Here’s the Friday, January 11 letter in which LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy describes his concerns about California State Superintendent Tom Torlakson’s recommendation to reduce standardized testing: It’s not that Deasy opposes all changes to the current testing and accountability system. LAUSD is one of eight districts seeking a waiver from No Child Left Behind from Washington....

One of the biggest problems with the student transfer provision under the federal No Child Behind (NCLB) Act is has been that it relies on the school system both to inform parents of their right to transfer their child out of a failing school and to pick the schools they can transfer to. California’s 2010 Open...

In this article, Huffington Post LA editor (and former South Central teacher) Kathleen Miles reminds us that it was the 1989 schoolyard shooting in Stockton that led to an earlier wave of measures to limit the proliferation of assault weapons.

“There is no reasonable explanation for why firing a teacher in California is such a time-consuming, tortuous and expensive procedure… Appeals often drag on for years — during which the school district must pay the teachers’ salaries and benefits — and almost invariably favor the teachers… The dysfunctional process benefits no one except bad teachers. The...

The New York Times is reporting that Participant Media, the production company behind “Waiting For Superman” as well as several other features and documentaries, is creating a new cable channel of its own to create more do-gooder fare from the likes of Davis Guggenheim, Morgan Spurlock, and others. Maybe they’ll make something out of Stray...

Both LAUSD and UTLA issued statements in response to the rampage at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut this morning, in which the assailant is reported to have killed nearly 20 children and several adults, including his mother, a kindergarten teacher at the school, and the school principal.  Read below, via HuffPostLA

LAUSD — specifically “LA Unified School District” — was one of the most frequent searches on Google for the LA area in 2012, notes the blog LAist — along with pop culture and mainstream topics like Whitney Houston, Lakers, and Batman.  Is the district’s search popularity because of increased interest, or frustration?  Nobody really knows.

There could be small signs of change going on inside UTLA. This week’s internal elections for the 350-member House of Representatives were contested in 22 of 32 districts for the first time in recent years.  Some of those seats were expected to have been won by a new caucus within UTLA, called NewTLA, which is...

Here’s UTLA president Warren Fletcher saying that LAUSD can’t afford the computer tablet initiative that LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has proposed (and should use the bond money for teacher salaries and adding school days instead). CBS has the story here.

Even before the final roster of candidates has been announced by the City Clerk’s office, their official ‘ballot position’ has been determined by random draw.  Here’s the order: