LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):
Deal announced on teacher dismissal bill that governor would support
Joan Buchanan, Source: Ed Source Via Ed Source | by John Fensterwald Signaling the resolution of an acrimonious issue, Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, introduced a bill Friday to make dismissing teachers charged with severe misconduct quicker, easier and cheaper. “I want to thank the education community for its willingness to continue to work on this critical issue,
Deasy releases draft of LAUSD’s next budget, with new money
Superintendent John Deasy LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy made public today the first draft of a $6.8 billion budget for the 2014-15 school year, a presentation that offered the first glimpse of how the new Local Control Funding Formula is going to work. The budget will be formally presented to the school board on Tuesday, after which the six current members are expected to engage in a lively
Charter Groups want four unused LAUSD sites for new schools
Maybe 4 fewer eyesores? Two charter organizations want to take over four LA Unified public schools that have become an eyesore in the West San Fernando Valley, after closing more than three decades ago. El Camino Real High School, which became a charter in 2011, has proposed taking over three of the school sites – Highlander, Platt Ranch and Oso Elementary. Preliminary plans include converting the
CA Federation of Teachers a big contributor to Leland Yee
Leland Yee Leland Yee, the former state senator from central California who was arrested last month on federal bribery and corruption charges, was a Sacramento favorite of COPE, the political arm of the California Federation of Teachers. The union was one of the biggest contributors to Yee’s campaign for California Secretary of State. His arrest prompted him to drop out of the race. According to f
Morning Read: Teacher retirement fund faces $74B deficit
Funding gap threatens retirement for California teachers The pension fund for public school teachers in California faces a long-term shortfall of $74 billion, threatening its ability to pay for the retirement of nearly 1 million teachers and administrators in the nation’s most populous state, officials said on Thursday. The gap is growing by about $15 million per day, the California State Teachers
APR 03
Battle lines forming in LA Unified for ‘Local Control’ spending
The battle over the new money coming into LA Unified from the state’s new Local Control Funding Formula starts in earnest tomorrow when Superintendent John Deasy lays out his plan for the 2014-15 budget. Deasy is meeting with reporters to unveil his spending priorities plan for an estimated $390 million the district will receive in extra resources, before he presents it to the school board on Tues
Torlakson celebrates rise in AP participation at LA magnet school
Tom Torlakson at LACES State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson was in town today visiting the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES) as part of his week-long “AP Excellence Tour.” Torlakson said the visits to high schools with innovative Advanced Placement courses are a “celebration” of a 10-year report from The College Board, showing impressive growth in enrollment statewide, especially among
Commentary: An extraordinary effort for extraordinary need
Ben Austin LAUSD School Board Member Steve Zimmer’s recent commentary “Standing with Beatriz” hit the nail on the head on one key issue: for our children, the stakes are high. Let me acknowledge first that Mr. Zimmer is a good person who is doing what he feels is best for the children of LAUSD. On this issue, however, we have a principled disagreement about what that is. Mr. Zimmer portrays himsel
Morning Read: Tracking $13 billion (so far) from Prop 30
How California schools spent $13 billion generated by Prop 30 The California State Controller’s Office launched a website Wednesday tracking how money from Prop 30 is being spent by charter schools, school districts and community colleges. The measure was approved in November of 2012 and has since pulled in $13.1 billion for teachers, textbooks and general operations, according to the site. But th
APR 02
Abandoned LA Unified schools coming back to life — but how?
Oso Elementary School After more than 30 years, the West Valley may be closer to having four more schools. What kind of schools remains to be seen. Community members are invited tomorrow night to a meeting at Woodlake Elementary School to learn more about the the future of the elementary schools — Oso, Collins, Highlander and Platt Ranch Elementary — that were abandoned in the 1980s due to a massi
Common Core Standards: Our new map tracks states’ movements
Via Education Week | By Catherine Gewertz Today’s post marks a turning point in our coverage of the common standards: the revision of our widely followed map of state adoptions. Indiana made us do it. As you probably already know, because my intrepid colleague Andrew Ujifusa reported it last week, Indiana has become the first state to officially reverse its adoption of the Common Core State Stand
Rachel Johnson has experience, if not cash, for school board race
Rachel Johnson In keeping with the start of the baseball season this week, let’s use a baseball analogy: Rachel Johnson has a Hall of Fame batting average in running for office. Since 2001 when she was first elected as the City Clerk of Gardena, Johnson has run four successful campaigns for elected office — a second term for City Clerk, then three separate races for Gardena City Council. Her only
Morning Read: LAUSD wasting $100,000 of food daily
Solutions sought to reduce food waste at schools And so it goes on hundreds of campuses in Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system, which serves 650,000 meals a day. Students throw out at least $100,000 worth of food a day — and probably far more, according to estimates by David Binkle, the district’s food services director. LA Times LAUSD investigates as Sunny Brae Element
APR 01
Vergara-like ballot initiative pulled until 2016, report says
A state ballot initiative aimed at regulations governing teachers that was headed for the November ballot has been pushed to 2016, according to a report by ABC affiliate KXTV in Sacramento. The measure was seeking to change the way California school districts lay off teachers by using a teacher’s classroom performance rating, rather than seniority. Matt David, a Republican strategist and the meas
Commentary: The years when learning matters the most
The architects are huddled in an intense meeting. Problems have arisen: the supports for the tower appear insufficient, causing balance issues. Should they proceed with the plans they’ve envisioned or make modifications for a less ambitious approach? The leader is unequivocal: the vision will be executed. His team shrugs, then proceeds in accordance with the original plans. There will be no compro
Deasy at USC: Vergara is the next big civil rights case
John Deasy, with fellow panelist, Susan Estrich More than two months ago LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy took the stand as the first witness for the plaintiffs in Vergara v California, a lawsuit challenging teacher protections. He testified for three days, laying the foundation of their overall case. Now that the trial has ended, the head of the largest school district in the state continues
Morning Read: Education Advisor seat still left unfilled
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s approach to LAUSD draws mixed reviews Two weeks after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s top education adviser left City Hall, there are no immediate plans to fill the position, a sign of the mayor’s hands-off approach to the nation’s second-largest school district. LA Times Superintendent’s pay in South Bay district called ‘excessive’ “I don’t know of anybody, in any majo
MAR 31
N. Hollywood High out-hacks the hackers for a big victory
The professional hackers were no match for North Hollywood High. The valley school won the Cyberpatriot National Championship over the weekend in National Harbor, MD, defending its precious digital real estate against experienced hackers to outlast a field of 621 teams. The championship, sponsored by the Air Force Association (AFA), is a cyber defense competition that test students’ abilities to
California special ed teacher receives a special award
The California Teacher Corps, the statewide organization representing California’s alternative certification programs, today honored Allan Hallis with the 2014 Michael McKibbin Outstanding Educator of the Year Award during its fourth annual conference in Sacramento. “You work really hard in the profession, so it’s nice to have some of that hard work be recognized by colleagues you admire,” Hallis
Long Beach teachers score (near) top marks in starting pay
Via The Orange County Register | By Lauren Williams A Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for teaching reforms listed Long Beach as the No. 2 district in the nation with the highest salary for beginning teachers. The National Council on Teacher Quality published a list of the districts with the highest paid starting and end-of-career teaching positions on Wednesday. In Long Beach, starting
Teachers have ‘amazing’ response to centralized Grants HQ
Just two week after The Los Angeles Fund for Public Education (LA Fund) launched a new program, Grants HQ, that puts hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money at the fingertips of more than 30,000 LAUSD educators, the response has been “amazing.” Now, teachers who want to enrich the education of their students, anything from obtaining new equipment to offering specialized courses, can search
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Morning Read: CA teachers visit parents and students at home
Teachers make house calls to improve performance Parent-teacher interaction at most schools centers around annual conferences where mom or dad come to the classroom and sit for an hour listening to an educator talk about how their child is performing. More and more, however, districts across the nation are seeing great gains in student achievement by employing a different model of family engagemen
MAR 28
CA Academic Decathlon champ — and a WW I whiz, as well
The champs, including Melissa Cheng, second from left LA Unified’s El Camino Real Charter won the 35th Annual California Academic Decathlon last week, locking in its 11th state title and a chance to claim a seventh national title at the U.S. Academic Decathlon in Honolulu, April 24-26. Against a steep competition of 565 students from 65 high schools statewide, the nine-member team scored 57,747.3
Casillas replacing Jaime Aquino as interim Deputy of Instruction
John Deasy and Maria Casillas Former head of School, Parent and Family/Community Services, Maria Casillas, is coming out of retirement on Tuesday to serve as LA Unified’s interim Deputy Superintendent of Instruction, a post left vacant by the sudden resignation of Jaime Aquino last year. Casillas, who resigned from the district last June as Chief School and Family/Community Services, was appointed
After a run for UTLA chief, Mottus now trying for Congress
Kevin Mottus Fresh off a run for UTLA president, where he secured 53 votes to finish eighth among 10 candidates, Kevin Mottus is moving on: He’s now running for US Congress. Mottus is one of 21– count ‘em, 21! – lining up to take Henry Waxman’s seat in the 33rd Congressional District, which covers some of LA’s swankiest neighborhoods along the coast - from Malibu through the Palos Verdes Peninsul
Morning Read: Students try to preserve education grants
Ag students rally in Sacramento to preserve education grants Concerns about future funding for high school agricultural classes and leadership programs are being voiced throughout California—and nowhere louder than at the state Capitol, where thousands of students and members of Future Farmers of America rallied last week to try to prevent elimination of the state’s $4.1 million Agricultural Educa
Commentary: Standing with Beatriz against Vergara
Steve Zimmer Just over a year ago, I won re-election to the Los Angeles Unified School District board. It was an unlikely victory in what may have been the most expensive school board race in U. S. history. The wealthiest of self-styled reformers – Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Michael Bloomberg and Michelle Rhee’s followers – put in over $4-million to try and take over the L.A. Board of Education. Th