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Gloria Romero Leaving One Ed Reform Group to Start Another
Gloria Romero is stepping down from her position as Director of California Democrats for Education Reform (or DFER) to start a new organization, the Foundation for Parent Empowerment. “I am thankful for the opportunity to have worked with DFER, but believe that it is time to move past party politics and focus my skills and...
By Hillel Aron | October 3, 2013
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No Race to Top for Teachers Union, ‘Travesty,’ Says Galatzan*
The Los Angeles teachers union said today that LA Unified’s application for a federal Race to the Top grant had “so many glaring problems” that the union could not support it. This was the second straight year the union refused to sign off on the district’s application, which was unanimously approved by the school board. Union participation is...
By Hillel Aron | October 3, 2013
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Valley Charter Operators, Guilty of Fraud, Seeking New Trial
Eugene Selivanov and his wife, Tatyana Berkovich, will be back in an Los Angeles County Superior Court tomorrow, asking the judge to grant them a new trial in a case that the California Charter Schools Association says affects other charters within the LA Unified school district. The two were found guilty in April of misappropriating...
By LA School Report | October 3, 2013
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Damon Takes the Stage, but Ravitch Wins the Applause
When the actor Matt Damon stood before a capacity crowd inside the Cal State Northridge student union last night, he smiled sheepishly and said he wasn’t surprised to see so many star-struck supporters in attendance. After all, he said, he was introducing the education historian and anti-corporate reform activist Diane Ravitch. Ravitch was appearing as...
By Chase Niesner | October 3, 2013
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Brown Signs AB 484, Ending Old Standardized Tests in California*
The old California Standardized Tests are a thing of the past. Governor Jerry Brown just signed Assembly Bill 484, which immediately suspends the old tests and funds a trial run this year of the new Smarter Balanced Assessments, which will be taken on computers and are aligned with the new Common Core curriculum. “I’ve said...
By Hillel Aron | October 2, 2013
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Board Turns a ‘Retreat’ into a Special Meeting on iPads
Responding to incidents of iPad misuse at district schools and widespread public criticism over problems with the rollout, the LA Unified board yesterday approved setting a special meeting later this month to “publicly grapple” with iPad issues. The 5-2 vote on a resolution from Monica Ratliff, who chairs a committee that oversees the iPad initiative,...
By Hillel Aron | October 2, 2013
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LA Unified Board Confronts the Pinch of a Tight Budget
Is the Los Angeles Unified School Board finally coming to terms with harsh fiscal realities of a post-recession world? That’s what it seemed like yesterday, when the members met for one of the shortest meetings in recent memory, only four hours. A combination of declining enrollment, federal cuts in special education and this year’s Federal sequestration...
By Hillel Aron | October 2, 2013
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Live: LAUSD Board Meeting Via Twitter
LA School Report is live tweeting from today’s LA Unified Board Meeting. The twitter feed is live on the right hand column or click @laschoolreport.
By LA School Report | October 1, 2013
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LA Unified Removes iPads From Hackers’ High Schools
Via The Los Angeles Times / By Howard Blume Los Angeles school officials have taken back iPads from students at Westchester and Roosevelt high schools and possibly other campuses as well until further notice, the latest fallout from student hacking of the devices. The move is another complication in efforts to provide an iPad to...
By LA School Report | October 1, 2013
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Campaign Aims to Keep Students in, Not ‘Push’ them Out
What many call the “drop out crisis,” the Dignity in Schools Campaign is calling the “push out crisis.” The nationwide coalition of students and activists is undertaking a National Week of Action, and various rallies, press conferences, even art installations will be held across Los Angeles this week to address what the group sees as the...
By Chase Niesner | October 1, 2013