Lots of different folks want to help 24th Street Elementary School turn things around, according to Parent Revolution — including LAUSD itself and a former 24th Street educator.  EdSource notes that Celerity was one of the outfits that expressed interest in Compton back when the trigger was being attempted there. A number of these outfits will likely...

The steep decline of District 6 candidate Iris Zuniga’s campaign — and her sudden withdrawal earlier this week —  were vivid examples of the sudden twists and turns that part of any political campaign. Things can and do change quickly during campaign season, and no doubt there are many more twists and turns before we...

Read this new Education Week story (Chicago Years Inform Ed. Secretary’s Views on Gun Violence) and you get the clear impression that the White House is reining in Education Secretary Arne Duncan on gun control right now. Usually unconstrained on policy issues, open to the press, and Obama’s go-to guy, Duncan’s post-Sandy Hook Elementary remarks have...

All around the nation, school districts are trying innovative things to make schools work better for kids. LAUSD has some of these elements – charter schools, for example, and federally funded merit pay. There’s no shortage of talented individuals, dedicated educators, and generous benefactors willing to help speed the process of change. But because of...

Lots of blame was dished out last week after a state audit found weak dismissal and reporting practices at LAUSD regarding teachers accused of sexual misconduct. Especially vocal was UTLA president Warren Fletcher, who has consistently lobbed criticism at LAUSD for how it has managed the scandal. Now I am a Prop-30-supporting-dyed-in-the-wool union Democrat, but...

Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom seems like he’s on the verge of having won his race against Assembly member Betsy Butler. (See: KPCC, LA Observed, LA Weekly). If this happens, Bloom will have won despite being outspent by a wide margin, lacking key Democratic endorsements, and even having the state Democratic party circulate flyers against him.  And his victory...

It’s just an announcement, and there are lots of things that could prevent any real action from taking place, but kudos to the California Charter Schools Association for being one of two state charter groups to join the National Association of Charter School Authorizers this morning in Washington to call for a renewed focus on...

Many Washington insiders would disagree pretty vehemently with SI&A Cabinet Report‘s assessment that the Obama administration will try for a comprehensive overhaul of No Child Left Behind, but the news outlet’s latest article (Stakes likely go up on teacher evaluations in Obama’s second term) is still a good reminder that key policy issues like including...

Some have said that the LA Times education coverage is overly teacher- and union-friendly. Indeed,  today’s news roundup alone contains a news story about the rollout of the new teacher observation system and another about the challenges of co-locating charter and district schools on the same campus. But a comparison of the images accompanying the latest editorial on Board member...

One of the most interesting things about Hillel Aron’s new LA Weekly profile about the race for District 4 (Can Kate Anderson Fix LAUSD?) is that Anderson was recruited to run against incumbent Board member Steve Zimmer. Defeating Zimmer may not be particularly difficult if he’s left hanging in the wind by UTLA, who isn’t particularly enamored with him, either....