There's rabbit season, duck season, and of course, in LAUSD there's magnet season.  And just like that famous scene between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, there are parents scrambling to get applications filled out, and the district indiscriminantly changing dates without rhyme or reason.

So the first few schools have been chosen, offered up to charter operators or other interested parties according to an article in the Daily News.

Since my son entered first grade, the class size for K-3 was 20:1.  It's almost like a sacred cow in the sense that anything larger than that seemed unreasonable.  And as school years started, and we often had classes of 17 or 18, we gloated--to the point that when a new student would arrive midyear we'd lament, as if 19 students would suddenly be the end of the world.

I'm not opposed to trying new things out in LAUSD.  Fact is, the district has needed a major overhaul for years.  And unfortunately in this financial crisis, the district will be overhauling itself for better or worse.

A month ago, I found out Tamar Galatzan wants to be a City Councilperson for the city of Los Angeles.  One of the most important qualities a candidate can have is listening to the wants and needs of his/her constituents. 

Several years back a mom with young kids ran for an LAUSD seat held by a former school teacher.  She ran under the guise that she would have kids in the district, and she would be the only one on the board who had kids of school age.  The fight was ugly, divisive, and many of us watched with concern as Tamar Galatzan unseated Jon Lauritzen.  Over the years, however, she's grown on me.  She's been a vocal advocate regarding non-Title I schools.  She voted for the Birmingham Charter.  And, most importantly, she distanced herself from Mayor Villaraigosa. 

I'll admit, I'm old-fashioned.  I don't own a cell phone and only reluctantly got a Facebook account this month.  However, a group of students at USC is pitching in to help parents deal with the cancellation of summer school and making me feel even older at the same time.  With buzz words like crowdsourcing and online aggregation, they've put together a list of resources for K-8 students who might have been in an LAUSD classroom this summer for four weeks if it weren't for budget cuts.

After watching the school board meeting on cable, I can safely say
the board followed the law, and in the process will have offended some
families and staffers.

According to an article published late this evening by Connie Llanos at the Daily News, the charter application for Birmingham High School has been approved.

Birmingham is one of the coveted LAUSD schools, highly rated, and well regarded.  It's a model for the type of schools that are clamoring for real local control.  But after watching the cablecast of the the meeting last week, it was also a perfect example of what could go wrong by taking that first step.

I've been slowly adding some info to the FAQ, so if there's anything specific you'd like to see included, post it in comments or send me an email to lausdmagnetangel at gmail dot com.

As you probably can guess, I read a lot of education blogs and
websites.  And there are always bandwagon discussions that every other education site
seems to jump onto (longer school day, uniforms, testing, etc.).  But today, I found two different articles that made me laugh:

A return to half-day kindergarten, and of course, a parcel tax.  Sure if LAUSD schools looked like Oak Park schools, or performed as well, I could discuss a parcel tax, but are you kidding me?

To those 5th, 8th, and 12th graders, congrats!  To their parents who nagged, nudged, and perservered, enjoy this weekend.  LAUSD's class of 2009 graduates this weekend.  

It's hard to believe my son graduated a year ago--in 108 degree heat.  We said someday it would be funny.  We're still waiting for that day, but in the mean time, enjoy some beautiful weather and let us know what you're doing this summer.

Just got off the phone with a reporter, and contacted a local district office, and it's official: LAUSD has cancelled summer school for elementary and middle school students.  Only high school students seeking to makeup for failing grades will be able to take summer school.

 Coupled with the loss of community college summer school courses, I really feel for high school kids who are now unable to get ahead and will face heavier work loads to compete in the college admissions race.

More as it becomes available.

LAUSD students and college students alike take note: LACCD has cancelled the second summer session of college courses that were to begin in July.

 LAUSD students who want to get a jump on college, or take courses not available at their home school will be out of luck.  And college students trying to transfer to university sooner or get a few classes out of the way before returning to their universities are going to be denied.

My son was lucky--it was essentially dumb luck--in that he chose the first session in June.

An LA Superior Court judge this morning blocked the teachers one-day walk out scheduled for Friday.  Read more about it in Connie Llanos' Daily News article.

 Can the parents and the children get the protection of a union now?  This is clearly not about the kids.

As the Los Angeles Unified school board considers tough decisions this
week, including cutting 8,400 jobs, increasing class size, and gutting offices
and well-regarded programs, there’s an uneasiness at the school sites.

Some schools are waiting hopefully for stimulus money from the federal
government bailout to stem the cuts. Of course, thanks to Congress, much of the
federal money is tied to schools that qualify for Title I funding, or special
funding that schools get if they have a large proportion of poor students. And

Nury Martinez is sitting on a mere 500 vote lead in the School Board District 6 LAUSD race.  With nearly 25,000 votes counted, the LA City Clerk will likely have to count provisional ballots and absentee votes before the outcome is settled.

On the Westside, Steve Zimmer has enough of a lead to hold back parent activist choice Mike Stryer, 56% to nearly 44%.  

While Villaraigosa might have only received 55% of the vote in a field where he was virtually uncontested, he managed to fill two more seats with members sympathetic to his cause(s).

I'm really hoping that as the numbers from Sacramento and Washington become clearer quickly, and that LAUSD--the board members AND the Superintendent really put everything on the table.

I have to say I came away from the meeting feeling a little better.  Cortines didn't shy away from anything at the meeting held at Grant High School Thursday night.  With the state budget only passed a few hours before, Cortines and his staff had little time to boil down specifics, but he gave numbers and hard facts where he could.

On Thursday, February 19th, Ray Cortines is coming to Grant High School for a Town Hall meeting from 6:30 to 8 pm.

Read more about it here: http://insidesocal.com/lessonplan/2009/02/town-hall-meeting-with-cortine...

The rumor I heard this weekend is that the LAUSD Road Show is no more.  What that means for parents remains to be seen.  But for those who are new to the games LAUSD plays, the Road Show is a LAUSD invention where principals attend, and find out how many open enrollment slots the school will have for the next year.

I've been hearing from parents and officials that LAUSD has wanted to rid the district of open enrollment slots, get rid of the trailers on campuses, and return students to their neighborhood schools (including all that new construction).

It's been a busy semester, that's for sure.  My son has successfully completed his first semester at Cal Lutheran University.  My daughter has been promoted to her school's orchestra.  And I almost ran for LAUSD school board.

Hola parents!

It's been ages, and I'm dealing with an FAQ issue here on Magnet Angel, so for awhile I gave up a bit. I'll try to find a decent workaround.

I offered to do the newsletter for my daughter's school's PTA. There was no newsletter this year, and when they sent home the list of "jobs" available, I figured if no one else wanted to do it, I would be willing. My husband will set me up with a template, and I can insert content.

It's not even June and the first of the area schools will be graduating Thursday evening. As soon as Granada went charter, they chose to move their academic calendar earlier. The kids start school in the beginning of August and finish their midterms before the holiday break in December. And when they return, it's to the second semester. And now, May 31st, they graduate. Congratulations, GHCHS grads!

I'm still moving into these new cyber digs, but I want to mention that open enrollment ends June 1st. Parents have been swarming into the offices at my daughter's school for the five spots that are available. It's not too late to look into options for 2007-08