Morning Read: More troubles with iPads, local school bonds
LA School Report | April 30, 2014
Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.
iPad, Wi-Fi issues interrupt LA schools testing
Teachers and students often grumble about end of the year tests,but at the Los Angeles Unified School District, the complaints are mounting: iPads the district purchased to take new state competency tests aren’t getting online. They’re having trouble connecting to keyboards. And, in some cases, they’re not turning on at all. KPCC
Trouble ahead for local school bonds and parcel taxes?
The elections this year offer the first statewide look at Californians’ willingness to raise revenue for their local schools since passage of Proposition 30, the tax initiative to benefit education that voters passed in November 2012. While it’s too early to know how many local school districts will test the waters by placing a construction bond or parcel tax on the ballot, there are undercurrents in our new survey that spell trouble ahead for local school ballot measures. EdSource
Alex Caputo-Pearl wins runoff to lead L.A. teachers union
Alex Caputo-Pearl was a young, activist teacher when he helped lead the Bus Riders Union, co-founded a group to organize against the growing influence of standardized testing and helped start a bloc within the union to push for liberal-leaning issues. Strikingly little has changed about the veteran social studies instructor, what he’s fighting for, and how he intends to go about it. Except now he is taking that mission to the top job of the teachers union for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Los Angeles Times
County school board rescues two LAUSD charters
Editorial: The Los Angeles County Board of Education is to be commended for unanimously overturning a Los Angeles Unified School District decision to refuse to renew the charters of two charter schools in what amounted to an attempt at blackmail. The Board of Education’s verdict rings as a victory for school choice and a defeat for the district and teachers unions. The case involved the charters of Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo Academy, a K-6 school, and Aspire Ollin University Preparatory Academy, which serves grades 6-12. Orange County Register
Milken conference: Technology innovations poised to change education
Innovations in technology are poised to upend how students learn and the way educational institutions impart knowledge to people around the world, according to panelists at the Milken Institute Global Conference. The Internet and access to computers have already rapidly changed the way teachers interact with students. Now, the sector is attracting attention from entrepreneurs who are rushing to roll out products such as online classrooms and educational games. Los Angeles Times
New proposal for LA schools reduces arts exposure to serve more students
Los Angeles Unified School District officials proposed a dramatic new vision for arts education Tuesday that would reduce most elementary art programs in an effort to serve more students. The new plan would provide all third-through-fifth graders with access to visual arts, choral, dance and theater instruction — each in nine-week chunks throughout the school year. KPCC