Even with all its magnets, charters, and other options, LAUSD ranks 27th out of 107 large urban school districts when it comes to choice and competition, according to a new report by the Washington DC-based Brookings Institute,  What strengths could LAUSD do to promote more options? You can read all the details here.

Former Washington DC schools superintendent Michelle Rhee credits LAUSD and UTLA for making progress with their tentative teacher evaluation deal but describes it as”falling short in many ways” and cites it as an example of the need for a “strong statewide policy governing teachers’ performance evaluations.” Read below for the full statement from Rhee, who is now...

The nonprofit and independent EdSource Today is one of the best education news sources covering statewide education issues, along withe SI&A Cabinet Reports. Now, EdSource Today journalists John Fensterwald and Kathy Barron are being joined by Lillian Mongeau (pictured), a Peninsula-based reporter who’s covered education issues as a freelancer. From the looks of it, she’s going to focus on...

Following LA School Report‘s breaking coverage of his surprise withdrawal from the LAUSD School Board race for District 6 (covering the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley), Ernie Cardenas issued an email through a public relations firm describing his reasons for the move and asking friends and colleagues to pass media inquiries along to...

National teachers union head Randi Weingarten heaped praise on the tentative deal that LAUSD and UTLA announced last week. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy touted it as historic (see: “This Has Never Been Done”). But elsewhere across the nation, the initial word about the deal hasn’t been so unanimously glowing. Today’s LA Times story about the deal highlights some of these concerns,...

The next few months aren’t just going to be about teacher evaluation, removal of sexual predators, and budget items. The charter application, review, and approval process will continue — including those that will be discussed at tomorrow’s Board meeting. At tomorrow’s Board meeting, items 16-20 are renewals or amendments to existing charters. But there are also new charters...

On Wednesday, the Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced $25 million in grants to seven cities where charter schools and districts are working together in new and potentially effective ways.  Though LAUSD was one of the first districts to sign up for the Gates “compact” in December 2010, the district and its charter schools were...

There are lots of charter schools in LA, including some great ones and some not-so-great ones, but don’t think that LA has “more” of them than has become common in big cities around the country. As this new map from a national charter school association shows, lots of other cities have proportionately lots more charters...

It was announced last week that Russlynn Ali, the Obama civil rights head within the US Department of Education, was leaving the administration after four years. Longtime LAUSD observers may recall Ali as head of the Education Trust – West and her work on efforts to expand AP access across the district. See EdWeek, Center for Public...

“Auditors reviewed 61 settlements with LAUSD teachers – including 47 involving misconduct with a student – and found that more than $2 million in payouts had been made… Officials said Monday that 299 teachers are now being “housed” at district offices after being accused of misconduct. Each case takes an average of six months to investigate...