eSchool News | california watch page 1

Childhood obesity linked to poorer math performance

Obese children face risks to their emotional and social well-being that can harm their academic performance, new research suggests, the California Watch reports. The study, published today in the journal Child Development, found obese elementary school children performed worse on math tests than their peers without weight problems. A lack of social acceptance could account for the lower test scores, researchers said. Obese children who do not feel accepted by their peers often exhibit feelings of loneliness, sadness and anxiety that can hinder their academic performance. Those feelings became even more apparent as the children progressed through school, according to the study.

“Children who have weight problems are not as well-received by their peers. That creates a condition or situation where developing social skills isn’t as easy,” said Sara Gable, the study’s lead author and an associate professor in the department of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, Columbia…

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Suspensions at California high school spark fiery free speech battle

Civil rights groups recently intervened in a free-speech controversy at the San Francisco Unified School District after a school suspended three high school seniors and banned them from graduation and prom over comments they made online, the California Watch reports. The students were suspended from George Washington High School after a teacher learned about postings on a Tumblr page called “Scumbag Teachers.” Some of the comments allegedly linked to the students included: “Teaches Pink Floyd for 3 Weeks; Makes Final Project Due In 3 Days” and “Nags Student Govt About Being On Task; Lags On Everything.”

The school principal accused the students of cyberbullying. They were suspended from school for three days, banned from prom and told they couldn’t walk with their classmates during graduation. One of the students was kicked off the student council. The Asian Law Caucus and ACLU of Northern California said they were concerned that the students’ rights were being violated and wrote letters to district officials questioning whether the students and parents were given due process. The district then reinstated the students…

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California bill would extend free meal program to charter students

At the Blue Oak School in Chico, where 60 percent of the charter school’s student body comes from low-income households, it’s a source of school pride that the soft tacos and chicken pot pies served at lunch are made from organic and locally sourced ingredients, California Watch reports. The meals are delivered every day, ready to eat, in reusable bento boxes that generate minimal trash. Depending on the child’s family income, the lunches cost anywhere from nothing to $3.

“The kids are getting the nutrition they need, they like the food, and it has made the school a better place,” said Marc Kessler, Charter Council chairman of the nonprofit elementary and junior high school.

But not all California charter school students are on the receiving end of a warm meal at lunchtime……Read More

Dual-language programs growing in popularity across California

At Chula Vista Learning Community Charter School, students are taught lessons every week in a combination of Spanish, English and Mandarin, California Watch reports. The public school, which has more than 400 students on its wait list, is hoping to eventually add a fourth language, the principal says, to better prepare pupils for the global economy.

“I think as we become more and more globally aware, we’re realizing that kids need to be prepared to be competitive in world markets,” said Principal Jorge Ramirez. “Kids need to be multilingual and multiliterate.”

From Chula Vista to Laguna Niguel and Sacramento, public schools are creating dual-language immersion programs at a fast pace. The California Department of Education estimates there are 318 bilingual immersion programs in the state, up from 201 in 2006……Read More

Illegal school fees the target of new legislation

Bolstered by a recent court ruling, a Southern California assemblyman filed legislation last week that seeks to crack down on school districts that charge parents and students fees that violate state law, California Watch reports. AB 1575, sponsored by Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-South Gate, would require school superintendents and county offices to conduct annual reviews of all policies and practices at their local districts to ensure no unlawful fees are charged. The reviews would start during the 2012-13 fiscal year. The measure also mandates that all schools have a complaint process that enables parents to question fees and receive resolution within 30 days. Schools that don’t have a process now would be required to create one by March 1, 2013…

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Pentagon Robot Program: Government to help Bay Area students build tech gadgets

With an eye toward revolutionizing how defense systems and vehicles are made, the Pentagon has tapped a team of Bay Area-based scientists, engineers and hackers to create a program that will enlist California high school students to build robots, drones and other low- and medium-tech gadgets, California Watch reports. The Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has awarded $2 million of a $10 million program to two outfits that have joined forces to develop a pilot project in 10 schools. Part of the agency’s lauded Adaptive Vehicle Make program, which has employed university-based teams to build new navigation systems, the latest effort wants to cut down on manufacturing time. Dubbed Manufacturing Experimentation and Outreach, the program hopes to develop and motivate the next generation of chic geeks to collaborate through social networks to design and develop new vehicles…

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Public school, private donations: The money debate

School foundations and PTAs used to raise money for the extras – high-tech projectors and special field trips. But these days, private donations to schools have grown dramatically and are being used to prevent teacher layoffs, keep libraries open, and save music and foreign-language classes, California Watch reports. California K-12 foundations, PTAs and booster clubs raised about $1.3 billion in 2007, according to the most recent tax filings analyzed by the Public Policy Institute of California. That’s up from $70 million in 1989, according to the institute…

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School district caught banking federal food funds

A Los Angeles-area school district accused of misspending $1.5 million in federal meal money for needy students is planning to meet with state administrators this week in an effort to stave off harsh penalties and a possible lawsuit, California Watch reports. Mark Skvarna, superintendent of the Baldwin Park Unified School District, said yesterday that he will be in Sacramento tomorrow to plead the district’s case before a deputy superintendent of the state Department of Education…

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California school spending among lowest in the nation

Budget shortfalls have pushed California’s spending on public schools to a historic low, relative to the rest of the United States, according to a new analysis by the California Budget Project, reports California Watch. California ranks 46th in the U.S. in K-12 spending per student. It spent $2,856 less per student in 2010-11 than did the rest of the nation – a spending gap that is four times wider than it was a decade earlier, when the state lagged behind by $691 per student. While it’s debatable whether more spending means better schools, it’s clear that sharp declines in California’s general fund revenue, particularly since the 2007-08 fiscal year, have left schools strapped for resources, said Jonathan Kaplan, senior policy analyst at the project and author of the report [PDF]…

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