Santa Monica Daily Press, July 06, 2012

Page 1

FRIDAY, JULY 6, 2012

Volume 11 Issue 202

Santa Monica Daily Press

INSIDE CUBA SEE PAGE 9

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THE PACKED HOUSE ISSUE

Lawmakers postpone water bond until 2014 JUDY LIN Associated Press

SACRAMENTO, Calif. California lawmakers voted Thursday to delay voters’ consideration of an $11 billion water bond from this November until 2014 — the second time the measure has been postponed. The Assembly approved AB1422 on a 69-6 bipartisan vote and the Senate approved the bill by Democratic Assemblyman Henry Perea of Fresno on a 34-2 vote. The bill now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it. Voters were originally supposed to consider the bond in 2010, but former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, signed legislation delaying it until this year. Democrats want to delay the vote again to focus on Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax hike to help state programs and cut the deficit. Democratic leaders have worried about the timing and cost of the proposal at a time they are relying on tax hikes to help cut the state’s $15.7 billion deficit. The governor’s tax hike seeks to increase the sales and income taxes individuals with incomes over $250,000 a year. The money would aid the state’s general fund, public schools and universities, and public safety. “I am going to vote to delay it because I think it’s critically important that we focus on the revenue measure at this point in time,” said Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo. Some lawmakers say the entire bond should be scrapped because it is filled with pork projects estimated at about $800 million. “By all rights this bond should be repealed and the reason it should be repealed is because that is the only way we will have a serious discussion over the next year or two about what really ought to be funded in a water bond,” said Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis. Although she objected to the water bond itself, she voted in favor of delaying the SEE WATER PAGE 11

RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT

Ethnic studies program coming to Samohi BY ASHLEY ARCHIBALD Daily Press Staff Writer

SMMUSD HDQTRS Santa Monica High School officials are building an ethnic studies program at the school as part of an ongoing attempt to improve relations between the racial groups on campus and achievement rates amongst minority students. The program as envisioned includes one ethnic studies class available to upperclassmen at the school and similar components worked into all English, history and arts classes, as well as presentations to bring minorities in contact with successful and inspiring members of their own race. The course for juniors and seniors would build upon a foundation created

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A city-contracted work crew installs the infrastructure for a new traffic signal Thursday on Broadway.

during Freshman Seminar, a class every freshman in the school takes that will be revamped with new information. The program will also build into the fabric of the school’s extra academic support and a student-led messaging campaign to stave off inappropriate racial jokes. The Board of Education asked staff to develop an ethnic studies class in the wake of an incident in May 2011 in which an African American wrestler told police that he had been chained to a locker by his teammates who then yelled racial slurs. It was one piece of a multi-pronged response that included beefing up the district’s curriculum regarding diversity and minority populations, teaching instructors how to deal with racially-sensitive situa-

tions and creating consequences for racially-motivated hate behavior on campus. As the district and school began putting the changes in place, the climate on campus worsened. Between December 2011 and January 2012, multiple fights were reported in the vicinity of the campus involving students of different races. Samohi Principal Laurel Fretz and I House Principal Renee Semik told the Board of Education last week that the new program, as envisioned, would result not only in a safer campus, but also shrink the sizable achievement gap seen between African American and Latino students and SEE STUDIES PAGE 13

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TAXES? ALL FORMS • ALL TYPES • ALL STATES SAMUEL B. MOSES, CPA

(310) 395-9922

100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1800Santa Monica 90401


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