The Morning Read
Your Daily Roundup of LAUSD news from across the web | 10.05.21
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Teachers need time and support to earn the professional distinction of tenure
“Are you sure you want to do this job? You’ll be perpetually stuck in puberty.” Those were the first words I heard from a colleague on my first day as a middle school special education teacher. She was only half joking and five years later, I realize the truism of her question all too well: Pubescent pre-teens are...
By Josh Brown | March 14, 2018
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Courage, compassion, and concern — Wednesday walkouts across Los Angeles display students’ own fears along with support for shooting victims
Concerns about their own safety mingled with students’ expressions of support for victims of school shootings, as peaceful demonstrations were held Wednesday at campuses across Los Angeles. “I think we should have more drills at school because we haven’t had any, and I feel like we’re really unprepared in case a real (shooting) happens,” Talita...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | March 14, 2018
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LAUSD will strengthen school safety plans, joins calls for stricter gun control laws
Inspired by students’ activism and echoing their demands, the nation’s second-largest school district committed Tuesday to do “everything in its power” to ensure students’ safety. After hearing from a procession of students, LA Unified’s school board unanimously passed a resolution calling for stricter gun laws and stronger school safety policies. Tuesday’s vote came one day...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | March 13, 2018
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LA parent voice: Student walkouts on gun control ‘show that we are tired of being afraid’
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.) Students across the nation are ready to make their voices heard on Wednesday as they plan to walk out of their classrooms to honor the 17...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | March 13, 2018
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Why I’m supporting my LA middle school students in walking out of class for a cause they believe in
In 1968, thousands of high school students in East Los Angeles walked out of classes to demand an equal and culturally relevant education. At the time, graduation rates for Mexican-American youth were abysmally low and corporal punishment was used to discipline them for speaking Spanish. These walkouts, the largest demonstrations by youth in the city’s history, came...
By Pablo DePaz | March 13, 2018
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Antonucci: How is UTLA spending that dues increase?
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Two years ago, members of United Teachers Los Angeles voted by a large margin to raise their dues by 33 percent. UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl warned that if the increase failed, the union would be “bankrupt or dramatically weakened.” UTLA did have a dues system that was...
By Mike Antonucci | March 13, 2018
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What do parents need to know when choosing a school — LAUSD considers what information to include as it refines its unified enrollment system
When parents are choosing a school for their children, what do they need to know and how can they best compare schools? That’s what LA Unified is asking as it continues to build its unified enrollment system. The first evolution of its new online application system launched last fall, and since then over 72,000 families...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | March 12, 2018
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Sacramento’s game of hide-and-seek with public education
Editor’s note: This week the State Board of Education will vote on the latest iteration of California’s plan to comply with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), including if and how the state will choose to identify and improve its lowest-performing schools and provide targeted support to high-need students. Sacramento is playing hide-and-seek with our...
By Rae Belisle | March 12, 2018
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LAUSD 2040 and the search for our next superintendent
Dear Board Members García, Gonez, McKenna, Melvoin, Rodriguez, Schmerelson, and Vladovic: Your choice for LAUSD’s next superintendent will be one of the most important decisions in the history of the district. No one envies the complex choices and tradeoffs you face in the years ahead as you navigate monumental decisions related to fiscal stability and...
By Russ Altenburg and Margeaux Randolph | March 12, 2018
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LA parent voice: What do I do when educators don’t believe my child can learn?
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.) When Elizabeth Gómez was told by school administrators that her fourth-grade son can’t and won’t learn because he has Down syndrome, she made it her mission...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | March 7, 2018