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Misunderstood election rules upsetting UTLA candidates

Recent campaign appearances by Alex Caputo-Pearl at schools around LA Unified have ignited a dispute among candidates for UTLA offices who say election rules — such as they are — are being applied unfairly. The conflict has also brought into focus how misunderstood the rules seem to be. The source of the infighting is what...
By Vanessa Romo | February 27, 2014
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Villaraigosa endorses Hudley-Hayes for open board seat

Former mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has thrown himself into the District 1 special election race by endorsing Genethia Hudley-Hayes, one of 13 candidates running to join the LA Unified School Board. Hudley-Hayes, who served as school board president until she lost her seat to the late Marguerite LaMotte in 2003, released a list of endorsers this...
By Vanessa Romo | February 24, 2014
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At UTLA forum, a few issues break out within the mudslinging

The third UTLA presidential forum held at union headquarters last night was the most well attended — about 70 members made it for the two hour question and answer session — and it also proved to be the most contentious and mud-slingingest. For any given question, only a handful of the 10 candidates managed to...
By Vanessa Romo | February 21, 2014
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Vergara defense lawyers preview their case — if they need it

As defendants in the Vergara trial were asking the court to dismiss the case, attorneys for the state’s two biggest teachers union met with reporters outside the courthouse to offer a preview of arguments they intend to make if the judge denies their request, and the trial resumes next month with witnesses for the defense....
By Vanessa Romo | February 20, 2014
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UTLA candidates debate big issues — including idea of a strike

Presidential candidates in the race to lead the United Teachers of Los Angeles faced tough questions and a rowdy audience last night, in the second forum of the campaign season. It was the first time all 10 candidates — Alex Caputo-Pearl, the incumbent Warren Fletcher, Bill Gaffney, David Garcia, Saul Lankster, Kevin Mottus, Marcos Ortega II, Innocent Osunwa, Leonard Segal and Gregg Solkovitz...
By Vanessa Romo | February 19, 2014
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LA Unified board appoints a ‘liaison’ for vacant district seat
In a closed session meeting — meaning, it was closed to the public — the LA Unified School Board named Sylvia Rousseau, a professor at USC, as the “liason” to board District 1, starting in March. The board seat has remained unrepresented at school board meetings since Marguerite LaMotte died in December. The appointment is...
By Vanessa Romo | February 18, 2014
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A bill to require CA school personnel to spot, report abuse

A Los Angeles state assembly member introduced a bill yesterday that would require formal training for all school employees on the identification and reporting of suspected child abuse. Assembly Bill 1432 is sponsored by Michael Gatto, a Democrat whose district includes Atwater Village, Burbank, Glendale, Hollywood, La Cañada, Flintridge, La Crescenta, Los Feliz, Montrose and...
By Vanessa Romo | February 13, 2014
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LAUSD board denies renewal for two high-performing charter schools
In an unusual move, the LA Unified School Board voted yesterday to deny the renewal of two high-performing charter schools. The two schools, Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo Academy, a K-6 school, and Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy, a 6-12 school, are located in southeast Los Angeles, and both serve predominantly low-income, Latino students. Together, they serve...
By Vanessa Romo | February 12, 2014
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LA Unified board votes against a caretaker (twice) for vacant seat

The LA Unified school board on Tuesday quashed any chance for temporary representation for the 110 schools and nearly quarter million students in board District 1, twice defeating measures that would have appointed a non-voting caretaker. It was just the latest example of the inability of a school board, paralyzed by the absence of a...
By Vanessa Romo | February 12, 2014
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In race to run powerful teachers union: ideology up for grabs

As campaigning begins in earnest at United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the second-largest teachers union in the country, the election for the presidency could be as much about ideology as which candidate has more foot-soldiers. The union has shown signs of deep fracture lately, and with just 20 percent of the union’s 35,000 members expected...
By Vanessa Romo | February 11, 2014