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Saturday, July 12, 2014

7-12-14 This Week in LA - School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD



LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):






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Weingarten comes out swinging: attacking Vergara, Duncan
In a fiery speech delivered to her core constituents, Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers went on the assault today, taking on the verdict of the Vergara trial, criticizing Common Core testing and singling out political figures for reprimand. Striking a more combative tone than she used earlier this month when she shared a stage with LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy,
VIDEO: Verdugo Hills high school glee club makes us smile
The glee club, the Verdugo Voices, an acappella group from a singing group at the Visual and Performing Arts Magnet at Verdugo Hills High School released this new video, ‘Move.’ Enjoy!
Teachers union is in town, Vergara front and center
GOP leader asks Brown not to appeal teacher ruling Republican lawmakers on Thursday asked Gov. Jerry Brown to resist union pressure to appeal a Los Angeles judge’s decision striking down tenure and other job protections for California teachers SacBee/AP Schools’ next test is getting tenure ruling to pay off in class If the ruling stands, the challenge for California will be to craft a system that
‘Fiscal mismanagement’ cited in closing 2 Magnolia charters
LA School Report has learned that ‘fiscal mismanagement’ and a host of other irregularities as the reasons behind the sudden closure last month of two LA Unified charter schools, Magnolia Science Academy 6 and Magnolia Science Academy 7, according to a letter sent from LAUSD’s Charter Division. Both are considered high-performing schools; MSA-6 is a middle school in Palms serving about 140 student

JUL 10

LA Unified students find their inner artist with help from CalArts
Click to view slideshow. A group of 250 high school students from LA Unified and the surrounding area are putting finishing touches on their art projects this week under the guidance of college faculty and graduate students from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), a university focused on visual and performing arts. Administered through Community Arts Partnership (CAP), an off-shoot of CalA
How to find schools that teach arts education in LAUSD
South California public radio station, KPCC, just launched a new map widget that identifies the level of arts education access at LA Unified’s elementary schools for the coming year. According to KPCC’s findings, only 70 out of more than 500 elementary schools in the district will provide all four forms of arts education required by California law. This is the first comprehensive survey of arts ac
Morning Read: Firing Centinela Superintendent could take a month
Process for firing Centinela Superintendent could take a month Although the Centinela Valley school board has voted to fire Superintendent Jose Fernandez following an investigation into his excessive pay, the process of terminating the embattled leader could take another month. LA Daily News California’s top political watchdog agency looking into Inglewood school spending California’s Fair Politi

JUL 09

At AFT convention, teachers union expected to fire up the base
Randi Weingarten, AFT President The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) kicks off its annual convention in downtown Los Angeles tomorrow bringing more 3,500 national union delegates to the home of LA Unified, the second largest school district in the country. On the agenda: fending off what the union sees as its biggest threats, including billionaire money, an assault on tenure, and the “pervasi
LA Unified to add more dual language immersion programs
The LA Unified school district plans to expand its dual language immersion program next fall, adding Spanish language programs to three elementary schools in the district. According to LAUSD officials, that brings the total number of dual language programs offered by the district to 57, including 43 in Spanish, 10 in Korean, and four in Mandarin. Hilda Maldonado, the director of the multi-lingual
Morning Read: Overpaid Centinela Valley superintendent fired
Centinela Valley school board fires embattled Superintendent Jose Fernandez The Centinela Valley school board Tuesday night voted to fire Superintendent Jose Fernandez, ending a five-month chapter that began with revelations that the leader of the tiny school district might have been among the nation’s best-compensated public servants. The Daily Breeze Arts education in schools could grow under L

JUL 08

Former opponents pick sides in LA Unified District 1 run-off
From left: Sherlett Hendy-Newbill, Genethia Hudley-Hayes, George McKenna, Rachel Johnson and Hattie McFrazier Heading into the final month of the special election run-off to fill LA Unified school board’s District 1 seat, candidates George McKenna and Alex Johnson are collecting endorsements from former opponents. The seat, which represents much of South LA, was left vacant when longtime school bo
What LAUSD’s New Minimum Wage Means for My Family
By Raul Meza | Via: Thinking L.A., a partnership of UCLA and Zócalo Public Square The Worst Thing About My Job as a School Custodian Has Always Been the Pay. Now I’m Imagining What a Difference $15 Per Hour Will Make. Monday through Friday, my full-time job is cleaning restrooms at Van Nuys High School. But that work is not the hardest part of my life. The hardest part is saying goodbye to my 4-ye
Ouch! LAUSD to pay $1.1 billion for teacher pension rescue
LA Unified must come up with $16 million this year to pay an unexpected bill as a result of legislation signed by Governor Jerry Brown aimed at rescuing the state’s teachers retirement pension system known as CalSTRS, but the district’s total increase is much higher, estimated to reach an extra $1.1 billion over the next seven years. While teachers and school districts across the state will see th
Morning Read: School funding reforms give leg up to student grads
School funding reforms spur decisions at local level California’s new school funding system is driving districts in diverse regions of the state to shift their resources to achieve one of the key goals laid out in the sweeping financial reform effort – graduating students so they are ready for college or careers. EdSource Schools expanding social media use to reach parents With plenty of research

JUL 07

Two LAUSD charter schools face closure after fiscal audit
Two high performing LA Unified charter schools, Magnolia Science Academy 6 and Magnolia Science Academy 7, have been ordered to shut down after failing a new round of scrutiny, leaving the possibility that 450 students will be looking for a new school in the fall. The two schools had initially been approved for renewal by the school board in March, pending the results of an internal fiscal audit b
Arne Duncan launches plan to address inequities in education
Stating that “teachers and principals are not the problem,” Secretary of Education Arne Duncan took to the podium at the White House today to unveil a national initiative aimed at addressing “systematic inequities” that shortchange some schools and disproportionately affect students in high-poverty, high-minority areas. While Duncan called teachers and principals “absolutely essential elements of
Morning Read: Big questions linger in shadow of Vergara
For Vergara ruling on teachers, big questions loom Among the lingering questions: Will the ruling, at a slim 16 pages, hold up on appeal? Will California’s notoriously polarized legislature, fearful of additional litigation and bad press, consider changing the statutes at issue on its own? And finally, will similar lawsuits elsewhere—one is already primed for introduction in New York—be as initial