Socal Mom by Donna Schwartz Mills

The Kohl's School Contest

Liza Elcayam was my daughter's wonderful teacher in kindergarten, second and fourth grade.

After years of working online, it seemed like just another attempt to gain cheap publicity on the backs of moms who use social media. The money is significant... unfortunately, there are thousands of schools in this country who are hurting for funds. How do you pick the 20 most worthy?  Certainly not through a popularity contest.

Then I received an email from the PTA President of Megan's old elementary school.

Out of thousands of eligible public and private schools throughout the country -- somehow -- Darby Avenue Elementary had garnered enough votes to make it into the Top 100. And it was the only LAUSD school to make that list (just one out of nearly 800 in the District).

It had a shot.

So I went to the Kohl's Cares Facebook page and cast five votes for Darby Avenue Elementary. I liked the fact that you get 20 votes to allocate any way that you like to as many schools -- but are limited to five per school. So I was able to vote for Megan's former middle school and current high school, as well.

Then I checked the rankings. At the time, Darby Avenue Elementary was number 80 with about 5,000 votes. The Top 20 schools were almost all private parochial schools on the East Coast, with 50,000 votes a piece. I think there was one public school in the entire list.

Obviously, there are folks at these private schools who have been engaging in some sophisticated social media campaigns to garner that volume of votes.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. After all, that's how Darby's PTA managed to get 5,000 of its own votes out of a school population of about 300 students. And it's exactly what I did by tweeting news of the campaign to my 4,500 followers... and writing this post here.

Since then, Darby's stock has gone up on the Kohl's leaderboard: At this writing, they're ranked #52 with 9,402 votes. But the top vote getters are in the astronomical range: The number one school has nearly 83,000 votes. Eighteen of the top 20 are private parochial schools -- and now, there are some on the West Coast, including one I've never heard of that's right here in my community. There are only two public schools in the entire Top 20.

I would love to see a report on how those schools campaigned for those votes. That will probably come when the competition ends (after September 2). In the meantime, I was pleased to see that Darby Elementary was getting some media assistance of its own today, by staging a rally that included a visit from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. And it was covered by all of the local news stations, including Fox, which set up cameras at the school at 4:30 AM this morning.

My fingers are crossed that in this huge metropolitan region of 24 million people, some will be motivated to get onto Facebook and vote for this little elementary school in Northridge. As Villaraigosa pointed out, all they need is for 10,000 of those people to cast five votes and they'll hit 50,000. (OK - so now they will need 20,000 people to do that... but that's still a tiny fraction of the people who will see the news coverage.)

At the same time, I see the irony in going all out to support a school that's already doing better than most in our troubled school district. Darby has some really good teachers and an energetic PTA. They don't have as many English learners and low income families as other schools in the district. Their API scores are high. At first glance, this is a school that doesn't need help.

Unfortunately, there isn't a public school in the district that doesn't need financial help. Every year, LAUSD squeezes the budget belt tighter. Every year, our schools lose teachers and support personnel. Five years ago (when my daughter attended Darby), there were classroom aides and janitorial services. Now, I'm told that parents are being asked to donate the most basic supplies... like toilet paper.

Half a million dollars could bring back instruction in the arts... music... science... a school nurse...

I keep hearing on the news that while money is tight and unemployment is high and banks are not lending... at the same time, corporations are sitting on big piles of cash. Kohl's is spending $10 million on a social media campaign that is getting everyone with a child in school to talk about them, engendering good will in the community and ultimately, garnering them new customers. It sounds like a pretty good return on investment.

What if more major corporations followed suit? I'm not talking about more popularity contests -- but what if Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Federated, Kroeger, McDonald's, et al each threw some real money at our nation's schools?

I can dream, can't I?

High School, Teens and Critical Thinking

Megan started High School last week.

It's a weird schedule. She goes to school during the two hottest weeks of the summer (it hit 108 yesterday), and then she gets two weeks off, returning on 9/13 along with the rest of LAUSD.

I'm told it has something to do with the timing of AP tests. I'm sure I'll have a better understanding of it all after I've been part of the school community for a while.

In the meantime, she needed help with her homework last night.

Her English teacher had assigned several vocabulary words and phrases, and there was going to be a test today. Megan said she needed to understand the definitions as set forth in class.

They are beginning the school year with an emphasis on learning critical thinking. This is a good thing.

But I had to laugh when I saw that one of the principles they are teaching her is to "Challenge Authority."

As if any teenager isn't already doing that. Mine likes to practice right at the dinner table. 

We're now in the market for some good heartburn meds.

Back To School Too Soon

This month's topic for the Yahoo! Motherboard is Back to School, a topic I've been forced to think about a lot earlier... and harder... than I'd like.

My daughter's new high school is breaking away with the rest of LAUSD and commencing the new school year on MONDAY.

This means that my poor daughter had the shortest summer break of her life (just about six weeks).

She's taking it all in stride.

I'm the one who's panicked.

After all, it's high school.

We attended the new school's freshman orientation yesterday. The data shared with us during the opening assembly was impressive...

...but my mood quickly deteriorated during the school tour portion of the event.

The students leading the tours were apologetic. They told us that the school was unprepared for the number of families that actually showed up: In past years, they said, they only ever filled half the bleachers in the gym.

Yesterday, it was standing room only.

At the end of the tour, the kids and parents had to stand in lines to (a) obtain the students' class schedules, (b) obtain their lockers, (c) fill out Title I forms and (d) purchase gym uniforms. This was pure chaos, as it was unclear which line was which and what was expected to be done first.

The two-hour planned event was closer to three.

I was also dismayed to hear reference of a student-parent handbook that we were supposed to have received in the mail. None of the families in our group could recall getting one. My guess is that it's on some LAUSD schedule and we will be receiving it AFTER our August 16 start date (but before September 13, when most of the rest of the district begins the school year).

My friend Henry managed to get his hands on one in the administration offices, and was kind enough to scan and email it to the rest of us. That's a good thing, because it contains forms that our kids are expected to bring filled out on Monday.

It also has includes a "Condom Availability Release Form," which explains that for public health reasons, condoms are available free to any student who wants them (and parents can opt out of the program).

Is it any wonder I'm feeling nostalgic for her first day of Kindergarten?

DISCLOSURE: This post has been edited since its original publication. I was not compensated to write this post.

A Tale of Two High Schools

This is not a good time to be a student in my state.

The University of California is jacking up tuition by 20% (in addition to the rate hike students and their families absorbed earlier this year) while cutting classes and services.

And it was announced yesterday that our budget woes continue to worsen: we're back to a $21 billion deficit.

The beleaguered Los Angeles Unified School District held a meeting last week where they told their employees to expect even more job losses in 2010. Class sizes are escalating to silly proportions, and although the District has made gains in test scores recently, all of this bad news does not bode well for continued improvement.

What's a mother to do?

It is a sad state of affairs that Los Angeles can boast of some of the state's best public schools...and many of its worst. If you live in an affluent neighborhood, you've got some pretty good choices. If you don't, you're basically screwed. It is a situation that endures after decades of hand-wringing and reforms that never seem to do the trick.

Complaining about LAUSD is something of a local sport -- no one ever gets hurt by dissing the District, and some people benefit from it. Pointing out the flaws in the school system is a sure way to sell a lot of papers, garner good ratings, and get yourself elected.

And yet...

Test scores are not truly indicative of a school's quality, or the effectiveness of any given teacher. Yes, some teachers should be forced to retire and some administrators are ineffective. But most of the people I've met at LAUSD are sincere in their desire to help our children reach the heights of their potential... they are just hamstrung by bureaucracy, politics, red tape, history and budget woes.

This is on my mind today because Megan starts high school next fall, and we need to figure out where she will go. Our neighborhood high school is not a viable option. Despite what I said above about test scores, I don't want to send her to a poorly performing school when there are "better" ones nearby. And even if I did, it would be like moving to a new town and starting fresh. She's been attending school outside our neighborhood since kindergarten, so she doesn't know anybody who will be going there.

So we've been shopping around.

A couple of weeks ago, we visited the other high school in our zip code, which went charter several years ago and so doesn't have to answer to most of LAUSD's arcane rules. It also doesn't share the district's budget problems. I've heard through the grapevine that this school began the year with a $2.5 million surplus. Class sizes are smaller than the District average, equipment is new and maintained, and nobody is talking about teacher cuts.

When we got to the campus, we were impressed by how clean and well organized it was. It has the feel of an exclusive prep school. The teaching staff (at least, the ones we were able to observe) are young, enthusiastic and engaged. The students (at least, the ones we met) were neat, polite and articulate. The word that came to mind was "disciplined." They reminded me a bit of the scene in "The Sound of Music," when Maria has her first meeting with the regimented Von Trapp children.

We were given an informational packet that ran down the school's graduation requirements (which echo the prerequisites for getting into the CSU and UC systems), explained the summer transition academy (MANDATORY for all incoming freshmen - "Do not schedule any vacations during this time!"), stats on test scores and college admission rates (a whopping 96% of the students go on to higher education), and an explanation of the three ways an out-of-neighborhood student can apply.

One of these is a magnet. LAUSD instituted this program 30 years ago after years of turmoil over Federally imposed busing and massive white flight to private schools.The idea was that high quality, smaller specialty programs within a school would attract students from all over the District, including those from more affluent (i.e., white) families who might otherwise opt out of the system. As the purpose of the program is to achieve racial balance, the magnets receive Federal funding that has allowed them to thrive despite the budgetary problems of the rest of the District.

The program has been wildly successful - so much, that as my friend Marsha (@sweatpantsmom) asserts, they have resulted in a further decline of neighborhood schools, as the best and brightest students are drained away to magnets. 

She's right. She's also right when she says that a small group of dedicated parents can do wonders to turn around an under-performing school. That said, it's not an easy task and I'm not willing to gamble my daughter's future on the proposition that I could make a huge difference at our neighborhood school.

Some Los Angeles magnet schools have developed into the state's best. Balboa Gifted Magnet in Northridge consistently shows up as one of the top public elementary schools in all of California. It's very difficult to get into. According to this year's "Choices" brochure (sent to every LAUSD family so they have an opportunity to apply to the program), in 2008 there were 1789 applications for a school that has 267 openings in 2010-11.

Popular magnet schools select their applicants through a complicated points and lottery system. As they need to achieve racial balance, there are quotas established for the different major ethnic groups in the city, and they change each year as the school population changes. Specialized magnets for gifted or highly gifted children have additional testing and grade requirements that must be met before a student can be accepted.

Many of Megan's friends transferred to Balboa when they were eligible in first and second grade. We applied, but never won the lottery. Fortunately, LAUSD has another program for high achieving students who (for whatever reason) do not attend a gifted magnet. It's called School for Advanced Studies (SAS), and is a kind of honors program within a campus. The SAS kids pretty much stick together throughout their academic career. Unlike the magnet program, there is no mandate that it be racially balanced. It receives little, if any, Federal funding and so is at the mercy of the LAUSD budget.

We were not impressed with our little neighborhood elementary school the year our daughter entered kindergarten. The playground was unkempt and the PTA lady who showed us around the school was very negative about everything. There was no SAS program. We were afraid to send her there.

We ended up in an SAS at a school three miles west, and aside from the fact that every time Megan established a best friend she transferred to Balboa, these were happy and productive years. Even so, we continued to send in our Choices application each December. That was so we could rack up points for the transition to middle school.

In the spring, we were informed we were waitlisted for the magnet of our choice, which had accepted Megan's current best friend. Fortunately, the middle school just up the street from our home does have an SAS program, and we felt comfortable sending her there. The only thing I stressed about was the fact that only a couple of kids she knew would also be attending.

When your children are little, you have a lot of control over who they hang out with. If there's something you don't like about a kid or her parents, you simply don't schedule a playdate there. By the time your kid starts middle school, that power is long gone. You just have to hope that the kids your child chooses to spend time with are nice. And if you like their parents too, that's a bonus.

A couple of weeks into the summer of '07, we got a call from the magnet middle school informing us that they had an opening for Megan, if she wanted it. She was away at gymnastics camp at the time (with her friend Maggie), so I had to wait until evening to ask her how I should respond. The squealing on the other end of the phone said it all. She's been at the magnet ever since, and couldn't be happier.

Which brings us back to the tour of the charter high school, which is just a couple of blocks away from the SAS elementary school we attended through fifth grade. Most of our friends live within that school's boundaries, so they are assured a spot there... and Megan would go in already having lots of friends.

The charter school has both an SAS program and a rigorous math and science magnet. Their students are required to take four years of both subjects (while the District only asks for three years of math and two years of lab science). "Do not apply to this magnet if your child doesn't LOVE math and science," the counselors warned us.

Megan is strong in these subjects, but I don't think they make her heart sing. We will not be wasting our one magnet application by applying there. The good news is that we can try to get in through both an SAS application and open enrollment.

The bad news: The charter school has approximately 100 openings in each of the three programs, each of which historically receives about 1,000 applications. Selection is by lottery. So we have a 1 in 10 chance of getting in -- not too good.

We embarked on a second high school magnet tour yesterday. This school is about five miles from home, in a neighborhood that's seen better days. Test scores for the school as a whole are not so good... but the magnet, which offers a humanities curriculum, has an excellent track record.

If the charter school was like the Von Trapp household before Maria, the humanities magnet reminded me of the kids in play clothes made from floral draperies. This magnet takes an interdisciplinary approach to teaching. According to the brochure contained in the parent packet, 9th grade requirements include "an innovative science course...that demonstrates the connection between biology, geography, and the development of civilization."

In most classes, they don't use the state textbooks. Classrooms are arranged with desks facing the middle, to encourage active participation and debate. Again, I was impressed by the enthusiasm and energy of all the teachers we observed.

We sat in on a class that combined the study of art and religion. One teacher came out to tell us how his students are examining the nature of humanity through the lenses of Stendhal, Freud and Marx. The magnet coordinator boasted that his school's kids consistently outscore the charter school (with the math and science magnet) on the AP Calculus exam. The classroom walls are decorated with fanciful student-designed murals and pop art sculptures.

I LOVED this school, as did some of the other parents I knew on the tour. Megan and her friends did, too - although they're a bit worried about the strong writing requirements, which include 10-page essays at the end of each teaching module and more homework than I ever thought possible (four hours or more per night). I have a different attitude about this now that gymnastics is no longer a part of our lives. It's high school and college prep. They can bring it on.

Best of all - the magnet coordinator practically guaranteed acceptance."If you truly want truly want to go here, you'll get in," he said.

For the first time in a while, I'm feeling good about our prospects. I hope that lasts.

This month's Yahoo! Motherboard theme is the state of public education in an era of huge budget cuts. Here are some other posts on the topic:

• Hormone Colored Days: Parenting Gifted Children. Advocating for Gifted Children
• It's All About Balance: Arts in Education

Starting the School Year with the New Electric Company

I'm tired of writing about my home renovation. I'm tired of living with it. And I'm sure you are tired of hearing about it. So this week, I'm beginning a series of posts about the new television season.

But of course, if something happens in the home that I just HAVE to write about, that will be here too.

The producers of PBS' revamped Electric Company are on a mission.

"Literacy rates for 6 to 9 year-olds are alarming," said Karen Fowler at last month's PBS press preview.  "One-third of 4th graders not reading on level."

Statistics show that if a child isn't reading on level by 4th grade, he or she may not achieve literacy by adulthood.

That's one of the reasons why the folks at The Electric Company -- designed to help bridge elementary kids' literacy gap -- were able to get the funding for an increased second season of shows. As of tomorrow,  they will be on the air every day.

"As a nonprofit media education company, our mission is to get to as many kids as possible so as many viewing as possible is necessary," said Fowler.

Scott Cameron, director of education and research for Sesame Workshop (which produces the program) pointed out how today's Electric Company differs from its old incarnation from the 1970s. 

For one thing, they employ three major platforms – television, the Internet and what PBS terms as "outreach" through schools, museums and other local entities throughout the country.

"The online component is pretty spectacular," Scott said. "We have a rich website with 10 educational games that touch on different styles of learning; beatbox tunes that teach phonics, example."

As of last month, the Electric Company site had achieved 4 million visits. "Many kids are coming five or more times, and we've only been on since mid January," Cameron said.

Additionally, as of August 1, Electric Company videos had been viewed 11 million times. And 16 episodes were streaming online.

The site also features special content, like behind the scenes stuff and outtakes. Cameron said these "are super fun for kids" because they are really interested in how the shows are put together. He said he's often surprised at how sophisticated today's kids are.

"I've been interviewing kids and 7-year-olds will ask me if something is green screen," he laughed.  –

Part of the Electric Company curriculum is vocabulary, so each episode teaches five words related to a common theme.

""New research shows that kids in lower income homes come into kindergarten knowing fewer words than their contemporaries. If kids don’t know what words mean, at a certain point in the paragraph they are going to get discouraged," said Fowler.

"We know from a lot of literacy research that the best way to teach new words is to relate to what they know, so a narrative storyline stretched to 30 minutes helps kids to remember the new words," she said.

The robust PBS website also has a section for parents and educators, where you can access a program viewing guide and download printable activity sheets for both you and your kids.

Our humongous Los Angeles Unified School District finally starts the fall semester on Wednesday, and thanks to the monumental state budget deficit, we'll have fewer teachers and larger class sizes. This is just adding to the concerns we parents have had about the quality of our kids' education here. Most of us are on the lookout for positive tools we can use to supplement the lessons our children are getting in class. This looks like an excellent place to start.