LAUSD

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Oct 7 2010

Between the Lines

The big community splash that is being made over the news about the takeover of Inner City Educational Foundation, better known as ICEF, the parent company of the popular View Park Prep Charter Academy, is sending shivers through the nation’s independent charter school movement. A community-based charter school system that grew the old fashioned way, through community and parent empowerment, ICEF currently operates 15 schools, mostly in South Los Angeles.

Rupa Dev | New American Media  |   OW Contributor
Sep 30 2010

Researchers take first-hand look at problems.

Editor’s Note: As California’s government continues to not set a budget for the state, state schools are still suffering from insufficient funds to properly teach it’s young people. Twenty-eight high school youth from Los Angeles took the trip up to Capital Hill to get the reason from the horses mouth as to why their education is so poorly funded. Rupa Dev is a reporter for New America Media.
 

Sep 17 2010

New state law: Assembly Bill 1291

MONTEREY PARK - Under a new state law, parents and guardians of Los Angeles Unified students convicted of gang-related crimes will have to attend parenting classes and meet with families who have been victimized by gang violence, the bill's author said today.

The Parental Accountability Act – Assembly Bill 1291 – was authored by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Norwalk.

"The time has come to hold parents accountable and give them the resources they need to help their children,'' Mendoza said.

Joseph Wright  |   OW Senior Staff Writer
Sep 2 2010

Other districts not likely to follow L.A.

The superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) believes that student test scores should be part of teachers’ evaluations.

Ramon C. Cortines, who is retiring next year, told administrators recently that the district will develop a new evaluation system, and he wants at least 30 percent of a teacher’s evaluation based on the scores. Currently, pupils’ California Standardized Test (CST) scores do not figure in the instructors’ evaluations.

Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Mar 4 2010

The Black comunity got PUNKED on the Public Choice Resolution

The first round of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Public Choice Resolution was completed last week, where it was determined who would operate 30 new and existing school sites. The Public Choice Resolution was a backdoor game from jump street, as several of the school board members passed the resolution to get more charter school operators in the district, particularly those who have LAUSD school board members on their board of directors. Inherent in the conflicts was the opportunity for communities to take control of their failing schools and the dismal test score outcomes.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.