LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):
Stanford report shows advantages for LAUSD charter students
In it’s first analysis of LA Unified schools, Stanford University found that the typical student in a charter school made greater academic gains than a counterpart in a traditional school. “Charter School Performance in Los Angeles,” a report from Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), found that a student in an urban LA charter gains 50 more days of learning in reading and
Schwarzenegger benefits LA after school programs with tank ride (VIDEO)
Hollywood star and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just launched the coolest campaign ever to benefit after-school programs in LAUSD and in other cities. The campaign comes in the form of a contest. For as little as $10 a ticket, you can win a ride with Schwarzenegger in his M47 Patton Tank. How awesome is that? The money raised from the contest will go to After School All-Stars – a program
Teachers refute ‘ineffective’ charges by Vergara witnesses
Dawna Watty The defense in Vergara vs. California today put more distance between student-plaintiffs who described their teachers as ineffective and the teachers, by calling them to the stand to defend their effectiveness. Both teachers, Dawna Watty and Anthony Mize, directly challenged the assertions of their former students — Brandon DeBose and Elizabeth Vegara, whose sister Beatriz is the lead
McKenna wins endorsement of LA principals’ union
George McKenna George McKenna, one of the seven candidates running for LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat, picked up a strong endorsement today as the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, the union representing principals and their assistants, said it would support him in the race. The endorsement means that AALA will contribute $1,100, the maximum allowed, to his campaign. “George McKen
Deasy says principal who ok’d campaign leave was disciplined
Superintendent John Deasy LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy said a principal who gave Alex Caputo-Pearl permission to take unpaid time off to campaign for president of the teachers union, UTLA, has been disciplined. The action came in response to accusations that the leave, a violation of district’s contract with UTLA, provided Caputo-Pearl an unfair advantage over other candidates by allowing
Morning Read: CA suspends statewide tests until 2016
State decides no API for schools until 2016 Faced with a complete sea change of its K-12 education system and having been relieved of its duty to meet some federal accountability requirements, the State Board of Education on Thursday temporarily suspended its school performance measurement tool known as the API. As a result of this decision, no Academic Performance Index scores – used to indicate
MAR 13
ULTA super PAC holds off on LAUSD school board endorsement
In an unusual move, PACE, the political arm of the second-largest teachers union in the country, is sitting on the sidelines for the moment, after voting last night to “recommend no endorsement” in the upcoming LA Unified school board race to fill the vacant seat in South Los Angeles, District 1. At the endorsement meeting at union headquarters, the PACE committee interviewed 5 of the 7 candidates
Vergara witnesses hail teamwork, even if API gaps remain
Shannan Brown Two witnesses from the same California school district told the court in Vergara vs. California today that collaborative efforts have enabled the district to deal smoothly with ineffective teachers without constrictions from the laws at issue in the case. Shannan Brown, the head of the San Juan Unified School District’s teachers union, and Elizabeth Davies, an assistant superintenden
Field of candidates for LAUSD school board narrows to final 7
The race is on. The Los Angeles City Clerk’s office released the final list of LA Unified school board candidates who qualified to appear on the ballot in the June 3 special election. Of the 13 candidates who originally filed papers to run for the recently vacated seat, only seven submitted sufficient petitions with enough valid signatures to qualify. The District 1 seat, left open by the death o
City Terrace giving kids a window — and language — to the world
Students at City Terrace Elementary in east Los Angeles learn reading, writing and arithmetic, just like any other student in the LA Unified school district. Except for one thing: They are learning these subjects in Mandarin. City Terrace is located in a low-income neighborhood, and the majority of students are Latino. For many of them, English is their second language, after Spanish. “We’re takin
Morning Read: LA Unified board amends Deasy contract
L.A. school board approves amended contract for Supt. Deasy Los Angeles Unified schools Supt. John Deasy has a newly modified contract that includes an annual buyout of unused vacation days and new performance measures that require him to bring in revenue and enroll more students. He will also pay his own pension deduction for the first time, a cost offset by an increase of $20,000 to his annual s
MAR 12
Ex-district chief tells Vergara court teacher laws don’t interfere
Former El Monte City School Superintendent Jeff Seymour A former superintendent of the El Monte City School District today became the latest defense witness in Vergara v California to describe how school administrators can work within state laws to craft policies and strategies for dealing with ineffective teachers. Jeff Seymour, who spent 25 years as the superintendent, told the court that a well
Denied renewals, 2 Aspire charters appeal to LA County
After the LA Unified board denied renewals last month for two high-performing charter public schools in southeast Los Angeles — Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo Academy and Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy — the schools vowed to fight on. They filed an appeal with the LA County Board of Education and now have a public hearing scheduled March 18, with the board’s vote expected on April 15. “We
Morning Read: Pre-K costs could be higher than expected
Cost grows for proposal to expand transitional kindergarten A Senate proposal to expand transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds would be more expensive than originally predicted, according to a new analysis. At full rollout in 2019-20, Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg’s proposal would cost $1.46 billion in addition to the $901 million already being spent on the current transitio
MAR 11
3 defense witnesses tell Vergara court collaboration works
Susan Mills The defense in the Vergara vs. California trial got a boost today from witnesses involved with three different school districts – Riverside, La Habra and Long Beach — each describing how collaboration and professional development helps deal with ineffective teachers without any difficulties from the challenged laws in the case. Susan Mills, Assistant Superintendent of the Riverside Uni
The field for LA Unified’s open seat loses a candidate
The field of candidates for LA Unified’s vacant District 1 seat can only reach eight. An update from the LA City Clerk’s office today indicated that Alison Noel, who described herself as an “Educator Advocate/Engineer” on her filing form, produced an “insufficient” petition to get her name on the ballot for the June 3 special election. So far, seven candidates have been qualified — Genethia Hudley
Alex Johnson shows clout at LAUSD campaign kickoff
Mark Ridley-Thomas (left), Alex Johnson LA Unified school board hopeful Alex Johnson kicked off his campaign last night at a west side home, filled with elected officials, education advocates and political funders. “We’ve waited long enough.” Johnson told the room of supporters. “We can’t leave a generation of kids behind… every child should have an opportunity to succeed, to graduate from high s
Morning Read: Rising truancy draws Capitol attention
Rise in elementary school truancy prompts raft of bills Warning that truancy has reached a crisis level in California elementary schools, state Atty. Gen. Kamala D. Harris and half a dozen lawmakers proposed a raft of bills Monday aimed at keeping kids in school. Harris said 30% of elementary school students were truant in the 2012-13 school year. LA Times Truancy bills propose to revamp data col
MAR 10
Vergara witness says San Diego district, teachers worked together
Richard Barrera A member of the San Diego Unified School District board testified today in the Vergara v California trial that the district increased student achievement scores while managing deep budgetary cutbacks. Richard Barrera, who has served on the board since 2008, told the court that he attributed the academic gains to creating “a culture of collaboration and teamwork between teachers and
Hudley-Hayes: ‘I will not be bullied’ out of school board race
Alex Johnson In her first public comments since a rival in the LA Unified school board race accused her of falsifying her resume, Genethia Hudley-Hayes told LA School Report today she considers the allegations to be “mudslinging” in an effort “to bully” her out of the race. “I will not be bullied,” she said, of the charges from Alex Johnson. “My record stands for itself, with 30 years of service i
LAUSD Museum opens doors to commemorate first arts festival
Click to view slideshow. The LAUSD’s Art and Artifact museum will open to the public for the first time at 1 p.m. tomorrow. The museum is making its debut in honor of the LAUSD Arts Fest, which ends Sat., March 15 with a day-long celebration of student excellence at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles. Vintage artifacts, such as old typewriters, inkwells, desks, rare Roman coins, old textbooks, imp
Morning Read: LAUSD iPads content still unavailable
LAUSD iPads: Officials chose incomplete software over competitors When the Los Angeles Unified School District set out last year to buy tablets for every teacher and student, officials drew up a scoring system to rate 19 hardware and software options. The scores meant a lot: the contract will ultimately be worth about $500 million and marks the largest school technology expansion in the country. K
MAR 07
LA Unified District 1 special election narrows to 9 candidates
The original field of 13 candidates vying for the vacant LA Unified school board seat just got smaller. Thirteen candidates had expressed interest in the District 1 race, but at the 5 p.m. deadline today, only nine filed the required petitions to qualify to appear on the ballot. The June 3 special election was called after longtime school board member, Marguarite LaMotte died in office. The nine w
School board race gets ugly with accusations of resume padding
Genethia Hudley-Hayes, Candidate for School Board The race for LA Unified’s open board seat took a dramatic turn today as Alex Johnson’s campaign accused a rival, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, of “deliberately falsifying” her academic credentials. Roy Behr, Johnson’s political consultant, said research into her background found discrepancies in her resume and, in a meeting yesterday with his counterpart
Teacher in Vergara trial blames student for performing poorly
Vickie Decker For the second time this week, the defense in Vergara vs. California today turned to a teacher characterized as “ineffective” by a plaintiff in the case to show a starkly different picture. Vickie Decker, a middle school math teacher, refuted assertions by Jose Macias, the father of student plaintiff, Julia Macias, who had claimed in earlier testimony that Decker was harmful to his d
As deadline nears, only 3 have qualified for District 1 race
With the 5 pm deadline just hours away, only three of the 13 candidates who expressed an interest in running for the vacant District 1 LA Unified board seat have qualified for the ballot. By the close of business yesterday, according to the city clerk’s office, George McKenna, Sherlett Newbill and Alex Johnson have submitted the required signature petitions and fees to qualify for the June 3 speci
Morning Read: Budget cuts push young teachers out
New teachers scarce after state funding cuts Young teachers have become far more scarce in California classrooms after school districts slashed their budgets to survive the recession. From 2008 to 2013, California saw a 40 percent drop in teachers with less than six years’ experience, according to a Sacramento Bee review of state data. Sacramento Bee California school spending goal would cost $3