LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):
MORNING READ: Tuck throws a punch at Torlackson
Challenger to CA schools chief blasts handling of Inglewood Unified takeover Marshall Tuck, the man who hopes to unseat Tom Torlakson as state superintendent of public instruction on Wednesday decried a legislative committee’s failure to authorize an audit of the state takeover of the troubled Inglewood Unified School District. Daily News Lawsuit Challenges New York’s Teacher Tenure Laws Parent
JUL 03
Galatzan raises new concerns about LA Unified bond committee
For the second time in recent weeks, Tamar Galatzan has turned a critical eye toward LA Unified’s Bond Oversight Committee and the role it plays in monitoring district spending on bond-funded projects. At the board meeting on Tuesday, she objected to the BOC’s wholesale approval of a library project that earmarked $116,000 to move library equipment and materials from one school to another. Using M
School workers union ratifies 3-year deal with LA Unified
Members of the school service workers union, SEIU Local 99, have ratified their three-year contract agreement with LA Unified, raising the wage of nearly 20,000 workers to $15 an hour by July 1, 2016. The union said in a statement early this morning that 82 percent of the members approved the contract after three days of voting. The union consists of cafeteria workers, custodians, special educatio
LAUSD expands search to find enough summer school teachers
As LAUSD kicked off its newly expanded summer school program last month, accommodating more students than ever before, one thing became clear: Sometimes, more money means more problems. And one problem district officials didn’t anticipate was finding enough teachers who wanted to work in the summer. Without a sufficient number, the district scrambled to fill classes with adult education and subst
Morning Read: School report cards to come under revision
Changes coming to school report cards As with most other elements of the public education system, the state’s School Accountability Report Card is set to undergo fairly significant revisions as a result of the adoption of the Common Core State Standards and the Local Control Funding Formula. S&I Cabinet Report Middle school key to college, career pipeline As California focuses on education re
JUL 02
LA Unified SEEDS program slow in sprouting but growth expected
Nearly two months after its launching, the LA Unified Sustainable Environment Enhancement Developments for Schools (SEEDS) initiative is off to a slow start. In May, nearly 70 school representatives, community partners and LAUSD employees attended the SEEDS program kick-off event, but only eight applications have come in so far. But no worries, said LAUSD’s chief facilities executive Mark Hovatter
Top 6 shockers: how Weingarten and Deasy agree on tenure
Courtesy: Aspen Ideas Festival The stage was set with the two public education luminaries, ready to square off on such lightning rod issues as tenure and teacher dismissal laws in the wake of last month’s Vergara trial: Randi Weingarten, leader of the nation’s second largest teachers organization, AFT, and Superintendent John Deasy, leader of the second largest school district in the country, Los
LAUSD board approves labor deals — but not yet for teachers
The LA Unified School Board yesterday unanimously approved labor contracts for four of its major union partners, all of which would put (at least a little) more cash in the pockets of employees after years of devastating budget cuts and furlough days. The district signed off on deals with Service Employees International Union Local 99 (SEIU), Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) and Te
Morning Read: LA based charter opens campuses in other states
Green Dot, based in L.A., plans to open schools in other states Green Dot Public Schools, a locally based group of charter campuses, announced this week it has set up a national organization to manage expansion into Tennessee and Washington. Green Dot has been one of the best known local charter organizations and one of the larger ones in the country, with 21 schools, 11,000 students and a $130-mi
JUL 01
Strike talk emerges on Caputo-Pearl’s first day as union chief
Alex Caputo-Pearl new president of the United Teachers Los Angeles Alex Caputo-Pearl today assumed the office of President of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), a union battling with LA Unified for a larger salary increase than the two percent the district has offered. UTLA remains one of the last of the district’s labor partners to reach agreement on a contract. The teachers had initially asked
JUST IN: Richard Vladovic re-elected LAUSD board president
*UPDATED The LA Unified School Board today re-elected Richard Vladovic to serve as president for the 2014-15 school year. Rather than postpone the vote until after the August runoff to fill the vacant District 1 seat, the six member board voted and by a 5-1 margin supported Vladovic’s continued leadership. Tamar Galatzan was the lone dissenting vote. Barbara Jones, her chief of staff, said the di
LIVESTREAM coverage of today’s LAUSD School board meetings
Today the LA Unified Board of Education will hold three meetings, the first, being their Annual meeting to elect a new president. It is expected, however, that the current president, Richard Vladovic, will win a second term with no contest, as no challengers have stepped forward. The agenda for that meeting is here. Following the election meeting, the board will commence their regular meeting at n
Johnson’s internal poll shows gains on McKenna in runoff
Alex Johnson, District 1 candidate An internal poll conducted by Alex Johnson’s campaign suggests that he is gaining on George McKenna as they compete for the vacant LA Unified school board seat. The Johnson campaign says that polling conducted in April and June shows that Johnson’s name recognition has grown to 52 percent, from 14 percent percent. It also said Johnson’s favorable rating climbed t
Morning Read: Vergara may be headed for lengthy appeals
Final ruling in Vergara could be years in coming Vergara v. California, in which a Superior Court judge struck down California’s teacher tenure, layoff and dismissal laws, may be headed for a lengthy appeals process. A clue to how long may lie in another far-from-resolved education lawsuit. This month marks three years since Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven Brick issued a tentative rulin
JUN 30
JUST IN: SEIU Local 99 and LAUSD reach tentative deal
SEIU Local 99, which represents school cafeteria workers, custodians, special education assistants, campus safety monitors and other school service workers, has reached a tentative contract agreement with LA Unified that includes an incremental rise to a minimum wage of $15 an hour. The three-year phase in brings workers up to $11 an hour for the coming school year, $13 an hour the following year
Common Core math stumps parents and students alike
Via New York Times | By Motoko Rich Rebekah and Kevin Nelams moved to their modest brick home in this suburb of Baton Rouge seven years ago because it has one of the top-performing public school districts in the state. But starting this fall, Ms. Nelams plans to home-school the couple’s four elementary-age children. The main reason: the methods that are being used for teaching math under the Commo
LA School Report wins three awards from SoCal Press Club
Upstart LA School Report took first place for Best Blog at the 56th annual SoCal LA Press Club awards ceremony yesterday. The winning entry, Why Teachers Teach, Need You Ask? was written by contributor and teacher Ellie Herman, who spent the past year chronicling the challenges facing teachers in the classroom. Herman also took third place in the category of online Non-Political Commentary for he
SCOTUS ruling on Illinois union case could impact CA teachers
Justice Samuel Alito A Supreme Court ruling today in a case involving home health care providers in Illinois could have a bearing on a California lawsuit involving teachers who object to paying union dues that are used for political purposes. Split along ideological lines with the conservatives prevailing, 5-4, the Court ruled in Harris v. Quinn that “partial public employees” cannot be compelled
After year of iPads only, laptops are making LAUSD debut
Not too long ago the iPad train barreling toward LA Unified seemed unstoppable. At the beginning of the school year, it was a given that all district students would have an Apple device in their Generation Z hands by the end of 2016. But after a series of very public blunders and intense scrutiny by the Common Core Technology Project Committee, the district is changing tracks. Tomorrow the LA Unif
Morning Read: Deasy, Weingarten debate laws governing teachers
Firing bad teachers: A superintendent and a union official debate Commentary: Dr. John E. Deasy, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, supports the California lawsuit against the state’s tenure, layoff and termination rules. He believes that the current system has a disparate impact on the quality of education offered to poor students and minorities, and is therefore unconstit