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With huge boost in budget, LAUSD expands summer school

LA Unified’s summer school programs are getting a massive injection of money this year, to a whopping $29 million from the current $1 million budget. The surge of cash, drawn from a combination of sources, will increase access to classes for struggling students by 600 percent over the previous two years. Altogether, approximately 60,000 students from...
By Vanessa Romo | May 6, 2014
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Manigault has celebrity power, but is it enough in District 1?

Fourth in a series of profiles of candidates for LA Unified’s open District 1 board seat. *UPDATED While she may be best known for her TV appearances on Celebrity Apprentice, Omarosa Manigault is relying more on her business and technological know-how to persuade voters she’s worthy of serving as the LA Unified District 1 Board...
By Yana Gracile | May 6, 2014
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‘Marilyn V’ joining District 1 board race as a write-in candidate

An LA Unified District 1 resident who failed to meet the initial filing deadline for the district’s open board seat has announced that she is running as a write-in candidate. Marilyn Veincentotzs said on Twitter that she is running under the name “Marilyn V.” Describing herself as “semi-retired,” Viencentotzes spent 20 years as long-term substitute...
By LA School Report | May 6, 2014
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Carthay Center parents get wish: principal is removed

As they rallied for the ouster of their school principal this morning, parents at Carthay Center Elementary School were told their efforts had paid off: Crystal Campbell-Shirley was removed from her post. Instructional Director Autri Streeck notified teachers at the school, then met parents at the rally to tell them what happened. “Everyone’s celebrating that...
By Yana Gracile | May 6, 2014
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Tamar Galatzan: Plotting a course for LAUSD’s future

Via LA Daily News | By Tamar Galatzan, LA Unified’s board member for District 3 It’s budget time again in Los Angeles Unified, a process that for the last five years meant agonizing decisions to cut programs, scale back services and lay off employees because of the crippling financial crisis. This year, thankfully, the board...
By LA School Report | May 6, 2014
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As Carthay Center turns magnet, parents want principal out

Disgruntled parents from Carthay Center Elementary school in LA Unified’s District 1 are holding rallies this week to build support for removing their principal. Their outrage arose after the principal, Crystal Campbell-Shirley, who is completing her first year at the school, told seven teachers on Friday — half the faculty — that they would not be...
By Yana Gracile | May 5, 2014
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LAUSD labor relations lets the sunshine in (kinda)

UPDATED* A committee launched last year by LA Unified’s Office of Labor Relations to provide public information on labor negotiations is meeting today to discuss the district’s collective bargaining contracts. That the committee even exists has not been reported until now. Called the “Sunshine Committee,” it is intended to bring transparency to the negotiating process. According...
By Jamie Alter Lynton | May 5, 2014
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At a District 1 forum, candidates sound alike on most issues
When Angela Jauregui arrived Saturday at USC for a debate with five of the seven candidates running for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat, she told her friends she was there to listen.“ Let’s pay attention,” she said in Spanish as she shushed all three, found a seat in the first row of the lecture...
By Vanessa Romo | May 5, 2014
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UTLA election winners still awaiting review of challenges

The UTLA election winners are still waiting for the fat lady to sing. Since Alex Caputo-Pearl was declared the winner as president and two other races were clarified though the second round of voting last week, the union’s election committee is now in the midst of hearing 15 challenges from competition for 22 positions. Hearings...
By Michael Janofsky | May 5, 2014
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Parents, with some help, offer views on LAUSD spending plan

It was “pencils down” day yesterday, for the members of the Parent Advisory Committee, who completed their first opportunity to weigh in on LA Unified’s Local Control and Accountability Plan, the so-called LCAP required of Gov. Jerry Brown‘s new Local Control Funding Formula. The 47 parents and guardians selected to give feedback, have had two...
By Vanessa Romo | May 2, 2014