Thursday’s LA Times editorial about the use of student achievement data in teacher evaluations around the country (Bill Gates’ warning on test scores) makes some valuable points about the dangers of rushed, half-baked teacher evaluation schemes that count test scores as more than half of a teacher’s evaluation (as is being done in some states and districts)....

We’re live-tweeting tonight’s debate between mayoral contenders Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel: [widgets_on_pages id=”Twitter Live Posts”]

Mayor Villaraigosa wants the two mayoral candidates to focus more on education. “Education reform can’t be a footnote on a campaign mailer or fodder for an attack ad,” said Villaraigosa in his speech last night. Sensing some sort of political opportunity, candidate Eric Garcetti has challenged his opponent Wendy Greuel to an education debate. But LA Weekly‘s...

Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., the decision of the parents over the fate of 24th Street Elementary School is scheduled to be announced at a park near the school. The decision will be based on a vote of the 369 parents who signed the original parent trigger petition, according to the LA Weekly.  Whichever of the...

Last week, the Coalition for School Reform announced a new spokesperson would be taking over for the May 21 runoff between District 6 candidates Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez. The reform-oriented independent expenditure committee has also fired up its Twitter feed (@ReformLAUSD), begun training a new set of campaign organizers (pictured), and announced its first voter...

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy spoke at Saturday’s TEDx event at Loyola Marymount University. Deasy’s remarks — initially delivered from one of those old-fashioned classroom desk/seat combinations — begin at the 54:00 mark.   Click here to see a list of other speakers.

LAUSD Board Member Seeks Overhaul of ‘Teacher Jail’ System Los Angeles Unified would create a team of professional investigators to handle serious misconduct complaints against teachers as part of a new plan to overhaul the district’s disciplinary process, which has been criticized as costly, unwieldy and unfair. Daily News Charter School Operators Guilty of Misusing...

Can’t live without education news between Friday and Monday? Check in here for news you might have missed or interesting tidbits that come in over the weekend: [widgets_on_pages id=”Twitter Live Posts”] As always, retweets (RTs) aren’t endorsements — just interesting items that we’re passing along.

Curious about how the parent trigger is evolving in Los Angeles and nationwide?  Here’s the audio from a Friday morning panel at Yale University on the parent trigger featuring Parent Trigger’s Ben Austin and former state Senator Gloria Romero, who authored the controversial law, along with the Fordham Foundation’s Adam Emerson and moderator Andy Rotherham....

Former District 4 (Westside/Hollywood) School Board candidate Kate Anderson sounded relaxed and content during a phone interview yesterday afternoon. The Mar Vista parent laughed easily and often, and said she was getting to see her children a lot more in the month since the March 5 primary. But she wasn’t without ideas and regrets in terms...