Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Monday
Gregory Rodriguez, writing in the LA Times, sums up Mayor Villaraigosa's Asia trip: "As is so often the case with Villaraigosa, it's ultimately all about him, all the time. " Click here to read and then comment.In a blow to the gubernatorial campaign of Phil Angelides, the Los Angeles Times has endorsed the re-election of Arnold. In their recommendation the Times said "Schwarzenegger has been a solid, pragmatic governor who has steered a moderate course for California. He deserves a sequel."
In the wake of the appointment of Admiral Dave Brewer as the next Superintendent of LA Unified, both Martini Republic and LA Voice have their doubts. This old, dead Republican mayor agress with "Video" Louis Elovitz who says its the professional educators who got us into the mess to begin with, and a change of pace might just be what is needed. With a strong military operations background, Brewer knows how to lead large, bureaucratic organizations and has spent several years in education and training in the Navy. I say give him a chance. He could be exactly what LAUSD needs.
Posted by Mayor Sam @ 10/16/2006 12:05:00 AM
14 Comments:
People keep blaming "professional educators" for the plight of the LAUSD, and forgetting who has been running the show since 2000: a man who was NOT a professional educator, namely, former governor Roy Romer. Let's get our facts straight.
However, I do agree -- especially since I now work in the LAUSD as a teacher -- that much is wrong with current educational thinking. I hope Cap'n Crunch can fix it, but I still would have picked someone with training and experience in the field. This job is too important for on-the-job training.
He's a great choice if you want someone to make a place where children are babysat. He's not a great choice if you want a place where children are educated. Nor was Romer, nor were many other board members.
What is making LAUSD a crime against humanity is not organization---indeed, many elements of it are overly-organized. What makes it so bad is the simple fact of what is being taught: too often, nothing.
A man who doesn't speak Spanish (I don't know if Barnacle Brewer does or not) is not going to grasp the problem of putting together a curriculum at every level (a highly specialized task, even for philosophy of education Ph.Ds) that can actually form a true bridge between students life and adult life. To spurn an educator again is an insult to education itself.
Think back to your high school's school board, Walter. I'll bet you had a doctor in education at the helm. Would you want to be educated in a district run by a non-educator? It looks good only if you have low expectations for both the kids and the district; if you have high expectations for them, you'd choose a career educator.
Has anyone looked into the new charter high school coming to Virgil/Temple/Beverly? I don't understand that site at all. Surrounded by hectic, speeding traffic, no dropoff zone, it seems another boondoggle, and one dangerous to both students and---should students get upset at being surrounded on three sides by speeding traffic---motorists. It's the most insane site I've ever seen for a school, including Belmont.
Looks like they'll be no massage for Mr. Rodriguez!
I am so tired of reading about Antonio's trip. WHO cares? All I know is that people are happy not to have to see his face on TV for about a month.
This just goes to show what a bunch of morons we have on clowncil. You would think these idiots would have put this earlier on the agenda. Oct. 11th was last week.
RESOLUTION(PARKS-GARCETTI) relative to declaring October 11, 2006 as a Statewide Day of Awareness to End Domestic Violence in the City of Los Angeles.
Poverty, race, ethnicity and immigration status
are not in themselves determinative of student
achievement. Demography is not destiny. The amount
of melanin in a student's skin, the home country
of her antecedents, the amount of money in the
family bank account, are not the inexorable
determinants of academic success. The evidence
introduced at trial demonstrates that these
negative life experiences can be overcome by
public schools with sufficient resources well
deployed. It is the clear policy of the state, as
formulated by the Regents and S.E.D. [State
Education Department], that all children can
attain the substantive knowledge and master the
skills expected of high school graduates. The
court finds that the city's at-risk children are
capable of seizing the opportunity for a sound
basic education if they are given sufficient
resources.
- Justice Leland DeGrasse
Not that anyone asked, but here is my proposed school reform package based on my brief career as a teacher so far:
1. Limit class size to 25.
2. Allow teachers to instantly eject any "student" who is disrupting the class.
I almost guarantee you that you will get better test scores and longer career lengths for teachers -- who apparently burn out after three years on average now.
P.S. I'm already on record as thinking it's crazy to hire as superintendent someone with zero experience in education. The ideal candidate would have an advanced degree in education, maybe an MBA or MPA as well, and YEARS of experience in a real school district.
No Walter, what is crazy is for anyone in their right mind to take this job without the wholehearted approval of the Mayor.
We live in a media driven frenzied society, and Antonio, like him or not (in the interest of full disclosure, I do) has the biggest soapbox and the loudest microphone.
Only a fool would do this without the Mayor on his team; I hope he's at least a competent and smart fool who can earn Antonio's confidence so that the kids can come out allright.
Otherwise we're in for a couple of years of more heartache. The School Board should be recalled.
Finally, at least it's not Jackie Goldberg; that's a plus.
Finally, Walter admits that he is only recently a teacher.
What's wrong Walter, your real estate career not working out so well?
Those who can't sell real estate, teach.
Anyone else suspect that Walt-o is changing career paths to become a more attractive Mayoral candidate next time around?
And better still, why not have Antonio send his kids to LAUSD public schools!???
Anybody seen the "FLAT STANLEY" of L.A. politics "THE POLLO GNOME"?
Joseph: That is the problem with our schools. I disagree that the superintendent needs to speak Spanish. All the damn illegals should learn how to speak English. We need to stop catering to them. We are in America not Mexico.
Phil you are out of your mind. Just because our midget mayor has the "loudest microphone" means shit. He doesn't say anything of substance when his little butt gets in front of the tv cameras so its a waste of time. Stop sounding like a Villaraigosa groupie.
LA Slimes is hitting Garcetti hard this morning with Daddy getting in trouble with triple fines for donating to son's campaign. Bad bad bad move.
You must be "wacko" to believe that disruptive students would be removed from a LAUSD classroom. Don't you know that "all children can learn"?
We used to have special schools for disruptive and violent students in this city. Students that wanted to learn did not have to suffer because a teacher's time was spent trying to maintain order.
Does the Admiral have the strength to instill discipline in our schools?
It's easier to just blame the teachers!
The LA Times is now confirmed as an extreme right-wing vehicle - controlled by Don Rumsfeld's buddy - the new publisher endorsing Arnold, that womanizing, Ken Lay-approved, neo-con puppet who just needs to go.
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