The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 10.05.21
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LA parent voice: Schools ‘need to be sensitive to the differences’ of children with dyslexia and partner with their parents
Every week, we sit down with Los Angeles parents to talk about their students, their schools, and what questions or suggestions they have for their school district. (See our previous interviews.) Faith Wroten’s son has dyslexia, and finding the right support for him has been a challenge as he’s been in different schools and school districts. She’s...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | October 1, 2018
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LA’s first common application system launches for independent charter schools
*Updated Oct. 2 A new website, ApplyLA, debuts today that allows parents for the first time to apply to multiple independent charter schools in Los Angeles with a single application. Parents will be able to manage application deadlines, see the status of their applications, and accept offers in a single system. The application is mobile-friendly and available...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | October 1, 2018
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LAUSD sweetens its offer on teacher raises, continues to call for a new category in evaluations to identify highly effective educators
*Updated Sept. 27: After today’s first mediation session, LA Unified announced that the next session is set for Oct. 3. LA Unified sweetened its salary offer to the teachers union just before Thursday’s first mediation session, but it did not back down on teacher quality demands — including a call for a new category in...
By Laura Greanias | September 26, 2018
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‘You do have a voice, and your voice matters’ — Latino parents and students in Los Angeles are encouraged to participate in upcoming elections
*Updated Sept. 27 With critical elections in November for leaders in California who will affect children’s education, Latino parents need to know that their voice matters and that they can make a difference — even if they can’t vote. That was the message from school and community organizers at a weekend workshop for dozens of...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | September 26, 2018
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Antonucci: This week, LAUSD and UTLA raise the curtain on their theater of mediation
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Representatives from the Los Angeles Unified School District and United Teachers Los Angeles will meet with mediators on Thursday to see if some settlement can be reached in contract negotiations. That’s the textbook description of what will take place. In this instance, mediation is nothing more than...
By Mike Antonucci | September 25, 2018
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America’s achievement gap — made, not born? What a study of 30,000 students reveals about lowered expectations and poorer quality instruction for kids of color
Students of color consistently receive less challenging instruction and schoolwork than do their white and more affluent classmates, a new study has found, often leaving them unprepared for college even if they have received top grades. The report used extensive surveying of students, who wore vibrating watches that prompted them to take surveys during class....
By David Cantor | September 25, 2018
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As LA’s teachers union prepares to strike, here’s something that could be a bigger hang-up than raises: how to identify great teachers
As LA Unified and its teachers union enter into mediation this week and the union prepares for a strike, their differences over how teachers are evaluated could be harder to resolve than how much pay raises will be. The district wants to add a new category of teacher ratings, called highly effective, as part of...
By Laura Greanias | September 24, 2018
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What’s the value of being able to identify highly effective teachers? Q&A with Daniel Weisberg, education advocate and chief executive of TNTP
LA Unified currently has three tiers in rating teachers: below standard, meets standard, and exceeds standard. Last year, 96 percent of teachers met or exceeded standards, with about 22 percent in the top category. Just under 4 percent, or 295 of the district’s 7,623 teachers, were rated below standard — a percentage that has risen...
By Laura Greanias | September 24, 2018
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JUST IN: Parents can now compare LAUSD schools with new Open Data site
*Updated Sept. 24 Knowing how well your neighborhood public schools are doing so you can choose the right one for your child has not been simple in Los Angeles. But on Friday, LA Unified, one of the most complex school districts in the country, took a big step toward becoming more parent-friendly and transparent by...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | September 21, 2018
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LA parent voice: The search for a good school ‘couldn’t wait. The foundation for a successful education begins at home and then in kindergarten’
Every week, we sit down with Los Angeles parents to talk about their students, their schools, and what questions or suggestions they have for their school district. (See our previous interviews.) Mónica Otlika is thrilled that her two children have started kindergarten and first grade at the ideal school for her family, after a years-long search that...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | September 19, 2018