Education
“STATE OF BLACK LONG BEACH: A CALL TO ACTION”
The State of Black Long Beach report is not another improvement plan for the city's African American residents, but rather an unprecedented reality check---more than a century's worth of data that can serve as the foundation for constructing solutions. Download the document inside.
SPRING AWAKENINGS: CSULB CAST BRINGS LIFE, BUT THERE’S NO PURPOSE
Even enthusiastic and deftly executed performances by the CSULB Players couldn't sufficiently sharpen the script of the Tony Award-winning musical "Spring Awakenings" so that its lines and lyrics could convincingly make its points. Playing through arch 30.
ROBOTS GET IN GEAR AT LB ARENA TODAY THRU SATURDAY
Robots built from a pile of parts by teams of high school kids will do battle on the floor of the Long Beach Arena from Thursday to Saturday in the regionals of the Robotics World Championships. Go! It's free!
SUPERINTENDENT’S CONTRACT PAYS TRIBUTE TO VALUE OF A DOWNEY EDUCATION
How can the value of an education in the Downey Unified School District be calculated into a dollar ammount? One way might be to take a rough look at the the pay-and-benefits package awarded to Dr. John Garcia this week when he was officially hired as DUSD’s new superintendent. Garcia grew up in Downey’s public schools, [...]
LONG BEACH’S LGBT HISTORY EXHIBIT OPENS WITH GALA SATURDAY
The gala opening of "Coming Out In Long Beach," the history of the city's LGBT community, is Saturday evening at the Historical Society of Long Beach in Bixby Knolls.
RUNNING FOR STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT WAS A JOKE—UNTIL THEY WON
Although Student Body President John Haberstroh and Vice President Jon Bolin have been in office for nearly a year, it still sounds strange. From Cal State Long Beach's DIG magazine.
PROPOSED LACO ‘PARCEL TAX’ COULD COST LBUSD ESTIMATED $715K EACH YEAR
LONG BEACH — At its meeting tonight, the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education will vote on an LBUSD management-recommended item that would oppose the proposed “parcel tax” on all L.A. County property owners, sought by L.A. County management to pay for stormwater clean-up and anti-pollution measures. In its agenda item, LBUSD management [...]
CERRITOS COLLEGE SWEARS IN 4 TRUSTEES AFTER HISTORIC DISTRICT ELECTION
NORWALK — It was a historical night for Cerritos College on Wednesday when four newly elected Trustees took the official “Oath of Office” and began to get down to business. With more than 200 people gathered, four newly elected trustees were sworn into office by Superintendent Dr. Linda Lacey. Newly elected trustees, Marisa Perez, Carmen [...]
DOWNEY SCHOOL BOARD CHANGES ELECTION SYSTEM TO AVOID LAWSUIT
DOWNEY – Prompted by the wave of lawsuits beleaguering school districts around the state, the Downey Unified School District board of education will forego at-large trustee elections in favor of a seven district, by-area voting system. “We’ve been noticing the trend state-wide,” said Kevin Condon, assistant superintendent of business affairs. “We’ve heard the horror stories [...]
REGISTRATION OPENS FOR TWO NEW ADAPTIVE RECREATION CLASSES
Registration has opened for two new adaptive recreation programs—an art class for young adults and a socializing opportunity for adults who, shall we say, are not as young—just added to the offerings from the Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine department. In the ArtBeat for Humanity Drum Painting class, 18 to 22-year-old artists with disabilities [...]
CITY LEADERS CHOOSE ‘INSPIRATION’ FOR SPACE SHUTTLE MOCK-UP
DOWNEY — After a short debate, the City Council on Tuesday decided to name the city’s space shuttle mock-up ‘Inspiration.’ The name was the favorite of Mayor Roger Brossmer, the councilman who spends the most time working on the programing at the Columbia Memorial Space Center and who has been the council’s driving force on [...]
AFTER 55 YEARS, DOWNEY WOMEN’S GROUP AWARDS FINAL SCHOLARSHIPS
After 55 years, the Downey branch of the American Association of University Women has held its final meeting—and handed out its last scholarships. The chapter, which began in 1957 by providing scholarship to female graduates of Cerritos College who continued their higher education at four-year institutions, decided to decommission itself because membership had declined to [...]
AGRARIAN TRADITION RENEWED TWICE WEEKLY, INCLUDING FRECKLED FARM KID
The Lincoln Spring Farmstand sells near-flawless vegetables and fruits grown on 1.5 acres of urban land---and tended by 12-year-old volunteer Eric Fuson---from a shaded wooden structure at Spring & Elm on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
CSU MONEY MATTERS: PAY RAISES FOR TOP ADMINISTRATORS, 5% TUITION HIKE FOR STUDENTS
LONG BEACH — It’s going to be a busy Tuesday for trustees of the California State University system: in the same session, they will discuss raising tuition fees and hear out Chancellor Charles Reed’s request for the approval of pay raises for high-level administrators. Reed’s push for pay raises for more high level CSU administrators, [...]
AS THEY STEP INTO A WORLD OF TOUGH TIMES, DOWNEY HIGH GRADS WISH EACH OTHER … WELL … YOLO!
DOWNEY (Via DowneyBeat.com)—Facing skyrocketing tuition costs and the worst employment prospects in a generation—more than half of all university graduates are working jobs that don’t require college degrees—Downey High School’s Class of 2012 took a hedonistic perspective on the future: YOLO—You Only Live Once. The social media catchphrase was mentioned by several speakers during Thursday’s graduation ceremony [...]
LB LIBRARY’S SUMMER READING CLUB: APPARENTLY, SO GOOD IT’S WORTH SHOUTING ABOUT?
The Long Beach Public Library’s annual Summer Reading Club has begun its eight-week run at 11 libraries around town, and from the looks of the promotional materials, the 2012 version is really something to shout. It’s called: “Dream Big, READ!” Just scanning those fat capital letters and the raised voices they imply can hurt your ears … almost as [...]
KNABE TWEETS A PEEK AT COUNTY’S ANTI-SEX-TRAFFICKING BILLBOARD
THIS JUST TWEETED: Don Knabe, who represents Greater Long Beach on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, says, “Here is a sneak peek at the anti-sex-trafficking signage that will be up on billboards in LA County.”
ST. JOHN BOSCO HIGH’S NEW PRINCIPAL IS NAMED “CASEY YEAZEL” … C’MON, ALTOGETHER NOW: CASEY YEAZEL!
BELLFLOWER (Via The Downey Patriot)—“St. John Bosco Names New Principal,” reads the headline in The Downey Patriot, and something in the blandness of that banner tamps down the chances that John Bosco—the 19th century Italian farmboy / tailor / baker / shoemaker / carpenter / seminarian / priest whose work with misdirected boys made him [...]
WHAT TH–?? SUPERNAW RETURNS TO GREATER LONG BEACH RADIO TONIGHT
Daryl Supernaw, lifetime Long Beach resident and well-mannered Sustainability Commissioner, spent under $3,000 on his campaign for City Council---and emerged from last week's primary as the frontrunner. Hear his explanation tonight at 7 on Greater Long Beach Radio (www.kbeach.org).
DOWNEY MAYOR WANTS TO EXHIBIT TRAGIC APOLLO 1 AT SPACE MUSEUM
Mayor Roger Brossmer contends that the burned-out shell of the infamous Apollo 1 command module, created in Downey but stored in Virginia since shortly after a 1967 fire that killed three astronauts, ought to be returned to the city of its birth and exhibited near the Columbia Memorial Space Museum. “I get in trouble sometimes [...]
DIANA CRAIGHEAD UNANIMOUSLY APPOINTED TO SCHOOL BOARD BY ITS OTHER FOUR MEMBERS
Diana Craighead has been appointed to the District 5 seat on the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education by a unanimous vote of the Board’s other four members, it was announced this morning via a press release from LBUSD spokesperson Chris Eftychiou. Craighead is scheduled to be sworn into office during the next [...]
SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES WILLIAMS AND LINAREZ DEBATE TONIGHT AT 7
Felton Williams and Ricardo Linarez, candidates for the District 2 seat on the Board of Education for the Long Beach Unified School District, will debate tonight from 7 to 8 at VeteransMemorial Park, 101 East 28th Street, Long Beach, 90806. Williams is not only the incumbent in this race but the current president of the [...]
LINAREZ’ LBUSD BOARD RUN ENDORSED BY THREE MEMBERS OF OTHER BOARDS
Board of Education members from three Greater Long Beach-area districts—Sergio Contreras of Westminster, Jose Luis Solache of Lynwood and Skyy Fisher of Compton—have endorsed Ricardo Linarez in his campaign to unseat Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) school board president Felton Williams. “I am honored to receive the endorsement of school board members in our [...]
WANT TO BE APPOINTED TO LBUSD SCHOOL BOARD? APPLY NOW!
Applications are now available for anyone interested in completing David Barton’s term as the District 5 representative on the Board of Education for the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD). Barton, the board’s vice-president, had been elected to a term that will expire in July 2014, but unexpectedly resigned on Jan. 25, citing concerns about [...]
RAINEY HIRES LAW FIRM TO REMOVE HER NAME FROM SCHOOL BOARD BALLOT
Former Board of Education candidate Naomi Rainey announced via e-mail today that she has hired a specialized law firm to “do everything legally possible” to save the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) the expense of running an election by having her name removed from the ballot. Rainey announced the withdrawal of her candidacy for [...]
DON’T EXPECT DRAMA IN SCHOOL BOARD SEARCH TO REPLACE BARTON
Dr. David Barton’s resignation Wednesday from the Board of Education of the Long Beach Unified School District puts an unexpected item on the agenda—and perhaps atop the list of priorities—at the Board’s next meeting on Feb. 7: finding a replacement. Although there is a Board of Education election scheduled for April, voters will not determine [...]
PRETTY GOOD, FOR HUMANS: WARREN HIGH ROBOTICS TEAM BEGINS WITH A WIN
During their first major tournament, one of three robotics teams from Warren High School in Downey has won top honors at a Las Vegas tournament and qualified for the world tournament. Warren’s Columbia 1 Team captured the Nevada Winter Championships on Dec. 3 and earned entry to the VEX Robotics High School World Championship in [...]
YES, COMPTON SCHOOLKIDS LOOKED AT SASHA GREY—BUT ONLY FOR THE STORIES
Officials at Emerson Elementary School in Compton are being asked to do some explaining as mortally offended parents demand to know why former porn star Sasha Grey was allowed to commit the sin of reading to a classroom of first-graders. Grey visited Emerson on November 2 as part of the Read Across America program. At [...]
BELLFLOWER’S LATEST STAMPEDE FOR SCHOOL BOARD ENDS TODAY
Eight candidates are seeking three seats on the school board of the Bellflower Unified School District, but incumbents in the Downey and Paramount Unified School Districts are unopposed. The flurry of interest surrounding the available seats on the Bellflower Unified board is rather typical for the district, which has a history of campaign histrionics that [...]
ONE QUESTION … FOR LAKEWOOD HIGH CIVICS TEACHER WENDY SALAYA
Last year she and Assemblymember Warren Furutani helped her senior students conceive, write and lobby a bill through the California Assembly. This year's senior were supposed to take the bill through the state Senate and the Governor's desk. But Furutani is running for LA City Council who knows if the new kids will be into it. What's Salaya going to do?
FARMWORKERS PLANT THE SEED OF KNOWLEDGE AT WILSON HIGH
September 10 was the culmination of Project Avanzando’s six-month program, which shepherds farm workers through the process of getting their GEDs. “Pomp and Circumstance” swelled throughout the school theater for 65 men and women who were receiving high school diplomas.
NO MORE $100,000 RAISES: BILL WOULD LIMIT SALARIES OF CSU PRESIDENTS
Responding to the $400,000 salary recently awarded to the incoming president of San Diego State—over widespread objections led by the governor and at the same meeting where tuition was again sharply increased—state Senator Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) has introduced a bill that would limit the salaries that California State University trustees can pay to campus presidents. [...]
IS LAKEWOOD STUDENTS’ BILL AN AFFRONT TO THE FIRST AMENDMENT?
Which is worse: Teachers and administrators abdicating their responsibility to use the picketing and protests as teachable moments about the First Amendment, or students and parents with such thin skin, they can’t face issues they find disagreeable or distasteful?
LEGISLATION BY LAKEWOOD HIGH STUDENTS PASSES ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE
Leaders of Lakewood High's so-called Sacramento Seven---from right to left, Terrell Snead, Assemblyman Warren Furutani, Kaitlyn Miller and Brandon Perez---testify in favor of their bill, AB 1174, Wednesday afternoon before the California Assembly's Education Committee.
DOWNEY’S WARREN HIGH ADDING A MOVIE BACK LOT FOR FILMMAKING CLASSES
The $11,200 grant that Warren High School just received from Lowe’s was the result of the combined efforts and priorities of construction teacher Kent Kiess and film teacher Andy Lundsberg. It shows. The Downey school is using the money to convert an old weightroom into a warehouse for construction classes—and a movie back lot modeled [...]
LAKEWOOD HIGH’S “SACRAMENTO SEVEN” TO TESTIFY IN CAPITOL BUILDING WEDNESDAY FOR THEIR ASSEMBLY BILL
Nearly eight months after 45 students in a Lakewood High School civics began their final year at the school by batting around ideas for a worthwhile senior project, seven of them will spend Wednesday in the state Capitol Building lobbying and testifying in favor of a bill they have proposed. The Sacramento Seven, they are [...]
STATE SENATE TO CONSIDER WIDENING THE PERSPECTIVE OF HISTORY CLASSES
A bill requiring California schools to widen the perspective of history classes so as to include the role and contributions of many ethnic groups, sexual orientations and persons with disabilities has been approved by the state Senate Judiciary Committee and will now be considered by the full Senate. Awkwardly acronymed the FAIR—that’s Fair, Accurate, Inclusive [...]
STUDENT MARCHERS MADE A DIFFERENCE–BUT ONLY TIME WILL TELL WHAT KIND
On the steps of the Capitol Building, with chants and cheers echoing off its walls, I realize I am really here---hundreds of miles from home, soaked to the bone, representing thousands of students whose futures may be on the line.
SCHOOL BOARD KEEPS ON CUTTIN’: THREE GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS SCRAPPED
The elimination of three graduation high school graduation requirements for Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) students—computer literacy, health and service learning—has been unanimously approved by the school board in the latest of a series of drastic budget cuts. During public testimony, a number of teachers and parents pleaded with the board not to cut [...]
WARREN FURUTANI LAYS DOWN THE LAW-MAKING FOR LAKEWOOD STUDENTS
“Who’s got a vote? That’s what counts,” Assembly member Warren Furutani told a group of Lakewood High students during a strategy session for a bill they have introduced in Sacramento. "Other questions are important only to the extent that our answers will help us secure the votes of committee members that will get our bill to the floor.”
LBUSD BOARD UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES POTENTIAL LAYOFFS, PROGRAM CUTS
A unanimous, 5-0 vote by the Long Beach Unified School District’s Board of Education approved roughly $30 million in budget cuts—with more expected—Tuesday afternoon before an overflow crowd. The action authorized LBUSD management to send notices of potential layoffs to 777 certificate-holding employees, mainly teachers, but also including librarians, counselors, and others. The action would [...]
LBUSD SEEKS APPROVAL TO LAY OFF 772 TEACHERS, MAKE BIG CUTS IN PROGRAMS
Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) management will ask the school board today for authority to send layoff notices to 772 employees holding teaching certificates (mainly classroom teachers but also including librarians, counselors and the like). Board approval would effectively let management implement the layoffs in June if Gov. Brown’s state budget proposals [or some [...]
LBUSD BOARD BALANCES BUDGET BY CLOSING SCHOOLS, CUTTING TEACHERS
The Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education voted Tuesday (Feb.1) to balance its next budget by closing two elementary schools, increasing class sizes and eliminating 429 teachers—a savings of $53 million that will be imposed regardless of whether voters approve tax-extension ballot measures. Oh, and it signaled that even bigger cuts may be [...]
LBUSD BOARD TO HEAR DETAILS OF BUFFUM/BURROUGHS CLOSURE PLAN
The Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education will hear a budget-cutting proposal to close Buffum and Burroughs Elementary Schools at the end of this (2010-2011) school year when it convenes Tuesday. According LBUSD spokesman Chris Eftychiou, the proposal by district management staff is in response to the state’s repeated and massive reduction in [...]
A SPECIAL TRUSTEE TAKES ON COMPTON COLLEGE’S SAME OLD PROBLEM
Genethia Hudley-Hayes has been appointed special trustee to the Compton Community College District (CCCD), replacing Peter Landsberger, who is retiring after more than four years in the post. Hudley-Hayes arrives as a former president of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education and the used-to-be executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and [...]
DO YOU MIND THIS GUY WAITING FOR KIDS OUTSIDE THEIR SCHOOL?
Some Lakewood High students want a law against adults---like this man, covering his face with the religious booklets he was foisting on children outside Rogers Middle School last month---soliciting minors within 100 feet of public schools. Assemblyman Warren Furutani has agreed to take their proposal through the legislative process.
PRESSURE FROM AQUA-OLDSTERS SAVES THEIR WATER AEROBICS CLASS
The 315 seniors who packed a meeting of the ABC School Board earlier this month have stopped the cutback of their water aerobics program. Superintendent Gary Smuts, who had promised the aqua-oldsters that he would explore all possibilities to save their program, came through after considerable discussion with the City of Cerritos. According to Smuts, [...]
THEY RIDE 2 1/2-HOURS TO SCHOOL FOR THE NEXT-BEST THING TO HOME
Under federal law, when children become homeless and are forced to move to a different district, they are still permitted to attend their original school. To make that work, Quantrell and Derendo will travel nearly two and a half hours to school in Paramount---once in the morning, again in the afternoon.
OH CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! UHH … COULDYA PLEASE SAVE THE SENIORS WATER AEROBICS PROGRAM?
Like a ship’s captain steering bravely into dangerously angry whitecaps, ABC School District Superintendent Gary Smuts promised a roiling sea of 315 white-haired seniors this week that he would explore all possible avenues to save their water aerobics program. The adult water aerobics class—one of the ABC Adult School’s best-attended but most-expensive classes—is among several programs threatened [...]
HAS DOWNEY CREATED THE WORLD’S MOST-INSPIRATIONAL PARKING LOT?
The entrance to an executive parking lot behind Downey City Hall—which is also a route of much foot travel by students of Downey High School—has been named “Responsibility Row” by a 4-1 vote of the Downey City Council. That’s pretty heavy, man. But it gets even heavier. The idea behind calling the stretch of pavement [...]
TOY LOAN CENTER—LIKE A LIBRARY, BUT WITH TOYS—OPENS IN COMPTON
The program allows registered children to borrow toys much like they would a library book. Lending centers are housed at parks, schools, recreational facilities, libraries, housing projects and even a homeless shelter.
VALLEY CHRISTIAN SECOND-GRADE TEACHER RECEIVES NASA AWARD FOR SPACE-STATION HOOKUP
Pam Leestma, a second grade teacher at Valley Christian Elementary School, and a New York teacher named Neme Alperstein have received the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The two elementary school teachers teamed up last year to conduct the first coast-to-coast television hookup via the International Space Station, [...]
FIRST CHANGE AT DOWNEY SPACE CENTER—LONGER HOURS
The new director of the Columbia Memorial Space Center has announced his first change—expanded hours of operation—since taking over for his fired predecessor. Beginning July 6 the glistening tribute to Downey’s space heritage will be open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission prices will remain the same at $5 per person, groups of 10 [...]
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SUMMERTIME: IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE SOME KIDS LOSE THEIR LUNCH
Most children jump for joy when the final bell rings on the last day of school. For them, summer means freedom. It means camp, vacation and popsicles. But summer also means hunger and stagnation for too many American children. Schools begin letting out over the next week, and many children are facing a summer of [...]
DISQUALIFIED FOR HER FRIENDSHIP BRACELET? THAT’S MY STORY (ON SPORTS ILLUSTRATED WEBSITE)–AND I’M LINKING TO IT
BY DAVE WIELENGA / SI.COM Remember the story of the college softball player who hit the game-winning homer and blew out her knee as she trotted around first base, but was carried to second, third and home by opposing players — even though she represented the decisive run in a game that determined the championship? [...]
WHILE LOCAL TEACHERS TWIST IN THE WIND, DOWNEY DISTRICT APPROVES A LAYOFF-LESS CONTRACT
While top officials of public school districts in Long Beach and Compton dangle doomsday letters over the mailbox, the Downey Unified School District has reached a three-year contract with its teachers union that avoids layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions or loss of medical benefits. Instead, class sizes will increase slightly. Meanwhile, Long Beach Unified’s Board of [...]
THE LESS-THAN-MAGNIFICENT SEVEN
COMPTON–Seven local schools have been named to a state list of public school campuses that consistently have the lowest test scores in California. An updated list released Thursday, March 11, features the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools statewide. The local schools on that list are Davis Middle, Dominguez High, Martin Luther King Elementary, Vanguard Learning [...]
