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Public education was accessible to kids from all neighborhoods and walks of life. However, recent budget cuts across the board have left many schools scrambling to find ways to fund their programs and extracurricular activities. For many California schools, this means charging fees for gym uniforms and examinations. However, these fees break state laws regarding public education, and many families are up in arms about the practice.

Calling in the ACLU

According to a recent report in the , 35 school districts across California have been named in a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) for charging fees to students that violate state law. The ACLU's legal director in Southern California, Mark Rosenbaum told the Times, "We found that the charging of fees for required academic courses is rampant." Two unnamed plaintiffs are involved in the suit, with both attending high school in Orange County.

The lawsuit comes on the heels of an investigation by the San Diego Union-Tribune, which found that schools in San Diego Unified were openly charging fees, as outlined on their district's website. The Education Report says that charging fees in California schools is illegal, according to a California Supreme Court ruling in 1984.

Despite the state law, many schools have decided to overcome budget shortfalls by charging students and their parents for extracurricular actiities, athletic uniforms, and even Advanced Placement examinations.

This video posits the question of whether public schools are really

Los Angeles is leading the pack with teacher ratings designed to better evaluate teachers' performance despite variables like parental involvement and income levels. The tests, coined "value-added" evaluations, look at the progression of each individual student when providing teacher ratings rather than simply applying standardized test scores across the board.

According to a report in the , these value-added tests were used to evaluate teacher performance in both math and reading for third, fourth, and fifth-grade teachers across the Los Angeles Unified School District. How well did the teachers score?

Making the Grade

According to a report on (NPR), the original value-added evaluations were conducted by two investigative reporters at the Los Angeles Times: Jason Felch and Jason Song. The two compiled standardized test scores on every Los Angeles school district child for the past seven years. The reporters could conduct a comprehensive analysis of teacher performance using the data collected on the test scores and the teachers. The findings on 6,000 California teachers were published in the Los Angeles Times, along with the data that showed how well students performed on standardized tests.

A report in the Los Angeles Times explained that the value-added portion of the evaluation was based on a student's individual performance on initial tests and how that performance improved or backtracked. A student's improvement in school could be directly linked to the performance of his teachers, making this assessment much

School districts across the country have been forced to slash budgets, cut programs and even fire teachers during the recent economic slowdown. However, that reality hasn't stopped one lavish Los Angeles school from opening its doors this fall. According to a report at , the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools will open to students for the first time this school year. The final price tag on the mega-complex? More than one-half billion dollars!

With this monumental price tag, the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools campus enjoys the distinction of being the most expensive public school in the country. While some are excited about the opportunities the school will offer, others are furious about such lavish spending at a time when state governments and individuals are being forced to tighten their belts.

An article in The National Ledger reports that California residents, as well as citizens across the country, are angry about the opening of the school in the midst of teachers being cut from payrolls and public services ending in the Los Angeles area.

This video reports on the opening of the Los Angeles School District's Robert F. Kennedy School.

A Brief History into the Pricey School

The Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools are located on the precise site where the Ambassador Hotel once stood. This hotel was the scene where presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy's assassination

Historically, vocational training was often viewed as a "fallback" plan for high school students who struggled in a traditional academic setting. However, today's students are beginning to tune into the benefits of vocational high school, from jumpstarting a career in various industries to becoming the first step toward a degree in a specific sector. Consider the latest information about vocational high schools to determine whether this might be a savvy step in your academic career.

This video describes how vocational training gives students real experiences.

Opportunities In Vocational Training

According to a report at , vocational training prepares high school students to move into a high-paying, skilled job much more quickly. Many vocational programs also include the necessary certification for different jobs, giving students graduating from these schools an advantage when they enter the job market.

Much vocational training is hands-on, which means that in addition to appealing to different types of learners, these programs offer the specific experience needed to land a job and begin working almost immediately after graduation.

In the last several decades, the popularity of vocational high schools has declined. Many of these schools offer training in production and manufacturing, which no longer offers as many job opportunities for students.

However, vocational schools are currently in the process of transforming from programs of the past to programs of the future. Some of the new offerings at