BeaconMediaNews.com
2 SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 - SEPTEMBER 7, 2011
Back to School Time in San Gabriel Valley Continued from page 1 as some schools registered gains, others held steady, and some lost ground. District and school officials are now examining closely the factors that led to a decline in test scores as well as those that contributed to an increase in achievement. The effects of sustained budget cuts to public schools will be more ev-
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ident this year, as another $6.69 million reduction is implemented. Some examples: For the second consecutive year, PUSD’s school year is shortened by two days Students from Burbank and Loma Alta Elementary will attend new schools this year because the campuses closed due
to declining enrollment Reduced custodian hours will impact daily maintenance of classrooms, schools and offices Administrative support for teachers new to the district, school or grade level as a result of layoffs and reassignments is cut Clerical support at schools and district offices is reduced
Professional development for teachers and other staff is reduced PUSD’s summer school for students struggling in core academic areas was cancelled once again All employees are furloughed again this year For more information about PUSD and its schools, visit www.pusd.us
Assembly Rules Committee “Fails Math Test” Stanford Non-profit Refutes Recent Budget Numbers and Provides Smoking Gun that shows Portantino 37th Not First! Stanford University students do the math that Rules Committee can’t seem to get right. Independent research proves State Assembly manipulated budget numbers to show Assemblymember Anthony Portantino in bad light. According to the Stanford research, Portantino spends 37th on the list of spenders, not first as erroneously reported by the Assembly Rules Committee on Friday. At a Monday morning press conference, Dakin Sloss from California Common Sense, a Stanford University non-profit, joined Assembly Member Anthony Portantino to expose the misleading budget figures released by the Assembly Rules Committee late Friday evening. “Friday’s action makes it clear that Assembly leaders continue to mislead the public on how the Assembly
spends taxpayer money. The figures released by Assembly leaders make it impossible to determine what lawmaker’s real budgets are and what lawmakers are spending. It’s a very sad day in the Capitol when the public is treated with this kind of disrespect,” commented Assembly Member Portantino. In a startling revelation, the Stanford Research team presented a very compelling case that the reworked numbers falsely portray who’s spending what in the State Assembly. The researchers worked from Assembly payroll data which proves that staff members and consequently budgets received wholesale changes in order to artificially manipulate spending patterns. Some Assembly member budgets were manipulated to be lower than actual payroll data
Assempblyman Anthony Portantino is becoming increasingly frustrated with Assemby Rules Committee – Photo by Terry Miller
shows. The Stanford students completed their analysis with the following statement: “One thing is clear: the Rules Committee has presented expenditure data in a way, which is inconsistent with the payroll data already available,” said CA Common Sense member Dakin Sloss. “The various discrepancies mentioned before, in
conjunction with the fact that Assembly Member Portantino’s personal staff salaries are now presented as larger than those of other members, raises suspicions that the expenditure data may have been released less for transparency’s sake and more as a vendetta against the seeker of transparency.”
Please see page 6
Slaying of Marvin Laguan Prompts Neigborhood Meeting with Officials Thursday Night
2810 E.Del Mar Blvd., Suite12 Pasadena, CA 91107
(626) 585-0041 carlsonandassociates.org Councilman Victor Gordo called the special neigborhood meeting. - Photo by Terry Miller
An emotion filled meeting was held Thursday at Pasadena Fire Station 33 in response to the slaying of Marvin Laguan, 18 who was killed on Mar Vista Avenue Monday led to a standing room only crowd in a tiny sweltering community room of the firehouse. The meeting which was filled to capacity and spilled out into the hall was hosted by Pasadena District 5 City Councilman Victor Gordo. Police Chief Philip Sanchez, firefighters and other officers were on hand to aswer the many questions audience members had. “The gentleman( Languan) had gang associations, but we are not saying this was gang related,” Lt. Tracy Ibarra told the audience. .
Laguan was allegedly shot in the neck and died at Huntington Hospital. Gordo said “This is simply not acceptable that this happens in our community to anybody.” Despite the recent shooting Pasadena police Lt. Rodney Wallace called the neighborhood a relatively “quiet area.” Pasadena police Chief Phillip Sanchez asked the 75 people to help the dept. apprehend the individuals responsible for this crime. “There may have been some people who have seen some activity, they have not come forward,” he said. As of press time no one has been booked for the murder.