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Why I’m supporting my LA middle school students in walking out of class for a cause they believe in
In 1968, thousands of high school students in East Los Angeles walked out of classes to demand an equal and culturally relevant education. At the time, graduation rates for Mexican-American youth were abysmally low and corporal punishment was used to discipline them for speaking Spanish. These walkouts, the largest demonstrations by youth in the city’s history, came...
By Pablo DePaz | March 13, 2018
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Antonucci: How is UTLA spending that dues increase?
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Two years ago, members of United Teachers Los Angeles voted by a large margin to raise their dues by 33 percent. UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl warned that if the increase failed, the union would be “bankrupt or dramatically weakened.” UTLA did have a dues system that was...
By Mike Antonucci | March 13, 2018
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Sacramento’s game of hide-and-seek with public education
Editor’s note: This week the State Board of Education will vote on the latest iteration of California’s plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), including if and how the state will choose to identify and improve its lowest-performing schools and provide targeted support to high-need students. Sacramento is playing hide-and-seek with our...
By Rae Belisle | March 12, 2018
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LAUSD 2040 and the search for our next superintendent
Dear Board Members García, Gonez, McKenna, Melvoin, Rodriguez, Schmerelson, and Vladovic: Your choice for LAUSD’s next superintendent will be one of the most important decisions in the history of the district. No one envies the complex choices and tradeoffs you face in the years ahead as you navigate monumental decisions related to fiscal stability and...
By Russ Altenburg and Margeaux Randolph | March 12, 2018
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Antonucci: It will be a busy spring at UTLA
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. United Teachers Los Angeles spent the early months of 2018 promoting and then celebrating the ratification of their healthcare agreement with the Los Angeles Unified School District. But if school board members think this bought them some time and good will when it comes to contract negotiations,...
By Mike Antonucci | March 6, 2018
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50 years after the Chicano Blowouts, still waiting for justice and the need to reject more police in our schools
Fifty years ago, on March 1st, 1968, several hundred Mexican American and Chicana/o students at Wilson High School initiated an impromptu walkout protest in response to the cancelation of a school play by their principal. Their action sparked into motion a yearlong set of discussions, strategizing, and organizing among eastside Chicana/o students, activists and teachers...
By Manuel Criollo | March 6, 2018
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California’s pension fund managers are at odds with activists and some union leaders over divestments
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. The California Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) and California State Teacher Retirement Systems (CalSTRS) handle a combined half-trillion dollars in assets. The decisions of their fund managers on where to invest have repercussions not only for retirees, but taxpayers and private businesses. Despite these vast sums,...
By Mike Antonucci | February 27, 2018
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Los Angeles needs a superintendent who puts students first
This is part of a new commentary series where local and national education leaders share their thoughts on a fundamental question: As Los Angeles Unified seeks its next superintendent, what should leadership look like at the top? Read and share the first four pieces and follow our superintendent series for more voices and updates. One of the...
By William E.B. Siart and Myrna Castrejón | February 25, 2018
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What leadership looks like: Stakeholders weigh in on the qualities they hope to see in LAUSD’s next superintendent
With a formal search now underway for Los Angeles Unified’s next superintendent, stakeholders have lots of ideas on the qualities our next district leader should have. In a new commentary series launching today, local and national education leaders share their thoughts on a fundamental question: What should leadership look like at the top? The district...
By LA School Report | February 19, 2018
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Speak UP’s Katie Braude & Jenny Hontz: A fearless leader has the opportunity to make an enormous difference
With declining enrollment, a looming fiscal crisis, and a persistent racial and socioeconomic achievement gap, LAUSD is at a critical juncture as it searches for a new superintendent to lead through turbulent times. Many of us have witnessed decades of “reforms” that have had no significant impact on closing the achievement gap or addressing the...
By Katie Braude and Jenny Hontz | February 19, 2018