Bullies are NOT allowed on the palyground, but they are still allowed to introduce legislation in the California Legislature...

Sen. Martha Escutia, a Whittier Democrat who chairs the Legislature's Latino Caucus and proposed SB 1769, said Wednesday that she was not surprised by the board's vote to oppose it.

"The board has never been very supportive of English language learners," she said. "They have not done anything that's practical, makes sense, is flexible and is aimed at benefiting English language learners."

Backstory - Escutia and fellow democrats stripped funding for the State Board or Education staff from the recent budget in retaliation for not getting their way in introducing new instructional material (p.s. Isn't that the educator's job, lot the State Senate?)... But I digress...

Read the full story by clicking below...

Basically, our friend Martha says what instructional materials to use, or we kill your funding...the moral equivalent of "give me your lunch money or I beat you up"

Nice....

Embattled California board of education names president
All Other News | National News | News
By JIM SANDERS
The California Board of Education took steps Wednesday to maintain business as usual in the wake of a political snub in which Democrats stripped its funding from the state's new budget.

The dispute stems from differing views over how best to educate students from immigrant families who are not proficient in English.

Kenneth Noonan, superintendent of the Oceanside Unified School District, was elected unanimously to serve as president of the 11-member state board, which helps set education policy.

Noonan replaces Glee Johnson, who abruptly quit the board on June 30, the same day that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a budget that did not include any money for the board's staff.

The board also opted Wednesday to continue an informal financial arrangement designed to provide breathing room for Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders to resolve the funding dispute.

Temporarily, the state Department of Education and the Governor's Office will split the tab for board staff, with the department bankrolling its three civil servants and the Governor's Office paying for Executive Director Roger Magyar and his management team.

Magyar said the total tab would be roughly $95,000 to $105,000 if the dispute was not resolved until Aug. 31, the last day of the legislative session.

The Board of Education also voted 6-2, with two abstentions, to oppose Senate Bill 1769, which would have restored the panel's lost $1.6 million in funding but forced the board to accept proposed instructional materials for English language learners.

In April, the board had rejected those instructional materials, angering the Legislature's Latino Caucus. Democrats responded by stripping the board's funding from the budget bill.

Sen. Martha Escutia, a Whittier Democrat who chairs the Legislature's Latino Caucus and proposed SB 1769, said Wednesday that she was not surprised by the board's vote to oppose it.

"The board has never been very supportive of English language learners," she said. "They have not done anything that's practical, makes sense, is flexible and is aimed at benefiting English language learners."