In a controversial ruling, a New York judge decided on Monday that the New York City school system can publicly release the value-added rankings of school teachers. Many teachers are highly opposed to this decision because they say the rating system is flawed, while the judge declared that the job performance of public employees is fair game for public release, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Value-added analysis measures how much a student’s test scores improved over the time span that they had a specific teacher. One central argument against using this measure for teacher evaluation is that it does not take into account the pre-existing factors that might lower a student’s test performance. In addition, some teachers disagree with using standardized test scores as a way of measuring intelligence arguing that it does not require students to think critically.

However, school districts around the country have turned towards value-added analysis as a way to maintain teacher accountability and bring up student achievement. The Los Angeles Times first stirred up this controversy by publishing of the value-added rankings of LAUSD teachers in the paper.

In addition to making the rankings public, by 2013, New York State will require value-added analysis scores to count for 25 percent of a teacher’s performance evaluation. For more of Youth Radio’s coverage on the debate surrounding value-added analysis scores, click here.

LOS ANGELES-Judge Robert Perry has sentenced former BART transit cop Johannes Mehserle to the minimum sentence of two years in state prison for the shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant.

The sentence comes after more than a year and a half of legal wrangling and community unrest, including violent protests and looting in downtown Oakland. The former BART police officer was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in July for the January 1, 2009 shooting of the unarmed black man on a train platform in Oakland, CA.

Mehserle's sentence is only a fraction of the maximum sentence he could have received. Judge Perry gave double credit for Mehserle's time served, bringing his total to 292 days, which could put Mehserle behind bars for an additional one year, two months and thirteen days. Mehserle could have faced up to 14 years for the charge, but legal analysts widely speculated the sentence would be on the shorter end of the spectrum. Involuntary manslaughter charge carries a maximum of four years in prison, but a gun enhancement could have added an additional 10 years.

LOS ANGELES-A judge is expected to sentence former transit cop Johannes Mehserle today after his involuntary manslaughter conviction in the shooting death of 22-year-old Oscar Grant. Youth Radio's Noah Nelson reports from the Los Angeles County Superior Court that court proceedings went on a break around 10 o'clock. Back in the session, there will be a ruling on two motions: the motion to dismiss the previous verdict, which would result in a retrial, and the motion to dismiss the gun enhancement charge.

Michael Campbell accidently shot a teenage friend Derial Morris Jr., while playing with a handgun. Campbell shot Morris on April 18, 2007, while he was in an apartment in the Acorn housing project of west Oakland. He was in the middle of telling a story to a group of people while his finger was on the trigger of a gun. At one point he pulled the trigger by mistake, firing a bullet into Morris's forehead, instantly killing him. He was charged with second degree murder and sentenced to 40 years to life in prison by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Leo Dorado on November 4th , 2009.

Today a Los Angeles judge plans to overturn the jury conviction of Missouri woman, Lori Drew, whose role in a faux online relationship led to the suicide of her daughter's "frenemy."  A frenemy is defined by the Urban Dictionary as "Someone who is both friend and enemy, a relationship that is both mutually beneficial or dependent while being competitive, fraught with risk and mistrust."  Drew, 50, w Read more...

While surfing the 'net browsing through news sites for my early morning tidbits I came across this funny little story. A mother begged a judge in a Los Lunas, New Mexico courtroom to help her punish her six-year old son for disobeying traffic regulations. The mother and son were going for a ride in January when the boy decided to remove his seatbelt, according to news channel KRQE. Read more...