UCLA bias

Southwestern Legal Foundation (SLF), a Los Angeles-based advocacy group dedicated to defending individual rights protected by the U.S. Constitution will file a lawsuit against the Regents of the University of California and individual administrators - on behalf of UCLA lecturer Orna Kenan. SLF President, Patrick Manshardt, represents Kenan, in the matter. The basis for the action is that Kenan's constitutional right to free speech and to be free from political discrimination in public employment have been and are currently being violated by UCLA administrators. Orna Kenan, an Israeli-American, who was a lecturer in the History Department for six years at UCLA, was recently stripped of her duties as a lecturer because administrators viewed her as having a pro-Israeli bias.

UCLA's original process for determining Kenan's retention and tenure was tainted by the presence of biased administrators. The original process was conducted so badly, that the faculty's union demanded it be done over. But in the second process, UCLA kept the identity of the decision makers and the proceedings secret. "Ms. Kenan was being discriminated against by administrators who are well-known Palestinian sympathizers who refuse to tolerate an opposing point of view," Manshardt said.

Added Manshardt, "UCLA should be a place where academic freedom is strictly observed, not were dissent or politically correct views are squelched." Manshardt concluded, "the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be left in the Middle East and should not spill over to the making of personnel decisions at a public university in this country."

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Interest groups rewrite education study the day it appears

The report in Capitol Weekly last week that "Getting Down to Facts" -- the 1,700-page study-to-end-all-studies of California public education -- called for vast new spending was wrong. As a result, so was I in my cynical post last week about it being one more effort by the discredited education establishment to pretend that all we need to do to fix a broken status quo is fund it better.

Go here to see why I mean. The link is to a 69-page study of schools and funding released today that was my light lunch reading. The study says over and over again that there is no evidence that increased spending leads to better schools. Given its variance with conventional wisdom -- and the education policies seen around America for a quarter-century -- it's pretty astonishing.

But the interest groups say who cares what the report actually says -- let's pretend it says what we wanted it to say. Look at this joke of a press release:

A coalition of community-based and advocacy organizations -- California ACORN, Californians for Justice, PICO California, and Public Advocates -- responded today to the second day release of the cost study findings in the "Getting Down to Facts" studies on school governance and finance for California's K-12 education system.

"Students are demanding a better education. Our schools are overcrowded. I've been in a class with 58 people in it where they mixed up different English classes. And schools are still falling apart in our neighborhoods," said Naydalli Haro, a student at Cabrillo High School in Long Beach, and a leader in Californians for Justice, an organizational member of the coalition.

"We need experienced, qualified teachers, but we're not getting them. There is not enough money for counselors to prepare us to go to college. Teachers use their own money to pay for basic materials in our classrooms. This needs to change," she added.

"While exact figures are not definite, these studies make it clear that California needs to make a substantial new investment in public education -- in addition to system reform --to ensure all students meet expectations," said John Affeldt, who serves as Managing Attorney for Public Advocates, another organizational member of the coalition.

John, John, John, you're drawing your own reading comprehension skills into question. The studies in fact say that without huge changes in the system, it's pointless to spend more money. In other words, we should do huge reforms first, then consider adding more money -- if we can find areas where there is real evidence it will make a difference. I've given the governor loads of grief here (not that he cares), but he got this exactly right:

"Today's studies show that no amount of money will improve our schools without needed education reform. We need to focus on critical school reform before any discussion about more resources. And as I have always said, our schools need more accountability, teachers and administrators need more flexibility, and parents need more information about how their children are performing."

Amen, Arnold.

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Hooray! South Australian kids deserting useless education

UNIVERSITY campuses in the country are struggling for students because of a booming regional economy enticing young people away from study and into full-time jobs. An unemployment rate as low as 3.8 per cent in some areas - well below the average for Adelaide - has left about a third of places at country campuses vacant this year.

The University of South Australia's director of regional engagement, Professor Len Pullin, said campuses at Mount Gambier and Whyalla both had a capacity of 85 but only had about 60 students enrolled. "We could take many more than that, there's no doubt about that," he said. It was "tough" getting university enrolments in regional areas, he said, because of the lure of well-paid jobs in growing regional industries and an emphasis on practical training. "Because there's a huge skill shortage, people can look at those instead of coming to uni where you're facing virtually three years of low income," Professor Pullin said.

Easy entry to equivalent courses in metropolitan areas was contributing to regional vacancies, and cut-off scores were not as high as they should be, he said. Courses in business, accounting, nursing and social work are offered at both Mount Gambier and Whyalla, with scores less than 60 required to get into nursing at both. The cut-off for the equivalent metropolitan course was 67.05 this year.

Whyalla mayor Jim Pollock said electricians, boilermakers, labourers and other "hands-on" jobs were in demand across the Upper Spencer Gulf. "I certainly do think it's a lot easier for young people to get jobs in the country areas with mining exploration happening in our region," he said. Limestone Coast Regional Development Board chief executive officer Grant King said many of the jobs in forestry and timber processing, growing industries in the South-East, required some training. "There are plenty of opportunities but it's not easy to come straight out of school to pick up some of the jobs that are in demand," he said.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"

For more postings from me, see TONGUE-TIED, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, DISSECTING LEFTISM, IMMIGRATION WATCH and EYE ON BRITAIN. My Home Pages are here or here or here. Email me (John Ray) here. For times when blogger.com is playing up, there are mirrors of this site here and here.

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