Don't Forget South Central

Our very own alum, Elizabeth Chimalpopoca had her letter to the President published in this book! Congrats, Elizabeth!

Studying in the house of wisdom...LAAMS

More details to come of our incredible trip this past summer...but first, let's finish the semester. Here's a teaser:

http://www.trbimg.com/img-57560b23/turbine/la-me-ln-wanding-20160603-snap Admittedly, the first time I saw this happen it was jarring. But one time, the administrators found a gun in a student's backpack (at former school.) Another time, they found a razor the student had been using to mutilate herself. They gave her the help she needed. Some parents appreciate the random security checks. In a country where mass shootings happen daily, folks want to get offended that we wand? Methinks we have bigger things to argue about. Like suspensions. P.S. The charter schools oppose wanding...of course, you already expelled all the potential safety risks and sent them back to us. Bye, Felicia!

http://meccawy.com/site/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/boy-girl.gif Question: In lieu of suspensions for severe misbehavior, we offer what? A talking/healing circle? What if the bully doesn't want to talk or let the victims heal? We know suspension doesn't work for that ONE student who gets sent home. But does it help the other 35 who remain in school? Who is fighting for the rights of the 35? I think I might be the only social justice educator in favor of lifting the suspension ban. Not for little things like talking back (I applaud it when it is thought provoking and reasoned.) But for, I don't know, assault? Vandalism? Sexual and profane language? When the powers that be tie our hands and do not allow the professionals who actually work at the school the authority to make these calls, the misbehaving students see a green light to go on a rampage. It's been happening since suspensions were banned. No, it is not just for willful defiance...a ban has se...

What do you do for the third act of your career? Will you keep the promise of service to a challenged community that you made in your early career? (to drunk colleagues at a Margarita Jones?) ”We’re Lifers,” we all agreed, after our third round of margaritas. Do you give yourself one final challenge and give yourself to other kids who need you just as much but in different ways? What will you do when you only have 10 years of teaching left? (ish) These are the questions that have left the Sensei in an existential funk for the last year or so. Never bright eyed and bushy tailed, work at my last school (a middle school) was every bit the challenge I knew it would be. Questionable leadership, racial politics, and the massive effects of poverty on students made the teaching conditions there…unique. Yet, still, there were incredibly talented teachers who were making a dent in the system. A system where the odds were against these students and teachers, and little wa...

Did you know that there is a blueprint for California schools? It's a road map that tells where schools are headed, and how they will get there. Check it out here . Well now that document needs an update and the State Superintendent of Instruction, Tom Torlakson, has asked a classroom teacher to co-chair the update process of the blueprint. A teacher whose school is in South Central L.A...you guessed it. Me! The Blueprint addresses important issues such as: Educator Quality Curriculum and Assessment Higher Education and Secondary Alignment Accountability and School Improvement Early Childhood Education Education Supports Health, Nutrition and Physical Fitness School Finance Facilities and Construction Reform Working with my co-chair Chris Steinhauser, the Superintendent of Long Beach Unified, will be a treat; I have much respect for someone who can manage a large district and avoid debacles like iPads and tech systems. His union-manage...