OCDE Education in the News

Thursday, May 23, 2019

OCDE NEWSROOM

OCDE teacher wins state honor for her work to curb truancy, expulsions

For 21 years, teacher Gail Hume-Nivette has worked to give students a second chance. Hume-Nivette, a teacher with the Orange County Department of Education’s alternative education division (ACCESS), has spent most of her career working with students who are chronically truant, have dropped out of school, were expelled or have even been part of the juvenile justice system. Hume-Nivette’s dedication to her students recently earned her one of the state’s top honors for alternative education teachers.

http://newsroom.ocde.us/ocde-teacher-wins-state-honor-for-her-work-to-curb-truancy-expulsions/

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Controversial vaccine bill clears California Senate despite opposition from parents

The state Senate passed a controversial bill Wednesday to tighten California’s already strict school immunization law, and now the Assembly must weigh the hot-button vaccine proposal that has prompted protests and reports of death threats against at least one lawmaker.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-vaccine-medical-exemption-bill-senate-vote-20190522-story.html

DAILY NEWS LOS ANGELES

Mass-shooting insurance? It’s not real, but LA youths’ ‘Mad Men’-style ad campaign aims to make you think about guns in our country

In fight against gun violence, San Fernando Valley, Harbor and South LA students turn to tools of Madison Avenue in hopes of changing hearts and minds.

https://www.dailynews.com/2019/05/22/mass-shooting-insurance-its-not-real-but-la-youths-hope-mad-men-style-ad-campaign-makes-you-think-about-guns-in-o

SACRAMENTO BEE

‘Starvation diet’ for schools protested by California teachers, officials, students at Capitol

More than 1,000 California teachers, students and school district administrators marched in downtown Sacramento and rallied at the state Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, adding their voices to a statewide advocacy day for school funding.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article230711709.html

PRESS-ENTERPRISE

$1.19 million grant to help teach Riverside high school students about air pollution

UC Riverside, Riverside Unified will create a curriculum they hope could prepare students for science jobs. Riverside Unified School District teachers will collaborate with the UC Riverside Center for Environmental Research & Technology to create 18 new lesson plans to add to high school biology, physics and chemistry classes about air quality.

https://www.pe.com/2019/05/23/1-19-million-grant-to-help-teach-riverside-high-school-students-about-air-pollution/

EDSOURCE

California considers overhauling test of reading instruction for teachers in training

California is considering overhauling a test intended to measure whether prospective teachers are prepared to be effective reading instructors. That’s because the test, known as the Reading Instruction Competence Assessment, or RICA, is outdated, and there is no evidence that it contributes to more effective instruction.

https://edsource.org/2019/california-considers-overhaul-of-test-assessing-teacher-preparedness-for-reading-instruction/612847

SI&A CABINET REPORT

Measure to relax parcel tax vote threshold moving forward

The next step for a state constitutional amendment that would make it easier for school districts and community colleges to pass or extend parcel taxes is a vote of the state Senate, which is likely to occur sometime this summer. SCA 5, which was introduced earlier this year by a group of lawmakers led by Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, would allow passage of a parcel tax with 55 percent of the vote—an adjustment down from the two-thirds supermajority that now governs the levy.

https://k-12daily.org/politics-education/measure-to-relax-parcel-tax-vote-threshold-moving-forward

KPCC

LAUSD superintendent’s big plan to improve schools pins its hope on principals

The leader of the Los Angeles Unified School District has finally released details of a long-anticipated plan to re-shape the relationship between the system’s 900-plus schools and a massive central bureaucracy.

https://laist.com/2019/05/22/austin_beutners_new_plan_to_shake_up_lausd_but_not_as_much_as_you_thought.php

CALmatters

Charter school curbs pass Assembly, but drama foretells compromise

Legislation that would give local school districts more control over charter-school authorizations narrowly passed the California State Assembly Wednesday in a dramatic vote that served as an initial litmus test for a package of consequential, union-backed charter regulation bills.

https://calmatters.org/articles/blog/charter-school-bills-california-assembly-ab1505-odonnell/

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