The PDK-USC Kappan - Phi Delta Kappa

The PDK-USC Kappan
The Official Newsletter of the University of Southern CA Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa International
September 2014
Inside this Issue:
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
President’s Message
Meet the Speaker
PDK-USC Faculty Sponsor
Dinner Meeting Order Form
Meet the Board
PDK National Poll Results
PDK Spotlight
Join us October 10th for the Next Dinner Meeting
Vergara v. CA and the Future of Teacher Tenure
Speaker: Marcellus Antonio McRae, Lead Attorney for Plaintiffs
in 2003. In January 2004, Mr. McRae was
selected by Law & Politics magazine as one of
California’s “Superlawyers” in the area of
Business Litigation, based on a survey of
more than 65,000 California lawyers. He was
named in 2006 among the “New Stars, New
Worlds” by Lawdragon magazine, which
features up-and-coming talent and lawyers
with fascinating new practices.
PDK International
Mission Statement
The purpose of Phi Delta Kappa
shall be to promote quality
education, in particular, publicly
supported education, as essential
to
the
development
and
maintenance of a democratic
way of life. This purpose shall be
accomplished through research,
service, and leadership in
education.
2014-15
Executive Board
President: Dr. Nick Nichols
VP/Membership: Dr. Ira Berman
VP/Programs: Dr. Guillermina Jauregui
VP/Projects: Sinar Lomeli
VP/Newsletter & Web: Dr. Isabel Morales
Secretary: Dr. Juanita Naranjo
Treasurer: Dr. Pat Whitman
Research: Dr. Ira Berman
Foundation: Jessica Santos
PDK-USC WEBSITE
www.pdk-usc.net
Advisors
Dr. Ed Robillard
Dr. Marian Fukuda
Dr. Lisa Regan
Adda Serenil
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. John Pascarella, III
Newsletter Editor
Isabel Morales
[email protected]
Before earning his law degree from Harvard
Law School, McRae earned a B.A. degree
summa cum laude in 1985 from the
University of California at Los Angeles,
where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Meet the Speaker: Marcellus Antonio
McRae was a lead attorney in the recent
Vergara v. California case, representing nine
public
schoolchildren
demanding
educational equality and equal access to
effective teachers.
McRae is a partner in the Los Angeles
office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr.
McRae’s litigation and white-collar criminal
defense practices focus on a wide variety of
business disputes, internal investigations,
and criminal prosecutions including defense
of individuals and corporations in cases
involving allegations of: financial fraud,
public corruption, violation of federal and
state environmental laws, health care fraud,
wrongful
death,
criminal
antitrust
violations, and other matters. He also
represents and advises employers in a
broad range of employment and labor
matters including gender and race
discrimination cases, wrongful termination
and
whistleblower
claims,
sexual
harassment cases, and retaliation claims.
McRae was listed among the top “20 under
40” California lawyers by the Daily Journal
MODERATOR: Dr. Katherine Strunk,
USC Rossier School of Education Professor,
writer, and frequently quoted regarding the
Vergara decision.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Dinner Meetings, 5:30pm
NEW LOCATION:
University Club
(Formerly Joyce King Stoops Library)
October 10, 2014
January 30, 2015
May 8, 2015
Board Meetings, 5:30pm
VKC Library
October 1, 2014
January 21, 2015
April 29, 2015
Adoption of Revised Chapter Bylaws
NOTICE - Voting for acceptance of PDK-USC Chapter's Revised Bylaws will be conducted at the October 10, 2014 dinner meeting
at the USC University Club following the dinner speaker's presentation, at approximately 8:00 p.m. All Chapter members in good
standing are eligible to vote. PDK International has accepted the proposed Bylaws as revised. The proposed Bylaws can be viewed
on our chapter web site: www.pdk-usc.net . If you are unable to view the proposed revised Bylaws online we can mail you a copy
by U.S. Mail. Please contact us at [email protected] or at PDK USC Chapter - P.O. Box 10339 - Torrance, CA 90505.
President’s Message – Dr. Nick Nichols
Hello USC Kappans! As the 2014-2015
school year starts, I wish everyone a
happy and healthy school year, and invite
each of you to join us at our October 10th
dinner meeting.
Our theme for this year is “From
Tradition to Tomorrow.” At our Board
retreat on August 3rd, our Advisors, as
former presidents, played a key role in
explaining the roles and expectations of
the various Board positions to the new
Board members.
Dr. Nick Nichols,
PDK-USC President
October 10th will be a very exciting
evening. This will be the first time we are
in our new dinner location at the
beautiful and elegant University Club. It
will be a momentous night, with over
twenty new members scheduled to be
inducted.
If you have a moment I encourage you
check out our October 10th speaker,
Marcellus McRae, in action, when he
made the closing arguments in the Vergara
v. California case by going to
www.studentsmatter.org, then clicking on
Our Team, next click on Marcellus
McRae, and in the body of the 2nd
paragraph there is a link to “Closing
Arguments.” It is impressive!!
See you on Friday, October 10!
Introducing PDK-USC Faculty Sponsor: Dr. John Pascarella, III
Welcome to a new and transformative
year at USC Rossier-Phi Delta Kappa
International. My name is Dr. John
Pascarella III, an Assistant Professor of
Clinical Education and Director of
Fieldwork for Academic Programs at
Rossier, as well as the Faculty Fellow in
Residence at Marks Tower in the
University Park Main Campus. Although I
never attended USC, since coming to Los
Angeles in 2010, I have been a Trojan
through and through. When Dean Karen
Symms Gallagher asked me to sponsor
our USC-PDK chapter, it was without
hesitation that I enthusiastically agreed.
Dr. John Pascarella,
PDK-USC Faculty
Sponsor
Phi Delta Kappa International has a long
and vibrant history of connecting
educators, top leaders, scholars, and
school communities in order to grow and
connect its constituents, as it shares
innovative research and best practices to
serve their students and profession. USC
Rossier aligns its mission and strategic
plan with the values of this venerable
organization and it is my privilege to
serve as your new faculty sponsor.
Rossier’s mission – to transform urban
education by leading the search for
innovative, efficacious, and just solutions
by engaging in collaborative translational
research; by preparing and developing
educational leaders who are change
agents committed to urban education and
who possess the competencies needed to
address complex educational and social
issues; and by creating mutually beneficial
partnerships to ensure our work is fieldbased and incorporates a diversity of
perspectives and experiences – is in part
realized through its collaboration and
partnership with PDK.
In my capacity as Director of Fieldwork
and Faculty Sponsor, I hope to work with
you to identify strategic partnerships with
our existing members and target new
partnerships by growing our chapter’s
membership and impact as we work
closely to refine and deepen these
purposeful relationships. Please feel free
to contact me directly, any time, to
discuss these possibilities:
[email protected] / 213-740-0159.
I’m excited to meet you and join our
meetings and events in the coming year!
Dinner Meetings 2014-2015: Join Us for an Enriching Evening
PDK-USC Dinner Meetings
Listen to an Informative Speaker
Have a Great Meal
Meet New Friends
Network
All three dinners will take place in the
University Club at King Stoops Hall, adjacent
Parking Structure D on Jefferson Blvd near
Figueroa Street
Please fill out this
form to reserve your
space at PDK-USC’s
2014-2015 Dinner
Meetings.
Each individual dinner meeting:
$45.00
* PLEASE NOTE: the cost of parking is NOT
included this year*
Purchase ALL THREE dinner
meetings in advance for the
discounted price of $126.
Mail this form with your check, made
payable to PDK-USC Chapter, to:
Sinar Lomeli, VP Projects
14050 Cherry Ave, Suite R41
Fontana, CA 92337
___ I wish to pay $126 for all three dinner
meetings.
___ I wish to pay only for the meetings
indicated below, at
$45 x _______(# of dinners) = $____:



Friday, October 10, 2014
Friday, January 30, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
___ I wish to make a $______ contribution
to the PDK-USC Chapter. I will send my
contribution to Sinar Lomeli at the address
listed on this form.
Name: ____________________________
Phone #: __________________________
PDK Membership #: __________________
(if applicable)
E-mail address: ______________________
Guest Name(s): _____________________
Sorry, all payments are non-refundable.
------------------------------------------------------------------ TEAR OFF -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Meet the 2014-15 PDK-USC Governing Board
The Results are In: PDK
National Education Poll
The 46th Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll
gauging public attitudes toward public schools
revealed that over 60% of the public supports
charter schools, despite having some
misconceptions about these schools, believing
them to be parochial institutions that cost money
to attend.
The results related to the Common Core
standards – which are a state-led effort to create
higher learning standards in kindergarten through
12th grade English and mathematics – showed the
most dramatic change from last year. In 2013,
nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed said
they had never heard of the new standards. This
year, 81% said reported having heard of them.
Sixty percent opposed the new standards,
believing that they limit the flexibility of teachers.
California is among 46 states (and the District of
Columbia) that originally adopted the standards,
which have been criticized by opponents who
allege they take local control away from schools.
Ed Robillard, Marian Fukuda, Pat Whitman, Isabel Morales, Nick Nichols, Sinar Lomeli
Lisa Regan, Juanita Naranjo, Guillermina Jauregui, Ira Berman
(not pictured: Adda Serenil and Jessica Santos)
The 46th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s
Attitudes Toward the Public Schools is available
by visiting www.pdkpoll.org (click on “2014
PDK/Gallup Poll.”
The PDK-USC Kappan
Phi Delta Kappa International
Chapter #0029
USC Rossier School of Education
WPH 502A
Los Angeles, CA 90089-0031
Address Correction Requested
Spotlight on PDK Emerging Leader Isabel Morales
Q: Are international measures of
student achievement leading education
policy in the right direction?
Isabel Morales was
featured in the
September 2014
issue of the Phi Delta
Kappan magazine.
International measures of student achievement
have given rise to education policies that are
formulated around oversimplified,
exaggerated, and sensationalized data.
Policymakers and the media continually
express their dismay at the performance of
our students on international measures of
student achievement. By allowing numbers and
rankings to determine how we measure
educational quality, we run the risk of
narrowing our view of education and the
curriculum we offer our students. How do
these international exams measure for skills
that are important to our economic and
democratic well-being, like character,
creativity, and civic engagement?
I teach a non-tested grade level and subject
area: 12th grade Government and Economics
in California. The freedom from tests allows
me to creatively teach students the content
and skills that will help them become
empowered and active community members. I
recently received a PDK Innovation and
Impact grant that will allow my students to use
GIS software to map the needs of their
communities and present policy
recommendations to community leaders and
elected officials. I am glad that I have the
freedom to develop engaging, rigorous, and
meaningful projects for my students. Rather
than preparing them for a test, I am preparing
them for life.
Isabel Morales earned her Ed.D. from the University of California and is a founding teacher of the Los Angeles
High School of the Arts. She was named a Teacher of the Year by the Los Angeles Unified School District in
2014. She is a PDK Emerging Leader 2013-14.

Download Report