LAUSD Board Moves to Cut Public Speaking Time
- LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin
After working behind closed doors and without public input, Los Angeles Unified Schools District (LAUSD) Board member Nick Melvoin’s Rules “Committee” has submitted their recommended changes to the full Board of Education. While Melvoin had suggested that this committee was “a good place...to look at” expanding access of Board meetings for parents, students, and teachers, the changes suggested do not address the “time of meetings...location...wait times…equity on sides of an issue,” or any of the other issues outlined in the “Board Meeting Accessibility to the Public” resolution that was presented to the Board last September. Instead, the committee proposes that the time allotted for each speaker be reduced from three to two minutes, a change that had not been asked for.
Read moreMishandling Data to Create Failing Schools
- LAUSD
While the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) likes to pretend that all students will graduate high school and advance to college, this is an impossible goal for students with severe special education needs. Fortunately, under California law, school districts must continue serving these students until they reach the age of 22 so that they are given the opportunity to reach their full potential. One of the options for young adults who have finished the high school alternative curriculum is the Career and Transition Centers (CTC) that are located throughout the District.
Read moreA Sarcastic Look At Political Correctness Under Trump
As if the War on Christmas was not bad enough, now liberals have initiated a battle against Easter. After “the horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels that have killed at least 138 million people,” former President Obama could not even bother to acknowledge the clear persecution of Christians within the United States. Instead, he diminished “the attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka” as a simple “attack on humanity.” How dare he not give “any hint of their faith or the significance of the day.” The victims could have been Hindus celebrating Easter!
Read moreCan Pete Buttigieg Reclaim Religion from the Right?
- John 13:34
If there is one man who pushed me on the path towards atheism, it was Randall Terry. As a forerunner to the violent right that we see today, Terry founded the group Operation Rescue to physically deprive women of their rights at health care clinics. As a volunteer escort, I was regularly punched, pushed and shoved by the members of these mobs as they tried to enforce their own form of sharia law. Terry himself was charged with assaulting me outside a health care clinic in Downtown Los Angeles.
Read moreThe Los Angeles Times' History of Putting Kids Last
- Los Angeles Times Editorial Board
During my first run for the LAUSD School Board, I was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times (LAT) Editorial Board as they considered who they would endorse. Unfortunately, this discussion devolved into an argument over my support of the opt-out movement for standardized testing. I had explained that one of the reasons that my wife and I had decided to exercise our rights under the state education code and exempt our children from taking these tests was the unnecessary stress it imposed on students. A member of the Editorial Board accused me of hypocrisy as I had also allowed my children to choose to take AP tests. She was unswayed by my argument that since the payoff for undergoing the stress of taking an AP test was possibly receiving college credits, the stress of taking that test was an acceptable cost. To her, stress was a necessary part of life and she did not see a reason why children should be protected from it.
Read moreIt is Time to Stop Talking About Impeachment
“We’re going to impeach the motherf*cker.”
- Rep. Rashida Tlaib
Donald Trump stood next to Vladimir Putin and stated that the Russian leader “was extremely strong and powerful in his denial” that his country had interfered in our 2016 election. The former KGB agent said that “it's not Russia” and this was enough for the American President. Trump told the world: "I don't see any reason why it would be."
The Attorney General’s summary of the Mueller Report confirms that Trump’s assessment was incorrect. The Russian Government did, in fact, conduct a “computer hacking operations designed to gather and disseminate information to influence the [2016] election.” If the indictments and convictions that had already resulted from the Special Counsel's investigation were not enough proof, this conclusion also disproves Trump’s assertion that this was a witch hunt. Crimes were, in fact, committed against our country.
Read moreStealing Scarce Education Funds From LAUSD Students
- LAUSD Charter School Division
The LAUSD School Board took the rare step of considering the denial of a charter school’s renewal during their April 2, 2019, “special” meeting. In reviewing the hundreds of pages of documents supporting this recommendation, it was clear that the Community Preparatory Academy (CPA) has been in trouble since it was opened five years ago. During public comment I summarized the worst of their offenses for the Board:
The LAUSD School Board's Secret Committee
- LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia
At the April 2, 2019 “special” meeting of the LAUSD School Board, the charter school industry was once again permitted to stack the public speaker list so that only their viewpoint was heard before action was taken on the renewal of Summit Preparatory Charter. Knowing that there was at least one person who was denied the ability speak against this renewal, Board Member Scott Schmerelson asked how he could institute a pilot program that would enable speakers to use Skype to address the Board remotely from local district offices. In response, Board President Monica Garcia suggested that “Mr. Melvoin’s group and Mr. Crain (the Board’s Secretary)...could probably figure out how to do a pilot.” Melvoin followed up by saying “I think that it’s a great thing for the Board Rule Committee to consider.” Garcia agreed by saying “Let’s go to that committee.”
Read moreEmployer-Based Health Insurance Works - Until It Doesn't
- Bernie Sanders
I listened to the small talk as people slowly filled in around the conference table and wondered to myself how many other people actually realized what was going on. If the seemingly random makeup of the people in this surprise meeting was not enough of a clue, the stack of large envelopes, the presence of the newly appointed head of the company from our new parent company and the stranger that accompanied him should have been. My streak of 31 years of employment, 14 years with this company, was about to come to an end.
Read moreLAUSD School Board Member Scott Schmerelson Steps Up
- Scott Schmerelson
While the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board has promised for years to address complaints about difficulties that parents and other members of the community face when trying to participate in school board meetings, it took a member of the public using the education code to place an item on their agenda for it to finally be addressed. At Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, the Board heard from parents who supported the “Board Meeting Accessibility to the Public” resolution before discussing the item. As the person who brought forward the proposed resolution, I was given the opportunity to speak first:
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