Adult Education & CTE students presente! We need dedicated funding! #AdultEd #Literacy #LAUSD #DTLA #CApolicy twitter.com/AdultStudentsL…
— UnitedAdultStudents (@AdultStudentsLA) May 15, 2013
The Ballad of Stephen Miller
4 hours ago
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
UAS: Adult Education and Career Technical Education students presente! We need dedicated funding!
Reason LA Fund feeds expired food to poor children of color—see any color on their board?
Reason @lafund feeds expired food to poor children of color—see any color on their board? #LAUSD #ArtsMatter #LA2050 twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) April 4, 2013
5th Grade Schoolteacher Monica Ratliff, a LAUSD candidate endorsed by both UTLA and AALA
5th Grade Schoolteacher Monica Ratliff, a #LAUSD candidate endorsed by both UTLA & AALA monicaratliff2013.nationbuilder.com/endorsementstwitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 15, 2013
Education Opportunity Network: “Parent Triggers: Another Reform Misfires"
Education Opportunity Network: “Parent Triggers: Another Reform Misfires,” youtu.be/HtTGMqHYaJk #LAUSD #parenttrigger
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) March 16, 2013
PESJA: Breakfast in the Classroom, a tax shelter for firms to dispose of rancid, rotten & otherwise spoiled food
Breakfast in the Classroom, a tax shelter for firms to dispose of rancid, rotten & otherwise spoiled food. #LAUSD twitter.com/PESJA_LA/statu…
— PESJA Los Angeles (@PESJA_LA) May 12, 2013
The Silver Lake Neighborhood Council Education Committee Presents A Free Bike Rodeo
'
The SILVER LAKE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL EDUCATION COMMITTEE presents
A Free BIKE RODEO
Saturday, May 18th, 2013, From 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
MICHELTORENA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
1511 Micheltorena Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Everyone is welcome!
For KIDS ages 5 – 12
You DO NOT need a bike or a helmet to participate!
LADOT’s SAFE MOVES Bicycle Safety Course
Safe Moves allows children to bicycle through a miniature city called “Safe Moves City”. It consists of streets, sidewalks, intersections, crosswalks, traffic signals, traffic signs, residential areas, business districts, cars, trucks, buses and a railroad track with signals, crossing gate and train. “Safe Moves City” is designed to simulate the diverse traffic environments in Los Angeles and to create “problem solving” experiences for each grade level.
PLENTY FOR PARENTS TO DO:
Bring your bicycles for safety inspections! Check out the bicycle blender! Community partners will be tabling.
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CONTACT: SLNC Education Committee Co-chairs: Dorit Guerrero & Teresa Sitz at education@silverlakenc.org. The SLNC Education Committee meets the second Saturday of each month at 10:00 am at the Bellevue Park Community Room. Our next meeting is May 11, 2013.
El CONSEJO VECINAL SILVER LAKE COMITÉ DE EDUCATIÓN present
Un BICI RODEO gratuito
Sábado, 18 de mayo, 2013, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
MICHELTORENA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
1511 Micheltorena Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Todo el mundo es bienvenido.
Para niños de edad 5 a 12
Usted no necesita una bicicleta o un casco para participar!
LADOT’s SAFE MOVES Curso de Seguridad de Bicicletas
Safe Moves permite a los niños en la bicicleta atravesar una ciudad en miniatura llamada " Safe Moves City ". Se compone de calles, aceras, intersecciones, pasos de peatones, señales de tráfico, zonas residenciales, áreas de negocios, automóviles, camiones, autobuses y las vías del tren con señales de cruzar la pasada y el tren. "Safe Moves City" está diseñado para simular los diversos entornos de tráfico en Los Ángeles para ciclistas y la creación de experiencias para la "resolución de problemas" a travez de experiencias para niños de cada grado escolar.
UN MONTÓN PARA LOS PADRES QUE HACER:
Traer sus bicicletas para las inspecciones de seguridad! Echa un vistazo a la licuadora de la bicicleta! Los socios comunitarios estarán presentación.
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CONTACTO: Comité de Educación SLNC Copresidentes: Dorit Guerrero y Teresa Sitz en education@silverlakenc.org. El Comité de Educación SLNC se reúne el segundo sábado de cada mes a las 10 am en el Bellevue Park Community Room. Nuestra próxima reunión es el 11 de mayo de 2013.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
LA Fund uses a dairy for LAUSD BIC that has been fined by the EPA for nitric acid violations
.@lafund uses dairy for #LAUSD #BIC that has been fined by the EPA for nitric acid violations yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.n… twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 2, 2013
Corporations have even found a way to co-opt words like urban "gentrification"
Corporations have even found a way to co-opt words like urban "gentrification" to deflect attention from what they do twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 14, 2013
More evidence corroborating Professor Krashen and exposing the contrived skills and STEM crises
First published on Schools Matter on December 26, 2012.
"...the impending shortage of scientists and engineers is one of the longest running hoaxes in the country" — Gerald W. Bracey
Schools Matter's Professor Stephen Krashen has been a long time critic of the media promulgated mythology that there's a shortage of qualified workers, particularly those in the Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) fields. A quick survey of his posts here reveal his ongoing work to counter the skills/STEM propaganda that is most often used to justify some of the most pernicious corporate education reforms.
Whenever I see more evidence proving these skills/STEM myths wrong, I'm quick to forward them to Dr. Krashen for him to add to his burgeoning catalog of documentation. NPR's recent Are There Too Many Ph.D.s And Not Enough Jobs? is an example of the evidence contradicting all the outrageous lies by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, David Welch, Reed Hastings, Arne Duncan, et al. The NPR piece, which cites The Atlantic, contains gems such as:
"numbers released by the National Science Foundation show that people with doctoral degrees in those technical fields are struggling to find work in their industries."
and
"Worse yet, as of 2011, approximately one-third of people graduating with a doctoral degree in science, technology, math or engineering had no job or post-doctoral offer of any kind."
Krashen posted the above piece on his facebook page, and several of us commented. Still exhausted from the LAUSD election, I had forgotten what I wrote until I saw myself quoted by Peggy Robertson and Patsy Bain Wolf. Looking at the quote, I'm sure glad they preserved it, since it gets to the heart of the matter:
The manufactured STEM crisis. Robert D. Skeels states "The manufactured STEM 'crises' has from the onset been a means to drive down the salaries of those professionals who often don't see themselves as being working class. Starting with Bill Gates' drive to grant more H1B visas to certain workers under the guise of "not enough qualified candidates." What this really means is not enough candidates willing to work on the cheap. Ultimately the same market forces that allow the owners of the means of production drive wages down are at work. Sadly, since many professionals aren't class conscious, the only things that could reverse this trend — working class push-back and unionization — aren't being discussed."
Another recent article by In These Times entitled Study Demolishes the Myth That U.S. Workers Lack Skills further puts the lie to the notion that U.S. workers are lacking in the education or skills department. The piece, which discusses a paper by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Professor Marc Levine, contains powerful quotes like: "There are still three unemployed people for every possible job opening."
The article proper enumerates the points of Levine’s report, only the headings of which are reproduced here.
- False: The skills of the workforce somehow dropped sharply between 2007 and 2009.
- False: There is a vast pool of high-skilled jobs waiting to be filled.
- False: Employers are trying in vain to attract skilled workers.
- False: Understaffed employers must make do with the skilled workers they have.
- False: New high-skill jobs have been created.
- False: Workers with advanced degrees are more highly sought-after.
- False: The American job market will increasingly demand higher-skilled workers.
Globalization has allowed the ownership class to increasingly pit workers against each other in ways the Robber Barons could have only dreamed of. When workers compete, their boses win! A major part of the impetus behind corporate education reform is the same momentum that's created a job market were workers are increasingly expected to work harder and harder for less and less, while being required to have ever more education and training (at their own expense, of course). Nearly all of Silicon Valley's plutocratic elites' whining about a skills shortage is part and parcel a cry to drive down wages and squeeze ever more profit out of workers who are expected to "lean in."
This race to the bottom for workers is accelerated by those same forces turning teaching into an act of Taylorism as well. Race to the Top and Common Core State Standards are part of a corporate consensus intended to create compliant workers ready to accept ever more abject working conditions. The daily experience in schools today is a grim reminder of what student's adult life will most likely look like. Brian Jones' recent commentary looks at this in depth and provides inescapable analysis. The byline, which couldn't be more apropos, reads 'When Karl Marx described the despotism of the modern workplace, he could have been describing schools in the era of education "reform."' Jones' essay is replete with insights like:
"The bourgeoisie," Marx noted, "cannot exist without constantly revolutionizing the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society."
In those words, Marx put his finger on precisely what's happening in education--the relationship between teacher and student is being revolutionized. The student is, increasingly, evaluated not by the human being he or she speaks to every day, but by a harried, low-wage test scorer (sometimes hundreds of miles away) paid per test or worse, by a machine that scans the student's bubble sheet.
It's no small irony that the selfsame students whose tests are being graded by "harried, low-wage test scorer[s]" are being prepared for such futures as well.
The neoliberal project encroaches from every side and can only be defeated by collective resistance. My heart goes out to all those at the Occupy the Department of Education 2.0: The Battle for Public Schools event right now. I am there with you in spirit. We must continue organizing against these seemingly unstoppable forces, in hopes that eventually we can get our fellows in struggle to realize the meaning of Rosa Luxemburg's famous passage "those who do not move, do not notice their chains."
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
United Adult Students (UAS) to rally against Governor Brown's plan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
United Adult Students (UAS) to rally against Governor Brown's plan
Los Angeles, California - April 16, 2013 - United Adult Students (UAS) have announced that they will hold a student rally and present petitions containing thousands of signatures opposed to Governor Brown's plan to move adult education to the Community College system.
The details for the event are as follows:
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
7:00AM
Evans Community Adult School
717 N Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
UAS released the following statement.
"We are against Governor Brown’s plan to transfer the Adult Education program of LAUSD to the Community College system. We want our Adult Schools to remain open and accessible in our communities, and with dedicated funding streams.
Estamos en contra del plan del Gobernador Brown de trasladar la Educación de Adultos del Distrito Escolar (LAUSD) a los Colegios Comunitarios. Queremos que nuestras Escuelas para Adultos se mantegan abiertas y acesibles en nuestras comunidades, y con fondos dedicados."
The petitions and ten reasons provided by UAS for signing it can be found on their website at http://www.unitedadultstudents.org/petition_against_governor_brown_s_plan
Founded by students in response to Mónica García and John Deasy's threatened elimination of LAUSD Adult Education in 2012, United Adult Students (UAS) successfully defended much of the program. Through organizing, activism, and lobbying, UAS has proven the collective power of adult students. UAS is the voice of adult education.
Contact:
United Adult Students (UAS)
http://www.unitedadultstudents.org
(213) 986-2492
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
2ND ANNUAL CEJ/PEAC Social Justice Schools Conference
Attacks on our schools continue, but the fight is stronger than ever as exemplified by the Schools L.A. Students Deserve Campaign. Parents, students, teachers, community organizations have come together to not only build a vision for schools but to think about a strategy to win.
2ND ANNUAL CEJ/PEAC Social Justice Schools Conference by Robert D. Skeels
Program: 2ND ANNUAL CEJ/PEAC Social Justice Schools Conference by Robert D. Skeels
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser + Some Thoughts on the District 6 Election
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD School Board
The Empress Pavilion
Thursday, April 18, 2013 from 5:30—7:30PM
988 N. Hill St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Hosted by Ed Burke, Mario Cano, Hon. Bennett Kayser, Hon. Julie Korenstein, Connie Moreno, with special guests Hon. Jackie Goldberg and David Tokofsky
Hello Friend,
I am happy to let you know about a marvelous young candidate, a teacher, for LA School Board in a run-off in the area I served for 8 years in the East San Fernando Valley. She grew up with a single mom who went back to school to help her daughter go to College at Columbia University. Well her daughter, Monica Ratliff, won a National Hispanic Scholarship to Columbia and then went on to Columbia Law School. After law school she went to work both at the NAACP and Neighborhood Legal Services in the SF Valley. She then decided and has now taught for 11 years at a downtown garment district poverty elementary school earning honors for her commitment to students. She won the LA Times and the LA Daily News Endorsement. I would very much like you to support her as her opponent received 1.2 million dollars to her 14,000 dollars. I hope you will join us or send your support for her campaign.
Thanks always,
David Tokofsky
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser by Robert D. Skeels
Some Thoughts on the District 6 Election
One other thing about Ms. Ratliff that Mr. Tokofsky failed to mention above: she's NOT supported by Rupert Murdoch, Eli Broad, Philip Anschutz, and Michelle Rhee like some other District 6 candidates are.
When United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) House of Representatives (HOR) was voting on endorsements, I was with a group of Adult Education Students supporting my candidacy (when you work with the community, you get community support) passing out our literature to voting HOR members. I was standing next to a young man who I assumed was an intern or working on another candidate's campaign. I introduced myself as a District 2 candidate and he said his name was Antonio Sanchez, a candidate for District 6. I asked him my stock question that I ask all political candidates, "what is your stance on school privatization." I was taken aback by his response, especially given we were in an union hall. He said "I don't like that word, we need to get away from using that word." Next morning I read in the LA Times that he came out of the Villaraigosa camp. That made sense in light of his political affiliations. Sanchez didn't want to talk about school privatization at the UTLA building because he's in favor of school privatization. At the Stonewall Democratic Club endorsement meeting I had the temerity to bring up Antonio Sanchez's connections with the arch-reactionary Coalition for School Reform (CSR), including Philip Anschutz, who was a major player in the passage of Prop 8. That truth made for a close vote, but afterwards I was told I was being unfair for "tarring Sanchez with the brush on an IE" (independent expenditure).
Let's be clear. Had I ever been endorsed by or learned that a Coalition for School Reform IE had been established on my behalf by fringe-right reactionaries including: Rupert Murdoch, Philip Anschutz, Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Jamie Alter-Lynton, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Michael Bloomberg, and others, I would have immediately held a press conference denouncing their politics and disassociating myself from both them and their vile ideologies. Of course, that's because I believe in public education and oppose privatization and neoliberalism.
Photos from 1010 Wilshire Fundraiser Hosted by Suzie & Sean Abajian and Reynaldo Rivera on March 15, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Parent Trigger - False Promises, Divided Communities and Disrupted Young Lives
Thank you for this thoughtful and informative video exposing The Heartland Institute, Parent Revolution, and ALEC's corporate charter trigger law. We're hopeful that videos like this will counter the lies the trigger proponents promulgate, and that communities will resist when these outsiders come to steal our schools. — rdsathene
The video tells the story of Adelanto, California where a well-funded, outside group "Parent Revolution" came to town and instead of working to improve the schools tricked parents with false promises, bitterly divided the community, and disrupted the education of young children.
"The video makes clear that that parent trigger laws, pending in 14 states, are not a magic wand that improves education -- there is no magic wand," said Roger Hickey of the Education Opportunity Network. "Schools need better resources, engaged parents, good teachers and a supportive community. What schools do not need is divisive campaigns that mislead parents and disappoints parents," he said.
The Education Opportunity Network is part of a new movement that is building in America aimed at assuring that all children and youth have the opportunity to learn. The Education Opportunity Network is a project of the Institute for America's Future, in partnership with the Opportunity to Learn Campaign.
"We need to work together for student success. Let's give our teachers and students the tools and resources they need to succeed," said Jeff Bryant -- education writer and editor of the Education Opportunity Network. "We also need to invest in the priorities that build the foundation for student learning: small classes, early childhood education, up-to-date textbooks and computers, and classes like history, art, PE and music," he said.
Parent Trigger laws are about pitting parents against each other instead of everyone in the community working together on real solutions for educating all children," said Bryant.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Stand up for Special Needs Students against the lucrative charter industry
An activist parent of a special needs child who is a long-time advocate for equitable special education, who has been especially critical of the lucrative charter industry for its outright discrimination, sent the following:
Help me spread the word, Robert: LAUSD families of students with disabilities: Speak truth to power! These annual hearings are an opportunity to give public testimony to the Independent Monitor of our Modified Consent Decree regarding special education services. If you are not being well-served at your local school site and personnel do not respond to your concerns, here's where you need to go...or write a letter if you cannot attend in person. Unless we tell otherwise, the district will assume everyone is just peachy. Please download and share flyers at your schools. Thanks!
Public Hearing on LAUSD's Compliance with Special Education Laws:
Parents of children with IEPs and all other members of the LAUSD community are invited to provide comments to Mr. Frederick Weintraub, the court appointed Independent Monitor, during two hearings scheduled for Thursday, April 11, 2013 (9-11:00am and 5-7:00pm). The hearings will be held at LAUSD Board Room located at 333 S. Beaudry Avenue."
- Link to flyer in Eng & Sp: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/engspan.pdf
- Link in Eng & Korean: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/kor.pdf
- Link in Eng & Russian: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/rus.pdf
- Link in Eng & Chinese: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/chin.pdf
- Link in Eng & Vietnamese: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/viet.pdf
- Link in Eng & Armenian: http://www.oimla.com/pdf/20130201/armenian.pdf
This memo outlines school requirements for special education services. If more school site families were aware of what was required, there might be better compliance regarding students with disabilities. This District Validation Review (DVR) is supposed to be done every four years. If your school isn't on the list, use this to determine if they're following proper procedure and the law until it's your turn:
"SCHOOL SELF REVIEW CHECKLIST, STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: 2012-2013
The purpose of this Reference Guide is to inform site administrators: (1) of the requirement to complete the “School Self Review Checklist, Students with Disabilities: 2012-2013” within 30 days of the new school year, and (2) that the Local Educational Service Center Superintendent, Charter Schools Division Executive Director, or their designee(s) will periodically conduct site level visits during the school year to determine the status of concerns identified by the checklist as mandated by the Modified Consent Decree."
http://sped.lausd.net/sepg2s/pdf/referenceguides/REF-2624.7.pdf
note Attachment B was added finally to ensure that charters were not discriminating...problem is - many schools "cheat" the forms as parental input is usually not required unless it's an official review - then they only call on families who have had "positive" experiences....
Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD!
Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD!
Thursday, March 21, 2013, 4:00—6:00 PM
LAUSD Headquarters
333 S. Beaudry Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90017
Teaching Beyond the Bubble: Take a Stand for Meaningful Teaching and Learning in LAUSD! by Robert D. Skeels
Our students are sick of mindless worksheets, decontextualized readings, and multiple-choice tests. They deserve access to a robust and meaningful curriculum that challenges them to think outside of the box, not just fill in bubbles! John Deasy's unilateral directive to use student test scores for 30% of a teacher's evaluation will further intensify the destructive testing culture in our schools. Come out to rally for the schools L.A. students deserve!
This fun action will include music performances, theater, and a Scantron art contest as well as student, parent, and teacher speakers. Bring signs that show how the testing mania is affecting YOUR school!
Sponsored by Progressive Educators for ACtion (PEAC). For more information, contact Jess at 213-572-8499 or j.kochick@gmail.com, or check out www.progressiveeducatorsforaction.com!
Friday, March 01, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Despicable: Mónica García accuses fellow candidates of "standing up for predators"
Update: Scott Folsom did a wonderful piece on this travesty entitled "NO SHAME: Until this moment, Mónica García, I think I never really gauged your cruelty or your recklessness. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency?" Near the end of the post he lists "all [what] happened on Monica’s watch as School Board President." No wonder she's so busy trying to distract voters, the evidence against her is pretty damning.
This flyer, at the behest of the candidate, LAUSD Board President Mónica García, explicitly states "Her opponents stand up for predators..."
Categorically untrue, this deplorable accusation should be widely condemned by everyone. Some of García's opponents are parents whose children attended LAUSD schools, highlighting all the more how depraved is García to make such libelous and slanderous statements.
Despicable: Mónica García accuses fellow candidates of "standing up for predators" by Robert D. Skeels
Friday, February 22, 2013
Common Core State Standards Primer
Disclaimer: The publishers of this document, Truth in American Education, have some very disconcerting right-wing membership and advisors. I mean really right wing, like Heritage, Koret, the Teabaggers, and other assorted birthers and Birchers. However, this Common Core State Standards Primer document appears on the Hoosiers Against Common Core site that Professor Ravitch mentions in her recent Two Determined Moms in Indiana Take On Common Core post. Like the old adage: "even a broken clock is right twice a day," this flyer provides factual information on the Corporate, er... I mean Common Core State Standards. While I have major ideological differences with their organization, I find their assessment of CCSS to be pretty much spot on.
Common Core State Standards Primer by Shane Vander Hart
Thursday, February 21, 2013
MBC Korean News Features LAUSD Board Candidate Robert D. Skeels and Adult Ed Students
MBC Korean News segment on our press conference in front of the Korean American Education Foundation, one of the several sites that the incumbent callously shut down. We were honored to be interviewed by MBC News' Reporter Shirley Aeree Kim 김애리 and Director of Photography Simon Park
Right-wing Republican 'New Majority California PAC' makes maximum donation to my School Board opponent Mónica García
Form 497 with contribution to MONICA GARCIA FOR SCHOOL BOARD 2013 ID 1346436Right-wing republican 'New Majority California PAC' makes maximum donation to my School Board opponent. #LAUSD ethics.lacity.org//PDF/Election/…
— RDSkeels4Schoolboard (@RDSkeels4LAUSD) February 21, 2013
From New Majority California's site:
New Majority California promotes a fiscally responsible philosophy in government... it seeks to inform its membership and contribute resources to Republican and other philosophically aligned candidates and issues that share its mission.
- Advocate state Budget Reform, including Pension Reform and a Spending Cap
- Recruit and elect fiscally responsible, business-friendly state legislators
- Create and implement an effective Latino/Ethnic inclusion program
- Protect the 1/3 Republican margin in the state legislature
- Elect a Republican to the White House
- Retain the GOP majority in the House of Representatives
- Regain the GOP majority in the U.S. Senate
- Monitor and oppose legislation and initiatives that will raise taxes
- Oppose and defend against the election of anti-business candidates
New Majority California PAC's generous maximum contribution to Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education President Mónica García puts her in the company of the other New Majority California endorsed politicians and legislation.
New Majority California Endorsements
Presidential Race
Mitt Romney & Paul RyanStatewide Propositions
YES on 31, 32, and 40
NO on 30, 33, 37, 38, and 39
Mónica García, Mitt Romney, and Paul Ryan all considered "philosophically aligned candidates" by New Majority California.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
The 99% School Board Candidate versus the 1%'s Mayor
Supporter sent this perfect juxtaposition of the 1%'s Mayor with a 99% #LAUSD School Board Candidate! twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) February 18, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
Monday, February 04, 2013
Precinct Walking February 9
Remember Robert D. Skeels had Garfield High School's back five years ago when the incumbent and her then VP were trying furiously to give the school away to the privately managed Green Dot Corporation. See Garfield HS Parents, Students, and Community Confront LAUSD VP Flores-Aguilar for details.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Last week was a busy week for the Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board campaign
Monday saw Robert D. Skeels at the Northeast Democratic Club (NEDC) where he and three other candidates, including the incumbent, were asked a series of questions in addition to making an opening statement. The questions were challenging and policy oriented, allowing each candidate's fundamental principles to show. The incumbent, who easily thought she'd win the endorsement, lost heartily with only 70 of the 110 necessary votes to win. We believe that this vote of open endorsement along with the one earlier this month at the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, demonstrates that Los Angeles Democrats have grown tired of the harmful right wing policies embodied by Democrats for Education Reform (DFER) and anti-public education reform leaders like the incumbent School Board President. We think these open endorsements indicate people had been waiting for a progressive alternative to Los Angeles education politics long dominated by DFER and the like.
On Tuesday, Robert participated in the third of the candidate forums held by the grassroots organizations comprising the District 2 Neighborhood Coalition. Held at the Boyle Heights Senior Center, the forum was somewhat relaxed compared to the previous evenings' NEDC debate. Audience members were able to ask questions and the format allowed the candidates to flesh out their positions.
On Wednesday Robert D. Skeels learned that he had been endorsed by the Progressive Democrats of Santa Monica Mountains.
On Friday Robert received exciting news that he had earned another critical endorsement—The Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), who represent administrators in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Only one District 2 candidate has been endorsed by the unions representing the vast majority of Certificated Personnel. Only Robert D. Skeels is endorsed by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA). The professionals know who to trust on matters of policy and pedagogy. He has also been endorsed by a broad range of academia, education experts, immigrant rights organizations, veterans, and community groups. A list of featured endorsement appear on his campaign website. That evening Robert attended a meeting of Adult Education Teachers to learn more about Governor Brown's proposed changes that include folding adult education into the already overburdened and underfunded community college system. While a position paper will be released sometime in the future, Robert expressed that he opposes the plan that would make adult adult education less accessible to the community and pulls parents off of their children's K-12 campuses.
Saturday morning was an exciting time with the campaign's third precinct walk held in Boyle Heights. The first two were in Lincoln Heights, then Historic Filipinotown respectively. Award-winning documentary filmmaker, Chris Hume, captured footage and interviews from the Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board campaign's Boyle Heights precinct walking. Filmed on 1st Street in Boyle Heights at the location of our gracious sponsor, Purgatory Pizza, just prior to the group going out to talk to voters.
Featured in the video are two widely respected educators whose support is greatly appreciated.
- Dr. John Fernandez — Teacher, Theodore Roosevelt High School (Ret.) and former Director of the Mexican-American Education Commission for the LAUSD.
- Martha Infante — 2009 CCSS Teacher of the Year, National Board Certified Teacher, Past-President Southern CA Social Science Association, proud public middle school teacher.
Our group of over twenty-four volunteers canvassed Boyle Heights. We learned that the incumbent's event just south of us had fewer participants. That evening the candidate attended an event held by the Trinational Coalition, CEJ, and PEAC to see educator and author Dr. Lois Weiner and Chicago Teachers Union Staff Director Jackson Potter speak at UTLA.
Sunday afternoon consisted of a group of adult education student volunteers phone banking at Robert and Yoon Jung's house, which has become campaign central for many activities. Another documentarian came to interview Robert during that time. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed pupusas from Pupuseria Menchita, who are staunch supporters and are displaying our campaign placard.
Over the same weekend the campaign received additional endorsements from Anne Zerrien-Lee, Vik Chaubey, Marcy Winograd, Ingrid Villeda, and Martha Sanchez.
This weekend is shaping up to be as exciting as last. We're having a press conference and precinct walk in Koreatown on Saturday. Hope to see you there.
Video: Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board, the Community Candidate
Award-winning documentary film-maker Chris Hume captured footage and interviews from the Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board campaign's third weekend of precinct walking. Filmed on 1st Street in Boyle Heights at Purgatory Pizza just prior to the group going out to talk to voters.
Featured in the video are two widely respected educators whose support is greatly appreciated.
Dr. John Fernandez — Teacher, Theodore Roosevelt High School (Ret.) and former Director of the Mexican-American Education Commission for the LAUSD.
Martha Infante — 2009 CCSS Teacher of the Year, National Board Certified Teacher, Past-President Southern CA Social Science Association, proud public middle school teacher.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Robert D. Skeels applauds Eric Garcetti's Efforts to Save The NVOC-Aviation Center
Now, our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamburger and cup of coffee? — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Adult Education means so much to so many people, especially our immigrant and underprivileged populations. One of the most important priorities of Adult Education is to prepare students for living wage jobs. Nowhere is this more true than in the few remaining vocational schools in Los Angeles Unified School District's (LAUSD) Adult Education division.
Recently LAUSD Superintendent Deasy and President Mónica García have once again expressed their willingness to axe an Adult Education program preparing community members for excellent, well paying jobs. On their chopping block this time is the North Valley Occupational Center's (NVOC) Aviation Center. Much like last year when the Deasy and García duo were all too eager to cut all the programs vital to our economic recovery, City Council Member Eric Garcetti has stepped up where the Superintendent and Board President have failed their constituents.
Last year in his eloquent save Adult Education speech Garcetti spoke about saving "the core" to "grow the economy," and he drove home the point that we grow the economy through adult education. Such speeches, support, and City Council Resolutions set the backdrop for an amazing campaign waged by adult education students, teachers, and community members, who were able to save Adult Education from complete destruction.
Thankfully Garcetti has stood up once again and is on the leading edge of the solution rather than the problem. Instead of accepting Deasy and García's logic that The NVOC-Aviation Center isn't as important as A-G Requirements or implementing more mind numbing standardized tests, Garcetti has been taking bold and innovative action to have the City significantly lower the rent to NVOC. He and the Council are working to get the Federal Aviation Administration to accept the deal. In other words, Councilman Garcetti is putting "students first" in practice.
As a School Board Member I will work hand in hand with leaders who want to serve the community instead of the interests of corporate plutocrats, privateers, and the testing-industrial-complex. I admire Garcetti's willingness to take a principled stand that doesn't just benefit Adult Education students, but benefits our communities at large by creating living —and better— wage jobs. It's sad that the current LAUSD leadership has neither the foresight, nor the concern for the community to care about saving such critical programs.
I commend Eric Garcetti and all the City Council Members who have stood up for LAUSD Adult Education. Real leadership doesn't reconstitute, close down, or privatize. Real leadership seeks local solutions that serve real people.
Eric Garcetti is a candidate for the Mayor of Los Angeles.
Robert D. Skeels is a candidate for the LAUSD Board of Education.
Friday, January 18, 2013
Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) endorse Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board
Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) endorse Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board by Robert D. Skeels
About AALA
The Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) represents administrators in the Los Angeles Unified School District. With a 31 year history of representing certificated administrators, AALA now includes classified administrators, as well.
AALA is organized into five departments: Adult, Elementary, Secondary, Supervisory and Classified. An Executive Board and Representative Assembly set the policy and direction of the Association.
Endorsements for Robert D. Skeels
Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education candidate Robert D. Skeels has been endorsed by both of LAUSD's major unions of certified personel in AALA and UTLA. He has also been endorsed by a broad range of academia, education experts, immigrant rights organizations, veterans, and community groups. A list of featured endorsement appear on his campaign website.
Only one District 2 candidate has been endorsed by the unions representing the vast majority of Certificated Personnel. Only Robert D. Skeels is endorsed by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA). The professionals know who to trust on matters of policy and pedagogy.
Sunday, January 06, 2013
Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board January 5 Precinct Walking Kickoff
Students, Teachers, Parents, and Community volunteers canvassed Lincoln Heights getting the word out about School Board candidate Robert D. Skeels. We were walking neighborhoods, talking to voters, and distributing literature.
Thursday, January 03, 2013
Echo Park Patch: Robert D. Skeels' responses to the Arts for LA Spring LAUSD Candidate Survey
First published on Echo Park Patch on January 2, 2013.
"Thinking is not the intellectual reproduction of what already exists anyway." — Theodor Adorno
One of the more intriguing aspects of being a candidate for a high profile office like Member of Board of Education, Los Angeles Unified School District, is the number of questionnaires various organizations ask you to complete. Some of these are for endorsement considerations, others are just to publicize your stances on various issues. Today Arts for LA sent me a five question survey. When answering the questions, I realized it would be worth publishing the Q&A since, in my eyes, it addresses many of the fundamentally flawed issues with national standards and punitive testing regimes they engender.
Arts for LA: What meaningful experiences with the arts (visual arts, dance, drama, and/or music) did you have growing up?
Robert D. Skeels: Even though I grew up in relative poverty (food-stamps, welfare, etc), our New York schools required playing an instrument, participation in drama, and taking classes in visual arts. I was exposed to French horn, trombone, and guitar, and still play the latter to this day. One of the most memorable field trips I recall from childhood is when our class went Radio City Music Hall to see Madama Butterfly. We even had electives like music theory which relate to mathematics. Classes in fine art gave me enough skills that when I later became a graphic artist, my illustration abilities kept me in constant demand. All of those experiences were interconnected with literature, an appreciation for arts, and an understanding that there is much more to being human than test scores and salaries.
Arts for LA: What role do you think the arts can play in supporting key priorities of the district, such as closing the achievement gap, reducing the dropout rate, and preparing more students for college eligibility and the twenty-first century workforce?
Robert D. Skeels: The critical thinking skills and ability to cognate interconnectedness between disparate disciplines fostered by the arts are far more important than rote memorization for standardized tests. For the record, critical thinking skills are essential regardless of what century we are in. This is why the children of the wealthy are exposed so heavily to the arts, whereas working class children aren't. Finding things that interest and captivate students is the key to reducing the dropout rate, encouraging students to find passions that lead them to college, etc. If we were educating the whole child in addition to providing wrap around services, then the achievement gap would ameliorate.
Arts for LA: A standards-based arts curriculum is one of the five core subjects in No Child Left Behind and critical for developing job skills vital in the creative economy and the twenty-first century workforce. Yet, most often, only "what is tested is taught" in our schools. How do you envision bringing balance back for a comprehensive education and ensuring all students have access to a quality, standards-based arts education curriculum?
Robert D. Skeels: The obsession with standards and punitive testing brought on by NCLB and its descendants RTTT and CCSS, have perverted and warped curriculum. Bringing balance back means resisting standardized tests and curriculum, and insisting that our students are provided rounded, culturally relevant curricula. While we still need to push for more arts and a rounded curriculum within the current regime of standards, ultimately we need to fight for curriculum decisions being made on a local level that address the needs of students. A nationally standardized arts curriculum further marginalizes children of color and those from different cultures. We need arts that are part of ethnic studies courses in order to respect cultural heritages.
Arts for LA: If elected, how will you engage classroom teachers, arts teachers, parents, and community arts organizations to implement your district's strategic arts plan? If you are not familiar with the plan, how can the district make the plan more visible?
Robert D. Skeels: Again, the de-emphasis in the arts in our schools is a direct result of national policies that have created an abject high-stakes environment where test preparation takes precedent over teaching and learning. I would work with all the stake-holders (who are natural allies) mentioned in the question above to create widespread awareness and outreach as to the critical importance of a rounded curriculum that sees the arts, including literature, as the primary, not secondary goal of education. Such a campaign would necessitate revising the existing LAUSD arts plan, which still sees test-prep as being paramount.
Arts for LA: Over 50% of School Districts in Los Angeles County have adopted Arts Education policies and plans to restore all arts disciplines into the core curriculum of K-12 classrooms. If elected, what would you do to develop and adopt a policy and implementation plan to increase access to the arts in the district?
Robert D. Skeels: Efforts to restore arts via policies and plans are laudable. However, so long as our public schools are threatened with catastrophic consequences like closure, reconstitution, or being handed over to a privately managed charter corporations, there is little hope that they will actually be able to execute such policies and plans. National education policy has created conditions where deviation from what is required on standardized tests is impossible, despite platitudes from the Secretary of Education on the importance of the arts. Board Members on the second largest school district have a moral obligation to challenge the reasons why the arts, electives, vocational training, and anything outside the narrow confines of NCLB/RTTT/CCSS aren't considered important. In practice, really expanding our arts curricula in LAUSD would be a visible sign of resistance to the testing-industrial-complex controlling U.S. education policy.
LAUSD School Board Candidate, public education activist, researcher, and writer Robert D. Skeels has lived, worked, and organized in District 2 for over 18 years. He and his wife, Yoon Jung Lee, make their home in Historic Filipinotown. Robert is a U.S. Navy Veteran. He attended Glendale Community College and the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Robert taught Catechism at St. Teresa of Avila Church for 12 years. For the past 15 years he has volunteered ten hours a week teaching life and literacy skills at the Mary Lind Foundation. Robert is a committed member of a number of grassroots education and immigrant rights organizations including Coalition for Educational Justice, Public Education and Social Justice Advocacy, The Trinational Coalition To Defend Public Education, The Southern California Immigration Coalition, and Veterans for Peace. Robert’s articles and essays have appeared in publications including: Schools Matter, CounterPunch, Dissident Voice, Daily Censored, Echo Park Patch, and The Los Angeles Daily News.
Robert's grassroots school board campaign has been endorsed by United Teachers Los Angeles and some of the most celebrated experts on education in the nation, including Professor Diane Ravitch.
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Schools Matter: Continuing skirmishes with CCSS cheerleaders on Diane Ravitch's blog
First published on Schools Matter on December 26, 2012.
"There is no evidence that standards and tests improve school achievement. The money budgeted for standards and tests to enforce the standards should be used to protect children from the effects of poverty." — Professor Stephen Krashen
The following is my edited commentary in response to comments by a CCSS supporter on the Professor Ravitch post: A Teacher of Latin Writes In Defense of Fiction.
Kaye Thompson Peters, I've grown weary of the trite "apple and oranges" device that you employ everywhere in your stalwart defense of Corporate Core. You even used it in a gushing apology for Common Core State Standards (CCSS) on Hoover's fringe-right EdNext. While you might not be uncomfortable that Pearson Education, Inc. has been promoting your writings on CCSS, it does cause some of us consternation. When discussing CCSS in relation to NCLB and RTTT, we're not conflating apples and oranges, we're discussing a bushel of rotten apples foisted on us by a bunch of billionaires suffering from the Shoe Button Complex.
To be sure, the revenue minded corporate overlords who coined Corporate Core have never considered high-stakes standardized testing a separate issue from their imposition of CCSS. They are one in the same and they serve the same set of goals in the neoliberal project of privatizing public schools. The Gates Foundation and the Duncan led Department of Education (my apologies for that redundancy) have been quite effective in convincing surrogates (some even in the AFT and NEA, sadly) to crow that they aren't inextricably linked. Such propaganda is so transparent that astute people see right through it. Ms. Peters, CCSS isn't a solution to, but instead it is a deliberate doubling down of, the vile policies of NCLB and RTTT.
Privatizer Dr. Catherine Thome's explanation for the impetus of Corporate Core tells us all we need to know about who stands to gain from CCSS:
"All students must be prepared to compete with not only their American peers in the next state, but with students around the world."
David Coleman's contempt for literature in English classes (at least for working class children) reflects both his corporate pedigree and that of his plutocrat handlers. It is no "red herring" to point out this glaring fault of CCSS, but I do agree with Mr. Heller that there are other fundamental flaws to this nationally imposed corporate curriculum. We need far more "Grapes of Wrath" and far less "FedViews" in this society. Sandra Stotsky does an excellent job taking on Coleman's corporate aims in her piece reproduced on the Parents Across America site.
Ultimately we must resist CCSS. Susan Ohanian, Professor Stephen Krashen, and the Schools Matter camp are leading the way on this. My recent short on Schools Matter has some great resource links for fighting CCSS.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board
Join with Student, Teacher, Family, and Community volunteers in getting the word out about School Board candidate Robert D. Skeels. We’ll be walking neighborhoods, talking to voters, and distributing literature. Campaign T-Shirt, light refreshments, and volunteer training provided.
Saturday, January 5, 2013 @ 12:30PM
Cafe in the Heights
3510 N Broadway Lincoln Heights, CA 90031
( across from Lincoln High School | map: http://g.co/maps/3xh7a )
Únase a los Estudiantes, Maestros, Padres de familia y Comunidad en hacer correr la voz acerca de Robert D. Skeels, el candidato corriendo para la junta escolar LAUSD. Vamos a caminar por los vecindarios para hablar con los votantes y la distribuir volantes. A los voluntarios se proporcionará una camiseta de la campaña, refrescos, y formación (training).
교육위원 후보, 로버트 디 스킬즈(Robert D. Skeels) 의 선거운동을 위해 학생, 선생님, 가족 그리고 지역사회인들의 참여를 부탁드립니다. 우리는 함께 이웃을 방문하여 투표인들과 함께 이야기하며, 정보를 제공하는 선거캠페인을 할 것입니다. 티셔츠, 간단한 음식, 그리고 자원 봉사 교육등이 무료로 제공됩니다. 많은 관심과 참여를 바랍니다. 감사합니다.
Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board
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