LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):
UTLA candidates hit YouTube with stump speeches
With ballots going in the mail next week, Los Angeles area teachers will start a long, internal election process that could have a big impact on the future of the teachers union (UTLA), one of the most powerful in the country. The competition for the top job of UTLA president, which pays north of $100,000 a year, is tough. There are nine challengers (see our rundown here) hoping to prevent the inc
At UTLA forum, a few issues break out within the mudslinging
Warren Fletcher, Leonard Segal, Kevin Mottus and Alex Caputo-Pearl at the forum last night The third UTLA presidential forum held at union headquarters last night was the most well attended — about 70 members made it for the two hour question and answer session — and it also proved to be the most contentious and mud-slingingest. For any given question, only a handful of the 10 candidates managed t
No easy fix for California’s teacher pension crisis
Via the Los Angeles Times | By Chris Megerian WEST SACRAMENTO — When the glass-sheathed headquarters of the California teachers’ pension fund opened five years ago, it was supposed to help anchor developments along the blighted riverfront on the capital’s outskirts. But as Jack Ehnes, the fund’s chief executive, looked out from a top-floor conference room on a recent afternoon, he could see patche
Morning Read: An effort in CA to return bilingual education
California senator proposes restoring bilingual education Sixteen years after California voters approved an initiative requiring public school instruction in English, state Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) introduced a measure Thursday to repeal the requirement of Proposition 227. Lara’s proposal would place an initiative on the ballot that would give parents a choice to have their children rece
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Vergara defense lawyers preview their case — if they need it
Martha Sanchez, a parent who is ‘sick and tired’ of corporate interests in public schools. As defendants in the Vergara trial were asking the court to dismiss the case, attorneys for the state’s two biggest teachers union met with reporters outside the courthouse to offer a preview of arguments they intend to make if the judge denies their request, and the trial resumes next month with witnesses f
Vergara defense team: plaintiffs failed to reach the bar
Jim Finberg, lawyer for CTA and CFT At 10:25 this morning, after they got their final documents entered into evidence, the plaintiffs in Vergara vs. California rested. That was the signal to Susan Carson, a lawyer for the state, to inform Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu that the state and teachers’ unions plan to ask him to toss the lawsuit, arguing the plaintiffs have not met their burden of proof
LAUSD opens more fingerprint centers for volunteers
Board Member Tamar Galatzan represents the western half of the San Fernando Valley LAUSD parents looking to volunteer at their child’s school no longer have to brave the LA freeways to get fingerprinted at the district’s downtown headquarters. Thanks to a recently passed resolution sponsored by board members Tamar Galatzan, Steve Zimmer and Monica Garcia, parents can have their fingerprints proces
‘Repairs Not iPads’ Facebook group moves into the open
Click to view slideshow. The Facebook group, “Repairs Not iPads,” whose pictures of deteriorating LAUSD facilities have gone viral, took on a real-world turn yesterday afternoon when the group gathered at Esperanza Elementary for its first press conference. Matthew Kogan, who anonymously launched the Facebook effort in December, told LA School Report that the event was intended to introduce some o
Breaking News: Defendants ask judge to throw out Vergara
Defendants in Vergara v California told Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu this morning that they would file a motion later today, asking the court to dismiss the case. Treu suspended further testimony, saying he would dispense that the request first before the defendants call a witness. The request for “summary judgment” is routine after plaintiffs conclude their side of a case, which they did today
Watch now: Livestream coverage of today’s LAUSD committee meetings
The LA Unified school board is busy today with two committee meetings, both chaired by school board member Bennett Kayser: 10:00 a.m.: Budget, Facilities and Audit Committee Meeting: (Agenda) 1:00 p.m. Early Childhood Education and Parent Engagement Committee Meeting. (Agenda) LA School Report, has livestream coverage: click LIVESTREAM LAUSD
After 22 plaintiffs’ witnesses in Vergara, it’s the defendants’ turn
In a trial that began in late January and was supposed to take 20 court days, plaintiffs in Vergara v California used the first 16 to put on their case, as Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu heard from 22 witnesses through yesterday. Testimony from several others became part of the case record through their depositions. Today, the defense begins its counter-arguments as the trial is now expected to st
Morning Read: Cost of LAUSD earthquake fixes nearly $1 billion
More than 600 L.A. school buildings need quake evaluations, retrofits The Los Angeles Unified School District still has hundreds of school buildings in need of detailed seismic evaluations and strengthening to withstand a major earthquake, according to district data. The Times requested an update of the school district’s inventory of its buildings in need of seismic review. LA Times LAUSD parents
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Vergara plaintiffs conclude case, with two views on laws’ impact
Frank Fekete, a lawyer specializing in educationn law Plaintiffs called their final witnesses in Vergara v California today, putting on the stand two experts who offered testimony designed to show negative consequences of the state statutes under challenge. It’s a case that could overhaul major parts of state laws that govern teacher dismissal and tenure opportunities. Frank Fekete, a lawyer from
LAUSD to look into principal’s ‘rude public insults’
Via CBS Los Angeles Frustrated parents converged on a Woodland Hills charter school Wednesday over what they described as a failure by the school’s principal to tackle campus issues. Parents of students at Woodlake Elementary Community Charter located at 23231 Hatteras Street say they have complained to principal Jacque Kampschroer about several issues, including increased bullying on campus and “
13 candidates crowd the field for LAUSD’s special election in June
Thirteen candidates — two of whom signed up within minutes of the 5 p.m. City Clerk deadline yesterday — have declared their intention to run for LA Unified School Board in June’s special election, in what appears to be the most crowded race in recent school board election history. The District 1 seat, left open by the death of longtime trustee, Marguerite LaMotte, covers much of South LA, stretch
UTLA candidates debate big issues — including idea of a strike
Coming our way? Presidential candidates in the race to lead the United Teachers of Los Angeles faced tough questions and a rowdy audience last night, in the second forum of the campaign season. It was the first time all 10 candidates — Alex Caputo-Pearl, the incumbent Warren Fletcher, Bill Gaffney, David Garcia, Saul Lankster, Kevin Mottus, Marcos Ortega II, Innocent Osunwa, Leonard Segal and Greg
Morning Read: LAUSD board finds a liaison for open seat
L.A. Unified names caretaker for vacant board seat The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday appointed a former district administrator to oversee the seat left vacant by the death of member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte in December. In a closed-door meeting, the board selected Sylvia Rousseau, a USC professor and former local superintendent in L.A. Unified, to be a liaison to the board until a
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Vergara witness says schools can deal with teacher ineffectiveness
Susan Moore Johnson, a Professor of Education Policy at Harvard Plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging state laws that govern teacher employment put their case on pause today, allowing the defense team to call one of its key experts to the witness stand. But it turned out far more challenging than Dr. Susan Moore Johnson, a respected Harvard professor, and the former dean of the Harvard Graduate Sc
LA Unified board appoints a ‘liaison’ for vacant district seat
Sylvia Rousseau In a closed session meeting — meaning, it was closed to the public — the LA Unified School Board named Sylvia Rousseau, a professor at USC, as the “liason” to board District 1, starting in March. The board seat has remained unrepresented at school board meetings since Marguerite LaMotte died in December. The appointment is not totally official yet, nor is the position fully define
LA Unified Names Ekchian chief labor negotiator
Vivian Ekchain The Los Angeles Unified Board voted 6-0 today to appoint Vivian Ekchian to the newly created position of chief labor negotiator. The district’s chief human resources officer since 2007, she will be responsible for negotiating agreements with all labor unions that hold contracts with the District. She begins her new job immediately. “I congratulate Vivian on her new position,” said S
Community meetings ahead on CA school spending plan
via the LAUSD Parent Community Services Branch A series of meetings are scheduled to help LA Unified parents and other community members learn about the new Local Control Funding Formula, the state’s new funding stream. A coalition of advocacy groups known as CLASS, as well as LAUSD board members are holding community meetings to help the public understand the changes. Below is a guide to meetings
Ridley-Thomas aide, Alex Johnson, files for open board seat
Alex Johnson LA School Report has learned that Alex Johnson, a top aide to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, has filed papers with the City Clerk’s office, making official what has long been assumed by insiders, that he is running for LA Unified school board in the special election set for June 3. While Johnson has spoken privately with numerous policy-makers and funders about his
Commentary: When our students are living in a book desert
He was beefy and laconic, rumored to be gang-affiliated. Kids whispered that he stood outside of school in the early mornings selling weed, though we could never catch him at it. He was also brilliant. If you define “intellectual” as a person who takes delight in the process of abstract thinking, Xavier was one of the most purely intellectual young person I’ve ever met. Faced with a complex questi
Morning Read: FB pushing action on tattered campuses
After Facebook headlines, LA school board takes on crumbling campuses The staff behind the social media campaign to shame the Los Angeles Unified School District into repairing tattered and infested campuses won a first victory. After every local media outlet – and some national ones – reported on the “repairs not iPads” Facebook group, a school board committee overseeing facilities scheduled a di
‘Apprentice’ contestant Omarosa bidding for LAUSD board seat
Bringing unusual visibility to the upcoming LA Unified school board special election, Omarosa Manigault, a TV personality best known for contentious her role on The Apprentice, has told LA School Report she is entering the race. She filed papers with the City Clerk on Friday to run for the vacant seat in District 1. The winner will serve out the remaining months of the four-year term of Marguerite
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Defense tries hard to undermine an expert in Vergara trial
Arun Ramanathan was back on the stand. Arun Ramanathan, Executive Director of The Education Trust–West, a group that works for high academic achievement, returned to the witness stand today for more questions by the defense, aimed at undermining his credibility, research and right to be considered an expert. As one of the plaintiffs’ key experts in the landmark trial, Vergara vs. California, Raman
LAUSD leads charter school growth in California, and nation
California launched the largest number of charter schools in the nation last year, according to a report released this week by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS). The state saw the start of 104 charter schools, bringing its total to 1,130. Almost 520,000 California students of more than 6 million now attend charters in the state. Other states with big charter school gains wer
LA Unified’s education policy is upheld in US district court
–Photo by Aaron BlevinsFrancis Blend and Van Ness elementary schools are merging. Via Park LaBrea News-Beverly Press | By Aaron Blevins U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Lew has ruled against two parent groups that sought to challenge the Los Angeles Unified School District’s increased efforts to integrate special education students with their general education peers. According to the district, one
Morning Read: Panel adopts standards for CA principals
New professional standards for CA principals approved Setting a clear expectation that schools should be a place of safety and fairness, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing adopted Thursday new standards for school principals that embrace restorative justice practices. SI&A Cabinet Report L.A. Unified had requested guard where woman was killed The Los Angeles Unified School District sough