Vergara trial expert witness: ineffective teachers hurt students
Raj Chetty, Harvard Economist And so begins the battle of the expert titans. In the landmark lawsuit, Vergara vs. California, the winner may ultimately be the side that had the more persuasive expert witnesses. The first came to the stand today as lawyers for the nine students bringing the suit called Harvard professor Raj Chetty, a renowned expert in public policy economics whose judgements, he s
Ed Department opens charters to lotteries for disadvantaged
Via The Washington Post | By Lyndsey Layton The Education Department on Wednesday reversed a long-standing policy and will now allow public charter schools that receive federal grants to give admissions preference to low-income children, minorities and other disadvantaged students. The move is designed to try to preserve racial diversity in schools that are attractive to wealthier families. School
LA Unified wants you: 47 parents and your spending priorities
It’s rare these days that the LA Unified school board agrees on anything. Now, imagine this: Over the next few weeks, district officials will take on the daunting task of assembling a committee of 47 parents and guardians to help decide how to spend tax dollars coming into the district. It’s the next step in a “collective process” to draft a Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), which is
Fletcher challengers for UTLA top job campaigning online
Click to view slideshow. Candidates in a crowded field to take the top spot at one of the nation’s most powerful teachers union, UTLA, are angling to distinguish themselves online. An online search finds that four of the 10 running, Gregg Solkovits, Alex Caputo-Pearl, Saul Lankster and Bill Gafney, have established a website presence, announcing their candidacies and platforms. UTLA allows candida
Obama on education: ‘Some of this change is hard’
President Obama last night President Obama had a few words to say about education in his State of the Union speech last night. Here’s what he told us: “Of course, it’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce, by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education. Estiven Rodriguez couldn’t speak a word of English when he moved to New York City at
Morning Read: Deasy says dismissals have surged
L.A. teacher firings spiked but still costly and lengthy, Deasy says Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy acknowledged Tuesday that teacher dismissals have surged recently, but he insisted Tuesday that state laws still made the process too lengthy and costly. Deasy was on the witness stand for a second day in a high-profile trial over the state’s job protections for teachers, which are among the m
USC Rossier offers new program for LA Unified charter teachers - LA School Report: USC Rossier offers new program for LA Unified charter teachersThe debate over what makes a good teacher can be, at best subjective and at worst litigious. (See Vergara v California, which got underway yesterday.) But USC’s Rossier School of Education may have cracked the code and is now partnering with Los Angeles U