LA’S SCHOOLS AND OTHER MUSINGS-“John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count of Anjou, to the archbishop, bishops, abbots, earls, barons, justiciaries, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greetings:”
In addition to being the first day of summer school, and the due date of the State Budget, Monday marked the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta (graphic left) at the meadow of Runnymede. Anybody who knows the stories of Robin Hood knows what a dastardly dude King John was – and on June 15th, 1215 a group of barons forced John to see the error of his ways and the pure vision of their own.
The barons weren’t exactly democrats – and their thinking wasn’t really original …and John’s acquiescence wasn’t entirely voluntary. But that said, constitutional democracy had to start somewhere-and-at-some-time – and that June day and that meadow in a bend of the River Thames got the honor.
4LAKids has limited resources and as much as we would like to cite the British Museum or the Ashmolean Library, Wikipedia tells us the name Runnymede may be derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'runieg' (regular meeting) and 'mede' (mead or meadow), describing a place in the meadows used to hold regular meetings. The Witan, Witenagemot or Council of the Anglo-Saxon Kings of the 7th to 11th centuries was held from time to time at Runnymede during the reign of Alfred the Great. The Council met usually in the open air. This political organ was transformed in succeeding years, influencing the creation of England's 13th century parliament.
The monument on the meadow says: “In these Meads on 15th June 1215 King John at the instance of Deputies from the whole community of the Realm granted the Great Charter the earliest of constitutional documents whereunder ancient and cherished customs were confirmed abuses redressed and the administration of justice facilitated new provisions formulated for the preservation of peace and every individual perpetually secured in the free enjoyment of his life and property.”
Magna Carta says: "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land. To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice."
The 1,400+ year old Ankerwycke Yew, on the left bank of the river, is also a possible site where Magna Carta may have been sealed. The sacred tree could have been the location of the Witan council and may well have been the preferred neutral meeting place of King John and the barons.
Henry VIII is said to have met Anne Boleyn under that tree in the 1530s. The wood from yew trees was an English military secret weapon in the latter middle ages; English archers had superior firepower because of longbows crafted from yew. Shakespeare notwithstanding – the Battle of Agincourt was not won by bluff King Hal’s superior rhetoric on the morn of St. Crispian, but by English bowmen. But enough English History for this week!●●●
MONDAY’S EDITION OF BUSINESS WEEK is a longform essay all about code and coding – and if your eyes are glazing over and you are already skipping down to find where the education news starts you are exactly the target audience! If you were flummoxed by MiSiS or ISIS or iPads and all of this technology stuff go pick up a copy or read it online. It is well written and fairly accessible – though parts of it are written in code and not exactly easy reading.
The article doesn’t tell you everything you need to know – and it ventures into more than you probably wanted to know …but you need to know these things.
If you are a member of the Board of Education of the City of Los Angeles or the General Superintendent thereof- or have an office or a cubicle on the 24th floor of 333 S. Beaudry - it should be required reading. It will be on the test – a test the Los Angeles Unified School District is already failing.●●●
Following is the set-up/introduction: The Man in the Taupe Blazer. If it doesn’t get you interested I’m sorry: There’s a battle outside and it’s ragin’; it’s already shaking your windows and rattling your walls.
LAST TUESDAY I TESTIFIED IN SACRAMENTO at an Assembly committee hearing [http://t.co/Gyc2S0jv9j] surrounded by a contagion of children with only red t-shirts and their parents best intentions protecting them from mumps, measles, rubella, tetanus polio and pertussis while exchanging texts with a colleague at the similarly interminable LAUSD board meeting. I’m pretty sure we reached no conclusion as to which was the greater waste of the most time – with the only comfort coming from Winston Churchill, safely in his grave: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”●●●
THE STATE BUDGET IS SUPPOSED TO BE COMPLETE BY MONDAY – or more correctly: There will be a vote Monday on a $117.5 billion spending plan that increases social spending for the poor …even though Gov. Jerry Brown hasn't signed off. ●The two Democratic leaders say it’s a responsible budget that sets aside money for a rainy day, pays down debt and boosts schools; but they need to get Brown's blessing to spend an additional $749 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1. ●Brown is reluctant on new spending on welfare, health care and child care; he and Republicans are concerned that the state won't collect so much in taxes. ●That sounds more like wishing+hoping and little like giving+taking. This means that even if a budget is passed on the Monday deadline – “negotiations” will continue in the days ahead – as practiced with the veto pen and the blue pencil.
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Superintendent Cortines released his $8 billion budget plan Thursday.
Now LAUSD will begin its public budget process in earnest in a couple special board meetings and a LCAP hearing, all very last minute - as it has been and shall forever be. The 4LAKids quote o’ th’ week is: “LAUSD Legislative Liaison Pedro Salcido said the district plans to do a better job of funneling the money to the students for whom it’s intended” …whether this draft budget hits-or-misses the mark will be the subject of the debate.
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“Given by our hand in the meadow that is called Runnymede, between Windsor and Staines, on the fifteenth day of June in the seventeenth year of our reign.”
¡Onward/Adelante!
(Scott Folsom is a parent and parent leader in LAUSD. He is the former President of Los Angeles 10th District PTSA and represents PTA as Vice-chair the LAUSD Construction Bond Citizen's Oversight Committee. Scott is a member of the California State PTA Board on Managers. He blogs at the excellent 4 LA Kids … where this perspective was originally posted.)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 13 Issue 49
Pub: Jun 16, 2015
