In a surprising move in its contract negotiations with LA Unified, UTLA yesterday backed off its previous demand of a 17.6 percent pay raise over the next two years, to call for a bigger raise for one year, a 10 percent bump for 2014-15, with the expectation of re-opening salary negotiations next year. The union’s new wage...

Even before the LA Unified school board began discussing a possible buyout for Superintendent John Deasy, Tuesday night, one of his top deputies volunteered to take his place during a transition to new leadership. While it might have appeared opportunistic to some, Michelle King, the deputy superintendent who offered to step in, explained in a brief statement...

LA Unified announced today that the district has received an $11.3 million federal grant to boost adult education programs throughout the district. The Federal Workforce Investment Act grants are intended to expand access to Adult Basic Education classes, high school subjects, English as a second language and citizenship. “The Workforce Investment Act and the awarding of...

John Deasy is still the LA Unified superintendent. After four hours behind closed doors last night, the district school board emerged with nothing to say. For Deasy, who did not attend the meeting, that was a plus, because it meant that the members might have talked about his performance, but they didn’t take a vote...

While LA Unified board members are contemplating the continued employment of Superintendent John Deasy, one of his chief deputies has volunteered to serve as a short-term successor. Michelle King, Senior Deputy Superintendent School Operations and one of the highest-ranking African-Americans in Deasy’s administration, today forwarded a letter to all seven board members, saying she would...

Drama tonight. Or maybe not. The LA Unified school board is convening a two-part session at 4 p.m. today — one open, the other closed, with Superintendent John Deasy the prime subject of conversation in the closed session. Members have confirmed that they are using their privacy to determine what parameters to consider when Deasy...

With all the uncertainty about how the LA Unified school board intends to evaluate Superintendent John Deasy in his next annual performance review, two new voices have entered the debate, urging the board to act with transparency, put student interests first and keep Deasy where he is. In separate letters to the board today, both...

Uncertainties surround LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy. He doesn’t see eye-to-eye with board members on a host of issues. Questions are swirling about whether he’ll quit or be fired. That was last year. But here he is again, weeks away from his next performance review, and not much has changed. This time, Deasy finds himself...

Getting safely to and from school can be tricky in a rough neighborhood. To make it easier, City Attorney Mike Feuer launched a pilot program earlier this month at four LA Unified elementary schools, aimed at keeping kids safe. The Neighborhood School Safety Program targets schools in areas with high “quality of life” crimes, including...

While LA Unified is still wrestling with the final kinks in MiSiS, it is already developing MiSiS 2.0. “This time we’re involving users in the conversation early on,” Ron Chandler, the district’s Chief Information Officer, told the school board’s Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Committee yesterday. As for the current system, which tracks student progress and...