SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The court-appointed receiver overseeing California’s prison health care system said Friday the state must keep its promise to spend more than $2 billion for new medical facilities before the federal courts can end an oversight role that has lasted six years. California committed to spending $750 million to upgrade existing medical facilities, building a new $906 million medical center and converting juvenile lockups at a cost of $817 million. So far, only the new medical center in Stockton is being built. Receiver J. Clark Kelso told The Associated Press that the state must begin all the upgrades before it should be allowed to retake control of a prison medical system once deemed so poor that it was found to have violated inmates’ constitutional rights. They are his first public comments since a federal judge last week told officials to begin preparing for an end to the receivership. “That leaves a court order that the state is now out of compliance with,” Kelso said during the 75-minute interview. “The courts have been promised construction for the last half-decade. Somehow those promises don’t get kept.” California officials are analyzing the need for new medical facilities in light of a state law that took effect last year that is sending lower-level criminals to county jails instead of state prisons. Federal judges have ordered the state to reduce its prison population by 33,000 inmates over two years to improve the treatment of mentally and physically ill inmates, a decision that has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. At its height in 2006, California’s inmate population was more than 162,000. Kelso said the medical center that is under construction in Stockton and the $750 million in upgrades are needed even if the state has fewer inmates. Conversion of the juvenile lockups was to have included new housing and treatment facilities for sick and mentally ill inmates. Kelso has been negotiating with officials from the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and attorneys representing inmates after a federal judge issued a notice saying it was time to begin ending the federal receivership. Court oversight of medical care in the nation’s largest state prison system has led to improvements in inmate health care that have cost California taxpayers billions of dollars. “We’ll just see if the parties can’t find a middle ground for agreement,” Kelso said. The pace of those negotiations will determine how quickly the state can retake control of its prison health care operations, he said. Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said he wanted to see the receivership end as early as this summer, although he also said it would be appropriate for the courts to maintain some type of oversight role to ensure that inmate care does not deteriorate. “I think the sooner we return day-to-day operations to the state, the better,” Cate told the AP in an interview earlier this week. “We need to work out the construction issues, obviously, and I know that Clark is also concerned about making sure there’s a strong structure in place to maintain the strides we’ve made. But if we can work those issues out, I’d love to see it be this summer.” Kelso said the state also should create a quasi-independent medical bureaucracy within the corrections department to make sure the state doesn’t backslide because of budget cuts or a lack of interest. “A lot of that has to do with budget independence and the independence of the head of prison health care really to control his or her budget,” Kelso said. “They can’t just get lost in the big haze that is the corrections budget.” He said the corrections department traditionally has focused on keeping inmates safely locked up, with a lesser emphasis on the well-being of those prisoners, and it is unclear if that culture has changed. Citing inmate overcrowding as the leading cause, the federal courts previously found that medical care for California prisoners was so poor that an average of one inmate a week was dying of neglect or malpractice. It ordered the prison population reduced, prompting the department to send layoff notices this week to 545 employees because fewer workers are needed as the number of inmates declines. In the notice he filed last week, U.S. District Court Judge Thelton Henderson said conditions had improved enough to consider ending the receivership. He said most of the goals of the federal oversight had been met. The San Francisco-based judge ordered Kelso, state officials and inmates’ attorneys to report by April 30 on when the receivership should end and whether it should continue some role in ensuring that conditions remained constitutional. “I think this all depends much more on the state’s progress than on mine,” Kelso said. “Frankly, if the construction had been done as promised, I’d be a hell of a lot closer.” See the original post here: ‘Somehow Those Promises Don’t Get Kept’
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Trio Of Robbers In Jail After Returning For Security Camera Footage
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. — Investigators say three young robbers are in jail after returning to a Southern California crime scene to retrieve liquor store surveillance camera video. Los Angeles sheriff’s Lt. Tom Bryski says the trio stole beer from Dooley’s Liquor Store in the Newhall area of Santa Clarita on Sunday night and fled. They returned to the store about 85 minutes later to get the surveillance video. The lieutenant tells City News Service that there was a scuffle and one of the robbers pulled a knife and slashed the store clerk’s arm. Deputies arrested 19-year-old Oscar Jimenez, 18-year-old Eduardo Salgado and a 17-year-old youth. They have been booked for investigation of theft, intimidating a witness and assault with a deadly weapon. Here is the original post: Trio Of Robbers In Jail After Returning For Security Camera Footage
Local Democratic Club Controversially Backs Osborn for State Assembly
Political veteran Torie Osborn on Sunday received the endorsement of the Malibu Democratic Club in the campaign for the newly created 50th Assembly District , which includes Beverly Hills. Opponent Betsy Butler , who currently represents another district in the Assembly, said Osborn gained the backing unfairly because her campaign recruited people to join the club so they could vote for her. Club members made the selection at Malibu City Hall following a one-hour forum, which was the first of the campaign featuring the three Democratic candidates. Republican hopeful Brad Torgan was not invited to the event. Osborn received 42 votes. Thirteen favored making no endorsement, five selected Butler and nobody backed Santa Monica Mayor/California Coastal Commissioner Richard Bloom . “I’m over the moon,” Osborn said in an interview with Patch after receiving the endorsement. “It’s my first one [from a local Democratic club]. I was decisive and it feels like a dry run for the whole campaign.” She said she was not involved in recruiting club members, but admitted her campaign “organized some people to either re-up [their memberships] or join.” “It’s a pretty common practice to use the candidates forums to do recruitment drives,” Osborn said. Butler said she heard Osborn got 42 people to join the club prior to the deadline to be an eligible voter—which was 30 days before the event—and that one person paid for the memberships with a single check. Club President Jean Goodman wrote in an email to Patch, “We received a $1,000 contribution for payment of dues for a group of Torie Osborn supporters [with each membership costing $25] … as to the name of the contributor, we will disclose that in our next report to the Secretary of State.” Malibu City Councilwoman Pamela Conley Ulich said the club voting rules prevented several Malibu residents from being able to participate. She said they were not aware they had to pay the membership fee 30 days prior to the session. When Conley Ulich asked people to raise their hands if they were Malibu residents, only about half the attendees did it. Bloom said he was not bothered about receiving zero votes. “This was an accurate reflection of who was in the room,” Bloom said when asked about the meaning of the results. Bloom noted a study done by the polling and research firm Lauer Johnson Research, which was hired by his campaign, that determined he had the most support and name recognition in the district. He said he was also not concerned that Osborn and Butler have received most of the prominent endorsements. “I think they’ve spent more time in the endorsement process,” Bloom said. “I’m really happy with the endorsements I have. But I’m very focused with running for office and doing my job as the mayor of Santa Monica. So I’m focusing in on the core responsibility of campaigning, and that’s reaching out to voters and the people who are ultimately going to be casting those ballots.” The three candidates are liberal Democrats, so there was little disagreement on major issues that were discussed during the forum. They all said education spending should be a priority. Osborn and Butler said they oppose the death penalty. Bloom said he only supports it in “exceptional cases,” including “mass murder where there is an admission and the evidence is crystal clear.” The next forum, hosted by the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club, will take place Jan. 15 from 2-4 p.m. at the Palisades Woman’s Club. The Santa Monica Democratic Club will host a forum Jan. 17 from 6:30-9 p.m. at Santa Monica’s main library. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on Twitter and “Like” us on Facebook . Visit link: Local Democratic Club Controversially Backs Osborn for State Assembly
Costs Of No Child Left Behind Waivers ‘Jaw Dropping"
This story comes to us courtesy of Silicon Valley Education Foundation’s Thoughts On Public Education blog, TopEd.org . An ambivalent State Board of Education discussed but took no action Wednesday on pursuing a temporary waiver from strictures of the No Child Left Behind law. The state will pass up the two application deadlines as a result. California could still apply in June for a two-year relief from the law. Los Angeles Unified is among the districts favoring a waiver, and several Board members indicated interest as well â if the state can negotiate terms more to its liking. However, the Obama administration has given no public indication yet that it’s willing to bend on its terms. Because Congress has been unable to agree on how to fix a flawed NCLB, President Obama has offered states a deal: For two years, they’d no longer be bound by many of NCLB’s disliked provisions, which have led to labeling most schools as failing. They also would gain flexibility in using a portion of Title I money for poor kids, in exchange for agreeing to several requirements. States would have to move ahead with Common Core or rigorous college and career standards, to focus on fixing 15 percent of schools (the worst performers and those with the biggest achievement gaps), and to adopt teacher and administrator evaluations based partly on test scores â a demand staunchly opposed by the California Teachers Association as an intrusion on local collective bargaining. CTA lobbyist Ken Burt called the waiver “money down a rat hole,” and said the state should focus on working on Congress to pass a better law. But drawn to the prospect of getting out from under NCLB’s thumb, 39 states and the District of Columbia have expressed interest in a waiver. Some of those are Race to the Top winners that already are complying with the requirements. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, however, has called for a waiver without conditions and criticized Obama for overstepping his authority in requiring test-based teacher evaluations. The state Department of Education’s cost-benefit analysis of the waivers found what State Board member James Aschwanden called “jaw-dropping numbers.” The Department put the net price tag to California of between $2 billion and $2.7 billion. Broken down, the costs would include: $600 million to implement Common Core, through: teacher training,237.5 million; buying textbooks and materials,237.5 million; and adopting English learner standards,118 million; $410 million to fix the 15 percent low-performing schools; $76 million to train principals and conduct evaluations for all teachers. Torlakson called the Obama plan “not so much a waiver as a substitution for a new set of requirements and a new set of challenges.” And he said California would run the risk of moving in one direction with the waivers, only to have Congress head in another direction by passing a new Elementary and Secondary Education Act (the formal name for NCLB). COST ESTIMATES DISPUTED The state Department of Education offered no corroborating cost estimates from other states, and those favoring the waiver said the Department undervalued the financial benefits and overestimated the costs of transitioning to Common Core, which the state will have to do anyway. Rick Miller, a former deputy state superintendent who’s now executive director of the nonprofit California Office to Reform Education (CORE), said the seven districts comprising CORE could redirect $84 million to rehire teachers and counselors by redirecting dollars that had to have been spent on tutoring services in Program Improvement schools. “Do the waiver as soon as possible for needed flexibility,” he said. One of the CORE districts is Los Angeles Unified. Superintendent John Deasy’s deputy chief of staff, Tommy Chang, testified that the district is already attempting to do what the waiver calls for by shifting dollars within its existing budget: preparing for Common Core and shifting to new teacher evaluations that incorporate measures of student progress. Brad Strong, senior policy director with Children Now, acknowledged that the waiver’s demand that the state expedite its spending on evaluations and Common Core would be “a huge lift.” But it’s far from certain whether Congress will reauthorize NCLB anytime soon, he said, and California needs the will to develop a quality plan for Common Core and an evaluation system that improves learning for all kids. Adopting a wait-and-see middle ground, the Association of California School Administrators called for putting off a waiver for six months while pressing Congress to pass a new NCLB as proposed in the bipartisan Senate bill sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Republican Mike Enzi of Wyoming. Failing that, ACSA said in a letter to the State Board, the state should apply for a waiver “based on what California believes is in the best interest of our students and schools and not based on prescriptive conditions.” State Board member Trish Williams said she was interested in having California submit a “customized” waiver application. Saying she was frustrated that California has missed out on a number of education grants and programs she said, “Would Washington like to work with California? I would like to find a way that would benefit us, and we could live with.” Chang, Miller and others also expressed the hope that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan would eventually permit large districts like Los Angeles Unified and groups of districts like CORE to apply for waivers on their own, if California refused to. John Fensterwald is the editor and co-writer of TOPed.org, a blog on California education policy. Follow him on Twitter ( @jfenster ) and at www.toped.org . Excerpt from:
Lady Gaga Serenades Bill Clinton, Drops ‘F’ Bomb
LOS ANGELES — Lady Gaga enjoyed her “first real Marilyn moment” with former President Bill Clinton. The envelope-pushing pop superstar was one of several musicians who performed Saturday night at the Hollywood Bowl during a concert celebrating the 10th anniversary of Clinton’s foundation, which has sought to improve global health, strengthen economies worldwide, promote healthier childhoods and protect the environment for the past decade. “I always wanted to have one, and I was hoping that it didn’t involve pills and a strand of pearls,” she joked. Emerging from atop an all-white treehouse, Lady Gaga sported a wavy blonde `do and red lips like Marilyn Monroe, who famously crooned “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to President John F. Kennedy in 1962. Lady Gaga similarly serenaded Clinton and changed several of her lyrics to reference him, including swapping the title of “Bad Romance” for “Bill Romance.” “I thought, `My God. I get Lady Gaga, and I will have a heart attack celebrating my 65th birthday,” Clinton later said. Clinton, who turned 65 on Aug. 19 but celebrated his birthday at a posh Hollywood party Friday night, sat between wife Hillary and daughter Chelsea in the front row throughout Saturday’s event at the outdoor venue set against the Hollywood Hills. Other famous attendees included Maria Bello, Ashton Kutcher, Jason Segel, Ellen DeGeneres, Colin Farrell and Chevy Chase. “I am the only person in history who got to be President and then had a post-presidential birthday party attended by both Lady Gaga and the Secretary of State,” Clinton joked on stage. “I want to thank Hillary because we met 40 years ago this year. When I met her, she was already doing the kind of work you see here long before it was cool.” Ticket prices for “A Decade of Difference: A Concert Celebrating 10 Years of the William J. Clinton Foundation,” which was streamed live on Yahoo.com, ranged from $50 to $550. Other performers included Motown legend Stevie Wonder, country star Kenny Chesney, Somali rapper K’Naan, Colombian crooner Juanes and R&B singer Usher. Usher kicked off his performance with a take on Joe Cocker’s rendition of the Beatles classic “With a Little Help From My Friends” before launching into his hits “Yeah” and “OMG.” The R&B singer accidently split his pant legs while dancing to reveal his bare left leg. The wardrobe malfunction didn’t stop Usher, who continued with his routine, telling the crowd: “I work hard.” Bono and The Edge of U2 closed the concert with a mostly acoustic set that included such tunes as “Desire,” “One” and “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” which Bono sang directly to Clinton. The duo – who were accompanied by a string quartet and Edge’s laptop – closed with “Miss Sarajevo.” Bono tackled the operatic part of the tune originally sung by the late Luciano Pavarotti. Clinton himself is no stranger to performing. The saxophone-playing politician memorably belted out “Heartbreak Hotel” when he visited Arsenio Hall’s show during his 1992 presidential campaign. Clinton didn’t pick up the instrument Saturday night, despite a plea from Lady Gaga, who informed him: “I wish you were playing sax with me tonight, baby.” ___ Online: http://clintonconcert.yahoo.com Link: Lady Gaga Serenades Bill Clinton, Drops ‘F’ Bomb
LAX Ranked Among Nation’s Most Dangerous Airports
LAX reported 60 close calls over the past five years, with the most memorable mishap in 2007 when a landing WestJet 737 almost hit a departing Northwest Airbus. Photo Credit: Getty Images / David McNew Original post: LAX Ranked Among Nation’s Most Dangerous Airports
Federal Probe: LA Schools Failed To Provide Equal Education For Minority Students
LOS ANGELES — A 19-month civil rights investigation of the Los Angeles Unified School District found that the district failed to provide an equal education to English-learners and black students, resulting in wide academic disparities, the U.S. Department of Education announced Tuesday. The district, the nation’s second-largest, agreed to remedy the disparities through a variety of measures, including a complete overhaul of its English-learning program and improving resources such as computers and library books to schools with predominantly black student bodies. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who unveiled the agreement at a news conference at LAUSD headquarters, said it would help ensure that every student in the nation’s second largest school district would receive the same academic opportunities “regardless of race or national origin.” Noting that these issues are “incredibly complex and politically charged,” Duncan said he was encouraged by the district’s sense of urgency and willingness to voluntarily remedy the disparities without an order. “Though we still have a long way to go before we see that English learner students and African-American students are consistently getting what they need to perform up to their fullest potential, I’m confident today’s agreement will help address the causes of concern that prompted our review,” he said. Duncan stopped short of saying that students’ civil rights were violated and did not reveal detailed results of the investigation, just the terms of the agreement. But the Education Department said in a statement that it will monitor the district’s compliance with the agreement until educational codes are met. The agreement was the result of a “compliance review” by the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights, which was concerned about wide achievement gaps between the district’s lowest performing student groups and other students. Only 5 percent of high school English language learners ranked as proficient in either English or math; for black students, 32 percent ranked as proficient in English and 9 percent in math, according to the district’s 2009-10 report card. The overall district average was 37 percent proficient in English and 17 percent in math. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy said the district did not dispute that disparities exist and worked to hammer out a solution with federal officials. The district will be studying how to fund the measures as plans for specific areas are developed. The district’s English-language learning program has long been criticized for allowing non-native speakers to remain in English-learning programs for years, sometimes throughout their school careers, never meeting the criteria to move into mainstream classes. Students often fall behind grade level and end up dropping out. For the 2009-2010 school year, only 14.4 percent of English learners were reclassified as fluent. Under the agreement, the district agreed to completely revamp its nearly 200,000-student English-learning program by next school year, with special emphasis on high school students who have not been deemed proficient in English in order to take courses needed for graduation. The district has the highest number of English-learning students in the nation. English-learners will receive grade-level courses, teachers will be trained to handle multiple English-proficiency levels and special-education teachers will receive English-instructional materials. The program will also include a component aimed at black students aimed at boosting their “academic language proficiency” starting in elementary grades. The investigation also found black students are underrepresented in gifted and talented programs but overrepresented in suspensions and disciplinary actions. Schools with predominantly black populations also lack technology and library resources. The district agreed to remedy those disparities with fairer evaluation of gifted and talented programs and disciplinary actions, and allocating more computers and increasing library book collections. A school-based community pilot program will be launched in an African-American neighborhood to provide health and social services, he said. No details were revealed. Warren Fletcher, president of teachers union United Teachers Los Angeles, praised the Education Department for shining a light on longstanding disparities, but noted that the district has laid off more than 1,200 teachers and closed libraries in many schools. “It’s very general,” he said of the agreement. “We have to see how those services are going to be provided.” Parent Irma Munoz, who has had three children go through the district’s English learner program, said the program needed to be overhauled. Her children were put in classes with English speaking teachers who they could not understand, she said. “It’s a bad program,” she said. See the original post here: Federal Probe: LA Schools Failed To Provide Equal Education For Minority Students
