Suit to limit use of teacher union dues for political purposes is tossed The teachers involved were fighting for the right to belong to their union without their dues being used against their will for political causes. LA Times, by Howard Blume Comprehensive sex ed bill among those facing Brown The bill would make instruction...

By Emma Brown U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on Wednesday plans to appeal to the nation’s states and cities to dramatically reduce incarceration for nonviolent crimes, and he is proposing to use the estimated $15 billion in savings to substantially raise teacher pay in high-poverty schools. Duncan argues that such a move would help persuade...

Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa endorses charter expansion effort “I would support any effort to expand high-quality education,” Villaraigosa said. “So I could certainly support that.” Los Angeles Times, by Howard Blume California denied renewal of federal funding for charter schools This will be the first time California, the state with the largest number of...

By Sarah Butrymowicz You can see it all over our map of graduation rates by district: a pocket of low graduation rates surrounded by higher ones, indicating a city and its surrounding suburbs. It should come as no surprise that urban districts tend to have lower graduation rates than suburban ones. They often have more...

3 years later, results of LAUSD’s arts experiment are mixed A KPCC analysis of the most recent district data found that at about 100 elementary schools, the vast majority of students get no arts instruction. KPCC Test scores indicate more students ‘college ready’ in English language arts For math, the percentage decreased compared to last...

By Anya Kamenetz Ron Turiello’s daughter, Grace, seemed unusually alert even as a newborn. At 7 months or so, she showed an interest in categorizing objects: She’d take a drawing of an elephant in a picture book, say, and match it to a stuffed elephant and a realistic plastic elephant. At 5 or 6 years...

California vaccine law foes announce new drive for ballot measure The new initiative was announced by a group that has been seeking to recall some lawmakers who recently approved a new vaccination law. Los Angeles Times Dan Walters: Charter schools are new front in old war The epic war between California’s education establishment and a...

Los Angeles Unified and five other California school districts got welcome news today as the U.S. Department of Education extended their waiver from the No Child Left Behind law, giving them continued flexibility in how they spend millions to educate low-income students. Known collectively as the California Office to Reform Education (CORE), the districts won...

By Kate Schweitzer Share this everywhere… Alyssa is 7!!! Not only is her mother a military veteran but, she took the time to teach her… Posted by Brenda Hatcher on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 When a teacher reprimands a student, you can safely assume the kid in question did something wrong. Maybe she pushed a classmate in line, or...

Experts predict the opt-out movement will get some of what it wants With up to 80 percent of students refusing to take federally mandated tests, policymakers are reviewing the national opt-out movement. Hechinger Report How my time at a “failing” high school blew me away With the implementation of state standards, many public schools have wound...