LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):
Next election season opens for 2015 primary
Next election season opens for 2015 primary With more than a month left before November’s election, the Los Angeles City Clerk is already looking toward the next election season. It announced today that candidates intending to run for office in the primary, slated for March 2015, must live in their respective districts by October 3. According to the City Charter, failure to meet the residency requ
Kamala Harris: absenteeism interferes with ‘students’ rights’
Kamala Harris: absenteeism interferes with ‘students’ rights’ Attorney General Kamala Harris (photo by KNX) California Attorney General Kamala Harris appeared at LA Unfiied’s Malabar Elementary School today to highlight a report on truancy released by her office this week that shows a high correlation between attendance problems and both income and race. But the argument she’s using to bring atten
Morning Read: Deasy’s attorney asks for LA school board emails
Morning Read: Deasy’s attorney asks for LA school board emails Attorney for Supt. Deasy asks for L.A. school board emails An attorney representing Los Angeles schools Supt. John Deasy is seeking records that would explore possible links between school board members and technology vendors. LA Times L.A. Unified should rescind plan to delete year-old emails Editorial: The requirement that most emai
SEP 11
A teacher finds lessons in the awfulness of 9/11
A teacher finds lessons in the awfulness of 9/11 As with most moments in my adult life, it was my students and literature that taught me the most significant lessons about the meaning of 9/11. That morning felt unremarkable, even after my co-teacher came back into the room in the middle of second period to whisper something to me about planes crashing and terrorism. It was only my second year of t
Children’s Defense Fund names Alex Johnson as CA chief
Children’s Defense Fund names Alex Johnson as CA chief Alex Johnson, who finished behind George McKenna in the race to fill the LA Unified District 1 board seat, has added two new lines to his resume since the August election runoff. Nominated by his former boss, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Johnson is now a member of the LA County Board of Education, which mediates a variety of school district disputes, a
Two years later, teachers fighting changes at Crenshaw High
Two years later, teachers fighting changes at Crenshaw High A labor board hearing opened yesterday with a dozen LA Unified teachers, including UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl, claiming the district used the reorganization of Crenshaw High School in 2012 to rid the campus of active union leaders who posed a threat to Superintendent John Deasy. The teachers union filed the unfair labor practice cha
Morning Read: LA Unified board enforces email deletion rule
Morning Read: LA Unified board enforces email deletion rule L.A. school board approves contract to destroy emails after a year The Los Angeles Unified School District took steps this week to enforce rules under which emails are deleted after one year, raising concerns about whether important public records would be destroyed in the process. LA Times Hearing opens on Crenshaw teachers’ claims of a
SEP 10
Reps for LAUSD, teachers union talk about computers, not salaries
Reps for LAUSD, teachers union talk about computers, not salaries Another bargaining session came and went today and still no contract agreement between LA Unified and the teachers union, UTLA. The district said in a press release, “union leaders weren’t ready to talk about raises at the table,” leaving the sides to focus, instead, on issues with the student-tracking system known as MiSiS, for My
Garcetti endorses Torlakson in state superintendent race
Garcetti endorses Torlakson in state superintendent race Mayor Garcetti Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti today endorsed state Superintendent Tom Torlakson in his bid for reelection against Marshall Tuck, a former charter school executive. Citing his leadership in improving school safety and creating the largest network of after-school programs in the nation, Garcetti said in a statement, “Tom Torla
LAUSD outlines backup plans as MiSiS work continues
LAUSD outlines backup plans as MiSiS work continues LA Unified is still scrambling to troubleshoot technical issues as the deadline for staffing schools approaches, the school board learned at its latest meeting yesterday. “Norm” day,” as it’s called, is set for Friday but problems with the new student data management system, MiSiS, have forced the district to devise a new plan: “The process will
Caputo-Pearl Q&A: Running LAUSD like a business?
Caputo-Pearl Q&A: Running LAUSD like a business? Via the Los Angeles Times | By Patt Morrison It’s a funny world, and a small one. Alex Caputo-Pearl, the new head of United Teachers Los Angeles, went to school in the same Maryland school district where John Deasy, superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, was once superintendent. They missed each other there, but now they’re i
Morning Read: LAUSD eyed Pearson software early on
Morning Read: LAUSD eyed Pearson software early on Early technology plans called for training on Pearson software The Los Angeles Unified School District’s early technology expansion plan called for all teachers to be trained on textbook publisher Pearson’s iPad educational software, according to a document obtained by KPCC. KPCC MiSiS computer mess could impact college applications Concerned tha
SEP 09
Teachers union ups pressure on Deasy over technology, contract
Teachers union ups pressure on Deasy over technology, contract President of UTLA, Alex Caputo-Pearl With a new contract on the line, the LA Unified teachers union, UTLA, is stepping up its attack on Superintendent John Deasy, blaming him for problems large and small and the opening line the district has taken for a new contract with teachers. Union president Alex Caputo-Pearl ratcheted up the tens
LIVESTREAM coverage of LAUSD’s school board meeting today
LIVESTREAM coverage of LAUSD’s school board meeting today Today the LA Unified Board of Education will convene briefly at 10 a.m. before adjourning to a closed session. They will then reconvene at 1 p.m. for an open session, covering a variety of items. For the 10 a.m. board agenda, click here, and for board materials, here. For the 1 p.m. board agenda, click here, board materials, here, and the u
Torlakson, Tuck in statistical tie, according to new Field poll
Torlakson, Tuck in statistical tie, according to new Field poll Tom Torlakson (left), Marshall Tuck (right) A new Field poll shows that the race for state Superintendent of Public Education is tightening. Some might say it’s now nip and tuck. A survey conducted over the last two weeks in August of 467 people who said they were likely to vote in November found that the incumbent, Tom Torlakson, lea
Morning Read: LAUSD’s iPad program still raising questions
Morning Read: LAUSD’s iPad program still raising questions Questions persist over troubled iPad deployment in LA schools With the huge purchase plan suspended, Superintendent John Deasy has alternated between assertions of his acceptance of the slowdown as a chance to regroup and denunciations of others who he said had politicized the process. Government Technology Universal preschool spending dr
SEP 08
Progress (or lack of it) with teachers comes to LAUSD board
Progress (or lack of it) with teachers comes to LAUSD board Unlikely Co-sponsors: Galatzan (left), Ratliff (right) The LA Unified School Board returns tomorrow with a full agenda although a lot of the juicy stuff will be discussed in closed session. In addition to the usual topics — personnel issues and ongoing litigation — the board will review labor negotiations, which at this point is down to t
Commentary: Vergara could be a win-win for students and teachers
Commentary: Vergara could be a win-win for students and teachers Via EdWeek | by Carl Finer As a veteran urban educator and career union member, I care deeply about both my students and building the systems to ensure that all students and teachers have what they need to be successful. In the legal precedent laid out in the controversial Vergara decision relating to teacher tenure in California, I
Not everyone is rejoicing over halt to LAUSD’s iPad program
Not everyone is rejoicing over halt to LAUSD’s iPad program Green cells: schools that have already received iPads | Blue cells: school that will receive iPads | Uncolored cells: schools that were next to receive iPads, but now, won’t. Principal Steven Martinez of John Burroughs Middle School in Hancock Park figured the worst that could happen is that his school’s new iPads wouldn’t connect to the
Morning Read: LA Unified teachers paid less than state peers
Morning Read: LA Unified teachers paid less than state peers LAUSD teachers are paid less than others in California Records obtained by the Daily News show that those LA teachers averaged $2,148 — about 3 percent — less in pay than peers at a majority of California schools last year. LA Daily News Why don’t more men go into teaching? Analysis: Across the country, teaching is an overwhelmingly fem