A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s UPDATE Week of October 19, 2009 MERIT SHOULD TRUMP POLITICS 1 A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s WE GET E-MAILS… As one of the 19 candidates on the District's Secondary Principals' Eligibility List, I was quite surprised to read that a Local District Superintendent evaluated my service record and came to the conclusion that I did not have the experience necessary to effectively transform Gardena High School. I have never met this Local District Superintendent. To the best of my knowledge I have never met any of the Directors who work for her. Her statement concerns me because, given the current benchmarks set by No Child Left Behind, I believe that a basic requirement for anyone accepting a principalship would include having transformational leadership skills. Furthermore, I believe that the District has a responsibility to effectively groom employees to take over the leadership of its schools. If the District has gone to the trouble of identifying certain individuals as potential leaders, thus the creation of an Eligibility List, and, consequently, finds that its candidates do not have minimal skills to meet the District's needs, then does the District not also have the obligation to either offer guidance and assistance to those employees to acquire those skills, or at the very least notify those employees that the District does not believe that this set of employees are still deemed qualified as potential leaders? Since I do not have any personal knowledge of Gardena High School, I have no idea if I would have been a good fit for that school. I am only concerned because I had no idea that my record had been evaluated and I was not notified of the deficiencies that were found. Harold Boger, Assistant Principal, Sylmar High School The recent Update issues are such an improvement and represent AALA very well. Thank you for highlighting contract topics, professional concerns and important events and opportunities that impact our work. Joe Ryan Great work regarding Gardena H.S. I'm impressed. Adele Bloom (retired) 2 A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s SUPERINTENDENT SAYS, "YES!" 3 A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s THE SUPERINTENDENT RESPONDS Perez, Judith From: Villarruel, Amalia Sent: Monday, October 26, 2009 3:20 PM To: Perez, Judith Subject: Organizations Breakfast Meeting Dr. Perez, Please let the presidents of your various organizations know that I have shared the notes of comments and concerns that I took during my Breakfast Meeting with them with the Local District Superintendents. - Ramon Cortines Amalia S. Villarruel on behalf of Ramon C. Cortines Office of the Superintendent Los Angeles Unified School District 333 South Beaudry Ave., 24th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017 Phone: (213) 241-7000 Fax: (213) 241-8442 HEALTH BENEFITS INFORMATION MEETING Do you (active or retired) have questions about the 2010 Health Plans? Come to the November 9, 2009, AALA-sponsored Health Benefits Information Meeting for answers. Date: Monday, November 9, 2009 Time: 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Location: Board Room, LAUSD Headquarters, 333 S. Beaudry, Los Angeles Validated Parking: Visconti Garage (Entrance on Miramar St.). Handicapped Parking (with valid placard): Beaudry Building parking structure. ADULT DEPARTMENT LEADERSHIP With the retirement of Adult Vice President Fred Hermosillo and the promotion of Adult Director Howard Saxe, there were two Adult Department openings on the Executive Board. The following is now the Adult Department leadership: Ben Avila, Vice President (from Director to Vice President, 2-year Term) Lanny Nelms, Director (replacing Ben Avila, 1-year Term) Mike Wada, (replacing Howard Saxe, 3-year Term) Congratulations! 4 A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS REVISITED Clifford Street School and Delevan Drive School are Blue Ribbon schools due in large part to the leadership of their long-time previous principals, Manuel Ponce (Clifford) and Yolanda Hamilton (Delevan). Yolanda retired in June and will be accepting the award on behalf of the Delevan Drive Staff at the Blue Ribbon ceremony in Washington, D. C., on November 2, 2009. Manuel left Clifford last October to become Principal of Alexandria Avenue School. AALA is proud to acknowledge both of these outstanding principals. IN MEMORIAM ANSELM "AC" BROCKI – former Los Angeles Unified School District Editorial Coordinator. "AC" retired on November 27, 1991. He passed away on October 24, 2009. JOB OPPORTUNITY IN JAPAN A high school in Japan named Clark Memorial International High School wants to hire an American Vice Principal for their school. Teaching experience, administrative experience at a school, and basic knowledge of the Japanese language is necessary. Yukio Nagai, the contact person, currently lives in Torrance, California, and can be contacted at 310.370.7564 for additional information. SAVE THE DATE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009 – The Association of California School Administrators, Retired (ACSA-R) will host its Winter Luncheon, 11:30 a.m., at Taix Restaurant, 1911 West Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles. LAUSD Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines will be the featured speaker. Contact information will be forthcoming. 5 A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s CSULA TIER I PROGRAM INFORMATION Join the newest Educational Administration Program in the Charter College of Education at California State University, Los Angeles. This ONE-YEAR Program with final assessment is designed for aspiring administrators who have at least two years of successful teaching experience with CA Professional Clear teaching credentials. One of the special features of the Program is the intertwined curriculum for both degrees and service credentials. Upon successful completion of the program, candidates receive a Master of Arts Degree in Educational Administration and the California Preliminary Administrative Services Credential. You get both the MA degree and the credential all at once. You will start the program in Fall 2010 and complete it in Fall 2011. We have scheduled two information meetings for your convenience. You only need to attend one. Educational Administration Program (Tier 1) Fall 2010 Recruitment Meetings Dates: November 2, 2009 (Monday) or November 12, 2009 (Thursday) Time: 4:20 – 6:00 p.m. Place: King Hall D2076A, CSULA 5151 State University Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90032 Phone: 323.343.4330 *Bring the application materials to the meeting. Download them from http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/ccoe/docs/tier1app.doc UCLA DOCTOR OF EDUCATION (ED.D.) IN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP Applications are now being accepted for UCLA’s Ed.D. Cohort for Fall 2010. Educational Leadership Program (ELP) is seeking applicants who are committed to improving educational practice. Each cohort embarks on a three-year experience that they do together in a student-supported environment with outstanding UCLA faculty and expert practitioners. Since 1993, more than 265 students have graduated. Many are helping to improve educational outcomes as administrators within school sites and district offices. Each cohort of 25 – 30 students includes a variety of accomplished educators. Courses are scheduled for one evening per week and Saturdays. Please email call 310.206.1673, or visit the ELP web site to get information about ELP or to attend a convenient information session. The application deadline is January 15, 2010. 6 A s s o c i a t e d A d m i n i s t r a t o r s o f L o s A n g e l e s HEALTH BENEFITS FAQ Topic: Navigating Prescription Cost Differences I think I know what “generic” means, but what about the other terms mentioned, such as preferred, nonpreferred, formulary, and nonformulary? The most common term used is “formulary.” A formulary is your medical plan’s list of drugs that are covered by the plan. The formulary includes both generic and brand name or “preferred” drugs. “Nonformulary” drugs are those not listed on the formulary. A generic drug is FDA approved and has the identical active ingredient(s), dosage, and strength as its brand-name counterpart. Generic drugs are significantly less expensive because their manufacture does not involve research and development costs. A “preferred brand” refers to a brand-name drug protected by patent. During the effective term of the patent, generic counterparts are not permitted. The difference between a generic and brand name is usually in shape, coloring, name and inactive ingredients. A “nonpreferred brand” is a nonformulary drug. These drugs have the highest copayments. How do prescription drug prices compare across medical plans? Medical Plan Generic Preferred Nonpreferred Supply (days) Retail/Mail Brand Retail/Mail Retail/Mail Retail/Mail Anthem EPO $10 / $20 $30 / $60 $50 / $100 34 / 90 (Caremark) Anthem Select $5 / $10 $25 / $50 $ 45 / $90 34 / 90 HMO (Caremark) HealthNet HMO $5 / $10 $25 / $50 $ 45 / $90 30 / 90 Kaiser HMO $5 / $10 $25 / $50 30 / 90 (All Brands) There are no changes to the prescription copayments for Kaiser Senior Advantage, HealthNet Seniority Plus, and SecureHorizons by United Healthcare.