Friday, December 16, 2011

L.A. teachers approve local-control deal - latimes.com

L.A. teachers approve local-control deal - latimes.com:


L.A. teachers approve local-control deal

Teachers in Los Angeles have overwhelmingly approved an agreement that is expected to give instructors and administrators more control of their schools, while also holding them responsible for academic achievement.
The vote was 69.8% in favor and 29.4% against, with the remainder failing to specify a choice on their ballots. In all, 19,529 members, or 55%, cast ballots out of 35,593 eligible voters. Members of United Teachers Los Angeles had submitted ballots over the past several days, with the results tabulated and announced Thursday.
The Board of Education is expected to quickly follow suit in ratifying the deal. The pact would end the much-publicized “Public School Choice” initiative, under which groups inside and outside the district, including charter schools, competed for control of new and low performing campuses. The growth of independently managed charter schools had resulted in the reduction of more than 200 positions formerly held by district-employed,