Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Contra Costa County grand jury finds disparities in school solar projects
School districts throughout Contra Costa County have turned to solar energy to reduce utility costs and generate revenues through credits or rebates. But in a recently released report, the Contra Costa County grand jury found a wide disparity in how districts approached projects, estimated costs and savings, planned for future expenses, monitored production and reported the costs and savings to the public.EdSource: Critical report on teacher preparation programs sparks debate
California’s teacher training programs were excoriated as among the worst in a nation of poor-quality programs in a report released Tuesday, immediately sparking a debate about the validity of the report’s methodology and findings.L.A. school board OKs $30 million for Apple iPads
Apple Inc. won a $30-million contract Tuesday from the L.A. Unified School District, paving the way for the company to provide every student with an iPad in the nation's second-largest school system.LAUSD board passes $6.2 billion budget
The Los Angeles Unified school board passed a $6.2 billion budget for 2013-14 on Tuesday, the first time in five years that deep cuts and gut-wrenching layoffs haven't been part of the financial plan.Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Oxnard teacher negotiations bog down on health benefits
The Oxnard School District and its teachers are negotiating their 2012-13 contract, and retiree health benefits continue to be the sticking point.Horizon Charter School faces board vote amid complaints
The fate of Horizon Charter School and its 2,700 students is in the hands of Western Placer Unified's school board after allegations of fiscal mismanagement and complaints from parents.Capo Unified prepares for influx of students
A new campus serving kindergartners through eighth-graders is likely to be the first school built by the Capistrano Unified School District to accommodate students growing up in Rancho Mission Viejo, a large housing development under construction east of Ladera Ranch and San Juan Capistrano.Whole set of South County transcripts
U-T Watchdog has been covering the release of grand jury transcripts in the South County corruption case brought by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis involving more than 200 charges against 15 officials and contractors at two school districts and one community college. We're posting all the transcripts below, and we've used optical scans to make them searchable.Adult ed classes return to Sweetwater
Teachers and students in the Sweetwater Union High School District applauded during a board meeting Monday as Superintendent Ed Brand revealed a recommendation to reinstate adult education cuts.LA Unified school board member wants changes to California's Parent Trigger law
California’s Parent Trigger law has been used five times to try and overhaul low-performing schools. Three of those were in the L.A. Unified School District. School board member Steve Zimmer has proposed a resolution up for a vote at Tuesday’s meeting calling for new restrictions.New LAUSD board member Monica Ratliff seeks' end to 'business as usual'
Having spent more than a decade teaching in a Los Angeles Unified classroom and chatting with colleagues, Monica Ratliff's perception of the district administration was a hive of bureaucrats toiling away in the downtown monolith known simply as Beaudry. But after an intense three-day orientation last week at the Beaudry Avenue headquarters, the newest member of the school board said she actually founNew teacher training study decries California universities
A new front is opening in the education wars as a report released Tuesday derides California's teacher training schools as among the worst in a nation full of substandard programs.Monday, June 17, 2013
Small schools anticipate funding cuts
As the Legislature prepares to pass Gov. Jerry Brown's state budget, educators in five of Siskiyou County's small schools are anticipating a significant loss of funding, and the fate of these institutions remains unknown.Teachers in Upland say cuts hit them unfairly
As the June 30 deadline to approve a balanced budget looms, Upland Unified School District and its teachers are still in contentious negotiations that have teachers worried about their financial stability.Ontario-Montclair School District teachers reject contract offer
The contract, which OMTA members rejected in the third week of May, called for teachers to work a 15-minute-longer workday in return for a 2 percent pay hike.School districts say high-priced leaders are worth the cost
Superintendents, where the proverbial buck stops in each school district, are well-compensated for their time. But, as George Orwell might have said, some superintendents are more super than others.Absence of summer classes a setback for many students
Over the past decade, all three desert K-12 school districts have cut back their summer school options, fading out summer programs for the average students. Summer classes are still offered to smaller groups — special education students, children of migrant workers or high school seniors who need extra credits to graduate — but open enrollment summer programs have disappeared.Witness: District pushed poor underwriter
A former San Diego County investment officer was taken aback when Sweetwater schools officials pushed to have the least qualified bidder selected to market Proposition O construction bonds, she testified to the grand jury.Schools with fewer needy students decry California funding change
California's new funding formula gives more money to districts with more needy students and less to districts with fewer needy students.More special-ed kids head to traditional schools
Los Angeles Unified will shift hundreds of disabled students from special-education centers to traditional schools this fall as it accelerates efforts to integrate youngsters with physical and developmental handicaps.Bomb hoaxes at East Bay schools cost district $157,000
In addition to taking an emotional toll on the community, a series of April bomb threats that forced the repeated evacuation of students and faculty from classrooms, including three consecutive days at Deer Valley High, cost the school district an estimated $157,000 in lost learning time, Antioch Unified officials said.As California revenue rises, school districts on firmer ground
The Legislature's adoption last week of the main budget bill should give districts more confidence that they can count on that money in the future. At the same time, Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to overhaul the education funding system provides districts more control over their budgets.Friday, June 14, 2013
Azusa school board, Rosedale developer continue talks on K-8 school status
A nearly decade-old agreement between the Azusa Unified School District and a partnership that no longer exists is causing consternation in the city, as the district continues to ask for a school in the Rosedale development.Greenfield superintendent departs for Lompoc post
Superintendent Trevor McDonald has announced he is leaving the helm of the Greenfield Union School District to take the top post in the Lompoc Unified School District.Cause of Santa Ana Valley High School blast remains unknown
Fire and school officials have been unable to investigate the cause of an explosion at Santa Ana Valley High School because the building is too unstable to enter, officials said Wednesday.
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