Los Angeles Unified School District

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jun 26 2009

School board votes to take district in new direction

Citing research and experience in other locations, the Los Angeles Unified School District Tuesday approved a new small schools policy that is being called historic and exciting and what it will take to change the educational path for many students in the nation’s second largest public school system.

The policy authored by School Board Vice President Yolie Flores Aguilar and co-sponsor by Board President Monica Garcia, and Board Member Richard Vladovic, is designed to transform the majority of the district into small schools by the year 2020.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jun 5 2009

Newest scores show African American students continue to lag behind

They can memorize the lyrics to hundreds of songs, easily master and create complicated dance routines, and navigate the intricacies of the Internet without blinking an eye.

Yet African American children post scores on the Academic Performance Index (API) behind students who are learning English as a second language. In fact, the California Department of Education just released its 2007 API base scores, growth targets, and school rankings, and state-wide African American students scored lower than all subgroups except disabled students.

May 22 2009

Parents protest; Council seeks details

A coalition of African American and Latino parents from schools throughout the region gathered at the Los Angeles Unified School District Seven office on Western Avenue and 106th Street Friday morning, to protest removal of Carol Truscott and Scott Braxton. The parents claim the two are being used as scapegoats in the matter of how Steven Rooney, a former Markham administrator, was returned to a school site, after allegations of improper conduct with a student surfaced.

Mar 27 2009

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education members Tuesday voted to promote and support March 31 as Cesar E. Chavez Day

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board of Education members Tuesday voted to promote and support March 31 as Cesar E. Chavez Day.

Mar 20 2009

Brewer announces Shambra to head division

Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent David L. Brewer III announced the appointment of Mary H. Shambra as the District’s new charter schools division director. Shambra most recently served as the LAUSD charter schools division coordinator.

As director, Shambra will be responsible for managing key functions of the charter schools division and will play a critical role in implementing the District plans toward increased effectiveness as authorizer of charter schools.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.