Free Republic

ov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill Thursday to end the so-called dance of the lemons in which unsuccessful teachers move from one low-performing school to another and principals are powerless to stop it. ...Those bills were two of more than 100 pieces of legislation that Schwarzenegger acted on Thursday. The governor still has 503 bills that he needs to sign or veto before the Saturday midnight deadline. SB1655 authored by Sen. Jack Scott, D-Altadena, will give school principals the flexibility to reject a voluntary transfer of a teacher and change hiring deadlines so that promising new teachers can be hired...

Imagine a company president being ordered by the board of directors to hire any misfit who knocks on the door. It's a crazy scenario -- but it's exactly the way many California school districts operate when an unsuccessful teacher is quietly edged out of a school. As long as the teacher agrees to leave voluntarily, union rules require the principal of any other school in the district with an opening to hire that teacher. The practice, common in large and mid-size urban districts, is so reviled by principals that they've given it a derogatory name. "It's called the Dance of...

A Riverside County kindergarten teacher was pulled out of class and arrested Tuesday on suspicion of being under the influence of methamphetamine and possessing drug paraphernalia. Lynne Filippini, 47, was teaching at French Valley Elementary School in the southwest Riverside County town of Winchester when "other teachers noticed she was acting strange," said Earl Quinata, a Riverside County Sheriff's spokesman. Filippini, of Temecula, was evaluated by a school resource officer, who then called the sheriff's office. When authorities searched her belongings, they found items "that are consistent with the use of illicit drugs," sheriff's Sgt. Rick Zerkel wrote in a...

Police Say Teacher Did Not Seem To Notice Bleeding Nose WINCHESTER, Calif. -- A kindergarten teacher was pulled from her class and arrested for investigation of being under the influence of methamphetamine while teaching, officials said. Lynne Filippini, 47, was teaching at French Valley Elementary School about 65 miles north of San Diego on Tuesday when "other teachers noticed she was acting strange," said Earl Quinata, a Riverside County Sheriff's spokesman. She did not seem to notice that her nose was bleeding, said Lt. Cynthia Wait of the Temecula Police Department. A school resource officer evaluated Filippini and then called...