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LAUSD President Richard Vladovic issues apology; seeking help
A day after Los Angeles Unified released two claims accusing him of harassment, school board President Richard Vladovic admitted Tuesday that he’d violated the district’s “civility policy” and apologized to employees who’d felt intimidated by him. Vladovic also said he’d sought “professional help” for anger issues. “I did get upset at people,” he said. “I did tell them things I shouldn’t have told them.” LA Daily News

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Amid heavy lobbying, Brown must decide teacher dismissal bill
Gov. Jerry Brown has saved a much-disputed bill on teacher dismissals for the last batch of bills facing him before Sunday’s deadline for deciding legislation. Opponents have used the time to pressure the governor to veto Assembly Bill 375, authored by Assembly Education Committee Chair Joan Buchanan. EdSource

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LA schools and iPads: Big promises but where’s the research?
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy has trumpeted his $1 billion iPad project as transformational. As with many reformers, Deasy sees data as a pillar of his administration. But when asked for evidence that points toward a transformation, Deasy said in an interview that it’s all too new. KPCC

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For-Profits Dominate Market for Online Teacher Prep
One by one, the faces pop up on the computer screen. Some of the aspiring teachers hold coffee cups; others have their hair in ponytails or pushed into caps. It’s 6 a.m., California time. Several of the virtual attendees are on a less punishing East Coast schedule. EdWeek

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Q & A: Restoring funding top priority for state’s new early childhood chief
Debra McMannis is the new director of the child development division at the California Department of Education. In her new position McMannis will oversee the state’s publicly funded preschool program, the effort to align early childhood programs with the Common Core standards and the growth of the state’s newest grade, transitional kindergarten. EdSource

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Low-income schools find new way to fundraise
Sean McCauley, an elementary school principal in Cincinnati, Ohio, has been at his job for six years — and doesn’t remember ever asking his students to participate in a fundraiser, the kind in which children and parents are asked to buy and sell overpriced soaps, calendars, candies and magazine subscriptions to family members, friends and co-workers. Aljazeera America

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Using Music to Close the Academic Gap
Several times a week, a group of at-risk youth in Los Angeles reports to makeshift music rooms at Alexandria Elementary School near Koreatown for lessons in violin or cello or bass—and to Saturday ensemble programs where they learn to play with bands and orchestras. As the students study their instruments, researchers study the students’ brains. The Atlantic 

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Answering Your Shutdown Questions
The shutdown of the federal government is now officially in Week Two, with no apparent end in sight. So far, school districts seem to have been spared the vast majority of the pain, but that doesn’t mean folks in the education field don’t have questions about the shutdown. A couple of days ago, we asked you to send us yours—and promised to answer them. EdWeek