The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 10.05.21
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Antonucci: Staffers accuse California Teachers Association of ‘betrayal’ over post-Janus cuts
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Employees who work for the California Teachers Association claim union managers are trying to renege on an agreement in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Janus ruling, which ended the practice of unions charging agency fees to represent non-members. With teachers now free to withhold payments,...
By Mike Antonucci | September 4, 2018
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1 in 4 kindergartners is chronically absent — part of a multimillion-dollar problem for LAUSD
Los Angeles Unified has a multimillion-dollar problem: kids aren’t coming to school. And it’s particularly bad among their youngest students. New district data show that 1 in 4 kindergartners misses 15 or more days of school each year. “I couldn’t believe that when I heard that,” Diane Pappas, the superintendent’s senior adviser, told board members...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | September 4, 2018
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LA parent voice: ‘We want to have a voice,’ says a mom who showed up at LAUSD before dawn to make sure her community was represented
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.) Sara Martínez, an LA Unified mom living in the southeast boundaries of Board District 5, had to put everything aside for one day so her voice...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 28, 2018
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In the aftermath of teacher strikes, more Americans support educator raises, poll finds
Following strikes this spring in which teachers in six states demanded higher salaries, a new poll finds a sharp uptick in Americans’ support for increasing educators’ pay. The national poll, last week by the journal Education Next, which has been surveying Americans on high-profile education issues for more than a decade, also found growing support for...
By Mark Keierleber | August 28, 2018
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Commentary: An open letter to LAUSD’s board about who gets to speak at meetings
An open letter from Katie Braude, executive director of Speak UP, to President Mónica García, Vice President Nick Melvoin, and members of the board: I am writing to share the collective dismay of parents and community members who attended the board meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 21. In particular, I am writing on behalf of the...
By Katie Braude | August 27, 2018
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Reading, writing, and … renting? Airbnb says 1 in 10 hosts is a teacher and earns $6,500 a year; LA’s teacher hosts raked in nearly $6 million last year
If you want to book a stay in Bainbridge Scott’s Airbnb in Los Angeles’s Montecito Heights neighborhood, you’d better plan well in advance. Listed as a “Rustic Studio with Private Garden Patio,” the hillside property boasts a terrace with views of the city, a classic clawfoot tub, and an extensive garden from which guests can...
By Beth Hawkins | August 27, 2018
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‘LAUSD is not too big to fail’: School board members alarmed by LA County official’s dire financial projections — and warnings of the possible appointment of a ‘fiscal adviser’
*Updated Aug. 27 As night drew near last Tuesday, after a drawn-out and divisive four-hour debate on how to replace a disgraced board member, a bombshell was dropped at school board members’ feet. District finances are of such great concern that the Los Angeles County Office of Education’s chief financial officer showed up unannounced to...
By Laura Greanias | August 27, 2018
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‘I want my voice heard’ — Showdown in the boardroom as Latino parents balk at an attempt to name a replacement for Ref Rodriguez without their input
*Updated Aug. 23 Families whose children attend schools in LA Unified’s Board District 5, in southeast and northeast Los Angeles, will get to elect a new representative in a special election on March 5. That’s what the school board on Tuesday decided to do with the seat that has been vacant since Ref Rodríguez stepped...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 23, 2018
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LA parent voice: To find better school options for your kids, ‘You really have to fight for it!’
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.) Finding the right school where her son could succeed was a struggle for Mary Najera. For years, she didn’t know how to find other public school...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 21, 2018
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Antonucci: LA superintendent tries to throw monkey wrench in union’s plans
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. I’m on the record as predicting United Teachers Los Angeles will go on strike the week of October 8th. Two things have since become clear: 1) Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner is actively trying to delay the inevitable. 2) UTLA is irate about Beutner messing...
By Mike Antonucci | August 21, 2018