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CA Attorney General Accused Of Retaliation Against UTLA Art Teacher For Filing Lawsuit
Kamala Harris, California Attorney General is being charged with retaliating against a UTLA teacher and whistleblower Lorcan Kilroy for exposing child abuse. The corrupt officials of the LAUSD and the Commission On Teacher Credentials CTC have flagrantly violated the law and have systemic financial conflicts of interests and have allowed to get away with criminal activity by Attorney General Kamala Harris and other government officials.
CA Attorney General Accused Of Retaliation Against UTLA Art Teacher For Filing Lawsuit Alleging Child Abuse Coverup By Important State Officials
ImmediateRelease March 25, 2015
Contact: Lorcan Kilroy, 310-926-8252
Press Release
DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE KAMALA HARRIS ACCUSED OF RETALIATION AGAINST ART TEACHER FOR FILING LAWSUIT ALLEGING CHILD ABUSE COVERUP BY IMPORTANT STATE OFFICIALS
Latest in a series of whistleblower reprisal cases involving the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California Commission On Teacher Credentialling
LosAngeles,CA: DemocraticSenateCandidateandCaliforniaAttorneyGeneralKamalaHarrishasbeen acused of retaliating against a Los Angeles Art teacher after the teacher personally sued former Los Angeles Schools Superintendent John Deasy and Los Angeles School Board Members in Federal court. The teacher’s complaint includes allegations he reported non consequence of a physical abuse incident by a teacher at his school to higher officials and they did nothing. As a result the teacher, Lorcan Kilroy, then reported John Deasy to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and filed a whistleblower complaint in Central District of California. John Deasy has resigned from the school district.
The teacher now claims that Kamala Harris herself and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing are retaliating against him. Lorcan Kilroy claims he has documents that Harris was served personally with his notices of the child abuse incident and coverup but has turned the other cheek. Kilroy says he informed Harris that the LAUSD and Commission on Teacher Credentialing had refused to investigate his reports but that to protect defendants in the lawsuit , Harris is using her power as attorney general to go after his teacher’s license, using a letter he wrote to parents after a student was not consequenced for calling him a slur. Kilroy previously appeard on NBC regaring the letter. He accuses Harris of being a hypocrite and assisting defendants in his lawsuit. Harris, Democratic candidate for Barbara Boxer’s senate seat, recently unveiled the Bureau of Children's Justice within the California Department of Justice.
Kilroy, a ten year LAUSD Art teacher with an MFA degree from California State University, and the son of renowned Irish novelist and playwright Thomas Kilroy, points to his statements filed under oath in case Kilroy v. LAUSD, et al., No. cv 13-06373, U.S. Dist. Ct. C.D.Cal. The court
documents reveal Kilroy’s emails to Deasy and LAUSD Board Members with witness statements that were made to an LAUSD investigator evidencing a teacher at Van Nuys High School violently shoving a Latino Special Education student in the chest. The student and adult witnesses also state that the teacher called the student “F---ER”, “SON OF A B-- CH”, threatened to “KNOCK HIM OUT” and yelled “IF YOU COME BACK IN THIS ROOM YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER” Another student says the teacher choked the victim. The LAUSD’s incident report leaves out the witness statements and shows the teacher received “recommendation” of “anger management”. Over two years later, the teacher’s Linked-In and Van Nuys High School’s staff listing reveal he is still teaching at the school.
As LAUSD reels in the wake of the Miramonte lawsuit, other documents in the docket of Kilroy’s remarkable Pro Se Federal lawsuit against John Deasy and Board of Education Members include a sworn affidavit by a retired Dean. In it the former Dean of Students describes secreted behaviors by teachers at the nation’s second largest school district which were consequenced by a pattern and practice of teachers being “reassigned elsewhere”. The Dean states under oath that one teacher “ had his hands on my colleague” (around his neck) and was “yelling and choking him”. The affidavit states: LAUSD “ administrators responded” but the teacher was “reassigned elsewhere”. He then describes another teacher who got into a physical fight with a student after an allegation that the student had vanadalized the teacher’s car.The Dean says under oath “ I got between the two and yelled at them to break it up. Both sides ignored me”. The affidavit goes on.... “I called for the school police officer for help. The administrator and school police officer arrived shortly afterwards” and the teacher was “reassigned to another high school”. A third Van Nuys High school teacher is described as vandalizing the Principal’s car but then accepting a “medical retirement”.The affidavit states in conclusion “This uneven discipline is the catalyst for bewilderment and resentment . I hope this letter will be the springboard for an examination of teacher discipline”.
Kilroy claims he is being targeted for elimination by Kamala Harris and her office because of his whistleblower lawsuit and complaints to teacher licensing commission about abuse. Upon asking for any affidavits or documentary evidence supporting Harris’ charges against his license, he says the Attorney General’s office could not give him one thing.
Kilroy alleges that mitigating factors for his letter to parents he wrote almost three years ago are being ignored by no less than the Attorney General herself. He has filed in Federal Court dozens of Califonia Ed. Code 49079 suspension records from students he says were crowded into his classes after he made a protected complaint about the rights of Special Education students. At that point he says Deans ignored his referral of a student who called him FA-- OT, prompting his letter which is now posted online at NBC at http://media.nbclosangeles.com/documents/harsh+letter.pdf.
Kilroy states Harris’ and California’s teacher licensing agency are plainly staging a secret campaign to ouster him from California’s public education system. CTC has been heavily criticized by others for the alleged retaliatory firing of another high-profile whistleblower.On a Facebook page Kilroy set up about the case, a lawyer formerly employed by the CTC licensing commission named Kathleen Carrol states: “Having witnessed firsthand government abuse/wrongdoing/illegality at the licensing agency (CTC where I served as an attorney) this is not unbelievable to me. There is a massive
house of fraud involving numerous players. I know teachers have been told not to talk to anyone. I see the pros and cons of this- you don’t speak then nothing gets exposed. You do speak and you are forever barred/scarred for future employment......Hang in there!”
###
Stanford teams with teacher union CTA to train for Common Core-CTC Chair & Stanford University Privatizer Darling-Hammond & CTA Vogel "team up" for common core
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-82137698/
This video game can help seniors get into college
BY HOWARD BLUME
November 30, 2014, 6:41 p.m.
Stanford University is joining with the state's largest teachers union to prepare schools for new learning goals that will change the way California students are taught and tested.
The project, which formally launches this week, initially involves training 160 teachers and 24 administrators, who, in turn, will reach about 50,000 educators over three years.
Organizers said Sunday that the collaboration, with the California Teachers Assn., is the largest training effort in the state.
Forty-three states have adopted the Common Core Learning Standards. They are not a curriculum, but a road map of English and math concepts that students are supposed to learn in each grade. The state also has adopted new science standards. It's up to instructors, schools and school districts to decide how to convey this material to students.
"This will help teachers identify good materials and will produce some good materials for them to use," said Stanford University education professor Linda Darling-Hammond. "This is also about how you teach."
The hope is that the new standards will promote deeper thinking and improved writing and will better prepare students for higher-level math and for solving problems in and outside of school. In science, for example, instead of memorizing facts for a multiple-choice test, students would be expected to solve a scientific problem over a period of time, often working in a group, using laboratory materials as well as online resources.
Students also are supposed to make connections across subjects such as science and literature that used to be treated as unrelated.
The new standards have provoked controversy in many states. In California, they've mainly roused anxiety about whether teachers — let alone students — are ready. Test scores based on the new standards will be released for the first time this year in California.
School districts are about 20% to 80% prepared, said Darling-Hammond.
The union collaboration is badly needed, said CTA President Dean Vogel.
"Not enough people are really qualified to be out there teaching teachers," he said. "Who better to train than the best and the brightest among us?"
Some districts are more ready than others. In the Lennox School District, in the South Bay, a group of 37 teachers, more than 10% of the workforce, already was developing model lesson plans, said Brian Guerrero, a middle-school teacher and union leader who also is part of the new statewide effort.
Another participant, L.A. Unified elementary teacher Steve Seal, called his district's training "piecemeal" in quantity and quality. Another issue, he said, was overcoming skepticism from some teachers, who question whether Common Core is just another passing fad, or worse.
Participants receive an annual stipend of $2,000. Funders include the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, Stuart Foundation, National Education Assn. and California Education Policy Fund, which is substantially supported by the Hewlett Foundation.
howard.blume [at] latimes.com
Stanford teams with teacher union CTA to train for Common Core-CTC Chair & Stanford University Privatizer Darling-Hammond & CTA Vogel "team up" for common core
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-82137698/
This video game can help seniors get into college
BY HOWARD BLUME
November 30, 2014, 6:41 p.m.
Stanford University is joining with the state's largest teachers union to prepare schools for new learning goals that will change the way California students are taught and tested.
The project, which formally launches this week, initially involves training 160 teachers and 24 administrators, who, in turn, will reach about 50,000 educators over three years.
Organizers said Sunday that the collaboration, with the California Teachers Assn., is the largest training effort in the state.
Forty-three states have adopted the Common Core Learning Standards. They are not a curriculum, but a road map of English and math concepts that students are supposed to learn in each grade. The state also has adopted new science standards. It's up to instructors, schools and school districts to decide how to convey this material to students.
"This will help teachers identify good materials and will produce some good materials for them to use," said Stanford University education professor Linda Darling-Hammond. "This is also about how you teach."
The hope is that the new standards will promote deeper thinking and improved writing and will better prepare students for higher-level math and for solving problems in and outside of school. In science, for example, instead of memorizing facts for a multiple-choice test, students would be expected to solve a scientific problem over a period of time, often working in a group, using laboratory materials as well as online resources.
Students also are supposed to make connections across subjects such as science and literature that used to be treated as unrelated.
The new standards have provoked controversy in many states. In California, they've mainly roused anxiety about whether teachers — let alone students — are ready. Test scores based on the new standards will be released for the first time this year in California.
School districts are about 20% to 80% prepared, said Darling-Hammond.
The union collaboration is badly needed, said CTA President Dean Vogel.
"Not enough people are really qualified to be out there teaching teachers," he said. "Who better to train than the best and the brightest among us?"
Some districts are more ready than others. In the Lennox School District, in the South Bay, a group of 37 teachers, more than 10% of the workforce, already was developing model lesson plans, said Brian Guerrero, a middle-school teacher and union leader who also is part of the new statewide effort.
Another participant, L.A. Unified elementary teacher Steve Seal, called his district's training "piecemeal" in quantity and quality. Another issue, he said, was overcoming skepticism from some teachers, who question whether Common Core is just another passing fad, or worse.
Participants receive an annual stipend of $2,000. Funders include the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, Stuart Foundation, National Education Assn. and California Education Policy Fund, which is substantially supported by the Hewlett Foundation.
howard.blume [at] latimes.com
Corporate Controlled Alliance For Excellence Education Has Darling-Hammond As Backer
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Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance), a nonprofit organization that has become a national leader for reforming the nation’s high schools so that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and a career.
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Bob Wise
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Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance), a nonprofit organization that has become a national leader for reforming the nation’s high schools so that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and a career.
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<1407_Dan_092-172x258.jpg>Daniel H. Leeds
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Daniel Leeds is founder and chair of Education Voters of America and the Education Funders Strategy Group. Mr. Leeds also helped found the Alliance for Excellent Education, for which he serves as chair of its governing board.
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Linda Darling-Hammond
Stanford University, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education
Linda Darling-Hammond, is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she has launched the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute and the School Redesign Network.
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Frederick Frelow
Ford Foundation, Education and Scholarship Program Officer of Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program and Education, Sexuality and Religion Unit
Fred Frelow is the education and scholarship program officer for the Ford Foundation’s Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom program and Education, Sexuality and Religion unit. Previously he served as the director of Early College Initiatives at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation where he was responsible for managing the development of fourteen early college high schools.
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N. Gerry House has been president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA) since April 2000. Prior to joining ISA, she spent fifteen years as a superintendent for schools in Memphis, Tennessee and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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Joan Huffer
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Director of Federal Budget Initiative
Joan Huffer is the director of the federal budget initiative at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a project that provides information and technical assistance about federal budget, tax, and low-income policies to state nonprofit organizations.
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Christopher Edley, Jr.
University of California Berkeley School of Law, The Honorable William H. Orrick, Jr. Distinguished Chair and Dean; Director, Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy
Christopher Edley, Jr. served as dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) from 2004 to 2013, after twenty-three years as a Harvard Law professor.
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Gerard and Lilo Leeds
Alliance for Excellent Education, Cofounders
Gerard and Lilo Leeds founded the Alliance for Excellent Education in December 1999, and served as the first chair and vice-chair, respectively, of its board of directors.
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<1407_Dan_092-172x258.jpg>Daniel H. Leeds
Alliance for Excellent Education, Governing Board Chairman
Daniel Leeds is founder and chair of Education Voters of America and the Education Funders Strategy Group. Mr. Leeds also helped found the Alliance for Excellent Education, for which he serves as chair of its governing board.
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C. Kent McGuire
Southern Education Foundation, President
Kent McGuire is president and chief executive officer of the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), a public charity headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. SEF focuses on public policy and educational practice from pre-K to higher education in the southern United States. Through a variety of programs and services, SEF has been particularly concerned with questions of equal access to quality education for children and youth and to the participation and success of poor and minority students in postsecondary education.
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Michael O’Keefe
UMore Development Limited Liability Company, Board of Directors Chairman; Minneapolis College of Art and Design, President Emeritus
Michael O’Keefe served as president of Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) from 2002 to June 2009. MCAD is one of the nation’s highly regarded private art and design colleges, offering fifteen undergraduate majors including fine arts, design, illustration, animation, and multi-media; post-baccalaureate study; and a fine arts master’s degree program.
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Vijay Ravindran
Graham Holdings Company, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer
Vijay Ravindran joined the Washington Post Company as senior vice president and chief digital officer in February 2009. Previously, as chief technology officer of Catalist LLC—a start-up political technology company that built a national voter database of information on more than 260 million people—Mr. Ravindran led all the technology aspects of developing the company’s software products and services.
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Charles P. Rose
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Partner; U.S. Department of Education, Former General Counsel
Charlie Rose is general counsel for the U.S. Department of Education (ED). He was nominated by President Obama in March 2009, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009. In this position, Mr. Rose serves as the chief legal officer for ED and as the legal advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education on all matters affecting ED’s programs and activities.
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Harold Williams
J. Paul Getty Trust, President Emeritus
Harold Williams is counsel to the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He is also president emeritus of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, CA, and was president and chief executive officer for seventeen years. Prior to assuming his position with the Trust, Mr. Williams was the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has served as dean and professor of management of the Graduate School of Management, UCLA, and chairman of the board of Norton Simon, Inc.
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Esther Wojcicki
Teacher of Journalism and English, Palo Alto High School (CA), Chair, Creative Commons’s Board of Directors
For the past twenty-five years, Esther Wojcicki has been teaching journalism and English at Palo Alto High School in California where she has been the driving force behind the development of its award-winning journalism program. With four hundred students enrolled, Palo Alto High School’s journalism program is now the largest in the United States.
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In response to mounting evidence and feedback from colleges and universities, employers, and the military that many high school graduates were unprepared for success in college and a career, state leaders came together in 2009 to develop a common set of academic standards that would describe what students need to know and be able to do at each K–12 grade level in English and mathematics in order to graduate ready for college and a career.
More About Common Core State Standards
Key Resource:
Common Core State Standards 101
Common Core State Standards
In response to mounting evidence and feedback from colleges and universities, employers, and the military that many high school graduates were unprepared for success in college and a career, state leaders came together in 2009 to develop a common set of academic standards that would describe what students need to know and be able to do at each K–12 grade level in English and mathematics in order to graduate ready for college and a career.
In 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed by 48 states working together with content experts and teachers to build upon the best existing state standards as well as the standards of the highest performing countries. They have been adopted by 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Department of Defense schools.
By moving away from the mile-wide and inch-deep academic standards of the past, the CCSS have the potential to transform teaching and learning in this country, ensuring that students master key concepts and skills that form the powerful building blocks of lifelong learners. They also hold the promise that high expectations will exist for all students, regardless of their zip code. As a result, the CCSS enjoy broad support from teachers, businesses, higher education, civil rights organizations, and other groups.
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Forty-five states and Washington, DC have adopted the Common Core State Standards, representing nearly 90 percent of U.S. students.
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Key Resource:
Common Core State Standards 101
Related Resources:
Core of the Matter: English Language Learners in Secondary Schools Access the Core! (#CoreMatters)
Blog Post, November 18, 2014
Using Technology to Keep the Common Core REAL
Blog Post, November 11, 2014
GREATER EQUITY IN STEM: Common Core State Standards Can Close Gender Gaps in STEM Fields, According to New CAP/AAUW Publication
Article, November 04, 2014
Core of the Matter: The Common Core is Not Synonymous with Insanity (#CoreMatters)
Blog Post, November 04, 2014
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS IN 2014: Support for Common Core Continues to Grow Among School District Leaders According to New CEP Survey
Article, October 21, 2014
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Common Core State Standards 101
By Robert Rothman
Aug 21, 2013
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The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent the first time that nearly every state has set common expectations for what students should know and be able to do. In the past, each state set its own standards, and the results varied widely. And while states collectively developed these common standards, decisions about the curriculum and teaching practices for reaching them are made locally. An unprecedented level of activity is now under way to implement the standards. This activity is uneven, and some states are far ahead of others in their efforts. This report will describe the CCSS initiative and its current status. It will discuss how the initiative came about, briefly describe the changes in instruction the CCSS call for, assess the current state of implementation, describe the views of supporters and critics, and discuss some of the keys to ensuring that the standards deliver on their promise.
Press Release
Education Daily: RNC, senator voice opposition to Common Core
By The Alliance
Apr 25, 2013
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“The irony is folks at the federal level would send a message that they don’t like state-led initiatives, which is what Common Core was,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia.
RNC, senator voice opposition to Common Core
The Common Core State Standards initiative recently received more pushback, this time from the Republican National Committee and a Republican senator, who see the content standards as overreach by the federal government and call for the restoration of state-level education decisions.
The moves come as state legislators have introduced bills that would prevent implementing the standards in several Common Core states, including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and South Carolina.
At its meeting the weekend of April 13-14, the RNC approved resolutions against the Common Core, calling it "an inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the education of our children so they will conform to a preconceived 'normal,'" and resolved that it rejects the CCSS plan which creates a "nationwide straightjacket on academic freedom and achievement."
The move has perplexed some supporters of the state-designed initiative.
"The irony is folks at the federal level would send a message that they don't like state-led initiatives, which is what Common Core was," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia.
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have adopted Common Core standards for English/language arts and mathematics, and in many states, districts and schools have begun implementation. Many states originally adopted the Common Core to compete for federal Race to the Top funds, which required states to adopt college- and career-ready standards.
The use of 2009 stimulus money to reward states committed to the Common Core goes against the federal law prohibiting a federalized curriculum, the RNC said in its resolution. But Wise noted that several states signed on to the Common Core and did not apply for RTTT funds.
The Common Core originated from the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers as a way to ensure students are prepared for college and careers and to compete in the global marketplace.
The RNC said the two groups received "tens of millions of dollars from private third parties to advocate for and develop the CCSS strategy, subsequently created the CCSS through a process that was not subject to any freedom of information acts or other sunshine laws," and states, their legislatures and their citizens did not have time to evaluate the standards before committing to them.
"I don't know anything more conservative than states coming together, adopting standards, and having to go back to their states and each voluntarily" adopting the standards, Wise said. The RNC resolution attacked a state-led initiative for standards- based reform that originated as an effort from many prominent Republican governors, he added.
The key issue for many Republicans is student privacy and data, said Maria Ferguson, executive director for the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University .
In its resolution, the RNC rejected the "collection of personal student data for any non-educational purpose without the prior written consent of an adult student or a child student's parent" and it rejected sharing such data without prior consent with any entity other than schools or education agencies within the state.
Grassley's letter
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has taken a stance similar to the RNC's.
In a draft letter to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin D- Iowa, who also chairs the Appropriations Committee's Labor, HHS, and Education panel, as well as that subcommittee's ranking member, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Grassley asks the subcommittee to "eliminate further interference by the U.S. Department of Education with respect to state decisions on academic content standards" by not appropriating FY 2014 funds for activities related to multi-state specified standards, including the Common Core.
Although billed as a voluntary effort, Grassley said in the draft letter, college- and career-ready standards are a selection criterion for RTTT as well as a condition for states to receive ESEA flexibility waivers, therefore it "violates the structure of our education system."
However, Wise said not every state adopted Common Core for RTTT or ESEA waivers. For example, Virginia adopted its own set of college- and career-ready standards, not the Common Core, and received an ESEA waiver.
Grassley is inviting senators to sign the letter by April 25 before submitting it on April 26.
Ferguson believes many people are "waking up to the idea" of the CCSS and they understand students face a competitive world.
"The reality is for all these states that have chosen to adopt the Common Core, they've been working hard in the past years to put things in place," Ferguson said. "In a time where budget dollars are really tight, I don't think it's as simple as 'Let's not do the Common Core because so much has been invested in this enterprise.'"
"Like everything else in education, it's a bit of a PR campaign," she said.
-- Adam Dolge covers school improvement and other Title I issues for LRP Publications.
April 19, 2013
Copyright 2013© LRP Publications
No Child Left Behind/Elem. & Secondary Education Act
Originally signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is the primary federal K–12 education law. Since 1965, the U.S. Congress has periodically “reauthorized” ESEA, a process in which Congress rewrites and renews the law. The most recent reauthorization was in 2002 when Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
NCLB initiated a national commitment to hold schools accountable for improving outcomes for all students by shining a spotlight on achievement gaps among groups of students through annual assessments for every student (in grades 3–8 and once in high school), report cards for every school, and consequences for schools not meeting expectations. As a result, the urgent need to examine schools’ performance and close achievement gaps is now more widely understood and accepted.
NCLB did not, however, take into account either the nation’s evolving needs for an increasingly better educated populace or the considerable differences between elementary and secondary schools. As a result, NCLB’s provisions often neglect the needs of America’s middle and high school students.
To better serve the nation’s older students while building on NCLB’s positive attributes, Congress must do what happens with every major piece of legislation—review strengths and weaknesses and draft legislation for current needs and conditions. NCLB was groundbreaking in 2002; more than a decade later, it is a compact disc in an iPod world.
ImmediateRelease March 25, 2015
Contact: Lorcan Kilroy, 310-926-8252
Press Release
DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE KAMALA HARRIS ACCUSED OF RETALIATION AGAINST ART TEACHER FOR FILING LAWSUIT ALLEGING CHILD ABUSE COVERUP BY IMPORTANT STATE OFFICIALS
Latest in a series of whistleblower reprisal cases involving the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California Commission On Teacher Credentialling
LosAngeles,CA: DemocraticSenateCandidateandCaliforniaAttorneyGeneralKamalaHarrishasbeen acused of retaliating against a Los Angeles Art teacher after the teacher personally sued former Los Angeles Schools Superintendent John Deasy and Los Angeles School Board Members in Federal court. The teacher’s complaint includes allegations he reported non consequence of a physical abuse incident by a teacher at his school to higher officials and they did nothing. As a result the teacher, Lorcan Kilroy, then reported John Deasy to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and filed a whistleblower complaint in Central District of California. John Deasy has resigned from the school district.
The teacher now claims that Kamala Harris herself and the Commission on Teacher Credentialing are retaliating against him. Lorcan Kilroy claims he has documents that Harris was served personally with his notices of the child abuse incident and coverup but has turned the other cheek. Kilroy says he informed Harris that the LAUSD and Commission on Teacher Credentialing had refused to investigate his reports but that to protect defendants in the lawsuit , Harris is using her power as attorney general to go after his teacher’s license, using a letter he wrote to parents after a student was not consequenced for calling him a slur. Kilroy previously appeard on NBC regaring the letter. He accuses Harris of being a hypocrite and assisting defendants in his lawsuit. Harris, Democratic candidate for Barbara Boxer’s senate seat, recently unveiled the Bureau of Children's Justice within the California Department of Justice.
Kilroy, a ten year LAUSD Art teacher with an MFA degree from California State University, and the son of renowned Irish novelist and playwright Thomas Kilroy, points to his statements filed under oath in case Kilroy v. LAUSD, et al., No. cv 13-06373, U.S. Dist. Ct. C.D.Cal. The court
documents reveal Kilroy’s emails to Deasy and LAUSD Board Members with witness statements that were made to an LAUSD investigator evidencing a teacher at Van Nuys High School violently shoving a Latino Special Education student in the chest. The student and adult witnesses also state that the teacher called the student “F---ER”, “SON OF A B-- CH”, threatened to “KNOCK HIM OUT” and yelled “IF YOU COME BACK IN THIS ROOM YOUR LIFE IS IN DANGER” Another student says the teacher choked the victim. The LAUSD’s incident report leaves out the witness statements and shows the teacher received “recommendation” of “anger management”. Over two years later, the teacher’s Linked-In and Van Nuys High School’s staff listing reveal he is still teaching at the school.
As LAUSD reels in the wake of the Miramonte lawsuit, other documents in the docket of Kilroy’s remarkable Pro Se Federal lawsuit against John Deasy and Board of Education Members include a sworn affidavit by a retired Dean. In it the former Dean of Students describes secreted behaviors by teachers at the nation’s second largest school district which were consequenced by a pattern and practice of teachers being “reassigned elsewhere”. The Dean states under oath that one teacher “ had his hands on my colleague” (around his neck) and was “yelling and choking him”. The affidavit states: LAUSD “ administrators responded” but the teacher was “reassigned elsewhere”. He then describes another teacher who got into a physical fight with a student after an allegation that the student had vanadalized the teacher’s car.The Dean says under oath “ I got between the two and yelled at them to break it up. Both sides ignored me”. The affidavit goes on.... “I called for the school police officer for help. The administrator and school police officer arrived shortly afterwards” and the teacher was “reassigned to another high school”. A third Van Nuys High school teacher is described as vandalizing the Principal’s car but then accepting a “medical retirement”.The affidavit states in conclusion “This uneven discipline is the catalyst for bewilderment and resentment . I hope this letter will be the springboard for an examination of teacher discipline”.
Kilroy claims he is being targeted for elimination by Kamala Harris and her office because of his whistleblower lawsuit and complaints to teacher licensing commission about abuse. Upon asking for any affidavits or documentary evidence supporting Harris’ charges against his license, he says the Attorney General’s office could not give him one thing.
Kilroy alleges that mitigating factors for his letter to parents he wrote almost three years ago are being ignored by no less than the Attorney General herself. He has filed in Federal Court dozens of Califonia Ed. Code 49079 suspension records from students he says were crowded into his classes after he made a protected complaint about the rights of Special Education students. At that point he says Deans ignored his referral of a student who called him FA-- OT, prompting his letter which is now posted online at NBC at http://media.nbclosangeles.com/documents/harsh+letter.pdf.
Kilroy states Harris’ and California’s teacher licensing agency are plainly staging a secret campaign to ouster him from California’s public education system. CTC has been heavily criticized by others for the alleged retaliatory firing of another high-profile whistleblower.On a Facebook page Kilroy set up about the case, a lawyer formerly employed by the CTC licensing commission named Kathleen Carrol states: “Having witnessed firsthand government abuse/wrongdoing/illegality at the licensing agency (CTC where I served as an attorney) this is not unbelievable to me. There is a massive
house of fraud involving numerous players. I know teachers have been told not to talk to anyone. I see the pros and cons of this- you don’t speak then nothing gets exposed. You do speak and you are forever barred/scarred for future employment......Hang in there!”
###
Stanford teams with teacher union CTA to train for Common Core-CTC Chair & Stanford University Privatizer Darling-Hammond & CTA Vogel "team up" for common core
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-82137698/
This video game can help seniors get into college
BY HOWARD BLUME
November 30, 2014, 6:41 p.m.
Stanford University is joining with the state's largest teachers union to prepare schools for new learning goals that will change the way California students are taught and tested.
The project, which formally launches this week, initially involves training 160 teachers and 24 administrators, who, in turn, will reach about 50,000 educators over three years.
Organizers said Sunday that the collaboration, with the California Teachers Assn., is the largest training effort in the state.
Forty-three states have adopted the Common Core Learning Standards. They are not a curriculum, but a road map of English and math concepts that students are supposed to learn in each grade. The state also has adopted new science standards. It's up to instructors, schools and school districts to decide how to convey this material to students.
"This will help teachers identify good materials and will produce some good materials for them to use," said Stanford University education professor Linda Darling-Hammond. "This is also about how you teach."
The hope is that the new standards will promote deeper thinking and improved writing and will better prepare students for higher-level math and for solving problems in and outside of school. In science, for example, instead of memorizing facts for a multiple-choice test, students would be expected to solve a scientific problem over a period of time, often working in a group, using laboratory materials as well as online resources.
Students also are supposed to make connections across subjects such as science and literature that used to be treated as unrelated.
The new standards have provoked controversy in many states. In California, they've mainly roused anxiety about whether teachers — let alone students — are ready. Test scores based on the new standards will be released for the first time this year in California.
School districts are about 20% to 80% prepared, said Darling-Hammond.
The union collaboration is badly needed, said CTA President Dean Vogel.
"Not enough people are really qualified to be out there teaching teachers," he said. "Who better to train than the best and the brightest among us?"
Some districts are more ready than others. In the Lennox School District, in the South Bay, a group of 37 teachers, more than 10% of the workforce, already was developing model lesson plans, said Brian Guerrero, a middle-school teacher and union leader who also is part of the new statewide effort.
Another participant, L.A. Unified elementary teacher Steve Seal, called his district's training "piecemeal" in quantity and quality. Another issue, he said, was overcoming skepticism from some teachers, who question whether Common Core is just another passing fad, or worse.
Participants receive an annual stipend of $2,000. Funders include the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, Stuart Foundation, National Education Assn. and California Education Policy Fund, which is substantially supported by the Hewlett Foundation.
howard.blume [at] latimes.com
Stanford teams with teacher union CTA to train for Common Core-CTC Chair & Stanford University Privatizer Darling-Hammond & CTA Vogel "team up" for common core
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/1780/article/p2p-82137698/
This video game can help seniors get into college
BY HOWARD BLUME
November 30, 2014, 6:41 p.m.
Stanford University is joining with the state's largest teachers union to prepare schools for new learning goals that will change the way California students are taught and tested.
The project, which formally launches this week, initially involves training 160 teachers and 24 administrators, who, in turn, will reach about 50,000 educators over three years.
Organizers said Sunday that the collaboration, with the California Teachers Assn., is the largest training effort in the state.
Forty-three states have adopted the Common Core Learning Standards. They are not a curriculum, but a road map of English and math concepts that students are supposed to learn in each grade. The state also has adopted new science standards. It's up to instructors, schools and school districts to decide how to convey this material to students.
"This will help teachers identify good materials and will produce some good materials for them to use," said Stanford University education professor Linda Darling-Hammond. "This is also about how you teach."
The hope is that the new standards will promote deeper thinking and improved writing and will better prepare students for higher-level math and for solving problems in and outside of school. In science, for example, instead of memorizing facts for a multiple-choice test, students would be expected to solve a scientific problem over a period of time, often working in a group, using laboratory materials as well as online resources.
Students also are supposed to make connections across subjects such as science and literature that used to be treated as unrelated.
The new standards have provoked controversy in many states. In California, they've mainly roused anxiety about whether teachers — let alone students — are ready. Test scores based on the new standards will be released for the first time this year in California.
School districts are about 20% to 80% prepared, said Darling-Hammond.
The union collaboration is badly needed, said CTA President Dean Vogel.
"Not enough people are really qualified to be out there teaching teachers," he said. "Who better to train than the best and the brightest among us?"
Some districts are more ready than others. In the Lennox School District, in the South Bay, a group of 37 teachers, more than 10% of the workforce, already was developing model lesson plans, said Brian Guerrero, a middle-school teacher and union leader who also is part of the new statewide effort.
Another participant, L.A. Unified elementary teacher Steve Seal, called his district's training "piecemeal" in quantity and quality. Another issue, he said, was overcoming skepticism from some teachers, who question whether Common Core is just another passing fad, or worse.
Participants receive an annual stipend of $2,000. Funders include the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation, Stuart Foundation, National Education Assn. and California Education Policy Fund, which is substantially supported by the Hewlett Foundation.
howard.blume [at] latimes.com
Corporate Controlled Alliance For Excellence Education Has Darling-Hammond As Backer
http://all4ed.org/take-action/alliance-supporters/
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Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance), a nonprofit organization that has become a national leader for reforming the nation’s high schools so that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and a career.
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Bob Wise
President
Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education (the Alliance), a nonprofit organization that has become a national leader for reforming the nation’s high schools so that all students graduate from high school prepared to succeed in college and a career.
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<1407_Dan_092-172x258.jpg>Daniel H. Leeds
Alliance for Excellent Education, Governing Board Chairman
Daniel Leeds is founder and chair of Education Voters of America and the Education Funders Strategy Group. Mr. Leeds also helped found the Alliance for Excellent Education, for which he serves as chair of its governing board.
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Linda Darling-Hammond
Stanford University, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education
Linda Darling-Hammond, is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she has launched the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute and the School Redesign Network.
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Frederick Frelow
Ford Foundation, Education and Scholarship Program Officer of Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program and Education, Sexuality and Religion Unit
Fred Frelow is the education and scholarship program officer for the Ford Foundation’s Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom program and Education, Sexuality and Religion unit. Previously he served as the director of Early College Initiatives at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation where he was responsible for managing the development of fourteen early college high schools.
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N. Gerry House
Institute for Student Achievement, President and Chief Executive Officer
N. Gerry House has been president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Student Achievement (ISA) since April 2000. Prior to joining ISA, she spent fifteen years as a superintendent for schools in Memphis, Tennessee and Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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Joan Huffer
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Director of Federal Budget Initiative
Joan Huffer is the director of the federal budget initiative at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a project that provides information and technical assistance about federal budget, tax, and low-income policies to state nonprofit organizations.
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Christopher Edley, Jr.
University of California Berkeley School of Law, The Honorable William H. Orrick, Jr. Distinguished Chair and Dean; Director, Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy
Christopher Edley, Jr. served as dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) from 2004 to 2013, after twenty-three years as a Harvard Law professor.
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Gerard and Lilo Leeds
Alliance for Excellent Education, Cofounders
Gerard and Lilo Leeds founded the Alliance for Excellent Education in December 1999, and served as the first chair and vice-chair, respectively, of its board of directors.
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<1407_Dan_092-172x258.jpg>Daniel H. Leeds
Alliance for Excellent Education, Governing Board Chairman
Daniel Leeds is founder and chair of Education Voters of America and the Education Funders Strategy Group. Mr. Leeds also helped found the Alliance for Excellent Education, for which he serves as chair of its governing board.
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C. Kent McGuire
Southern Education Foundation, President
Kent McGuire is president and chief executive officer of the Southern Education Foundation (SEF), a public charity headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. SEF focuses on public policy and educational practice from pre-K to higher education in the southern United States. Through a variety of programs and services, SEF has been particularly concerned with questions of equal access to quality education for children and youth and to the participation and success of poor and minority students in postsecondary education.
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Michael O’Keefe
UMore Development Limited Liability Company, Board of Directors Chairman; Minneapolis College of Art and Design, President Emeritus
Michael O’Keefe served as president of Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) from 2002 to June 2009. MCAD is one of the nation’s highly regarded private art and design colleges, offering fifteen undergraduate majors including fine arts, design, illustration, animation, and multi-media; post-baccalaureate study; and a fine arts master’s degree program.
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Vijay Ravindran
Graham Holdings Company, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer
Vijay Ravindran joined the Washington Post Company as senior vice president and chief digital officer in February 2009. Previously, as chief technology officer of Catalist LLC—a start-up political technology company that built a national voter database of information on more than 260 million people—Mr. Ravindran led all the technology aspects of developing the company’s software products and services.
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Charles P. Rose
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Partner; U.S. Department of Education, Former General Counsel
Charlie Rose is general counsel for the U.S. Department of Education (ED). He was nominated by President Obama in March 2009, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2009. In this position, Mr. Rose serves as the chief legal officer for ED and as the legal advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education on all matters affecting ED’s programs and activities.
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Harold Williams
J. Paul Getty Trust, President Emeritus
Harold Williams is counsel to the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. He is also president emeritus of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, CA, and was president and chief executive officer for seventeen years. Prior to assuming his position with the Trust, Mr. Williams was the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and has served as dean and professor of management of the Graduate School of Management, UCLA, and chairman of the board of Norton Simon, Inc.
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Esther Wojcicki
Teacher of Journalism and English, Palo Alto High School (CA), Chair, Creative Commons’s Board of Directors
For the past twenty-five years, Esther Wojcicki has been teaching journalism and English at Palo Alto High School in California where she has been the driving force behind the development of its award-winning journalism program. With four hundred students enrolled, Palo Alto High School’s journalism program is now the largest in the United States.
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In response to mounting evidence and feedback from colleges and universities, employers, and the military that many high school graduates were unprepared for success in college and a career, state leaders came together in 2009 to develop a common set of academic standards that would describe what students need to know and be able to do at each K–12 grade level in English and mathematics in order to graduate ready for college and a career.
More About Common Core State Standards
Key Resource:
Common Core State Standards 101
Common Core State Standards
In response to mounting evidence and feedback from colleges and universities, employers, and the military that many high school graduates were unprepared for success in college and a career, state leaders came together in 2009 to develop a common set of academic standards that would describe what students need to know and be able to do at each K–12 grade level in English and mathematics in order to graduate ready for college and a career.
In 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were developed by 48 states working together with content experts and teachers to build upon the best existing state standards as well as the standards of the highest performing countries. They have been adopted by 45 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Department of Defense schools.
By moving away from the mile-wide and inch-deep academic standards of the past, the CCSS have the potential to transform teaching and learning in this country, ensuring that students master key concepts and skills that form the powerful building blocks of lifelong learners. They also hold the promise that high expectations will exist for all students, regardless of their zip code. As a result, the CCSS enjoy broad support from teachers, businesses, higher education, civil rights organizations, and other groups.
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Forty-five states and Washington, DC have adopted the Common Core State Standards, representing nearly 90 percent of U.S. students.
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Key Resource:
Common Core State Standards 101
Related Resources:
Core of the Matter: English Language Learners in Secondary Schools Access the Core! (#CoreMatters)
Blog Post, November 18, 2014
Using Technology to Keep the Common Core REAL
Blog Post, November 11, 2014
GREATER EQUITY IN STEM: Common Core State Standards Can Close Gender Gaps in STEM Fields, According to New CAP/AAUW Publication
Article, November 04, 2014
Core of the Matter: The Common Core is Not Synonymous with Insanity (#CoreMatters)
Blog Post, November 04, 2014
COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS IN 2014: Support for Common Core Continues to Grow Among School District Leaders According to New CEP Survey
Article, October 21, 2014
View More Resources
The more we spread the word the
closer we come to realizing success.
Common Core State Standards 101
By Robert Rothman
Aug 21, 2013
Rating
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent the first time that nearly every state has set common expectations for what students should know and be able to do. In the past, each state set its own standards, and the results varied widely. And while states collectively developed these common standards, decisions about the curriculum and teaching practices for reaching them are made locally. An unprecedented level of activity is now under way to implement the standards. This activity is uneven, and some states are far ahead of others in their efforts. This report will describe the CCSS initiative and its current status. It will discuss how the initiative came about, briefly describe the changes in instruction the CCSS call for, assess the current state of implementation, describe the views of supporters and critics, and discuss some of the keys to ensuring that the standards deliver on their promise.
Press Release
Education Daily: RNC, senator voice opposition to Common Core
By The Alliance
Apr 25, 2013
Rating
“The irony is folks at the federal level would send a message that they don’t like state-led initiatives, which is what Common Core was,” said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia.
RNC, senator voice opposition to Common Core
The Common Core State Standards initiative recently received more pushback, this time from the Republican National Committee and a Republican senator, who see the content standards as overreach by the federal government and call for the restoration of state-level education decisions.
The moves come as state legislators have introduced bills that would prevent implementing the standards in several Common Core states, including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and South Carolina.
At its meeting the weekend of April 13-14, the RNC approved resolutions against the Common Core, calling it "an inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the education of our children so they will conform to a preconceived 'normal,'" and resolved that it rejects the CCSS plan which creates a "nationwide straightjacket on academic freedom and achievement."
The move has perplexed some supporters of the state-designed initiative.
"The irony is folks at the federal level would send a message that they don't like state-led initiatives, which is what Common Core was," said Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia.
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia have adopted Common Core standards for English/language arts and mathematics, and in many states, districts and schools have begun implementation. Many states originally adopted the Common Core to compete for federal Race to the Top funds, which required states to adopt college- and career-ready standards.
The use of 2009 stimulus money to reward states committed to the Common Core goes against the federal law prohibiting a federalized curriculum, the RNC said in its resolution. But Wise noted that several states signed on to the Common Core and did not apply for RTTT funds.
The Common Core originated from the National Governor's Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers as a way to ensure students are prepared for college and careers and to compete in the global marketplace.
The RNC said the two groups received "tens of millions of dollars from private third parties to advocate for and develop the CCSS strategy, subsequently created the CCSS through a process that was not subject to any freedom of information acts or other sunshine laws," and states, their legislatures and their citizens did not have time to evaluate the standards before committing to them.
"I don't know anything more conservative than states coming together, adopting standards, and having to go back to their states and each voluntarily" adopting the standards, Wise said. The RNC resolution attacked a state-led initiative for standards- based reform that originated as an effort from many prominent Republican governors, he added.
The key issue for many Republicans is student privacy and data, said Maria Ferguson, executive director for the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University .
In its resolution, the RNC rejected the "collection of personal student data for any non-educational purpose without the prior written consent of an adult student or a child student's parent" and it rejected sharing such data without prior consent with any entity other than schools or education agencies within the state.
Grassley's letter
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has taken a stance similar to the RNC's.
In a draft letter to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin D- Iowa, who also chairs the Appropriations Committee's Labor, HHS, and Education panel, as well as that subcommittee's ranking member, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Grassley asks the subcommittee to "eliminate further interference by the U.S. Department of Education with respect to state decisions on academic content standards" by not appropriating FY 2014 funds for activities related to multi-state specified standards, including the Common Core.
Although billed as a voluntary effort, Grassley said in the draft letter, college- and career-ready standards are a selection criterion for RTTT as well as a condition for states to receive ESEA flexibility waivers, therefore it "violates the structure of our education system."
However, Wise said not every state adopted Common Core for RTTT or ESEA waivers. For example, Virginia adopted its own set of college- and career-ready standards, not the Common Core, and received an ESEA waiver.
Grassley is inviting senators to sign the letter by April 25 before submitting it on April 26.
Ferguson believes many people are "waking up to the idea" of the CCSS and they understand students face a competitive world.
"The reality is for all these states that have chosen to adopt the Common Core, they've been working hard in the past years to put things in place," Ferguson said. "In a time where budget dollars are really tight, I don't think it's as simple as 'Let's not do the Common Core because so much has been invested in this enterprise.'"
"Like everything else in education, it's a bit of a PR campaign," she said.
-- Adam Dolge covers school improvement and other Title I issues for LRP Publications.
April 19, 2013
Copyright 2013© LRP Publications
No Child Left Behind/Elem. & Secondary Education Act
Originally signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) is the primary federal K–12 education law. Since 1965, the U.S. Congress has periodically “reauthorized” ESEA, a process in which Congress rewrites and renews the law. The most recent reauthorization was in 2002 when Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
NCLB initiated a national commitment to hold schools accountable for improving outcomes for all students by shining a spotlight on achievement gaps among groups of students through annual assessments for every student (in grades 3–8 and once in high school), report cards for every school, and consequences for schools not meeting expectations. As a result, the urgent need to examine schools’ performance and close achievement gaps is now more widely understood and accepted.
NCLB did not, however, take into account either the nation’s evolving needs for an increasingly better educated populace or the considerable differences between elementary and secondary schools. As a result, NCLB’s provisions often neglect the needs of America’s middle and high school students.
To better serve the nation’s older students while building on NCLB’s positive attributes, Congress must do what happens with every major piece of legislation—review strengths and weaknesses and draft legislation for current needs and conditions. NCLB was groundbreaking in 2002; more than a decade later, it is a compact disc in an iPod world.
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California is the 48th worst state in the union out of 50 in housing children. See
http://new.homelesschildrenamerica.org/mediadocs/276.pdf
That is about the same ranking as the per pupil funding of the public schools, with Mississippi and Alabama being 49th and 50th respectively. Yet, the Democratic Party supermajority in both houses of the State Legislature and the Democratic Governor somehow found money for this phony education program that will educate ABSOLUTELY NOBODY who is hungry and homeless, and most of the rest of the children as well. Sleeping in a shelter or being crowded into a single room occupancy hotel with the bathroom and kitchen down the hall and the whole family sleeping in one room, or sleeping in a car do not constitute good study conditions. Anyone who is hungry, especially growing children, cannot learn.
We have seen one private profit racket after another promoted as our school system declines. In fact, the more private profit so-called education rackets, the quicker the decline.
The same private profit rackets promote the war machine, to maximize the profits of the oil companies and munitions makers, proudly supported by the Democrats and Republicans together.
With a Democrat in office in the White House and the State House, we see ABSOLUTELY NO PROTEST. IS EVERYBODY SLEEPING? Is 50% poverty in this backward country, meaning 50% of Americans cannot provide $2,000 within 30 days to provide an emergency, not enough to start protesting? Is having 80% of Americans living from paycheck to paycheck, including the 50% in poverty not enough? Are you angry enough to at least change your party registration to Peace & Freedom or Green, the only 2 pro-education, pro-affordable housing, pro-environment, anti-nuclear, anti-death penalty, anti-prison, pro-socialized medicine pro-labor, pro-peace parties on the ballot? You can do so at https://covr.sos.ca.gov/?language=en-US
For more information, see:
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/about-us/platform/full-platform
http://www.cagreens.org/
http://www.cagreens.org/ten-key-values
http://www.gp.org/index.php (Today's feature: 3/28/79: The Day 3-Mile-Island Nuclear Power Plant Melted Down; life is much worse now. We have Fukushima, courtesy General Electric, radiating the entire planet. For a trip down memory lane or news to you, see http://ecowatch.com/2015/03/27/three-mile-island-36-anniversary/)
http://www.gp.org/what-we-believe/our-platform