Teachers to Vote on ‘Confidence’ in L.A. Schools Supt. Deasy Members of the L.A. teachers union begin casting ballots Tuesday in a symbolic confidence-vote referendum on L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy. LA Times See also: LA School Report CTA Goes Hollywood on Teacher Dismissal Bills An adage in politics is that if you can’t beat...

Picking up on a comparison LA School Report first made last month, LAUSD Board Member Bennett Kayser published an op-ed in the LA Daily News last week in which he compared his 2011 runoff against Luis Sanchez to this year’s runoff between District 6 candidates Antonio Sanchez and  Monica Ratliff: “I beat the big money.  My...

Curious Grade for Teachers: Nearly All Pass Across the country, education reformers and their allies in both parties have revamped the way teachers are graded, abandoning methods under which nearly everyone was deemed satisfactory, even when students were falling behind. NY Times California’s Largest Teachers Union Now Backs Bill to Ease Firing Districts have long...

California’s Two Largest Teachers Unions File to Become Defendants on Vergara v. California Lawyers for California’s two largest teachers unions filed a motion in L.A. County Superior Court on Wednesday to intervene as defendants in a lawsuit that would radically alter tenure for public school teachers. KPCC Report: Cheating on Standardized Tests in 75 Percent...

National School Board Group Seeks Curbs on U.S. Ed Secretary The National School Boards Association and its 90,000 members are sponsoring legislation aimed at curbing the authority of the U.S. Secretary of Education – an outgrowth likely stemming from the group’s chilly relationship with the Obama administration during the president’s first term. SI&A Cabinet Report...

Taking a Crack at California’s Education System Michelle Rhee came to prominence as the tough-minded chancellor of Washington, D.C., schools. Now she’s in Sacramento, taking on this state’s system — and its teachers unions. LA Times See also: L.A. Now Live Chat on Rhee and California’s Public Schools U.S. Ed Department Agrees to Review 9...

In Meeting of the Minds, CTA Also Backs Teacher Dismissal Bill With unusual speed, the California Teachers Association endorsed a bill Assemblymember Joan Buchanan introduced last week that would quicken the process for dismissing teachers. The teachers association joins Sen. Alex Padilla, thus creating a consensus among opposite sides of one of the most contentious issues last...

LAUSD Teachers Set to Vote on Confidence in District, Union Policies Los Angeles Unified’s 40,000 teachers will be polled next month on their confidence in Superintendent John Deasy and whether they want their union to ratchet up demands for higher pay, smaller classes and an end to many of the district’s reforms. LA Daily News...

Sen. Padilla Drops His Teacher Dismissal Bill Two days after Assemblymember Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, introduced a bill that would make it quicker and potentially cheaper to fire teachers, Sen. Alex Padillo, D-Los Angeles, has shelved his controversial version of a teacher dismissal bill and signed on as a principal co-author of hers. EdSource L.A.’s Mayoral...

Mark it on your calender: Important voter registration and vote-by-mail deadlines are coming up for Los Angeles’ May 21 runoff election for the District 6 seat on the LAUSD School Board: May 6, 2013 (Monday): The last day to register to vote in the May runoff election. (If you still haven’t registered, go here to register to vote...