In anticipation of tonight’s UTLA House of Representatives debate over the union’s District 6 runoff endorsements, an anonymous tipster sent LA School Report a copy of a flyer sent out by District 6 candidate Monica Ratliff during the primary campaign that touts her support from Republican LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and describes her as “the Republicans’...

LAUSD to Pay Nearly $30M to Settle Miramonte Sex Abuse Lawsuits Los Angeles Unified will pay nearly $30 million to settle claims by 58 children who say they were victims of former Miramonte Elementary teacher Mark Berndt, the veteran educator charged with committing bizarre acts of sex abuse against students, attorneys said Tuesday. LA Daily...

“Punishing Numbers” — a widely-noted investigative series depicting harsh school discipline rules in California schools — has won the top investigative journalism prize for medium-sized newsrooms in the 2012 National Awards for Education Reporting. The series was a joint reporting effort shared by Vanessa Romo at Los Angeles public radio station KPCC, Krissy Clark at San Francisco...

Now that the dust has started to settle around last week’s LAUSD Board primary election, you might be wondering what outside spending groups have in store for the May runoff election for the District 6 (East San Fernando Valley) Board seat. However, it may be awhile. The Coalition for School Reform and UTLA-PACE won’t have...

Despite Increase in Funding, School Districts Still Sending Layoff Notices to Teachers Year after year, March 15th has been a date of dread for California public school teachers. The date, wAhich falls on a Friday this year, is the preliminary deadline for school districts to send out “Reduction In Force” notices for cuts to next...

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) voted Thursday to revamp training requirements for roughly 2,200 alternative or “intern” certificated teachers who teach English language learners — but did not disqualify these teachers immediately as some had feared. This decision came as a relief to hundreds of teachers in LA, including the 300 Teach for...

More than 3,000 charter school leaders from across California — including many from LA — will gather in San Diego on Tuesday, March 12 for a three-day conference hosted by the California Charter Schools Association (CSSA). Speakers at the conference include education advocate and StudentsFirst founder Michelle Rhee, CCSA President Jed Wallace, and Congressman George...

Teachers Union to Vote on Aggressive Stand Against Deasy Policies The Los Angeles teachers union has scheduled an April vote for an initiative that would, if passed, call for a more aggressive posture against the leadership of the L.A. Unified School District. LA Times The Wrong Fight Over Schools Over the last century, American public...

Big Money in L.A. School Board Races UTLA is apparently, re-interviewing the two remaining candidates. It sat out that race in the first round by endorsing all three candidates and spending no money. LA Times Runoff Campaigns Kick Off, City Hall Girds for More Cuts The mayoral campaign entered a new phase Wednesday, as Eric...

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy and UTLA President Warren Fletcher both sat down separately with KPCC’s “Take Two” radio program to discuss their post-election reactions and visions for the future of LA schools. Listen to the Deasy interview here and the Fletcher interview here. Highlights from Deasy’s interview include his reaction to Steve Zimmer’s win over Kate Anderson in District...