LAUSD "Mayoral Control" EXPOSE: Did LA Times Make a $1.8 BILLION Factual Error & To See The Future, Look At The Past (It's the same cast and crew)

PUBLIC INPUT: Does LAzy Times have to check their facts better on "mayoral takeover" of the school districts across the country? Did Zuma Dogg catch a $1.8 billion dollar mistake that the rest of the politicians went on to use to help support their arguments? [See story and try and find what ZD couldn't, for the record. Or LA Times, please email your research to zumadogg@gmail.com.]

Click here for documents ZD used for this investigation [This link is inserted at the proper place in the story, too. Click "Read More".]

Second of all, read this article to see exactly what we can expect from the new mayoral-controlled LAUSD school board. (Meet the new boss...same as the old boss.]

[EDITOR'S NOTE: SINCE THIS 3000+ word article is currently three separate articles, until I create some transition paragraphs that will help to better tie it all together for the reader, I'm gonna cut a bunch of stuff previously posted on this thread, then re-blog it in smaller pieces, and will add the paragraphs to help paint the bigger picture/intent of Villargarcia's LAUSD school board.

To help release my frantic creative energy (get it all out), I had to type it all up in that somewhat disjointed form (typos and all) -- and blog it immediatley -- so my head wouldn't explode!

But now that all the Mayor Sam "regulars" (who may have been able to take it all in) to have had a chance to see it, I think the story could be more effectively told, for everyone else who happens to check in here, if I didn't try and tell the fifteen year timeline and thousands of hours of people's research in one blog post. If anyone would like a copy of this original 3000 word article, or for updates of the new material I will be adding to it, send an email request to zumadogg@gmail.com.]

So here's a nice warm and fuzzy education speech ZD has created for when he runs for mayor: However, since we have a crisis on our hand (broken schools means broken society), and time is of the essence -- and since the elections are not for a while -- if any currently elected officials representing their community wants to quote portions of this "Education Reform" speech you may do so, without having to reference the source. You may simply integrate the message as your own. And I certainly hope you do! Zuma

LAUSD: The Future of Our Society Depends On It [Introduction]
by Zuma Dogg
(rough draft...will be working on this weekend.)

LAUSD July Boardmeeting's "Annual Order of Business" has a lot of talk about "college ready kids".

College ready kids? How about vocations to prepare kids for today’s U.S. job market? Do you know how much carpenters, plumbers, sales people, electricians, AC/Heating, tile person, car mechanic or truck drivers make these days? ($90,000 plus. Many of these jobs pay more than college degree jobs.)

Most of the high-end college type jobs have left the region and are now overseas in Asia and China. But the vocations mentioned above, and others, are jobs you cannot export; and you cannot import. (You don’t fly in a construction contractor when you build a new condo. And you don’t have to go to college to become a construction contractor.)

Not everyone is meant to go to college. It is the school systems job to provide students with the basic, necessary skills to either enter the job market, go on to further vocational training, or college and more interpersonal skill training.

But to say it is the government’s job to prepare all kids for college, means that a diploma has no value as its own entity. A diploma is supposed to be the piece of paper you need to be prepared to enter the job market, not an expected requirement to enter another four-year round of expensive education to prepare you for jobs that are not available, because they have been outsourced and downsized in a new electronic era. Do all kids need to be prepared to learn Shakespear and calculus?

Today’s school system was created in 50's era to prepare kids to conform for the manufacturing jobs that drove the U.S. economy. Everyone had to conform to the same factory jobs, along the assembly line. No uniqueness required.

Engineers make a lot of money, sales people make a lot of money, real estate agents make a lot of money. Train people for the types of jobs the big corporations need: Sales, administration; and construction of facilities, among others.

Since ’94, LAUSD has authorized charters: To this date, there is no accountability standard according to the district. I have also heard that there is an intensive application process. Some people view charter schools as a back door policy to break up the LAUSD district.

CLICK READ MORE

At Green Dot Charter, applicants are required to include parent income; previous student grades; and requires additional parental involvement. And some say the application process is more like a screener, skimming the cream of the crop students from the non-charter, public schools; leaving LAUSD with the special needs, and low-achieving students.

Steve Barr and Caprice Young on ABC-7 News Sunday, charter schools are run by a lottery to pick students. But the application process to get into the lottery is more difficult than and Ivy League Law School (12 pages long).

What are bright kids from low-income, less-attentive/non-attentive parents to do? They are being punished because charters won’t take them, because parents won’t commit to the added time, or don’t make enough money. Why are we blaming these kids for who they are born to?

As in “special education” students, “highly gifted” students (150 and above I.Q.) is an equally distributed number across all income, social and cultural levels.

So this means there are a minimum of 5000 “highly gifted” kids in the 73% Hispanic and 11% black LAUSD district which reflects the demographic makeup of the district (including 9% white).

So what do we do about these low-income, neglected geniuses not having their uniqueness being catered to?

You have to prove that you care about kids in the way THEY want you to care about them, instead of disenfranchising them; having them drop out, and fall prey to gangs, and we lose out on qualified workers to help keep society not only competitive in a global economy, but simply ticking and functioning on a day to day basis.

If you get them interested in these vocational skills, then they will be interested enough to want to learn the basic and more advanced math that is needed for shop, or garage class. And then, that just might provide the jumpstart that will allow them to be able to go on to college, if they choose; or to directly enter the local job market with a higher level of achievement, and there for higher level of skill and value to the job market and therefore, society. DWP can’t find qualified people to do the electrical work.

This is how you reduce the dropout rate as well. Get them interested in a vocation or interpersonal skill that will create the interest to get them involved in the math, science and English skills required to pursue their dream, and you will reduce the dropout rate; reduce the crime rate; reduce the gang rate; reduce the prison population and increase the pool of qualified applicants for jobs we need like teachers, police, fire, sales, administration, and all of today’s highly-demanded jobs.

A charter lottery is supposed to be an open application process of anyone who wants to “go charter”, then the lottery is based on all applications.

According to one LAUSD “reformer/charter supporter”, all the “involved parents” already pulled their kids out of LAUSD and are in private/charter schools.

So now, LAUSD will start to jump into the privatized Charter game, using public money and handing the management over to private entities. So we have to admit, we now have a two-tier education system, like cable TV. You have basic LAUSD (non-charter public school catering to special needs and English learners) and premium LAUSD (charter public school with “cream of the crop” skimmed off the district).

Instead of preparing for two school systems, all teachers, resources and efforts should go to ONE education system for all.

Is the newly elected LAUSD school board members like the zero experience as an educator, Tamar Galatzan, or even “now veteran” Monica Garcia knowledgeable on the type of school reform they are taking on?

I heard that at Green Dot, only 40%=50% of teachers are fully credentialed. In one school, only 3 out of 22 teachers are credentialed. By state law, this number must be equal to LAUSD, which is 90% credentialed across the general district.

IF THIS IS TRUE, THESE SCHOOLS SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN BY LAW!

Do these charters have the 12%-13% Special Education Classes like LAUSD? Are Charter schools skimming the cream of the crop students leaving LAUSD with the lower performers, then get to say, “LAUSD failed”, while making it easier to charters to show improvement with the cream of the crop highest achievers?

And the system is set up to keep the school in constant, “need for reform” mode.

The State Lottery placed steady funding for books and supplies. (In other words, they felt they knew what they would be getting.) It’s now used for wage and benefits.

With a $61,000 average LAUSD salary; plus those who chose to earn more money as mentors; summer school gigs; mentoring new teachers; or simply choose to work at Radio Shack during the three month vacation you are talking $85,000 a year, plus National Board certified teachers make upwards of $100,000. (And who else making this much also gets three months off?) But they had to dip into the kids’ books and supply money because teachers were too uncomfortable at this type of salary level, for nine months work. And teachers don’t generally work as many hours as other executives and workers in this salary range, and don’t have the long “after hours”, at home computer work many executives at this salary level are forced to take home everyday and over the weekend.

Charter school purpose: People have given up on our public schools, now they want to pass the buck to charter schools. (I mean pass the buck literally and figuratively.)

AND TO MONICA GARCIA, OR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, OR WHOEVER’S LAUSD SCHOOL BOARD: How come you already have all the answers (8 point “order of business”) stream-rolled through on July 3, 2007 without going through committee and without public input from parents – BEFORE you have the facts, statistics and answers (based on these actual facts, not previous “mayoral controlled” takeover plans based on other major cities and previous LAUSD board takeover attempts from the same cast of Riordan/Broad takeover players.

ZumaTimes.com
contact: zumadogg@gmail.com or (310) 928-7544 with additional facts or corrections.