NO CLAS: Another one bites the dust--for...

NO CLAS: Another one bites the dust--for now. . . . Just a few years after doing away with the California Assessment Program to make way for “performance-based” testing of the state’s students, the replacement exam is being killed. . . . With Gov. Pete Wilson’s veto of legislation that would have continued the California Learning Assessment System (A1, B1), it’s back-to-the-drawing-board time for state educators in Sacramento. The CLAS test was plagued by controversy almost from the start.

EDUCATION DEAL: It’s a place some may associate more with volume shopping than educational discourse. . . . But the Sam’s Club in Oxnard will be one of hundreds of sites across the country today for a live satellite broadcast from the federal Department of Education. Deputy Secretary of Education Madeleine Kunin will lead a discussion on school reform, taking questions from parents, educators and business leaders. The aim is “to get people excited about these issues and stay with them over the long haul,” department spokesman John McGrath said.

RUN FOR GLORY: When Nordhoff High School meets Oak Park in nonleague play this week, Nordhoff running back Josh Hawkins is expected to keep up his winning ways (C6). As tailback, the senior has rushed for 361 yards and four touchdowns in Nordhoff’s three games so far this season. Said Coach Cliff Farrar: “A lot of times a kid with a lot of speed and talent doesn’t take it upon himself to win every sprint at the end of practice. Josh does.”

BAD TO WORSE: Some things seem to happen earlier every year--like Christmas decorations that go on sale months in advance. . . . Add Ventura County budget deliberations to that list. Two months after approving a budget for this fiscal year, county officials are already girding themselves for the next round (B1). The projected deficit for next year is a dire $43 million, and even that “may just be too optimistic,” County Auditor-Controller Tom Mahon said.