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MONDAY, JANUARY 27, 2014
Volume 13 Issue 62
Santa Monica Daily Press
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THE BEING HONEST ISSUE
Number of women dropping in California Legislature
California students file suit to nix tenure regulations
DON THOMPSON
JULIE WATSON
Associated Press
Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. The California Legislature is generally regarded as a fairly progressive institution, with a sizable gay and lesbian caucus and lawmakers representing an array of racial and ethnic groups. But one group has been dropping steadily in representation for nearly a decade — women. The number of women in the 120member Legislature has fallen from a peak of 37 in 2006 to 32 this year, and groups that promote women running for public office are concerned the trend will continue this election year. They also worry about how the dropoff will affect policy decisions in future years. “We have been losing a woman every election cycle,” said Bettina Duval, president of CALIFORNIALIST, which has raised more than $1 million to support female candidates since she founded the group 12 years ago. There is a general perception that California is doing well because women who are in office hold such powerful positions, she said. Both the state’s U.S. senators are women, it is home to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Assemblywoman Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, is poised to become the next speaker of the state Assembly, and California’s attorney general and secretary of state are women. Yet Duval fears women could lose three to five legislative seats this year, accelerating what has been a gradual decline. Moreover, newly expanded
Nine California public school students
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showcase. And if that’s not enough, a documentary is in the works about the Samohi choir and its director, Jeffe Huls. Director and producer Varda Hardy, with the help of others, raised nearly $45,000 through a Kickstarter campaign in 2011 to fund the first stages of “Big Voice,” a film that explores public school art programs and the intensity and unity of the choir. “What really motivated me was I wanted to find out how Mr. Huls was able to make such extraordinary art at a public school,” she said. “I wanted to know his secret.”
are suing the state over its laws on teacher tenure, seniority and other protections that the plaintiffs say keep bad educators in classrooms. The case that goes to trial today in Los Angeles Superior Court is the latest battle in a growing nationwide challenge to union-backed protections for teachers in an effort to hold them more accountable for their work. The nonjury trial is expected to wrap up in March. “The system is dysfunctional and arbitrary due to these outdated laws that handcuff school administrators,” said Theodore J. Boutrous, the lead attorney on the case sponsored by an educational reform group. States across the nation have weakened teaching job protections, including generations-old tenure, to give administrators more flexibility to fire bad teachers. Tenure was created in the early 20th century to prevent arbitrary or discriminatory firings based on factors such as gender, nationality or political beliefs. It spelled out strict rules under which teachers could be dismissed after a probationary period, though opponents claim they make it virtually impossible to fire teachers who aren’t making the grade. The changes are occurring as states replace virtually automatic “satisfactory” teacher evaluations with those linked to teacher performance and base teacher layoffs on performance instead
SEE CHOIR PAGE 9
SEE NIX PAGE 9
Paul Alvarez Jr. editor@smdp.com
BELTING IT: Santa Monica High students perform ‘Someone’ during Cafe Samo on Friday night.
Samohi choir having yet another big year BY DAVID MARK SIMPSON Daily Press Staff Writer
SAMOHI It’s a familiar tune: members of the Santa Monica High School choir are winning big awards again this year. Not one, but two Samohi seniors, Jennifer Gsell and Quinn D’Andrea, were selected from thousands as YoungArts finalists. They performed in Miami earlier this month. Sophomore Ben Ross is currently one of 15 semi-finalists, selected from 600 applicants, for the Music Center Spotlight Award. The finals are on Sunday. On Friday and Saturday, they packed the Humanities Center for Café Samo, a talent
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