Long Beach Unified School District
“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.
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 [...]
LBUSD, MAYOR FOSTER ISSUE STATEMENTS ABOUT NEWTOWN SCHOOL SHOOTING
LONG BEACH — At midafternoon, Long Beach Unified School District and Mayor Bob Foster issued statements expressing condolences to the community of Newtown, Conn., which earlier today suffered one of the nation’s most violent school shootings. According to law enforcement, 20-year-old Adam Lanza — armed with four guns and wearing a bullet-proof vest — killed [...]
BALLOT BOXING: PROP 30 A SMART RESTART FOR GOLDEN STATE
GreaterLongBeach.com reader Uduak Ntuk contends the passage of Proposition 30---which increases funding for public education through a tax hike on the rich---is essential to creating the educated and motivated work force California must have if it is to recover.
OUT IN 562: MOST AREA SCHOOL DISTRICTS IGNORE ANTI-GAY BULLYING LAW
Phillip Zonkel of the Press-Telegram, whose "Out In The 562" blog alerted GreaterLongBeach.com to his two-part series examining the bullying of gay students in Greater Long Beach area schools and how school districts are addressing the issue ... or not. Here is Part I.
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).
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 [...]
HEAR WHY JANET BALLANTYNE WANTS TO REPLACE SUJA LOWENTHAL ON CITY COUNCIL
Janet Ballantyne explains why she is running for the Long Beach City Council seat currently occupied by Suja Lowenthal during a Feb. 15 appearance on Greater Long Beach Radio with Dave Wielenga. Ballantyne works as a sponsor-relations manager for a financial services firm and serves as president of a large downtown Home Owner’s Association called 133 Promenade Walk. She expands on [...]
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 [...]
RAINEY: ELECTIONS SHOULDN’T BE CANCELED, EVEN WITHOUT COMPETITION
Former school board candidate Naomi Rainey asserted today in a statement released by the NAACP that the Long Beach Unified School District ought to conduct regularly scheduled elections for seats on the Board of Education even when all candidates are unopposed. “The Long Beach Unified School District should be having elections whether there is one person running or [...]
SUNDAY FUNDRAISER AT CURLEY’S CAFE TO SAVE LBUSD MIDDLE SCHOOL SPORTS
A dinner to help raise the $380,000 needed to restore middle school sports programs to the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) will be held June 5—that’s this Sunday evening—at Curley’s Café in Signal Hill. The suggested donation is $35; all proceeds go to the Long Beach Education Foundation. The event is presented by Progressive [...]
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?
ATTENTION SPRING BREAK KIDS: CURFEW MEANS NO EASTER PARADING AFTER 10
The Long Beach Police Department says it will enforce the city’s curfew law—and the city prosecutor’s New Parent Accountability Program Too (PACT)—during the upcoming Spring Break, which will close Long Beach Unified School District campuses April 25-29. LB Muni Code section 9.58.010 states: “It is unlawful for any minor under the age of eighteen (18) years to remain [...]
JENNY OROPEZA CENTER TO BE DEDICATED AT CESAR CHAVEZ PARK
The community center at Cesar Chavez Park will be officially named after the late state Senator Jenny Oropeza during a 3 p.m. ceremony Thursday at Cesar Chavez Park. Oropeza’s husband, Tom Mullins, will speak at the dedication, the kickoff event in the 10th annual Cesar Chavez Day celebration presented by Councilmember Robert Garcia, along with [...]
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 [...]
DOUG HAUBERT: SOMEWHERE BETWEEN WINNING UGLY AND SITTING PRETTY
The job of city prosecutor is so complex that Doug Haubert can’t precisely explain how he---or Long Beach residents—ought to determine whether he’s doing a good one. "In my opinion," says Haubert, "the best way is whether people feel the neighborhoods are getting safer.”
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 [...]
ALL WRITEY!! A SAMPLING OF YOUR COMMENTS, CRITICISMS, LOVE NOTES & WITTICISMS
[ By Dave Wielenga ]DO YOU MIND THIS GUY WAITING FOR KIDS OUTSIDE THEIR SCHOOL? It is good to make the students aware of what’s going on around them and especially to be able to discuss it in a classroom setting. Unfortunately, people have a right to the public sidewalk just like the students do [...]
ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO CENSOR CANDIDATES’ DEBATE
For the second time in two days, a group conducting a debate among Congresswoman Laura Richardson (D—LB, Carson) and challengers Star Parker (R) and Nick Dibs (Ind) tried to ban photographs and recording at the event. Saturday’s debate was organized and conducted by the Long Beach branch of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) [...]
ALL WRONGY!! P-T COMMENTERS MISS THE POINT—AND POIGNANCY—AGAIN
THE HEADLINE: Saying goodbye THE STORY: Middle school science teacher Janise Anderson looks back with emotion on a teaching career that ended too soon when she became one of the 338 teachers, counselors and social workers laid off by the Long Beach Unified School District. PRESS-TELEGRAM COMMENTERS RESPOND: Another white teacher layed off to eventually [...]
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 [...]
