.California releases child abuse identification and reporting guidelines for parents
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on Wednesday issued new guidelines to help parents and guardians report suspected child abuse at schools.California lawmaker wants to stop 'excessive' school superintendent pay
Prompted by reports in the Daily Breeze last month that the Centinela Valley Superintendent was paid $663,365 in total compensation as the top executive of the 6,637 student high school district, Torrance area state assemblyman Al Muratsuchi has introduced a bill that would prevent excessive school superintendent salaries.Special education needs a ‘do-over,’ state panel told
Eight minutes into a public meeting on how to reform the state’s vast special education system, the woman who ran special education in California for nine years came up to the microphone. Alice Parker was blunt.California school spending goal would cost $36 billion more
Representatives of the Education Coalition told a state Senate budget subcommittee Thursday that despite increases in school spending in the current state budget and promises of more in the next one, California still needs to spend much more money on education.
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