KPAO by Dave Cortright

Judge Lucas contemplates the extent of her continuing jurisdiction

I attended the court hearing between BCS and LASD this afternoon. The judge was most concerned about whether her continuing jurisdiction would allow her to rule given the facts have changed from the orginal 2009-10 lawsuit.

BCS cited 2 cases that they thought set precedent, but the judge didn't seem impressed by those. She said couldn't find any case that was similar to this one.

I did find it VERY interesting that when it conveniently serves their desires, BCS can drop the whole "integrated K-8 curriculum" argument. BCS did not even mention once the facilities provided to them at Blach, instead focusing only on facilities carved out from Egan and only their K-6 program. Of course the offer LASD made was a holistic one, and BCS could place their 6th and even their 5th grade classes at Blach if they truly were interested in balancing students across acreage.

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems likely that Judge Lucas will disallow the continuation. Then it's just a question of whether BCS has the audacity to file yet another lawsuit knowing the evidence and arguments that LASD and Huttlinger will bring.

Parent involvement is key to student success

I dislike the title of this article (sensationalism to get more page views), but the message behind it is a good one: students do better when parents take an active role in their education.

The Real Reason America's Schools Stink (Business Week)

If there’s a crisis in U.S. education, the fault lies with a group more accustomed to leveling blame than receiving it: parents...

Around the world, the catch-all measure used to proxy for parental commitment to education is the number of books in a child‘s household. This measure predicts student educational outcomes better than class sizes, or expenditures per student, the length of the school day or better class monitoring. Hanushek and Woessman have found that among 27 rich countries, the United States sees one of the strongest relationships between parental book ownership and child learning outcomes. In the U.S., kids from homes where there are more than two full bookcases score two and a half grade levels higher than kids from homes with very few books.

Marie Stuart, ex-BCS vice principal, takes a new job in Canoga Park, CA

Ms. Marie Stuart was appointed as the new vice principal of the elementary division in an announcement made on August 14 by the Board of Trustees and the administration of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) Manoogian-Demirdjian School (MDS) in Canoga Park, California. In her new capacity, Ms. Stuart will oversee kindergarten through fifth grade.

http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2012-08-25-manoogian-demirdjian-school-announces-new-vice-principal-

That was quite a short retirement. In fact given how long the hiring process takes, I would have to conclude she didn't retire at all. She must have began her search for a new job immediately after (or even prior to) leaving BCS.  

ABC news: traditional schools bear greater burden of special needs students

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/special-kids-staying-traditional-schools-17034746?singlePage=true

The high cost of educating students with special needs is disproportionately falling on traditional public schools as other students increasingly opt for alternatives that aren't always readily open to those requiring special education...

School district officials say all schools that receive public funds should share the cost of special education. "It raises an ethical responsibility question," said Eric Gordon, chief executive officer of Cleveland Metropolitan School District...

The U.S. Department of Education's office of civil rights is investigating charter school practices relating to students with disabilities in five districts around the country, said Russlyn Ali, assistant secretary of civil rights. The probes, which look at admissions, curriculum and accommodation of needs, are the first of their kind, said Ali, who would not release the names of the districts.

That last part was the most interesting to me. I can't wait to see their findings.

 

LASD/BCS court hearing delayed until Aug 30.

In case you were planning on attending the LASD/BCS hearing I blogged about last week, know that it has been delayed until August 30 at 1:30 PM.

LASD board member Doug Smith has been good about reporting out on the latest developments in the case. I highly encourage you to follow his blog if you aren't already doing so.

Bullis Charter School continues to widen the chasm between itself and the community it allegedly supports

From: Dave Cortright <davecortright@yahoo.com>
To: Joseph Di Salvo <josephsds1@aol.com>; Michael Chang <michael_chang@sccoe.org>; Anna Song <anna_song@sccoe.org>; Grace Mah <grace_mah@sccoe.org>; Julia Hover-Smoot <julia_hover-smoot@sccoe.org>; Leon Beauchman <leon_beauchman@sccoe.org>; Craig Mann <craig_mann@sccoe.org>; Carmen Aminzadeh <Carmen_Aminzadeh@sccoe.org>; Xavier De La Torre <Xavier_DeLaTorre@sccoe.org>; Cary Dritz <Cary_Dritz@sccoe.org>; Lucretia Peebles <Lucretia_Peebles@sccoe.org> 
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 9:01 AM
Subject: Bullis Charter School continues to widen the chasm between itself and the community it allegedly supports

Los Altos School District board member Doug Smith just posted this to his blog (the full text is attached to the bottom of this message). As overseers of Bullis Charter School, it is imperative that you read it and understand how BCS' actions continue to undermine the ability for them to to be accepted into our community. If anyone is manufacturing outrage here, it is BCS continuing to do ill-advised things like this, and your own board for doing nothing to prevent it.

For what it's worth, it was my hope that an SCCOE-appointed BCS board member would keep you better informed of such things, and could temper these sorts of actions. However after listening to your discussions on the matter and reading the requirements for the position, I am not hopeful. You are looking for someone who thinks and acts just like the current board. If that's all you're going for, you shouldn't even bother.

Respectfully,
·Dave Cortright

---

http://lasdobserver.blogspot.com/2012/08/bullis-demands-even-more.html

On Friday, Bullis attorneys file motions with the court seeking attorney fees from the 2019-10 lawsuit. The basis of their motion is the "Private Attorney General Doctrine". As I understand it, that law allows parties to a lawsuit to recover their costs in certain circumstances.

I'm not going to debate the merits of the suit here—again, I prefer that those arguments be made in front of a judge. However, I will point out the foolishness of bringing such a motion.

Throughout the past several years, BCS has asserted that they want to be "accepted as part of the community". I'm not sure how the BCS Board believes that demanding $1.3M from a public school district will endear them to our community. To put this in perspective, $1.3M would pay for about a dozen teachers. If BCS prevails in this effort, we'll be laying off a lot of teachers to pay for their demands.

BCS speaks proudly of their "values curriculum".* I wonder what values this teaches their students? One of their parents famously told the SCCBOE that they were "educating the future leaders". What set of values is this instilling in them?

Beyond the question of values, there's just good old common sense. When I've spoken to their board about this in the past, they've simply asserted "well, it is our legal right." Given that BCS spends more on their professional PR firm each year than we do in a whole decade, I can't imagine what they were thinking. Demanding $1.3M from LASD might sit within the bounds of the law, but if you expect that the people of our community will "accept and welcome" you, well, you are not very good judges of human nature.

 

* I'm always somewhat annoyed when BCS hypes parts of their program that have existed within the LASD program for years, or even decades. It's one thing to mimic our program and call it "new". It is hypocritical to mimic us, call it unique, and then tell your kids what great values you're teaching them.

BCS chair Ken Moore is a liar, and he lied in a sworn declaration to the court

In Ken Moore's recent supplemental declaration, he states:

The District also argues that in the spring of 2012, Bullis’ charter was nearly revoked based on information Bullis requested from students in connection with its admissions process. (Opp. at 4.) That is not true. The County Staff merely identified “potential” issues with our enrollment applications, and asked that we adjust them to conform to what the County considers “best practices.” The County Staff never said anything we were doing was unlawful...

But this is provably false. At the SCCOE board meeting on May 2, 2012, County Superintendent Charles Weis stated:

The requirement to be eligible for the lottery to supply an IEP is absolutely illegal. The requirement for a drivers license cannot be used. We've clearly communicated that to the leadership of Bullis School, and we expect to see changes.

I'm looking forward to his penalty of perjury. After all, he did state:

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

 

Los Altos School District court hearing Wed, Aug 15 @ 9am in San Jose

The Los Altos School District (LASD) and Bullis Charter School (BCS) are appearing in court next Wed, Aug 15 at 9am at the Santa Clara Superior Court. It is open to the public, so if you want to attend, go to 191 North First Street, San Jose CA and look for Department 2, Judge Patricia M. Lucas presiding.