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Analysis: There are 14 months to go before Election Day 2020, but unions’ campaign for split-roll property tax has already begun
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report You have to give California’s public employee unions credit for their dogged determination to undo Proposition 13, the state’s landmark property tax limitation initiative approved by voters in 1978. Forty years of failed attempts and tens of millions of dues dollars spent without even managing...
By Mike Antonucci | September 11, 2019
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Commentary: California helps schools treat kids with trauma before a crisis occurs. Other states should give students this kind of support
Twenty years ago, a groundbreaking study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed the ubiquity of childhood trauma and its long-term impact on health and behavior. I was in my sixth year of college at the time, struggling to focus on my coursework as I recovered from years of watching my alcoholic...
By Alfredo Rubalcava | September 10, 2019
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Analysis: Another year, another wide-ranging plan for California public education by United Teachers Los Angeles
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report It was an eventful year for the Los Angeles Unified School District, with the run-up and launch of the teacher strike, the District 5 school board election and the Measure EE parcel tax initiative. Behind them all was United Teachers Los Angeles and its president,...
By Mike Antonucci | September 3, 2019
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New report: Los Angeles needs powerful parents to help city’s schools improve — but LAUSD must first give families clear information about their children’s education
Every day that parents send their children to school represents a tremendous act of faith in their schools and the school system. Parents, however, should not have to act on blind faith. They deserve to know what their children are supposed to be learning and how they are actually doing in school. Unfortunately, in Los...
By Seth Litt | September 3, 2019
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Antonucci: No, really — as I reported last week, the California Teachers Association did not add 22,000 members this year
Last week, I expressed very strong doubt about this claim from the California Teachers Association, reported by Louis Freedberg of EdSource in a story about the disaffiliation of the 19,000-member California Faculty Association, which represents employees of the California State University system: “The CTA anticipates that some 22,000 new members it says it has recruited...
By Mike Antonucci | August 21, 2019
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Ashton: While 5G is coming to our cell phones, our schools are stuck in 2G. 3 ways to help give our kids a cutting-edge education
The newest craze in tech is 5G wireless speeds. All the major carriers are racing to be the first to upgrade their coverage speed, investing up to $1 trillion to develop infrastructure for nationwide 5G by 2020. But while our nation focuses on developing cutting-edge cell speed, we’re leaving behind a far more important need: preparing our...
By Mashea Ashton | August 19, 2019
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Big promises, big data: Is the SAT’s new ‘environmental context’ score a tool to personalize college admissions, or another impersonal data point?
It’s college-touring season at my house, and I am a goopy mess. I’m a total sucker for all of it. The unblemished idealism of the day. The bright new horizon revealed by each literal door the student tour guide opens. Even the obligatory lunch in the dining hall, where I try not to think about...
By Beth Hawkins | August 19, 2019
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Analysis: California Teachers Association’s claims of new membership don’t add up
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Last week, we reported the news that the California Faculty Association, representing 19,000 employees of the California State University system, suddenly decided to drop its affiliation with both the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association. Everyone involved is being very close-mouthed about the...
By Mike Antonucci | August 14, 2019
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Kahlenberg: School segregation isn’t a big issue in L.A. — but it should be. N.Y. and Chicago are working to integrate their schools, and L.A. should, too. Gonez’s proposal is a good first step
In the first Democratic presidential debate, the dispute between Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris over school desegregation pivoted to California. On the defensive for his past opposition to mandatory busing, Biden noted that as California’s attorney general, Harris did nothing to desegregate the state’s schools. The same could be said of most...
By Richard Kahlenberg | August 12, 2019
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Antonucci: 19,000 state university faculty members withdraw from California Teachers Association
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. The California Faculty Association, which represents some 19,000 employees of the California State University system, abruptly ended its affiliation with both the California Teachers Association and National Education Association, a relationship that began in 1981. It was by far the largest secession of a union...
By Mike Antonucci | August 7, 2019