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Morning Read: ACLU questions Jefferson improvement plan

ACLU: Jefferson High class scheduling improvement plan may be flawed Attorneys for students who want LA Unified to fix class scheduling problems at Jefferson High say the district’s plan to cure the issues may fall short. KPCC LA Unified gets school lunch makeover in test of locally sourced meals Los Angeles Unified and 14 other...
By LA School Report | October 24, 2014
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Despite board approval, Cortines opposes bond money for iPads

Barely a week into his job as LA Unified superintendent, Ramon Cortines is pushing back against the school board that hired him, voicing opposition to using any more of the $1.3 billion in bond money to buy digital devices equipped with curriculum for use in classroom instruction. Three times since his first day on the...
By Vanessa Romo | October 23, 2014
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LA Unified educator among five California Teachers of the Year

A middle-school teacher at LA Unified has been named one of five recipients of the 2015 California Teachers of the Year Award from the California Department of Education. Lovelyn Marquez-Prueher is an eighth-grade English teacher at Dodson Middle School in Rancho Palos Verdes. She has been teaching for 11 years, the last six at Dodson. Marquez-Prueher...
By Craig Clough | October 23, 2014
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LAUSD awards safe drivers during National Bus Safety Week

As part of National School Bus Safety Week, LA Unified’s Transportation Services Division is recognizing its top drivers this week by handing out 811 safe driving pins and certificates. Some drivers will be receiving pins for multiple years of safe driving, with one reaching as high as 37 years of safe driving, according to Transportation Services...
By Craig Clough | October 23, 2014
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Top 5 issues in Tuck vs. Torlakson state superintendent race
Dueling views offered by Marshall Tuck and Tom Torlakson in their bid for State Superintendent of Public Instruction will give voters a stark choice — in what has become a surprisingly close race leading to the Nov. 4 election. Torlakson, the incumbent, a former teacher and state legislator, has the backing of the Democratic establishment...
By Craig Clough | October 23, 2014
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LA Unified reiterates: UTLA demands would lead to cutbacks

In the first contract talks under LA Unified’s new superintendent, Ray Cortines, negotiators for the district and the teachers union, UTLA, hit another snag yesterday as the district reasserted claims that unions demands are unsustainable and would lead to severe cutbacks to key programs, resources, and personnel that would detrimentally impact students. The union is...
By Vanessa Romo | October 23, 2014
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KIPP set to expand with 9 new schools in south, east LA

KIPP LA Schools today announced plans to open nine additional campuses, nearly doubling its presence in south and east LA by 2020. The high performing charter schools are part of the Knowledge Is Power Program,which runs 162 campuses, educating 58,000 students nationally. In LA, the organization currently operates 11 schools serving 4,000 elementary and middle school...
By Vanessa Romo | October 22, 2014
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Weingarten pleads for ‘collaboration’ in Deasy aftermath

In a speech today in Buena Park, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, cited former LA Unified superintendent John Deasy as a failed example of school district management and argued for collaboration over fiat as the pathway to success in public education. “Collaboration is the vehicle that creates trust. It’s the vehicle that...
By LA School Report | October 22, 2014
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LAUSD employees file lawsuit against SEIU over union dues

*UPDATED Several LA Unified workers have filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 over what they say is an improper collection of their full dues. In the complaint, which was prepared with free legal assistance by the National Right to Work Foundation (NRWF), the employes claim SEIU Local 99 union...
By Craig Clough | October 22, 2014
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Commentary: Is the L.A. teachers union tone deaf?

Via Los Angeles Times | By Steve Lopez It was back-to-school night in August. A time for new beginnings and high hopes at Thomas Starr King Middle School on the Silver Lake/Los Feliz border. Then came an awkward moment. With new parents and students in the room, a teachers union rep got up on a...
By LA School Report | October 22, 2014