LA School Report

Announcing the next phase of the digital device program to buy more iPads and Chromebooks was the easy part. Carrying it out is another issue. While LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines was pretty clear on how he expected it to proceed, others in the district are not so sure. The district’s Chief Facilities Director says...

A man known for aggressive and sometimes belligerent public comments at LA Unified school board meetings was arrested outside a board committee meeting at district headquarters on Oct. 28 and charged with three misdemeanor counts of making “annoying” phone calls to board member Tamar Galatzan months before. The man, George Buzzetti, 67, has been speaking...

Via The Los Angeles Times | By The Editorial Board The sexual abuse of students at Miramonte Elementary School was creepy beyond measure, involving a “game” in which third-graders were blindfolded and fed cookies tainted with their teacher’s semen. But the astonishing $139-million legal settlement — on top of an earlier $30 million settlement with...

LAUSD expert argues girl with low IQ may suffer less after assault A psychologist hired by LAUSD testified that a 9-year-old girl’s low IQ provided a “protective factor” from a sexual assault. KPCC Before LAUSD travel ban, Deasy flew 100k miles last year Former LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy traveled more than 100,000 miles last...

As if the recent efforts to fix MiSiS weren’t enough, LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines has called the feds. In an email to school board members and their staffs on Friday, Cortines said U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, offered the district a lifeline. “I spoke with Secretary Duncan today regarding various issues related to...

A decision by LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines to proceed with the next phase of the district’s controversial iPad program appears to contradict statements he made a month ago, opposing the use of construction bond money to pay for devices pre-loaded with curriculum. Three days ago, Cortines gave the go-ahead to spend capital improvement funds...

Via The Hechinger Report | By Peter Cunningham Whether the little guy was a Kansas farmer whose earnings were manipulated by commodities traders in Chicago, a woman denied the right to vote, an underpaid working man seeking union representation, blacks oppressed by segregation, or a low-level civil servant forced to pay homage to a powerful political...

Huge settlement in sex abuse case has LAUSD rethinking reforms The district approved paying the staggering sum of more than $139 million to alleged victims of former Miramonte Elementary teacher Mark Berndt. Los Angeles Times Ryan Smith: Organizing for equity Smith, 33, arrived at Ed Trust-West after directing education programs and policy for the United...

Let the iPads roll. Again. LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines today approved moving ahead with the next phase of the district’s iPad program, officially known as Phase 2B of the Common Core Technology Project. It’s actually, iPads et. al. The goal with this action is to complete the second round of buying digital devices by...

Administrators from Pacific Palisades Charter High School were on pins and needles earlier this week as the LA Unified school board considered its renewal application. But the board’s approval on Nov. 18 was hardly the end of the story. At a meeting at the beachside high school last night, about 15 neighborhood residents showed up to complain...