Classes will focus on what’s easy to grow, how to choose what to plant and how to keep your crops alive and thriving! Admission and parking are free.

Visitors can attend any or all of the workshops held at the Great Park Farm + Food Lab on the first Thursday of every month from May through October, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., rain or shine. This series was developed as part of a Health and Wellness partnership between the City of Irvine Senior Services and the Orange County Great Park to teach adults how to grow their own fresh, healthy food.

The Gardening for Adults Workshops include:

Edibles You Can Plant Now
May 3, 2012
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

What do you like to eat? What’s easy to grow? Learn how to choose what to plant and how to keep it alive and thriving!

Food Preserving
June 7, 2012
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Enjoy the fruits of your garden year round. UCCE Master Food Preservers will teach you the basics of food preserving.

Pest Management
July 5, 2012
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Learn Integrated Pest Management (IPM) techniques to control insect and rodent pests using “least toxic” methods.

Start Your Seeds
August 2, 2012
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Increase your garden variety and decrease your cost by learning the basics of seed starting at home.

Composting
September 6, 2012
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Use your kitchen and garden waste to supercharge your soil. Learn how to choose an effective compost bin and composting materials.

Gardening Q&A
October 4, 2012
5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.

Don’t let garden issues bring you down. Ask the experts! A panel of previous workshop speakers will be available to answer any gardening questions you may have. Note: “Gardening Q & A” will be held at the Rancho Senior Center, 3 Ethel Coplen Way, Irvine.

The Orange County Great Park is located at Sand Canyon and Marine Way, and can easily be reached by the 5 or 405 freeways. For more information, visit, please visit www.ocgp.org or call 949-724-6800.

About the City of Irvine:
Since its incorporation in 1971, Irvine has become a nationally recognized city, with a population of 219,156, spans 65 square miles and is recognized as one of America’s safest and most successful master-planned urban communities. Top-rated educational institutions, an enterprising business atmosphere, sound environmental stewardship, and respect for diversity all contribute to Irvine’s enviable quality of life. This family-friendly city features more than 16,000 acres of parks, sports fields and dedicated open space and is the home of the Orange County Great Park – the first great metropolitan park of the 21st century. For more information, please visit cityofirvine.org.

About the Great Park:
The Orange County Great Park, with its approximately 1,300-acre master plan, is the focal point of the redevelopment of the publicly-owned portion of the 4,700-acre former Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro. The Great Park features an iconic tethered helium balloon that rises 400 feet in the air, providing an aerial view of Park development. Other features include the Carousel, Farm + Food Lab, Kids Rock Playground, Walkable Timeline, Palm Court Arts Complex, North Lawn recreation area and historic Hangar 244. The South Lawn lighted soccer fields and Community Garden will be added in the next phase of construction. For more information go to www.ocgp.org.

UCCE Master Gardener Volunteer Program:
UCCE Master Gardeners play an instrumental role in educating the citizens of Orange County on the proper use of pesticides and fertilizers in home gardens and the important link proper use has to the quality of local channels, creeks, and beaches. Over 300 strong, UCCE Master Gardeners provide an effective conduit for the dissemination of science-based information to people of all ages. Annually, Master Gardeners provide over 12,000 hours of educational contacts per year on topics ranging from planning a school garden to safely controlling insects. Through various venues, volunteers donate over 4,000 hours per year to county residents.

VERTE, which translates to green in many languages, was created to recognize environmental champions who have grown a local program in just two years to reach over 66,000 students in over 100 schools across 19 states, Canada and Australia. The event, now in its second year, will also raise money and awareness for Grades of Green's vision to make environmental protection second nature in young minds.

Environmental advocate and former educator, Ranae DeSantis, will be honored for her unwavering support of Grades of Green and the environment. Grades of Green will also honor Wells Fargo for bringing Grades of Green's program to numerous inner-city schools and the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County for sponsoring a Trash Free Lunch Challenge that will result in 10,000 bags of trash being diverted from landfills annually.

JD Roth, executive producer of ABC Daytime's "The Revolution," as well as long-running television series "The Biggest Loser" and "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition," will host the evening's festivities. Grades of Green students and educators will provide live demonstrations at "Eco-Stations" that highlight Grades of Green key programs, such as In-Class Composting, Trash Free Lunches, and Walk to School Wednesdays, and will explain how guests can take Grades of Green's free and easy to use templates to bring to their own schools.

"The impact Grades of Green has had on our school is profound," stated Dawnyell Goolsby, principal of Warren Lane Elementary. "Since launching Grades of Green's Trash Free Lunch activity, our school has reduced the number of lunch time trash bags from eight to four. Its educational activities are also teaching our students how to compost, which will reduce the number of trash bags even more!"

For more information on the event, or to purchase a ticket, go to gradesofgreen.ejoinme.org/?tabid=339232 .

About Grades of Green:

Grades of Green is an international nonprofit 501(c)3 that provides parents, students and educators with free instruction on its website. Anyone wanting to implement sustainability programs can register their school online – at no cost – to get tips and measure their success on reducing trash, emissions, harmful classroom chemicals, plus dozens of other ways to help the environment. Grades of Green has been honored with many awards, including the U.S. EPA's prestigious Environmental Award. The nonprofit is growing rapidly, with over 66,000 students enrolled across 19 states and Canada and Australia, including many low-income schools.

Additionally, Grades of Green recently partnered with Republic Services to provide environmental education on recycling and composting to nearly 1,100 schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District. Grades of Green's goal is simple – to enroll thousands of schools with millions of kids- all caring for the environment and collectively making a difference.

For more information, please go to www.gradesofgreen.org .

Copyright © 2012 CaliforniaNewswire® and Neotrope®. California Newswire is a publication of the Neotrope News Network and a U.S. reg. TM of Neotrope.

“Every parent should have confidence that their local school is a safe and nurturing environment for their children. Because a school board is ultimately responsible for ensuring a safe learning environment, the school board should be empowered to act decisively to protect children,” said Senator Padilla

During the past several months there has been a series of allegations of child sexual abuse throughout the state. Under current law, school boards in California are not empowered to make the final decision on whether a teacher, principal or any other certificated employee should be dismissed. SB 1530 would give that power to school boards in cases where there are serious and credible allegations or evidence of sex offenses, violence, or sale, use or exchange to minors of controlled substances.

“SB 1530 carefully and narrowly modifies the dismissal process in cases of sex, violence and drugs. It would empower school boards to act decisively to protect children while maintaining important due process rights,” Padilla said.

In cases involving sex, violence or drug offenses, SB 1530 would:

* Allow school boards to place an employee on unpaid leave after a motion of dismissal
* Require appeal hearings be conducted by an Administrative Law Judge whose decision would be advisory to the school board
* Allow evidence older than 4 years to be considered
* Eliminate prohibition of dismissals during the summer months
* Empower school boards to make the final decision on dismissal.

Senator Alex Padilla, 39, graduated from MIT with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He currently serves on the Board of MIT. He is Chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee and represents the more than 900,000 residents of the 20th State Senate District which includes most of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

“New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago each have their own school governance structures,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “But all three of us understand that mayors must engage in education issues because the health of a city is undeniably linked to the health of its schools.”

Race to the Top is a U.S. Department of Education competitive grant program designed to encourage and reward states that are creating the conditions for education innovation and reform. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 requires schools receiving federal funding to administer a state-wide standardized test annually to all students.

The Race to the Top grant competition and NCLB waivers are currently available only to states, and California is not participating in either program. A NCLB waiver for LAUSD will allow the District to get out from under the restrictions of a flawed system and to focus federal resources where they are needed most.

Mayor Villaraigosa asked Secretary Duncan for his support during the forum “Education Now: Cities at the Forefront of Reform.” The Mayors and Superintendents from Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York joined Secretary Duncan for a panel discussion Friday, March 2nd from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM ET at American University in Washington D.C. The discussion was moderated by Andrea Mitchell, host of MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports.

Collectively, these three school systems affect nearly 2.5 million students, 77% of whom are poor and 88% of whom are of color. This gathering brought together the reform-minded leaders of America’s three largest cities and their school districts to engage in a dialogue about their challenges and successes.

All three mayors, Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, and Michael Bloomberg of New York, are at the forefront of education reform in the U.S. and have pursued similar goals, including reducing bureaucracy, improving student learning, and providing parents with better choices.

In Los Angeles, Mayor Villaraigosa has implemented several innovative programs that have resulted in improved test scores and teacher effectiveness since taking office in 2005.

He created a non-profit called the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools which today helps run 22 of the lowest performing schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District, serving more than 17,000 students.

Mayor Villaraigosa also fought for more choices for parents in the LAUSD, increasing the number of charter schools from about 80 in 2005 to almost 200 currently, more than any other school district in the United States.

Under his leadership, Los Angeles has doubled the number of schools meeting the state’s academic goal of 800 on the Academic Performance Index (API). In 2005, approximately one of every three L.A. schools had an API score that was below 650. Today, just one in 10 schools has a score below 650.

Also participating in “Education Now: Cities at the Forefront of Reform” were Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy, New York City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, and Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard.

In conjunction with this visit, the U.S. Department of State announced new private sector pledges and events in support of the 100,000 Strong Initiative, which seeks to increase the number and diversify the composition of Americans studying in China.

* New Funding for Americans Promoting Study Abroad: Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA) is a non-profit that sends U.S. public high school students from underserved communities to study in China. With the support of the Initiative, APSA will receive more than $500,000 to expand its programs from Corning, Motorola Mobility, the i.am.angel foundation and the Roche Family Foundation. The Bank of China also independently pledged $315,000 to send additional students to China with APSA. Together, these grants will help send more than 100 American public high school students to study in China.

* $350,000 in New Pledges from Wanxiang: Since January 2011, Wanxiang Group has independently pledged $4.5 million to programs that support the Initiative’s goals, including for the Chicago Public School System, Northwestern University, and the University of Michigan. New grants pledged this week include $150,000 to the Committee of 100, which will send teachers from the San Francisco Bay area on a study tour in China, and $200,000 to ISLC to send students from Los Angeles County to China this summer.

* i.am.angel foundation Honors 100,000 Strong: At its inaugural Trans4m concert, which brought together leaders in the entertainment, technology, and philanthropy sectors for an evening of music, the i.am.angel foundation, led by The Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, honored the Initiative and encouraged others to enhance educational opportunities for underserved youth. will.i.am serves as a cultural ambassador for the Initiative.

“One in four of all K-12 students in California is an English Learner and only one in ten is successfully reclassified to English proficient on an annual basis. It has become painfully obvious that we are failing to adequately teach English to the vast majority of these students. I’m appalled that nearly half of all English Learners never graduate from high school,” said Senator Padilla. “This committee will raise awareness and focus policy on how best to help California students learn English and be college and career ready,” he added.

English Learners are students whose primary language is not English and who fail to pass the California English Language Development Test (CELDT).

• 89% of all English Learner students do not reach English proficiency annually
• 49% do not graduate from high school
• 87% do not go to college
• 60% of English Learner students come from families who live in poverty

Senator Padilla introduced three bills today to help reform California’s English Learner system — SB 1109 would create a statewide master plan for English Learners, SB 1108 would improve the successful transition of English Learners to mainstream classrooms, and SB 754 would focus attention on “Long Term English Learners”; students who, after several years of instruction, are still not considered English proficient.

“I introduced these bills because it is imperative that we reform the English Learner system. Grim performance data confirms that California schools are not meeting the academic needs of these students. It is both a moral and economic imperative that we do better. California’s workforce of tomorrow is in our classrooms today,” added Padilla.

Senator Alex Padilla represents more than 900,000 residents of the 20th State Senate District which includes most of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

The Showcase, a partnership between the U.S. Department of State and USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, brings award-winning American films, including documentaries, feature films and animated shorts, to foreign audiences through events worldwide. Filmmakers and film experts will discuss the films and conduct workshops and master classes on a variety of issues related to filmmaking and film scholarship.

The American Film Showcase builds on Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s vision of “smart power diplomacy,” which embraces the use of a full range of diplomatic tools – in this case film – to bring people together and foster greater understanding.

Comprised of 29 American films, the Showcase represents work of high artistic quality, illustrates diverse viewpoints, and reflects contemporary American society and culture. In addition to presenting the films to overseas audiences, the filmmakers and film experts will also conduct lectures, workshops, master classes on a variety of topics including filmmaking, storytelling, cinematography, marketing, distribution and funding, animation, digital technology, and emergent media, among others.

The 2012 American Film Showcase includes the following films:

Documentary Films:

1. CALAVERA HIGHWAY – Director: Renee Tajima-Peña

Website: www.calaverahighway.org/Calavera_Highway/Home.html

2. CATFISH – Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman

Website: www.iamrogue.com/catfish

3. CONNECTED – Director: Tiffany Shlain

Website: connectedthefilm.com/

4. ELEVATE – Director: Anne Buford

Website and Trailer: elevatethemovie.com/

5. FOOD INC. – Director: Robert Kenner

Website: www.foodincmovie.com/

6. FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE – Director: Jim Bigham

Website: 4onceinmylife.com/proyecto/

7. GASLAND – Director: Josh Fox

Website: www.gaslandthemovie.com/

8. THE INTERRUPTERS – Director: Steve James

Website: interrupters.kartemquin.com/

9. MAD HOT BALLROOM – Director: Marilyn Agrelo

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5wEb_3S2VM

10. REBIRTH – Director: Jim Whitaker

Website: www.projectrebirth.org/

11. REVENGE OF THE ELECTRIC CAR – Director: Chris Paine

Website and Trailer: www.revengeoftheelectriccar.com/

12. SHAKESPEARE HIGH – Director: Alex Rotaru

Website and Trailer: shakespearehigh.org/

13. SPELLBOUND – Director: Jeffrey Blitz

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkbJWZvBVvk

14. SWEETGRASS – Director: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Ilisa Barbash

Website: sweetgrassthemovie.com/

15. TO BE HEARD – Directors: Amy Sultan, Roland Legiardi-Laura, Edwin Martinez, Deborah Shaffer

Website: www.tobeheard.org/

16. UNDEFEATED – Director: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin

Website and Trailer: weinsteinco.com/sites/undefeated/

17. WE STILL LIVE HERE – Director: Anne Makepeace

Website: www.makepeaceproductions.com/wampfilm.html

18. WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR – Director: Chris Paine

Website: www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

19. WO AI NI MOMMY – Director: Stephanie Wang-Breal

Website: www.woainimommy.com

Documentary Shorts:

1. LIBRARY OF DUST – Director: Ondi Timoner

Website: libraryofdustmovie.com/Welcome.html

2. PHANTOM LIMB – Director: Jay Rosenblatt

Website and Trailer: www.jayrosenblattfilms.com/phantom_limb.php

3. PILGRIMAGE – Director: Tadashi Nakamura

Website: tadashinakamura.com/Tadashi_Nakamura/Pilgrimage.html

4. A POET’S ALZHEIMER’S (aka Translating Edwin Honig: A Poet’s Alzheimer’s) – Director: Alan Berliner

Website: www.alanberliner.com/index.html

Narrative Feature Films:

1. REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES – Director: Patricia Cardoso

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKpDifyDIp0

2. THE STRAIGHT STORY – Writer/Producer/Editor: Mary Sweeney

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OnsVDKjhpc

Animated Shorts:

1. GUARD DOG – Director: Bill Plympton

Website: www.plymptoons.com/gallery/gallery.html

2. STILL LIFE WITH ANIMATED DOGS – Director: Paul Fierlinger

Full film: www.hulu.com/watch/66691/pbs-indies-still-life-with-animated-dogs

3. THE MOON AND THE SON: AN IMAGINED CONVERSATION – Director: John Canemaker

Full film: video.baomihua.com/whw1113/4884622

4. BOTTLE – Director: Kirsten Lepore

Website: www.imdb.com/title/tt1680060/

Film Experts:

Claire Aguilar — Claire Aguilar Vice President of Programming at the Independent Television Service (ITVS).

Kate Amend — Award-winning documentary film editor whose credits include THE LONG WAY HOME and INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT.

Alan Berliner — His award-winning documentary films, THE SWEETEST SOUND, NOBODY’S BUSINESS, INTIMATE STRANGER, and THE FAMILY ALBUM (all featured on POV) have been broadcast all over the world and have been honored at top international film festivals.

Les Blank — Considered to be one of the pre-eminent documentary filmmakers of the past 50 years, according to the New York Times, “Blank is a documentarian of folk cultures who transforms anthropology into art.” His films have been a series of intimate glimpses into the lives of passionate people who live at the periphery of American society, including such titles as GARLIC IS AS GOOD AS TEN MOTHERS, SPEND IT ALL, A WELL SPENT LIFE, and GAP-TOOTHED WOMEN

Ted Braun — USC School of Cinematic Arts associate professor who teaches courses in screenwriting and motion picture script analysis. His first feature film, the documentary, DARFUR NOW, won the NAACP Image Award for best documentary of 2007, and was named one of 2007’s top five documentaries by the National Board of Review.

Patricia Cardoso — Director of the HBO feature REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES which received two awards at the Sundance Film Festival, and will be one of the AMERICAN FILM SHOWCASE feature film recommendations.

Mary Ann Doane – UC Berkeley Class of 1937 Professor of Film and Media. The author of several books, including The Desire to Desire: The Woman’s Film of the 1940s, Femmes Fatales: Feminism, Film Theory, Psychoanalysis, and The Emergence of Cinematic Time: Modernity, Contingency, the Archive.

Harrison Engle — With more than 80 films to his credit, Engle has produced specials and documentaries for nearly every broadcast network and cable company. Amongst his credits are THE LOST KENNEDY HOME MOVIES, THE INDOMITABLE TEDDY ROOSEVELT, THEY CAME TO PLAY, FUTURE FLIGHT, and many others.

Jane Gaines — Professor in the Film Program, School of the Arts at Columbia University, Jane Gaines is award-winning author of two books: Contested Culture: The Image, the Voice and the Law and Fire and Desire: Mixed Race Movies in the Silent Era.

Lynn Goldfarb – Lynn Goldfarb has produced, written and directed television specials for PBS and numerous cable networks for the past 25 years. She has also been an instructor, including teaching classes at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and in 2010, at the American Center, U.S. Embassy, Yangon, Myanmar.

Mark Harris — Co-Principal Investigator of the AMERICAN FILM SHOWCASE, he is also a Distinguished Professor and Head of Advanced Documentary Production at the USC School of Cinematic Arts where he has taught since 1983. Mark’s films have won three Academy Awards, including for Best Short Documentary for THE REDWOODS, and Best Feature Length Documentary for INTO THE ARMS OF STRANGERS: STORIES OF THE KINDERTRANSPORT, and THE LONG WAY HOME.

Judith Helfand — Documentary filmmaker whose films explore the areas of chemical exposure, corporate behavior, home, class and relationships. She is also a full-time faculty member at New York University’s Kanbar Institute of Film & Television.

Jeremy Kagan — Professor of Production in the USC Cinematic Arts program, he is a motion picture and television director whose productions have received Emmy, Cable ACE and Humanitas awards as well as nominations for a Golden Globe, Directors Guild and the NAACP.

Marsha Kinder – An SCA University Professor in Critical Studies, Kinder is a film scholar whose works on Spanish cinema, children’s media and multimedia installations have been particularly influential, as well as her books entitled Blood Cinema and Playing with Power.

Lisa Leeman — A documentary filmmaker whose film, ONE LUCKY ELEPHANT is part of the 2011 American Film Showcase package, she also teaches Documentary Producing, Writing non-fiction, Editing and Visual Communication at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Doe Mayer — Professor and Co-Head, Documentary Production Program in USC Cinematic Arts, and since 2005, she has held the endowed Mary Pickford Chair. Doe also holds a joint appointment with the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Bill Nichols — Professor in San Francisco State University’s Department of Cinema, whose areas of expertise include documentary and ethnographic film, film history and theory, Postwar American Cinema, film style, and issues of social and historical representation.

Amanda Pope — USC Cinematic Arts Production professor whose most recent film that she co-directed and produced, THE DESERT OF FORBIDDEN ART (shot entirely in Uzbekistan), has already received several international awards including the CINE Golden Eagle, and was an Official Selection at the United National Association Festival, and has been shown on PBS.

Anayansi Prado — An experienced filmmaker with numerous credits, she has also served as a film expert for the American Documentary Showcase in Angola this year, and as a filmmaker in Singapore and Burma in 2009.

Michael Renov – Professor of Critical Studies and Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at SCA, Renov is a documentary scholar and co-founder of Visible Evidence, an international and highly interdisciplinary documentary studies conference begun in 1993. He is the author or editor of seven books including The Subject of Documentary and Theorizing Documentary.

B. Ruby Rich — Professor, Social Documentation at the University of California, Santa Cruz, she specializes in Latin American and Latino/a cinema. U.S. Independent film and video, and feminist film history.

Jay Rosenblatt — An independent documentary filmmaker with more than 25 films to his credit, and more than 100 awards, they have been shown on HBO, Sundance Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art.

Mary Sweeney — A feature film director, writer, producer and editor whose credits include MULHOLLAND DRIVE, THE STRAIGHT STORY, BARABOO and TWIN PEAKS, she is also an associate professor in the Cinematic Division of Screenwriting

Tyger Williams — Writer and producer of the feature film, MENACE II Society, he has written over 30 screenplays for major film and television studios. He is also an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Debra Zimmerman — Debra Zimmerman has been the Executive Director of Women Make Movies, a non-profit NY based film organization that supports women filmmakers, since 1983.

Patricia Zimmermann — Professor of Cinema, Photography and Media Arts at Ithaca College, she is also the co-director of the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, and has previously held tenured positions at the University of Iowa and at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

The hearing, titled “English Proficiency as a Barrier to College Admission: The Costs of a Broken System” explored how state and federal funding shapes California’s English Learner system and whether it is meeting the needs of our students.

“This hearing provided my committee the opportunity to hear directly from education officials in the Fresno area regarding how California’s English Learner programs are working and what needs to be improved upon,” said Senator Alex Padilla.

“Forty-three years after the first law to address limited English students, we are still light years away from our goal. We are failing our young people. Now is the time to act,” said Senator Alex Padilla. “These students are California’s future and it is vital that we do everything we can to make sure they are prepared to compete in the 21st Century economy,” said Senator Alex Padilla.

“Our students’ success in acquiring English Proficiency directly impacts the future economic sustainability of our state,” said Senator Alex Padilla.

Superintendent of Fresno Unified School District Michael Hanson, Superintendent of Fresno County Office of Education Larry Powell and local education officials as well as representatives from the California Legislative Analyst’s Office, the California Department of Education and others spoke at the hearing.

Senator Padilla’s committee has focused its efforts on reforming the English Learner System. In California, 1.45 million public school students are classified as English Learners. An English Learner is a K-12 student who is deemed not proficient in English. Each year, just 11 percent of these students are reclassified Fluent English Proficient. California’s failure to successfully reclassify students English Proficient has had a negative effect on student academic outcomes. Nearly 90 percent of English Learners do not complete courses necessary for admission to a California State University or the University of California.

As a result of his efforts, Governor Jerry Brown recently signed SB 753 (Padilla) which reforms how English Learners are evaluated in California schools by moving the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) from the fall to the spring. This will provide teachers time to work with, and help students reach English proficiency for their grade level. Once reclassified as Fluent-English Proficient, students are able to participate in courses which are required for admission to both the California State University and the University of California systems.

Senator Alex Padilla represents more than 850,000 residents of the 20th State Senate District which includes most of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

The hearing, titled “English Proficiency as a Barrier to College Admission: The Costs of a Broken System” will explore how state and federal funding shapes California’s English Learner system and whether it is meeting the needs of our students.

“Our success in teaching California students English and reclassifying them Fluent English Proficient not only opens doors of opportunity for our students; it directly impacts the economic sustainability of our state,” said Senator Alex Padilla. “These young people are California’s future and it is vital that we do everything we can to make sure they are prepared to compete in the 21st Century economy,” said Senator Alex Padilla.

Senator Padilla’s committee has focused its efforts on reforming the English Learner System. In California, 1.45 million public school students are classified as English Learners. An English Learner is a K-12 student who is deemed not proficient in English. Each year, just 11 percent of these students are reclassified Fluent English Proficient. California’s failure to successfully reclassify students English Proficient has had a negative effect on student academic outcomes. Nearly 90 percent of English Learners do not complete courses necessary for admission to a California State University or the University of California.

As a result of his efforts, Governor Jerry Brown recently signed SB 753 (Padilla) which reforms how English Learners are evaluated in California schools by moving the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) from the fall to the spring. This will provide teachers time to work with, and help students reach English proficiency for their grade level. Once reclassified as Fluent-English Proficient, students are able to participate in courses which are required for admission to both the California State University and the University of California systems.

When: Tuesday, November 1, 10 a.m.

Where: Fresno Unified School District Board room, 2309 Tulare Street, Fresno

What: Senate Select Committee on College and University Admissions and Outreach

Who: Senator Alex Padilla and fellow members of the Senate Select Committee

Larry Powell, Superintendent of Fresno County Office of Education

Michael Hansen, Superintendent of Fresno Unified School District

Rachel Ehlers, Legislative Analyst Office

Carol Bingham, Senior Fiscal Policy Adviser, California Department of Education

Dr. Jaime Aquino, Deputy Superintendent, Los Angeles Unified School District

Justo Robles, California Teachers Association

Carol Bingham, Senior Fiscal Policy Adviser, California Department of Education

Monique Ramos, Legislative Representative, California Department of Education

Bob Blattner, Blattner & Associates, represents several school districts

Richard Lopez, Principal, Planada Elementary School

Cheryl Ortega, Board of Director member for Bilingual Education, UTLA

Elizabeth Guillen, Public Advocates

Maria Maldonado, Assistant Superintendent, English Learner Services of Fresno USD

Deborah Dougherty, Program Manager, San Diego USD Office of Language Acquisition

Lupe Mejia, parent and former Chair of the Fresno USD English Learner Advisory Committee

Senator Alex Padilla represents more than 850,000 residents of the 20th State Senate District which includes most of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

An English Learner is a K-12 student who is deemed not proficient in English. More than 1.4 million California K-12 students are English Learners, and only 11 percent are reclassified Fluent English Proficient each year.

“I am very pleased Governor Brown signed SB 753. California’s future workforce is in our classrooms today. We need to remove illogical, arbitrary barriers to fluency. That’s exactly what SB 753 does,” said Senator Alex Padilla.

“Forty-eight other states administer English Learner assessments in the spring,” said Senator Padilla. “By adopting the de-facto national standard we will increase the number of students who are successfully reclassified and afford them the opportunity to take A-G courses that are required for college admission,” he added.

SB 753 reforms how English Learners are evaluated in California schools by moving the California English Language Development Test (CELDT) from the fall to the spring. This will provide teachers time to work with, and help students reach English proficiency for their grade level. Most other standardized tests, such as the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exam, are administered towards the end of the academic year.

The new law will also ensure that a student is no longer required to retake portions of the CELDT for which the student has previously tested proficient within specific grade spans. Currently, students must retake sections for which they have previously tested proficient. This redundant policy is inconsistent with many other state tests, including the California High School Exit Exam and the California Basic Educational Skills Test, which determines the proficiency of teachers.

Achieving proficiency on the CELDT is the first critical step to becoming reclassified as Fluent-English Proficient. Reclassification is vital to career and college readiness. Once reclassified as Fluent-English Proficient, students are able to participate in courses which are required for admission to both the California State University and the University of California systems.

A Tomas Rivera Policy Institute study found that reclassification at any point during the middle school years was associated with improved likelihood that students would stay in the 9th grade, pass the California High School Exit Exam, take an Advanced Placement course in high school, or stay in high school. The findings suggest that furthering English-language learning has considerable potential to keep students in high school through graduation.

Senator Alex Padilla represents more than 850,000 residents of the 20th State Senate District which includes most of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.