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Lodi Unified School District drops diversity group

By Amanda Dyer
News-Sentinel Staff Writer
Updated: Saturday, March 1, 2008 6:18 AM PST
Comments (32 comment(s))

Lodi Unified officials have decided not to renew the contract with a controversial, diversity consulting group, but officials say the district's work with equity is far from over.

"It's time to have a different approach to the same goal," said Len Casanega, interim superintendent at Lodi Unified School District.

For the past four years, the Pacific Educational Group provided district staff, teachers and classified employees with a series of training sessions to help them close the achievement gap between white students and students of color.

Calls to the Pacific Educational Group late Friday afternoon were not returned.

During the past four years, Lodi Unified paid between $200,000 and $240,000 total to the Pacific Educational Group.

Pacific Educational Group also helped the district set up equity teams at both the district and school level.

Members of those teams went through Pacific Educational Group's training and then passed that training along to their colleagues.

Ken Davis, president of the district's school board, said he feels that the Pacific Educational Group provided a strong foundation on which the district could continue its work with equity.

He said he expects that the individual school equity teams will be able to pick up where Pacific Educational Group left off.

"Certainly we're going to continue the work," Davis said.

Casanega said district staff hopes to provide teachers with strategies that they can use in the classroom almost immediately.

He went on to say that some things in Pacific Educational Group's training may have caused a defensiveness in some people.

"People are working hard," Casanega said. "They're not trying to not help students."

The district had been talking about not renewing the contract for quite some time, Casanega said, but did not officially decide until a few weeks ago.

Casanega said the district has canceled some of the scheduled training sessions with the group. The few training sessions that are left will finish up in the next several weeks.

Davis noted that because of the district's efforts to close the achievement gap, the state decided to go easy on Lodi Unified.

Though the district is in its third year of program improvement under the No Child Left Behind Act, Davis said state officials decided that Lodi Unified needed only the very least amount of state monitoring.

Contact reporter Amanda Dyer at amandad@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Cogito wrote on Mar 7, 2008 2:46 AM:

" Finally, it's my kid and my money when it comes to vouchers. The government has already failed at schooling. If you want to keep your kids there, fine. But stop forcing others to do the same. It's un -American. "

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Cogito wrote on Mar 7, 2008 2:42 AM:

" Stkngal, it's not apples and oranges, it's manna and manure. "

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Cogito wrote on Mar 7, 2008 2:40 AM:

" I think that those who choose to hold down the exceptional in order to mainstream the marginal will be the downfall of our great nation. People who fail to try and keep the U.S. at the economic and educational peak are bad for our country. We have always been a nation who hates to be second place, but it sounds to me some people are happy to let others take over. I hope future generations will forgive your ignorance. That will be your legacy, not mine! "

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Lodian wrote on Mar 7, 2008 12:02 AM:

" So, do private schools do anything for a child with special needs, even if it's only something like ADHD? If not, that is discriminatory. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 6, 2008 8:45 PM:

" I have a relative who at one time spoke highly of vouchers, but then later his child was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Guess where his child go to school? Public school and he receives speech therapy, occupational therapy, and a personal teacher assistant.
I believe in school choice. Parents and students should have choices, but public funding need to stay in public institutions. Under NCLB, students in low performing schools have the right to switch to another public school that has better scores and ranking. Ironically, only a few switch. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 6, 2008 8:30 PM:

" We should have the balance between US education and Japanese. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 6, 2008 8:28 PM:

" Cogito:laugh as much as you can, but the reality is that you can't compare apples with oranges. When you have a child who seriously needs special education, private schools will not take him/her because they are not equipped to serve that child. Some children do well in private schools, some do better in public schools. It depends on the student's learning style. Some students should be homeschooled.Having said that, I maintain that public funding should stay in public schools where all the services are provided. About the Japanese, many of their youth are overstressed.We should have the balanc "

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Cogito wrote on Mar 6, 2008 7:46 PM:

" Stkngal, so you would require the teachers in the schools the Kennedy children,Chelsea Clinton, et al, go to to meet the same standards as public schools? I don't know if that statement is more hilarious, or more pathetic. "

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sam wrote on Mar 6, 2008 4:02 PM:

" Giovanina Mar 6, 2008 6:58 AM:

GREAT comment ! "

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Giovanina wrote on Mar 6, 2008 6:58 AM:

" And Steve- I agree about the illegal invasion. Sorry it isn't immigration, as there is a process for that. This is an illegal invasion of a country and it is messing this country up. "

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Giovanina wrote on Mar 6, 2008 6:56 AM:

" Stkngal-" You can't take advice from a teacher from Japan to apply in the U.S. Different culture and different society. Children there are not allowed to make choices whereas U.S. children are trained to be independent thinkers."

Sorry you are wrong. These Japanese kids are being trained to be independent thinkers. Our problem is too many parents and teachers treat our kids as though they are already independent thinkers, when they have not been trained. This is why when you bring a Japanese person to our "diverse and different culture", they are more successful than us. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 5, 2008 9:41 PM:

" Also, because of the demand for teachers who have CLAD credentials, there's a shortcut to get them. Teachers only have to take 3-4 classes after their main credentials and take the CLAD test for this type of supplimental credentials. That's hardly properly train them to teach ESL in general. Like all subjects, teachers learn on the job. No college teaches them classroom management, discipline, or even curriculum. They learn mostly theory in their education program. Continuous professional development, experience, and a lot of compassion would help. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 5, 2008 9:26 PM:

" CLAD credentials supposedly prepare teachers to teach English to the limited English kids as a subject. Having CLAD does not prepare them to build relationships with their diverse student body or understand where these underprivileged kids come from. People think teaching is only about subject matter, but when teachers/parents/students don't have respect or empathy for each other, no learning can happen. "

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SpamalotFan wrote on Mar 5, 2008 6:46 AM:

" Aren't the LUSD teachers all CLAD credentialled? If so, they've had the extensive training already that Pacific Education Group is trying to provide. A big waste of money and no credit given to the teachers for what they already have been taught! "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 4, 2008 11:48 PM:

" I'd only vote for vouchers when and if private schools are required to follow the same guidelines as public schools have to operate under. That means they must admit any student who walks in their door and being tested yearly and ranked under NCLB Act. Otherwise it would be an unfair competition. Comparing private schools to public schools is like comparing apples and oranges. "

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JACKMAX wrote on Mar 3, 2008 9:36 PM:

" Maybe take some pictures. "

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JACKMAX wrote on Mar 3, 2008 9:33 PM:

" I like what steve said maybe we could learn somthing from the japanese. "

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steve wrote on Mar 3, 2008 6:40 AM:

" Japan is a closed society, they have little or no immigration. The citizens of Japan do not have to support illegal immigrants, tax dollars are mostly spent on their own people. "

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Cogito wrote on Mar 2, 2008 10:36 PM:

" stkngal, with vouchers, all schools will compete for students, whether public or private. Poor kids will not be forced to go to low performing neighborhood schools, which is why you will find your biggest support there. Private schools can already do all the things you say, or not do them, so nothing changes there. Read what one of the greatest minds of the last century, Milton Friedman, has to say on this subject. He dedicated a large portion of his later years to the study of how vouchers are needed to save our schools from themselves. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 2, 2008 9:55 PM:

" Also, Cogito, private schools might not even take the voucher of a child who has a discipline record or whose parents have a criminal record. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 2, 2008 9:51 PM:

" Cogito:Private schools might look better because they can pick and choose their students. They can discriminate children with learning disabilities and children who are still learning English. Until private schools have to follow the same guidelines as public schools; which means accepting any child who walks in and providing special services to meet needs of different children, and be ranked and penalized under No Child Left Behind, vouchers will only take away more money from public schools and drive them further into despair. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 2, 2008 9:41 PM:

" Plaintired: I'm a teacher at a school where there are not many Caucasian students too. We all work hard and get overwhelmed at times with the issues we're facing. However, I feel that we need to work smarter instead of harder. We have too many children whose life is in disarray, and we don't know how to connect with them because we are too focused on getting our tasks done and do not take time to get to know them and their parents. Emotion drives learning & teaching. "

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Cogito wrote on Mar 2, 2008 9:33 PM:

" Jeff, how do you explain the "have nots" being those most in favor of vouchers? Why don't you have an original thought instead of thinking what your union tells you to think. Having a voucher that allows you to take your child out of a bad public school and put them in a better public or private school would empower poor people, not suppress them. Rich people already put their children in the top private schools. They already have a huge advantage over those institutionalized in the failure of public education. "

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plaintired wrote on Mar 2, 2008 2:32 PM:

" As a teacher I know that we care greatly about our students regardless of the color of their skin. Many of us do not even have any "white" students in our classes. We are all working very hard to give our students the best education we are capable of giving. Have you ever rally spoken to a teacher to find out how much time and effort they spend on their job? This is not a job someone takes on when they care more about themselves! "

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jeff wrote on Mar 2, 2008 8:55 AM:

" I don't see vouchers 'solving' the education woes in the US. I think all vouchers will do is further the divide between 'haves' and 'havenots' "

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Cogito wrote on Mar 2, 2008 1:43 AM:

" School vouchers is the only answer, but our education system lacks the integrity to ever admit their inadequacies. We'll never see whats best for the students as long as administrators and teachers care about themselves more. Which will never happen. Once again, the inmates are in charge of the asylum. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 1, 2008 8:35 PM:

" You can't take advice from a teacher from Japan to apply in the U.S. Different culture and different society. Children there are not allowed to make choices whereas U.S. children are trained to be independent thinkers. Family support in the U.S. is no longer strong as it was in the past. The 3 R's in schools need to be about Rigor, Relevance, and Relationship. Too many rules imposed by politicians make learning nowadays very irrelevant. There's no rigor due to high stakes testing, and certainly relationships between parents/teachers/students are difficult when the fingers are pointing at each other. "

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stkngal wrote on Mar 1, 2008 8:26 PM:

" Equity training needs to continue but in a different way than what the previous training was providing. Teachers need concrete strategies on how to connect with students of diverse backgrounds. It is not about racism. Most teachers work hard but do not understand where kids come from and how to support them in their quest of learning. The Pacific Educational Group emphasized too much on institutional racism that caused feeling of defensiveness and resentment. "

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Jeff wrote on Mar 1, 2008 2:27 PM:

" Wow, Giovanina, you to PROVED it, huh? Do tell how you PROVED it... "

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Giovanina wrote on Mar 1, 2008 12:11 PM:

" Why does LUSD continue to say that the gap is between blacks and whites, and hispanics and whites, when the top scoring group is Filipino, and not white? I can see the "Cultural Revisionist" and speech police are still in control. It needs to stop or scores will not go up. A few weeks ago, I met a teacher from Japan. She was from Stockton's sister city. Our discussion proved that conservative admins and educators with strict discipline works best, Socialist libs, secular-progressives, and Berkeley-ites don't. "

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commonsense wrote on Mar 1, 2008 7:53 AM:

" The $1000 decision!! Just hope they can put that money into a teacher to reduce class sizes. "

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Observer wrote on Mar 1, 2008 7:37 AM:

" Good move LUSD. Casanega may have earned his raise in this move alone. "

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