OCDE Education in the News

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Outside funders give L.A. Unified under new Supt. Beutner a $3 million vote of confidence

When it comes to his new job as Los Angeles schools chief, Austin Beutner is hoping to get by with a little help from his friends — tapping his peer group of the wealthy and well-connected to bring new resources into L.A. Unified. The school district has announced an early dividend of Beutner’s connections — and the trust they have in him: $3 million in donations from five organizations to create the Fund for Equity and Excellence. The donors include the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and the Ballmer Group, founded by L.A. Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-edu-outside-funding-for-lausd-20180709-story.html

USA TODAY

Little Readers wins grant to connect more incarcerated parents to their kids

In Georgia, there's an estimated 75,000 children with incarcerated parents. HeartBound is working to connect children and parents while fostering literacy skills by filming parents reading a children's book on video. That video and book are then sent to the parent's child, where he or she can watch their parent, see that they're OK and improve their reading skills by following along.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/humankind/2018/07/09/little-readers-wins-grant-connect-incarcerated-parents-kids/752839002/

PRESS-TELEGRAM LONG BEACH

Construction workers receive $1.1M payout in wage theft case over Long Beach high school project

More than 100 construction workers who helped build Browning High School in Long Beach received an average of about $7,200 in restitution in a settlement of a wage theft case against an Orange County subcontractor that was found to have cheated on employees and kept false pay records.

https://www.presstelegram.com/2018/07/09/construction-workers-receive-1-1m-payout-in-wage-theft-case/

SI&A CABINET REPORT

CA’s ESSA plan heads for final OK this week

Unless something unusual happens in the coming days either in Sacramento or Washington D.C., students returning to class in the fall will do so under the direction of a federally approved ESSA plan for California. The Every Student Succeeds Act, one of the signature pieces of legislation of the Obama administration, provides that each state must submit for approval of the U.S. Secretary of Education a plan for meeting the goals of the new federal law.

https://k-12daily.org/politics-education/cas-essa-plan-heads-for-final-ok-this-week

KPCC

How a license plate helps fund arts education around California

As you drive around this summer, you may notice a license plate featuring a familiar view: palm trees and a sun lingering over a bright blue ocean. But what you might not realize is that pretty plate actually helps fund arts education grants around the state through the California Arts Council. This fiscal year, about $2.5 million of the council's budget comes from arts plates registration and renewals. While the newest state budget did give the arts a hefty boost this year, the plates help diversify the group's resources in years when there aren't as many funds available from the state budget.

https://www.scpr.org/news/2018/07/09/84538/how-a-license-plate-helps-fund-arts-education-arou/

CALmatters

California’s gone without higher ed affirmative action since 1996. Black enrollment at top UCs never recovered.

While the Trump administration caused a stir last week when it reversed Obama-era policies encouraging universities to consider racial diversity in admissions, reaction in California was muted. That’s because California’s public universities have been banned from using race in admissions decisions since voters passed Proposition 209 in 1996.

https://calmatters.org/articles/trump_california/californias-gone-without-higher-ed-affirmative-action-since-1996-black-enrollment-at-top-ucs-never-re

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