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Analysis: Another year, another wide-ranging plan for California public education by United Teachers Los Angeles
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report It was an eventful year for the Los Angeles Unified School District, with the run-up and launch of the teacher strike, the District 5 school board election and the Measure EE parcel tax initiative. Behind them all was United Teachers Los Angeles and its president,...
By Mike Antonucci | September 3, 2019
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New report: Los Angeles needs powerful parents to help city’s schools improve — but LAUSD must first give families clear information about their children’s education
Every day that parents send their children to school represents a tremendous act of faith in their schools and the school system. Parents, however, should not have to act on blind faith. They deserve to know what their children are supposed to be learning and how they are actually doing in school. Unfortunately, in Los...
By Seth Litt | September 3, 2019
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Antonucci: No, really — as I reported last week, the California Teachers Association did not add 22,000 members this year
Last week, I expressed very strong doubt about this claim from the California Teachers Association, reported by Louis Freedberg of EdSource in a story about the disaffiliation of the 19,000-member California Faculty Association, which represents employees of the California State University system: “The CTA anticipates that some 22,000 new members it says it has recruited...
By Mike Antonucci | August 21, 2019
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Ashton: While 5G is coming to our cell phones, our schools are stuck in 2G. 3 ways to help give our kids a cutting-edge education
The newest craze in tech is 5G wireless speeds. All the major carriers are racing to be the first to upgrade their coverage speed, investing up to $1 trillion to develop infrastructure for nationwide 5G by 2020. But while our nation focuses on developing cutting-edge cell speed, we’re leaving behind a far more important need: preparing our...
By Mashea Ashton | August 19, 2019
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Big promises, big data: Is the SAT’s new ‘environmental context’ score a tool to personalize college admissions, or another impersonal data point?
It’s college-touring season at my house, and I am a goopy mess. I’m a total sucker for all of it. The unblemished idealism of the day. The bright new horizon revealed by each literal door the student tour guide opens. Even the obligatory lunch in the dining hall, where I try not to think about...
By Beth Hawkins | August 19, 2019
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Analysis: California Teachers Association’s claims of new membership don’t add up
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Last week, we reported the news that the California Faculty Association, representing 19,000 employees of the California State University system, suddenly decided to drop its affiliation with both the California Teachers Association and the National Education Association. Everyone involved is being very close-mouthed about the...
By Mike Antonucci | August 14, 2019
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Kahlenberg: School segregation isn’t a big issue in L.A. — but it should be. N.Y. and Chicago are working to integrate their schools, and L.A. should, too. Gonez’s proposal is a good first step
In the first Democratic presidential debate, the dispute between Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris over school desegregation pivoted to California. On the defensive for his past opposition to mandatory busing, Biden noted that as California’s attorney general, Harris did nothing to desegregate the state’s schools. The same could be said of most...
By Richard Kahlenberg | August 12, 2019
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Antonucci: 19,000 state university faculty members withdraw from California Teachers Association
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. The California Faculty Association, which represents some 19,000 employees of the California State University system, abruptly ended its affiliation with both the California Teachers Association and National Education Association, a relationship that began in 1981. It was by far the largest secession of a union...
By Mike Antonucci | August 7, 2019
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Jordan: What LeBron James can teach us about chronic absenteeism — and what schools can do about it
Amid the fanfare over the public school that NBA star LeBron James opened last year in Akron, Ohio, came a poignant interview acknowledging a problem he faced as a student: chronic absenteeism. Moving from home to home with his mother, living across town from his school with no car or bus route to get him...
By Phyllis W. Jordan | August 5, 2019
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Antonucci: UTLA line of succession becomes a circle as officers look to swap positions in 2020 vote
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Alex Caputo-Pearl is approaching the end of his tenure as president of United Teachers Los Angeles. He fulfilled his dream of leading the largest teacher strike the state had seen in 30 years, but he didn’t quite “create a state crisis” that would lead to...
By Mike Antonucci | July 31, 2019