*UPDATED Several LA Unified workers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 over what they say is an improper collection of their full dues. In the complaint, which was prepared with free legal assistance by the National Right to Work Foundation (NRWF), the employes claim SEIU Local 99 union...

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) President Alex Caputo-Pearl appeared at a press conference today outside North Hollywood High School where he and other speakers focused on the union’s demand for smaller class sizes in its ongoing fight for a new contract. Caputo-Pearl said that the most fundamental thing the union wants to communicate is “that our...

Now that John Deasy has stepped down as superintendent of LA Unified, replaced on an interim basis by Ray Cortines, it’s open season on speculating who might be considered as a permanent superintendent. In the second largest district in the nation, the challenges of finding a candidate who is qualified, interested in the job and gels with the...

Shannon Garrison, a fourth grade teacher at LA Unified’s Solano Elementary School, has been reappointed to the National Assessment Governing Board, which helps set policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly known as the “nation’s report card.” Garrison was appointed to the board in 2010 and will serve another four-year term. “I am...

Twitter and other social media accounts interested in LA Unified news started blowing up late Wednesday night after LA School Report broke the news that John Deasy was stepping down as superintendent, and the online chatter has continued through today. Check out our Storify feed below to see some interesting, funny and informative tweets and...

Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of the teachers union, UTLA, stopped short today of saying he was pleased with former LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy‘s resignation, instead insisting that achieving the union’s contract demands — not Deasy’s resignation — would be a victory. “What’s going to be a victory for UTLA is actually winning the demands in our...

Former LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy was a polarizing figure, earning almost equal parts praise and scorn, and naturally the news of his resignation has evoked similar opposing reactions. Some have expressed disappointment and outrage over his resignation, while some can barely contain their glee. In an email to LA School Report, Ben Austin, executive...

Lawyers at the ACLU and Public Counsel plan to ask the state by tomorrow to intervene at LA Unified’s Dorsey High School and Freemont High School in a similar way that it stepped in at Jefferson High School. The move comes after last week’s court-issued temporary restraining order (TRO) that required the state to fix...

Some students at Jefferson High School have been asked to do a lot of waiting this school year — waiting in an auditorium for days or weeks with no class work, waiting to get into the right classes, waiting to get enough classes. Now, as they wait for the state and LA Unified to fix...

The president of the teachers union, Alex Caputo-Pearl, today refuted accusations by LA Unified officials that teachers are to blame for the scheduling problems at Jefferson High School. “Some district people, not all, have brought forward the idea of blaming the teachers, which is ridiculous and a red herring,” Caputo-Pearl told LA School Report. “There...