OCDE Education in the News

Friday, January 12, 2018

OCDE NEWSROOM

Tustin teacher lets students shave half of his beard for boost in Dinosaur Dash sign ups

Hicks Canyon Elementary second-grade teacher Joe Baran let two lucky students shave off 50 percent of his beard as a reward for helping the school boost its Dinosaur Dash sign ups by 25 percent. Second-grader Keigo Yoshida, left, and third-grader Davin Melin happily did the honors during a school assembly last week.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/10/tustin-teacher-lets-students-shave-half-of-his-beard-for-boost-in-dinosaur-dash-sign-ups/

Appeal filed over ‘appalling, Islamophobic’ teaching material distributed in 7th-grade social studies class

The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Los Angeles chapter filed an appeal this week on behalf of a Ventura County family whose son received instructional material in his seventh-grade social studies class that berated Muslims and which was taken, the group says, from an anti-Muslim website. CAIR-LA’s appeal to the California Department of Education challenges the Mesa Union School District’s determination that the teacher’s actions were not discriminatory. The school district is located in Somis, an unincorporated community in Ventura County.

https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/11/appeal-filed-over-appalling-islamophobic-teaching-material-distributed-in-7th-grade-social-studies-class/

LOS ANGELES TIMES

DAILY PILOT

Estancia High’s pool will be refilled in two months as aquatic center project inches forward

Estancia High School in Costa Mesa is slated to have its pool refilled for about $104,000 in two months as a delayed and costlier-than-anticipated aquatic center project inches forward.

http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-estancia-pool-20180111-story.html

EDSOURCE

Schools become a 'safe haven' for Salvadoran students in wake of crackdown

California schools are bracing for the impact of the Trump administration’s decision to oust thousands of Salvadoran immigrants, many of whom have been in the U.S. since the early 2000s and whose children are U.S. citizens.

https://edsource.org/2018/schools-become-a-safe-haven-for-salvadoran-students-in-wake-of-crackdown/592426

Funding, teacher training top educators' wish lists for science education in 2018

This year may prove to be a pivotal time for science education in California, as schools enter the final stages of introducing the Next Generation Science Standards — the new K-12 science standards — and prepare for the first fully operational standardized tests in early 2019. We asked science educators and leaders what they’d like to see happen in 2018 in the world of science education.

https://edsource.org/2018/funding-teacher-training-top-educators-wish-lists-for-science-education-in-2018/592277

LAGUNA BEACH INDEPENDENT

Tutors Needed for El Morro Students

Volunteers are needed to provide one-on-one tutoring to students at El Morro Elementary in grades 2-5, who have been recommended to an after-school tutoring program by their teacher.

https://www.lagunabeachindy.com/tutors-needed-el-morro-students/

NPR

America's Schools Are 'Profoundly Unequal,' Says U.S. Civil Rights Commission

"The federal government must take bold action to address inequitable funding in our nation's public schools." So begins a list of recommendations released Thursday by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent, bipartisan agency created by Congress in 1957 to investigate civil rights complaints. Thursday's report comes after a lengthy investigation into how America's schools are funded and why so many that serve poor and minority students aren't getting the resources they say they need.

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/01/11/577000301/americas-schools-are-profoundly-unequal-says-u-s-civil-rights-commission

CALmatters

Gov. Brown relents amid criticism—proposes making it easier to track funding for needy kids

Gov. Jerry Brown’s landmark school funding formula would not only win more money under the state budget blueprint he released Wednesday but also be subjected to the sort of transparency and accountability lawmakers and advocates for needy kids have been seeking since its adoption almost five years ago.

https://calmatters.org/articles/blog/gov-brown-relents-amid-criticism-proposes-making-easier-track-school-funding-needy-kids/

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