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Students Protest Loss of Staff in Crenshaw High Reorganization
Of the 62 teachers who reapplied for their jobs, 29 were selected. Fewer than 10 elected not to return, said Cathy Garcia, a Crenshaw math instructor and teachers union representative who was among those displaced. LA Times

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Assembly Approves Bill To Ease Teacher Firing
Lawmakers approved AB375 by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, on a 51-12 vote, sending it to the Senate. The bill would speed up the appeals process after a teacher is fired and add homicide charges to the list of offenses that can prompt a teacher’s removal. It would allow school districts to immediately remove a teacher accused of child or sexual abuse from the classroom. Associated Press

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Fewer School Districts in Financial Trouble
The number of California school districts facing financial distress has fallen by more than 50 percent, down to 92 from 188 a year ago, according to figures released Tuesday by the State Department of Education. Ed Source

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Number of High-Poverty Schools Increases by about 60 Percent
Poverty is getting so concentrated in America that one out of five public schools was classified as a “high-poverty” school in 2011 by the U.S.  Department of Education. About a decade earlier, in 2000, only one in eight public schools was deemed to be high poverty.  Hechinger Report

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LAUSD Submits Amended Application For No Child Left Behind Waiver
Currently, based on standardized tests, just half of the students in LAUSD are considered proficient in English and 52 percent are proficient in math. Benchmarks in No Child Left Behind give the district just one year to raise those totals to 100 percent. Daily News

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Life Lessons on the Basketball Court
Special-Needs Teens Team Up With ‘Peer Coaches,’ Mostly Low-Income, in Innovative Los Angeles Program Wall St. Journal (paywall)

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Brown’s Budget Ideas Resonate in New Poll
For legislative Democrats, who think Gov. Jerry Brown’s state budget plan doesn’t do enough to restore billions of dollars in recent cuts, a new statewide poll may be a bit of a bummer: voters like Brown’s approach more than theirs. News10

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Sneak Peek at New California Standardized Tests
A new slate of tests are slated to be fully implemented in the spring of 2015. The new tests, administered on computers, allow for more than multiple-choice bubbles. They include boxes where students will write out answers for reading comprehension and math problems in full sentences and paragraphs. The point is to measure critical thinking and writing skills. KPCC

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E Reader Experiment in LAUSD
Two hundred and thirty students and four teachers in New Open World (NOW) Academy in Los Angeles have been trying out Copia, an e-reader that emphasizes creating collaborative learning environments where students can share questions, notes and so on. EdSurge