In an abbreviated day of testimony in the trial Vergara v. CA, a suit that is challenging teacher dismissal laws in California, Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu heard from two witnesses who described their personal disappointments with California’s public education system and the laws regulating teacher employment. Testifying on behalf of the plaintiffs, Kareem Weaver,...

Some LA Unified schools may be moving closer to allowing students to take district-bought iPads home again, and that has caught district officials by surprise. The district put an end to the practice in September after students figured out how to bypass the device’s security filters. But school board member Monica Ratliff, chair of the...

Only two LA Unified school board members hold law degrees: Tamar Galatzan and Monica Ratliff. But Steve Zimmer, a college professor, did a pretty good impression of a lawyer last night. Zimmer presided over an ad hoc “committee of one” — no other board members attended — that was charged with defining the role and scope...

The Los Angeles teachers union election process is long – from February to July – and a lot like a reality show, with multiple voting rounds to knock out candidates/contestants, until finally, there’s only one person left standing. That’s especially true in the race for UTLA president, which has 10 men competing for the chance...

The debate over what makes a good teacher can be, at best subjective and at worst litigious. (See Vergara v California, which got underway yesterday.) But USC’s Rossier School of Education may have cracked the code and is now partnering with Los Angeles Unified and several charter school groups to make more of them. The...

Another candidate has thrown her hat into the ring. Hattie McFrazier is the latest contender in the special election race for LA Unified’s District 1 seat. She is another district lifer. McFrazier spent 31 years with the district, retiring in 2012, and held a variety of positions including teacher, counselor, School Attendance Review Board Chair...

Today’s LA Unified school board meeting may have been brief, but it was just as acrimonious and confusing as some of the longer ones. While problems contributing to the appearance of dysfunction usually focus on content or process. This one focused on both. The big issue was over Bennett Kayser’s resolution to expand Title I...

Alex Johnson has made his decision. Johnson, who is the Assistant Senior Deputy for Education and Public Safety to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, confirmed to LA School Report that he is running for LA Unified’s District 1 seat in the special election this June. In a statement he said: “I’m running because the children...

The UTLA House of Representatives last night voted to demand a significant salary hike for teachers — an increase of nearly 20 percent. Teachers last received a pay raise in early 2007; their last contract with LA Unified expired in 2011. The union says higher salaries are long overdue, especially since voters passed Prop. 30...