School Districts Federal Aid

The House overwhelmingly approved a sweeping educational reform measure Wednesday that requires annual testing of students and holds school districts accountable for academic performance, a proposal that was a cornerstone issue of President Bush's election campaign. The measure would require annual reading and mathematics testing in grades three through eight.

The House overwhelmingly approved a sweeping educational reform measure Wednesday that requires annual testing of students and holds school districts accountable for academic performance, a proposal that was a cornerstone issue of President Bush's election campaign. The measure would require annual reading and mathematics testing in grades three through eight.

Working to deal with the aftermath of El Nino, the Capistrano Unified School District will request $211,660 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repair storm damage at five schools. Trustees voted unanimously this week to submit an application for the funds through the Office of Emergency Services to cover the cost of fixing damaged slopes.

The House on Tuesday approved a measure that would allow school districts to choose how to spend their part of $2 billion in federal education funds--on reducing class size or improving teacher quality. Despite heavy lobbying by the White House, 24 Democrats broke ranks to join Republicans in backing the measure after a major debate over whether it is more important to decrease the student-teacher ratio or boost the quality of teachers in the classroom.

Joining a growing band of school districts across the county, the Laguna Beach Unified School District board has endorsed a resolution that asks the county Department of Education to allow the flow of federal dollars to schools for career education. Approved unanimously Tuesday night, the resolution said local school districts have the right to claim $3.

Hit by the first wave of federal budget cuts for education, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted Monday to scale back an anti-poverty program just a year after expanding it. But in a much-debated compromise, the board took only 21 schools out of the program, instead of the 40 recommended by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Many of the schools were included in the program, known as Title I, for the first time last year.

In an unexpected example of cooperation between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the federal government, school officials announced Monday that they expect to receive nearly all the money necessary to repair earthquake-damaged campuses by the end of the month. Just nine days shy of the two-year anniversary of the Northridge earthquake, district officials said Monday the recovery program is expected to total $350 million--much more than originally projected.

San Fernando Valley schools are getting nearly a $2-million helping hand with the announcement this week of the award of federal grants for districts participating in a national educational reform program. Statewide, more than $15 million will be distributed to 227 school districts in the Goals 2000 program, which seeks to meet a broad set of educational goals by the end of the century.

Faced with thousands of classrooms that are potentially unsafe in earthquakes, the Los Angeles Board of Education pledged for the first time Monday to pay a portion of the costs to fortify schools throughout the city, if it can get the federal government to pay the rest. The school board agreed unanimously to pay 25% of the costs to replace hazardous lighting, ceiling tiles and to secure large equipment, such as boilers, on all campuses.

The House on Tuesday approved a measure that would allow school districts to choose how to spend their part of $2 billion in federal education funds--on reducing class size or improving teacher quality. Despite heavy lobbying by the White House, 24 Democrats broke ranks to join Republicans in backing the measure after a major debate over whether it is more important to decrease the student-teacher ratio or boost the quality of teachers in the classroom.

Spurred by last year's spate of schoolyard shootings, federal officials committed $300 million in new grants Thursday to school districts that can demonstrate effective ways of combating violence and drugs. The program will provide up to $3 million per year for three years to 50 public districts that, through an application process, can put together a comprehensive strategy in areas such as gang intervention, school security, mental health treatment and mentoring.

President Clinton made his case Monday for a new federal strategy of school reform to perhaps the toughest audience in America--a roomful of governors who all style themselves as experts on overhauling public education. And when the governors emerged from the White House, Republicans among them--who make up the majority--offered pointed critiques of Clinton's plan to hold schools accountable for improved performance and students accountable for mastering their course work.

Working to deal with the aftermath of El Nino, the Capistrano Unified School District will request $211,660 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to repair storm damage at five schools. Trustees voted unanimously this week to submit an application for the funds through the Office of Emergency Services to cover the cost of fixing damaged slopes.

Joining a growing band of school districts across the county, the Laguna Beach Unified School District board has endorsed a resolution that asks the county Department of Education to allow the flow of federal dollars to schools for career education. Approved unanimously Tuesday night, the resolution said local school districts have the right to claim $3.

The Clinton administration declared Tuesday that "Black English" is a form of slang that does not belong in the classroom, and ruled that school districts that recognize the idiom in their teaching cannot use federal funds targeted for bilingual education. The Oakland school board last week revived a long-brewing linguistic controversy with a unanimous vote declaring that Black English, also known as Ebonics, is not merely a dialect but a language, rooted in a distinct African American culture.

Hit by the first wave of federal budget cuts for education, the Los Angeles Board of Education voted Monday to scale back an anti-poverty program just a year after expanding it. But in a much-debated compromise, the board took only 21 schools out of the program, instead of the 40 recommended by the Los Angeles Unified School District. Many of the schools were included in the program, known as Title I, for the first time last year.

Southern Los Angeles parents, who for decades have been forced to bus their children to schools in the San Fernando Valley and on the Westside, have begun drafting their own plan to secede from the Los Angeles Unified School District with the hope of finally keeping students close to home.

Federal funds meant to pay for children's lunches may be among the $1.2 million or more allegedly embezzled from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District by its former chief fiscal officer, according to sources and school budget documents. Stephen A.

In an unexpected example of cooperation between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the federal government, school officials announced Monday that they expect to receive nearly all the money necessary to repair earthquake-damaged campuses by the end of the month. Just nine days shy of the two-year anniversary of the Northridge earthquake, district officials said Monday the recovery program is expected to total $350 million--much more than originally projected.

Money that once might have been used for death and destruction has been diverted to create a high-technology training program at Francis Parkman Middle School. The Woodland Hills school is using a $140,000 grant from the federal government's peace dividend program to purchase equipment for the center, Principal Michael Bennett said. The program, housed in a former trade shop classroom, is designed to help students prepare for today's high-tech job market.