Posts Tagged ‘ united-teachers ’

Bilak Loses Two Endorsements After Debate Scheduling Controversy

October 22, 2011

Board of Education candidate Frances Bilak has lost two important endorsements since Patch reported Oct. 20 that an election debate had been canceled after Bilak emailed the Beverly Hills High School student who was organizing the event, claiming that she would contact local media and synagogues of his decision to hold the event during the Sabbath. Councilwoman Lili Bosse , who won every district in the city when she ran for election earlier this year, pulled her endorsement of Bilak after reading the Patch story. Planning Commissioner Brian Rosenstein also withdrew his endorsement of Bilak several hours after Bosse made her decision public on Patch. Bilak is one of four candidates running for three board seats in the Nov. 8 election. “The Last Word: The Last Election Debate” had been planned for 6 p.m. on Nov. 4, four days before the election. It was organized by Max Schwartz, a BHHS senior who hosts a talk show on KBEV6, the high school’s student television station.  Bilak, like her competitors Brian Goldberg , Lewis Hall and Noah Margo , had agreed to participate in the debate. But when she realized the debate time conflicted with the Sabbath, she asked Schwartz to change the date or time. Although he tried to reschedule the event, Schwartz was unable to do so.  In an Oct. 17 email to Schwartz, Bilak said that said she was “deeply disappointed” by his decision to keep the debate at its original date and time. “I will be letting the newspapers know tomorrow as well as the synagogues know of your decision,” she wrote. “I had told them that I believed you would respect the Sabbath and everyone’s decision to have dinner with their families on the Sabbath.”  The debate was subsequently canceled. “When I read your Patch story, it broke my heart, particularly because Max Schwartz is an exemplary student and member of our community,” Bosse told Patch. “[Bilak] really crossed the line when she said, ‘I am going to let the synagogues and the media know,’ as though what he was doing was religiously motivated. It felt like bullying behavior, it was cruel and that is when I wrote her an email letting her know of my decision.”  In Bosse’s comment to the Oct. 20 article, she asked that the candidate remove the councilwoman’s name from Bilak’s marketing materials for the remainder of the campaign unless the candidate made a public apology to Schwartz. Bosse said Friday that Bilak’s comments on Patch, in which she apologized to Schwatz, did not constitute a public apology and that her decision to withdraw support for Bilak was now final. “It is one thing to get frustrated with fellow adults, but with kids—the children of this district—the number one thing you have to have is compassion,” Bosse said. “I am sure she has learned a lot from this experience. It has been a lesson for all of us who take endorsements seriously.” Bosse noted that she originally had planned to avoid making endorsements in the Nov. 8 race. But when Margo decided to join as a write-in candidate, Bosse changed her mind because she said she knew how difficult a write-in campaigns can be and she believed Margo would make a good board member. At that point she decided to also endorse Bilak and incumbent Goldberg. Bosse still strongly supports Margo and Goldberg. Planning Commissioner Brian Rosenstein came to a similar conclusion after Patch alerted him to the fact that Bilak was promoting his endorsement in media advertisements. Like Bosse, he has also endorsed Goldberg and Margo. “I had assumed by tonight [Oct. 20] that I would have seen, or that you would have made, a public apology for the comments made to Max,” Rosenstein wrote in email to sent Bilak at 8:47 p.m. on Oct. 20. “What I saw on Patch was basically an ‘I’m sorry you feel that way’ message from you. That is not what I consider an apology and is not what Max and his family deserves or this community will find to be good enough.” Rosenstein posted his entire email to Bilak on Patch about an hour later at 9:52 p.m. At the time of this story’s publication, Bosse is still listed on Bilak’s website as being a supporter. Mayor Barry Brucker, who also endorsed Bilak, has not indicated that he plans to withdraw his support. Be sure to follow Beverly Hills Patch on  Twitter  and “Like” us on  Facebook . Originally posted here: Bilak Loses Two Endorsements After Debate Scheduling Controversy

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Discounts on Local Night Life

October 22, 2011

Looking for something to do when visiting Beverly Hills?  Want to party like a rock star and never pay full price? NightTap is your answer!

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LAUSD vs. UTLA: District & Teachers Gearing Up For Contract Negotiation

October 22, 2011

Even though contract negotiations between the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) haven’t even been scheduled yet, Superintendent John Deasy’s supporters are gearing up for a long fight. On Thursday, the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education sent out an email action alert urging supporters to call and email individual members of the Los Angeles School board, as well as UTLA president Warren Fletcher, and tell them to support Superintendent Deasy’s proposed contract changes. He explained a few of them in a Los Angeles Times op-ed last July: “Mutual consent in hiring” : schools should do their own staff hiring, and not be obligated to hire displaced teachers. “A robust and meaningful evaluation system” : teachers should undergo a standardized evaluation system across the district that factors in student achievement. “A better process for granting tenure” : the district should set the bar for tenure higher than the current two year standard, which is mandated by state law. After tenure is granted, there should be a “significant salary increase.” ” Compensation reform “: high-performing teachers and administers should be rewarded with annual raises, and additional bonuses should be given to educators who achieve in underperforming schools. There should be no more raises for additional degrees earned or length of career. “No cap or limits on teacher-led reforms and innovations” : all schools and teachers should have the right to design and implement their own curriculums on their own campuses. Teacher contract reforms similar to Deasy’s proposal, including a new evaluation system and pay increases according to teacher performance, were implemented in the Washington D.C. school district under the now-deposed Chancellor Michelle Rhee in 2010. In a recent analysis published this week that examined Rhee’s impact on D.C. schools, the Washington Post found that despite her lightning-quick speed, hundreds of layoffs, and the alienation of some teachers and parents, Rhee’s impact is could end up being ultimately positive: Today, teachers are better paid and evaluated more closely. A landmark labor contract gives school principals more control over who is in classrooms. Basic central functions including purchasing, textbook delivery and food service, although not perfect, are viewed as much improved. Private foundations, enthused by Rhee’s emphasis on teacher quality and willingness to take on a politically potent union, poured millions of dollars into the public schools. The UTLA have demands that are in direct opposition to some of Deasy’s proposals. They include the immediate re-instatement of 662 laid-off teachers and education staffers, which could contradict Deasy’s proposal that school have more hiring autonomy. But the UTLA could face an uphill battle in the upcoming contract negotiations, especially considering that leadership has remained mum on alternatives to Deasy’s new contract items. After an interview with UTLA president Warren Fletcher, Claremont Graduate University professor Charles Taylor Kerchner (Kerchner has written two books on education unions) concluded this in his blog for the Huffington Post : The problem is that UTLA has been largely mute about alternatives to the current system, which virtually everyone, including Fletcher, agrees doesn’t work. But UTLA’s lack of a strong viable alternative and opposition to any use of student test score data for evaluation, puts it on the defensive. Fletcher says internal work on developing an “intellectually honest and durable” system is underway, but that it takes time. But time is short because both the school administration and the newly attentive public have approached this round of bargaining with a righteous urgency. But it isn’t all conflict with the LAUSD and UTLA — on Friday, Deasy, Fletcher and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa co-authored a blog for the Huffington Post urging congress to pass the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Bill — something that would pour $30 billion into schools nationwide . From their blog : Here is another simple idea that our children understand but that we adults seem to have lost sight of: fair is fair. It is simply unfair to send some children to good quality private schools for $25,000 or more and then maintain that $7,000 — California’s average per-pupil spending — is anywhere close to adequate to educate the rest. In Los Angeles, 84% of our students are Black or Latino and 76% qualify for free or reduced lunches. They deserve the same educational opportunities as their peers. The educational futures of these children must not be determined by their economic status or zip code. As contract negotiations loom, both the LAUSD and the UTLA would do well to focus on the common goal that was outlined in their collaborative piece: an excellent education for all of Los Angeles’ children, regardless of race or socioeconomic status. Read the original: LAUSD vs. UTLA: District & Teachers Gearing Up For Contract Negotiation

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Raw Police Video