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East Valley Power Politics Shaped District 6 Runoff
As you may have read in last week’s LA Weekly about School Board member Nury Martinez’s bid for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, there are surprisingly few women left on the Council thanks in large part to a rivalry between two male-dominated East San Fernando Valley political clans. The rivalry between these two Latino...
By Hillel Aron | May 16, 2013
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Possible Board Candidates: District 6
District 6 is an open seat, as current board member Nury Martinez is leaving the school board to run for City Council. Both UTLA and the education reform community are likely to pick candidates and dump money into independent expenditure campaigns supporting them. But who will they pick? One possible candidate for ed reformers in...
By Hillel Aron | September 24, 2012
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Scramble Over Teacher Evaluation
It was a mad scramble in Sacramento yesterday, and well into the night, with state legislators trying to get every bill they possibly could out the door before recess, Friday at midnight. And perhaps nowhere was the scramble madder than in the Senate education committee, where lawmakers desperately tried to amend AB 5, a bill...
By Hillel Aron | August 30, 2012
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Teacher Evaluation Debate Deadline
It’s crunchtime for the state legislature, which has yet to figure out what to do with a slew of issues including AB 5, the proposal that would essentially remove pupil progress from teacher evaluations (see KPCC: California lawmakers voting on hundreds of bills to meet a Friday midnight deadline). As you may recall, AB 5’s author offered...
By Alexander Russo | August 28, 2012
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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Furious Debate Over “Pupil Progress”
Rumors are flying fast and furious about Assembly Bill 5, a proposed amendment to the Stull Act offered by San Fernando Valley Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes. The latest word from EdSource is that AB 5 is being revised slightly to try and mollify opponents and also to help make the state eligible for a No Child Left...
By Hillel Aron | August 24, 2012
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Morning Read: “Ransom Note”
Prop 30 Is a Ransom Note. But Should We Pay It Anyway? NBC / Prop Zero: Structured around a budget that would trigger big cuts to schools and universities in the event it loses in November, Prop 30 takes California’s kids, and future, hostage, and demands payment. Fuentes agrees to compromises on AB 5: Are they enough? Ed Source: At...
By Hillel Aron | August 24, 2012
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Ed Voice Ad Blasts Felipe Fuentes’ Assembly Bill 5
Tomorrow, the Sacramento-based school reform advocacy group Ed Voice will have a full-page ad (seen on the left, click to enlarge) in the LA Times calling on the state legislature and Governor Jerry Brown to oppose AB 5. The Felipe Fuentes-sponsored bill would make all teacher evaluations subject to collective-bargaining agreements. A number of other...
By Hillel Aron | August 21, 2012