For those keeping score, it’s now 3-2. A second member of the LA Unified school board, Tamar Galatzan, is endorsing Alex Johnson for the open District 1 seat. She joins Monica Garcia as the board backers for Johnson. Three others — Monica Ratliff, Steve Zimmer and Bennett Kayser — have endorsed George McKenna. That leaves...

At least the principals won’t be going on strike. The Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) overwhelming ratified new labor contracts with LA Unified for two groups of employees, ensuring that school leaders will remain on campus even as district teachers continue negotiations and threaten to walk off the job. “It’s as decisive as it...

Recent campaign material supporting Alex Johnson that questions the record of his opponent in the LA Unified District 1 school board race, George McKenna, are rattling two of Johnson’s high profile supporters, U.S. Congresswoman Janice Hahn and former Congresswoman Diane Watson. “I do not support the negativity that has come out,” Watson told LA School Report. “I never have...

Via EdSource | by Jane Meredith Adams Superintendents say teachers are the group most likely to object to policies that would reduce student suspensions, according to a new national survey on school discipline released Monday by AASA, The School Superintendents Association, and the nonprofit advocacy group the Children’s Defense Fund. At the same time, conflict...

No matter the state of contract negotiations between LA Unified and the teachers union, UTLA, instructors are becoming more familiar with the possibility of a strike. Alex Caputo-Pearl, the union president, said in an interview today union officials are busy organizing parents, sending out negotiation updates and preparing school sites for the possibility that the...

Via Edweek | by Stephen Sawchuck A second lawsuit challenging New York laws governing teacher tenure, layoffs, and dismissals has been filed on behalf of seven schoolchildren in the state. The suit, modeled on the successful Vergara v. California lawsuit in California, argues that those protections are depriving pupils of their constitutional right in New...

Endorsements in the District 1 school board race continued to pile up today as two LA Unified board members jumped on the George McKenna bandwagon, and former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa weighed in for Alex Johnson. Steve Zimmer and Bennett Kayser appeared at a news conference outside City Hall this morning to offer their strong support for...

Via Edsource | by Susan Frey Instability — multiple homes and multiple schools — is one of the biggest obstacles to academic success for foster children. But about two dozen high school students in foster care in Southern California are benefiting from one constant in their lives: a program each summer at UCLA aimed at...

At the start of the new school year in two weeks, LA Unified will have almost 200 more charter schools than it did a decade ago.  The growth reflects a more swift expansion than national and statewide trends in school choice options.  Since 2004, charter schools in LA Unified have increased nearly four times, to...