LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):
Teachers union planning a salary rally at LAUSD board meeting
The LA Unified board meeting on June 17 might be more crowded than usual. UTLA, the teachers union, is planning a noon press conference outside the district’s downtown headquarters and handing out leaflets to call attention to the board’s demand for “a fair pay raise” for the coming years. The union’s activities come at a precarious time. The 2014-2015 budget is almost complete, pending a final re
New online course helps parents brush up on education policy
Via Edsource | By John Fensterwald A joke around Sacramento is that it takes a Ph.D. in Proposition 98 to understand how California schools are funded and governed. The truth is that agood short course is probably all that’s needed for the basics of California’s complex education policies. And now there is one – Ed100.org. Created by Jeff Camp, a former Microsoft Corp. manager and a longtime cham
Westside charter school finally finds a new home, or two
Campus shot of Loyola Elementary School, one of Mar Vista’s new homes The long, bitter saga of a westside charter’s move to a new home after an unpleasant year at Stoner Elementary School has finally ended. Officials representing Citizens of the World Mar Vista said yesterday they have accepted an offer from LA Unified to relocate on the campuses of two Westchester elementary schools about 1.4 mil
Commentary: Taking on Teacher Tenure Backfires
Via The New York Times | By Jesse Rothstein BERKELEY, Calif. — In his decision on Tuesday to strike down California’s teacher-tenure system, Judge Rolf M. Treu of Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that laws protecting teachers from dismissal violated the state’s constitutional commitment to provide “a basically equal opportunity to achieve a quality education” and drew parallels with prior cases co
Morning Read: Teacher dismissal bill heads to Gov. Brown
California teacher firing bill headed to Gov. Jerry Brown Against the backdrop of a ruling declaring California’s teacher dismissal rules unconstitutional, the Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown legislation speeding the teacher firing process. Sacbee CA budget agreement is biggest expansion to early education in a decade Some of California’s tiniest residents loo
JUN 12
How LAUSD plans to spend $4.58 billion on district schools
Ever wonder how much money your local LAUSD school gets? Here’s a way to find out. Click here, and what you see is LA Unified’s $4.58 billion school-by-school spending plan for the 2014-2015 academic year. Each line item reflects a category and shows whether its funding is restricted, which means the money can only be used for that purpose, or unrestricted, which allows the school more discretion
New flexibility for LA Unified’s breakfast in the classroom
Actress Sofia Vergara promoting Breakfast in the Classroom programPhoto courtesy L.A. Fund A successful program aimed at providing free classroom breakfast to low-income students in Los Angeles Unified has quietly made a change: it will now allow schools with more affluent populations to use alternative approaches to feeding kids in the morning. The program known as “Breakfast in the Classroom” (B
Citing Vergara, union watchdog group urges parents to sue
Just in case parents around the country missed the decision in Vergara v. California, a union-watch group in Washington is spreading the word. The Center for Union Facts, a nonprofit, ran an ad in today’s USA Today that urges parents and school reform advocates to to follow Vergara’s lead and sue when teacher unions block reform efforts. Judge Rolf Treu decided in favor of the nine student plainti
A change in communications for LAUSD’s Tom Waldman
Tom Waldman, the communications director Tom Waldman is moving on, although he’s not going far. The Director of Communications for LA Unified is stepping into a new role with the district: the newly created post as Executive Director of Board Communications. Taking on the role, which was Superintendent John Deasy’s idea, means Waldman will work with the school board, exclusively. He will field all
Morning Read: Vergara ruling likely to repeat in other states
Teacher tenure ruling in California is expected to intensify debate The landmark court decision on Tuesday finding California’s teacher tenure laws unconstitutional is likely to lead to a flood of copycat lawsuits in other states, shifting the battleground on the issue from the legislatures to the courts. NY Times Why that ruling against teacher tenure won’t help your schoolchildren Commentary: T
JUN 11
UTLA votes to endorse McKenna in District 1 board race
George McKenna The LA teachers union, UTLA, voted last night to endorse George McKenna for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat in the August runoff election. McKenna, a retired administrator, had no direct ties to the union and in his winning primary campaign struck a note of independence in assessing various issues. But in the end, said Marco Flores, chairman of the union’s political action commit
Hendy-Newbill endorses McKenna in the District 1 runoff
Sherlett Hendy-Newbill Sherlett Hendy Newbill, the Dorsey High teacher who finished third in the District 1 school board race, is throwing her support behind George McKenna in the August runoff. McKenna, a former administrator, was the top vote getter in the June 3 primary, with 43.7 percent of the vote. He will face the runner-up, Alex Johnson, an aide to LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas,
Vergara ruling gets mixed reaction from school board
Predictably, the historic superior court decision yesterday in the Vergara case elicited mixed reactions from members of the LA Unified school board. The ruling, which found California laws dictating teacher tenure, seniority rights and dismissal practices unconstitutional, is seen as huge blow to teacher unions and a boost to education reformers. Here is what a handful of board members had to say
New state money helping LAUSD expand services for foster youth
The new state funding formula that is sending more money into LA Unified is enabling the district to expand programs for foster youth, a group of students who have been under-served by the district for years. The LAUSD student population currently includes between 8,500 and 11,600 foster youth, as much as 12 percent of the total foster youth in the state. Starting in the 2014-2015 school year, the
Analysis: The long wait for the impact — if any — of Vergara
Marcellus McRae, a lawyer for Vergara plaintiffs at a news conference yesterday Now what? Two years after Vergara v California was filed and one stunning Superior Court decision later, the long wait to a final resolution now begins in earnest. Will Judge Rolf Treu’s lower court decision stand? He knocked out five California laws that he viewed as unconstitutional, violating state laws that guarant
Deasy’s revised budget for LAUSD a ‘doggone’ improvement
The LA Unified Board of Education got one step closer yesterday to approving Superintendent John Deasy’s 2014-15 school budget. And unless the six-member board makes radical changes over the next two weeks, his work, which includes plans for divvying up $332 million in new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) monies, will carry the day. Passage would signify a major political triumph for Deasy, wi
Morning Read: Revised bill may hurt kindergarten enrollment
Eligibility for transitional kindergarten threatened under revised bill Nearly half of California’s currently eligible 4-year-olds would lose their eligibility to enroll in transitional kindergarten in 2015 if a bill that passed the Senate last week gets the governor’s approval. The bill would expand transitional kindergarten, a program for children who turn 5 in the first few months of the school
JUN 10
Teachers’ unions vow to fight Vergara decision, others celebrate
Teachers’ union reacts to Vergara decision California’s teacher unions vowed to fight today’s Vergara ruling that called teacher dismissal, seniority and tenure laws unconstitutional as other education groups applauded the court’s decision. Alex Caputo-Pearl, UTLA President-elect “All the school will be [adversely affected], but the schools where conditions are worst, which is often south LA, tha
JUST IN: Vergara students win, big loss for teachers’ unions
In a stunning defeat for public school teachers and their unions, a California superior court today ruled in favor of students challenging teacher protection laws. It was a total win for the plaintiffs in Vergara v California, giving them a victory on all counts in the case, aimed at striking down five laws that govern tenure, seniority and dismissal. Judge Rolf Treu stayed any changes in the law
Rory Pullens confronts challenges of art, money and LAUSD
Rory Pullens For years Rory Pullens has been the one who got away. LA Unified offered the former TV writer/producer turned educator, the top post at the district’s premiere arts high school — Ramon C. Cortines School of the Visual and Performing Arts – and he turned it down. Twice. But the stars have finally aligned for Pullens and the district. He is leaving his post as head of the Duke Ellingto
Morning Read: Senate passes bill to oust abusive teachers
Senate OKs bill easing firings for teacher abuse The state Senate on Monday passed a bill making it easier to fire teachers accused of sex abuse, child abuse or serious drug crimes. Senators unanimously passed AB215 on a 33-0 vote. The bill by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, creates a separate hearing process for teachers who are charged with egregious misconduct. CBS Local Judge objects to
LIVESTREAM coverage of today’s LAUSD school board meeting
The LA Unified School Board will meet all day today, starting at 9 a.m. with a closed door session. The agenda is here). But the fireworks don’t begin until 1 p.m., when the board will reconvene for its regular board meeting, open to the public, That agenda is here, with the supporting material available here. Front and center at the open meeting: the mechanics of how the district will spread out
SEIU endorses Alex Johnson for LAUSD school board in runoff
SEIU Local 99, one of the biggest players in the LAUSD’s political landscape, has endorsed Alex Johnson for school board in the runoff election that will take place on August 12. The union, which represents 45,000 school-related employees including teachers’ assistants, bus drivers and cafeteria workers, made its decision last night after a members-only town hall event. The endorsement was confirm
JUN 09
Letter to Editor: Parent finds Zimmer comments ‘offensive’
Editor’s Note: This letter, by Michael Schlesinger, an LAUSD parent, is in response to an article published May 30, entitled, “Zimmer: LAUSD ‘culture war’ over co-locations on the west side.” I’ve never been accused of racism before, so I was surprised to read board member Steve Zimmer’s comments last week, pitting neighbors against each other in an alleged “culture war.” I know I speak for tho
Decision in Vergara case is expected at 10 a.m. tomorrow
The California Supreme Court has informed lawyers in Vergara v. California that Judge Rolf Treu’s decision will be issued at 10 a.m. tomorrow. The case pits the state and its biggest teacher unions against nine students who have asked the judge to strike down five laws that govern teacher tenure, dismissal and seniority consideration for layoffs. The case was initially filed two years ago and what
LAUSD board inching closer to final 2014-15 spending plan
The pressure is on for LA Unified schools chief John Deasy and the board of education to work out the details of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), the most sweeping overhaul in how California schools are governed and funded in the last 40 years. The state deadline for both is July 1, which means much of tomorrow’s school board meeting will
Morning Read: State science teachers endure challenging prep
New science standards pose teacher preparation challenges The evolution of science instruction in California’s K-12 schools has resulted in perhaps the greatest array of specialty credentials in the nation. Teaching students here can consider 9 distinct credentials authorizing science instruction in K-12 schools along with the multiple subject authorization for elementary teachers. If such a polic