An open letter to state Assembly members, from California school board members Lorena Chavez (East Side Union High School District), Mónica García (Los Angeles Unified School District), Jumoke Hinton Hodge (Oakland Unified School District), Tom Panas (West Contra Costa Unified School District) and Cipriano Vargas (Vista Unified School District): Education is the cornerstone of our...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Most of the education support employees working for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas may soon find themselves switching state and national unions. A loss for the National Education Association will turn into a gain for the Teamsters. The Education Support Employees Association is affiliated...

Dear Board District 5 candidates: Tomorrow is the runoff election in L.A. Unified’s Board District 5, a mostly Latino district. The next board member representing BD5 will not be Latino, and therefore, as educators and leaders of color, we believe it is critical that the ultimate winner in this election makes an explicit commitment to...

Several months ago I critiqued a report by Dr. Gordon Lafer that was published by In the Public Interest (ITPI), a think tank that has long been critical of charter schools and recently helped rally supporters of a five-year moratorium on new charters. Unfortunately, the report continues to inform policy deliberations in California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom has tasked a commission to...

*Updated May 8 Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Measure EE, the proposed L.A. Unified parcel tax on the June 4 ballot, has a steep hill to climb. It needs a two-thirds majority to pass, and a wide assortment of business groups have lined up to oppose it. What’s more, a last-minute change...

Blue states oppress black people too. Nowhere is this more obvious than in policing and public education in California. California’s Legislature is grappling with these issues this session. Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D-San Diego), a progressive voice and chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus, is authoring AB 392, which seeks to change the use of...

The surge in measles cases across the United States is on pace to produce the highest rate of infection in a quarter-century. Schools find themselves in the center of the crisis, both as the places where children gather every day and the public institutions with some sway over whether students are vaccinated. That gives state...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. California’s public employee unions have fought tooth-and-nail against charter schools ever since the law authorizing them was introduced by Democratic Senator Gary Hart in 1992. It’s fair to say that many things have changed in the state over the years — the composition of the legislature and...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Campaign season came a little early in Los Angeles this year, with the open District 5 school board seat and Measure EE, the parcel tax proposal to fund city schools. United Teachers Los Angeles is devoting its sizable war chest to these elections, and its union allies...

Southern California’s job market is hot right now. But unless something changes, many Los Angeles-area high school students won’t be ready for it when they graduate — especially if they don’t go on to earn a bachelor’s degree — which many of them won’t. For as long as anyone can remember, American high schools have mostly failed to provide...