The Supreme Court Tuesday voted 4-4 to uphold mandatory union dues for teachers and other public employees, at least for the time being. Justices issued a short, unsigned opinion saying that the lower court’s opinion “is affirmed by an equally divided court.” High court votes that end in a tie affirm the lower court’s ruling...

In order to strengthen state-level efforts across the country, the education reform organizations StudentsFirst and 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now (better known as 50CAN) are merging, 50CAN will announce today. The new group will be known as 50CAN, but StudentsFirst state chapters will retain their names (except in Pennsylvania, where their work overlapped). While both organizations...

By David G. Savage The Supreme Court announced a tie vote today in what labor law experts had called a “life-or-death” case for public employee unions. The split decision preserves a long-standing rule that requires about half of the nation’s teachers, transit workers and other public employees to pay a “fair share fee” to support their union. The...

Local continuation high schools declared a model for rest of state The state Department of Education on Monday named 37 model continuation high schools, including 10 campuses in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Los Angeles Daily News LA Unified declares 60 schools’ water fountains lead-safe in first phase of district-wide cleanup, KPCC East Los...

George McKenna is going into his 55th year as an educator, and he has a lot to say about it. In fact, he declares: “Give me a school that’s supposedly poor-performing for three years and I guarantee you no charter school would be able to snatch any kids from that school, and no kids will...

George McKenna is often considered one of the more curmudgeonly characters on the LA Unified school board (although he has some competition). As vice president of the board and the senior member of the seven elected members, McKenna is given a lot of leeway and respect when he has something to say at the board...

Who is ‘Doc’ Ervin, BCSD’s next superintendent? ‘Doc’ Ervin, a former assistant superintendent of instruction at Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, is in line to become superintendent of the Bakersfield City School District, but UTLA leaders are critical of his tenure in LA. The Bakersfield Californian How much money can LA Unified get from auctioning...

Despite the LA Unified school board reversing itself and denying El Camino Real High School’s attempts to develop two long-closed elementary school campuses in the west San Fernando Valley, the leader of the CHIME Institute told LA School Report he is not concerned the board will shut down his school’s plan to develop another closed campus in the...

Federal funding formula hurts California schools, report says California schools are not getting their fair share of Title I federal funds because of “chronic underfunding” and “complex formulas that distort allocations,” according to a new report from the Brookings Institution. EdSource, by Susan Frey Marlborough School says abuse victim endangered other students by staying silent,...

The 46 new classrooms installed when two schools were temporarily relocated because of the Porter Ranch gas leak will be taken down once the students go back to their former locations. The district spent $5 million in building the temporary classrooms that are equipped with heat and air conditioning and required plumbing, wiring, utility poles, paving...