OCDE Education in the News

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

OCDE NEWSROOM

Going back to school early in August has a cost: enduring the heat

Fifth-grader Gisele Gonzalez, 9, brings a jacket to her Anaheim school even when the mercury reaches 90 – her remedy for an overpowering, centralized air-conditioning system that leaves her shivering. Students in some nearby Garden Grove Unified schools aren’t so lucky – noisy fans, shade trees and cooling centers are the only reprieves for classes during unforgiving summer months.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/14/going-back-to-school-early-has-a-cost-enduring-the-heat/

Santa Ana students — kindergartners to 12th-graders — mark first day of school with pledge to graduate high school

From kindergartens to 12th-graders, all 50,000 students in the Santa Ana Unified School District started their first day of classes Monday, Aug. 14, with a pledge – “to graduate from high school in the year ___.”

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/14/santa-ana-students-kindergartners-to-12th-graders-mark-first-day-of-school-with-pledge-to-graduate-high-school/

Anaheim students head back to school ready to learn

Students across the Anaheim Elementary School District headed back to school, bidding a fond farewell to summer. Last week, representatives of the district headed into neighborhoods on Start Smart attendance walks with door hangers reminding families the school year was about to begin.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/14/anaheim-students-head-back-to-school-ready-to-learn/

Back-to-school photos from Buena Park and Fullerton

Julian Cho had something to show for his summer. Lined up for the first day of school at Sunset Lane Elementary, he turned to his friend to reveal the space at the front of his smile where he’d lost some teeth.

http://www.ocregister.com/2017/08/14/buena-park-and-fullerton-students-go-back-to-class/

LOS ANGELES TIMES

The newest battlefield in L.A. Unified's enrollment war is a boys school

L.A. Unified's newest offering, the Boys Academic Leadership Academy, emphasizes science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEAM education. L.A. Unified opened a boys school in part to comply with its interpretation of a federal regulation after it launched the single-sex Girls Academic Leadership Academy in Mid-City last year. But it’s also the kind of unusual offering that the district hopes will help its ongoing fight to recapture enrollment — and revenue — lost to charter schools.

http://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-essential-education-updates-southern-the-newest-battlefield-in-l-a-1502804049-htmlstory.html

DAILY NEWS LOS ANGELES

LAUSD rolls out the red carpet for first day of school

They’re back. Los Angeles Unified School District students returned from their summer breaks to a district that on Tuesday literally rolled out the red carpet for them. Not only was the carpet rolled out at Arleta High School in Van Nuys, but newly elected LAUSD school board member Kelly Gonez was on hand to greet them.

http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20170815/lausd-rolls-out-the-red-carpet-for-first-day-of-school

As LA students head back to school, LAUSD has message for immigrants: ‘We stand together’

The Los Angeles Unified School District is making visible what it’s so far said in words: that immigrant students and their families are welcome at Los Angeles schools. When students start the new school year today, they’ll walk through entrances decked with 6-foot-tall banners featuring the Statue of Liberty, long the symbol of new opportunity for immigrants. The banners will read “We Are One L.A. Unified/Standing With Immigrant Families,” and Lady Liberty will be wearing a graduation cap, a nod to the district’s goal of having every student graduate.

http://www.dailynews.com/social-affairs/20170814/as-la-students-head-back-to-school-lausd-has-message-for-immigrants-we-stand-together

EDSOURCE

Charter schools take a hit in nationwide poll

The public’s support for charter schools fell significantly from a year ago nationwide and among both Democrats and Republicans, according to an annual poll by the magazine Education Next.

https://edsource.org/2017/charter-schools-take-a-hit-in-nationwide-poll/585949

SI&A CABINET REPORT

9th Circuit affirms schools’ protection from federal suits

Although the 2013 adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula changed almost everything for schools, a recent court ruling found one thing the landmark legislation didn’t change are protections schools enjoy from some lawsuits provided by the 11th Amendment. Under the U.S. Constitution, states have immunity from federal lawsuits filed by other states without the consent of the state in question. The courts have ruled repeatedly that the same protections apply “agents of the state,” which includes school districts.

https://www.cabinetreport.com/human-resources/9th-circuit-affirms-schools-protection-from-federal-suits

KPCC

New (School) Year's Resolutions: as 2017-18 begins, three LA educators plan for change

More than 618,000 students in the Los Angeles Unified School District and in many of the district's independent charter schools are returning to classes Tuesday, kicking off a new academic year in the nation's second-largest school system. The first day of a new school year often means the return of familiar routines. But KPCC is previewing 2017-18 in L.A. Unified by speaking with three educators who are breaking routines or breaking new ground: a charter school leader, a veteran English teacher, and a principal.

https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/08/15/74683/new-school-year-s-resolutions-as-2017-18-begins-th/

Charter school targeting homeless children opens in South LA

A new charter school aimed at specifically serving homeless and low-income children in South Los Angeles opened its doors Monday. The Crete Academy, on a short commercial strip of Crenshaw Blvd., welcomed 130 elementary school students on its first day, with potential space for 12 more enrollments. At the moment, Hattie Mitchell, the school's founder and CEO, estimated about 10 percent of students in the school are homeless. The majority of students are in low-income families.

https://www.scpr.org/news/2017/08/14/74659/charter-school-targeting-homeless-children-opens-i/

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