California's Children

Breast-feeding, baby-friendly hospitals: changes toward healthier kids

Rhode Island has become the first state in the nation to ban the distribution of free formula (unless medically necessary) to women who have just given birth.

The ban was announced Monday by the Rhode Island Dept. of Health; the state's First Lady, Stephanie Chafee, a registered nurse, called the decision "a critical step toward increasing breastfeeding rates."

The distribution of free formula samples post-partum has been linked in numerous studies with decreased rates of breastfeeding. Studies have also shown a clear link between decreased breastfeeding rates and increased obesity in children.

Rhode Island's director of health Michael Fine, at left, said the state hopes to raise the percentage of mothers nursing at six months to 60% by 2020 (currently at 38%, behind the national average of 44%). In California, the breastfeeding rates are higher: 52% of mothers are breastfeeding exclusively at birth, with Alameda County showing the highest rates (79.9%), and Los Angeles and Kern the lowest (both at 33%); (stats from Kidsdata.org).

Massachusetts attempted a ban in 2005 but it was rescinded by then-governor Mitt Romney.

From David Klepper of The Huffington Post who reported on the story today:

The International Formula Council, a trade group representing ...manufacturers, opposes the end of free formula samples. In a statement, the council said the bags also contained "key educational materials"...

"Mothers should be trusted to make good choices for their babies," the council said in its statement. "More than 80% of U.S. infants will be given formula at some point during their first year of life ... these educational materials are needed by the vast majority of mothers to ensure infant formula is prepared correctly and the baby's health is not jeopardized."

The move by Rhode Island is part of a national trend and a commitment by the federal government to increase breastfeeding rates.The Breastfeeding Report Card issued this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds more hospitals are now "baby-friendly". The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), a global program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), supports best practices in breastfeeding education; hospitals that are "baby-friendly" must follow the WHO/UNICEF established Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding for Hospitals. There are currently 121 "baby-friendly" hospitals in the US.

Kaiser Permanente (which claims to be the largest provider of mother-baby care with 96,000 births in 2010) announced yesterday at its Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) summit that it will make all its 29 birthing hospitals "baby friendly;" it did not, however, commit to a ban on the distribution of formula bags.  And maybe with good reason. Through the WIC (Women, Infants & Children, a federally funded program out of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture), a rebate program with infant-formula manufacturers earns California about $18.5 million each month.

(PHA is a non-profit organization established by Kaiser in tandem with First Lady Michelle Obama's campaign "Let's Move" with the goal to end obesity in the US).

Click here for a list of bag-free hospitals and birthing centers.

Written for California's Children by Elizabeth J. Carlyle.

"Unleashing the power of the professional": LAUSD brings back local control

Read the full Memo of Understanding between LAUSD and the UTLA.

Read the fax of the agreement summary sent by UTLA to its chapter chairs.

If, by December 12,  the 40,000 members of the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) ratify the agreement that their president, Warren Fletcher,at left, has just made with John Deasy, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), teachers and other staff will gain the control over hiring, curriculum and work conditions at their schools.

The UTLA characterizes the tentative agreement as a solution that "will stabilize schools by stopping the giveaway of sites to outside operators and limiting reconsitution." 

As Howard Blume reports in this morning's Los Angeles Times, the agreement, in negotiation for several months, "virtually [ends] the two-year policy that allowed [under the 2009 LAUSD School Board ruling on Public School Choice] charter operators and others to take over low-performing and new campuses."

Schools would be able to choose their own teaching materials, schedules and campus rules. They could hire teachers and other staff of their choice. If they wanted to diverge from policies of L.A. Unified, officials could not say no, provided that all laws and legal requirements are honored.

But this local control also would limit union authority. If staffers at a school wanted to void portions of the thick union contract,UTLA could not stop them...

Barbara Jones of the Los Angeles Daily News adds:

...Less than an hour after hammering out the final provisions, Superintendent John Deasy and teachers' union President Warren Fletcher presented the school board with the Local School Stability and Empowerment Initiative.

Beginning with the district's most troubled schools - but available to each and every campus - teams of educators and parents will design their own three-year "transformation" plans, with the promise of district and union resources to help them reach the goals.

Under the plan, Blume reports,  "Deasy said all district schools could have the same freedoms as independently operated charter schools, which are publicly funded and mostly nonunion. L.A. Unified has more charters than any other school district in the country, enrolling more than 10% of its students in them...."

Adding more detail, Jones's report includes:

...Underperforming campuses - those targeted by the Public School Choice program and other "focus" schools - would be required to participate, but other schools would have the option of signing on. The initiative would allow individual campuses to seek waivers from such district policies as those governing schedules, curriculum and teaching methods, granting greater autonomy to principals and teachers.

The transformation plans would be reviewed by district administrators, who also would monitor progress and guarantee accountability...

On the still-unresolved issue of rating teacher effectiveness, Hillel Aron of LA Weekly notes:

... the new contract does nothing to settle a feud underlying a new lawsuit over the Stull Act, a state law that governs how teachers are evaluated (See LA Weekly, "Outing Lemon Teachers at LAUSD.")

Deasy said that LAUSD, like most districts in California, has failed to follow the state law, but argues that the [new agreement] does. He says, "We have a disagreement about how we're moving forward. But we're moving forward."

"Moderately masculine" toys score higher in development of cognitive skills

 

^{Super-feminine and super-masculine toys -- e.g., kiddie cosmetics and plastic AK-47s -- may encourage and reinforce characteristics in children that are inconsistent with successful adult lives, according to results of new research discussed in an interview posted by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).}

In the interview, professor of psychology (Indiana University-Purdue University, Fort Wayne) and author of the 2008 textbook, Gender Development, Judith Elaine Blakemore, at left, who has conducted extensive research in the development of gender roles, says:

We found that girls’ toys were associated with physical attractiveness, nurturing, and domestic skill, whereas boys’ toys were rated as violent, competitive, exciting, and somewhat dangerous. The toys rated as most likely to be educational and to develop children’s physical, cognitive, artistic, and other skills were typically categorized as neutral or moderately masculine. We concluded that strongly gender-typed toys appear to be less supportive of optimal development than neutral or moderately gender-typed toys....

Strongly gender-typed toys might encourage attributes that aren’t ones you actually want to foster. For girls, this would include a focus on attractiveness and appearance, perhaps leading to a message that this is the most important thing—to look pretty. For boys, the emphasis on violence and aggression (weapons, fighting, and aggression) might be less than desirable in the long run.

Also, moderately masculine toys have many positive qualities (spatial skills, science, building things, etc.) that parents might want to encourage in both boys and girls. Perhaps, to some extent, it is the same for some moderately feminine toys (nurturance, care for infants, developing skills in cooking and housework)....

When asked for the "most surprising" result of her research, Blakemore answered:

 Moderately masculine toys encourage children's physical, cognitive, academic, musical, and artistic skills more so than moderately feminine ones.

And speaking of "moderately masculine" toys, the Sacramento Bee has just published a helpful parental guide to appropriate video games.

Our pick for best toys for 3-5 year olds? Hasn't changed a whit from last year's holiday posting. Read it here.

 

Santa Monica-Malibu w/vote to redistribute PTA donations for art, music

Writing for the Lookout, Jason Islas reports that a special meeting of the Santa Monica-Malibu School Board has been called to vote on whether or not to revise the district's policy on financial donations. The object of the vote is to "prevent PTAs from giving money directly to specific schools to pay for personnel or programs, such as art or music classes" that have been endangered or axed by budget cuts.

This issue is about “equal opportunity for all students,” State Senator Julia Brownley, a former SMMUSD school board member, said a board meeting November 17. “The equity gap in California continues to grow.”According to a report presented by SMMUSD Superintendent Sandra Lyon, at left with husband Paul, that gap is dramatic.Within the district, the top fundraising school collects more than $1,000 per student, compared to $36 per student for the school ranked last in fundraising.

The proposed change would only affect donations that are specifically targeted to pay for instructional salaries, including those for teachers aides, reading teachers and art programs, according to Lyon.

Lyon recommended forming an advisory group to help implement the new district-wide funding by the spring.

Material donations would not be affected.

But not everyone is convinced that the repercussions of the policy have been thoroughly studied.

Some worry that parents who donate large sums of money to their children's schools will stop donating if that money is split between the more than 20 schools in the district, or [they will] move their children to private schools.

Story tip from Sally Dolfini.

Martinez to receive over $240K in severance from First 5 LA

UPDATE: November 25: Jason Song reports in the Los Angeles Times that Evelyn V. Martinez, founding director of First 5 LA, had a contract to receive a lump sum equal to 12 months' of salary ($240K/year), health benefits and unused paid vacation if she was "fired without cause." She resigned early in November "after a critical audit of the agency" (see story below); Craig Steele, who is serving as First 5 LA's interim CEO, said the commissioners gave her the option to resign rather than to fire her; however, he also told the LA Times that "First 5 commissiohnjers intend to pay her full severance package."

Previously reported on this story: "LA Times Scolds First 5 LA for hoarding $800 million"