LA School Report

LA Unified’s ambitious plan to get computer tablets into the hands of its 650,000 students just received its first evaluation, producing decidedly mixed results. In a 95-page report from the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a Washington, D.C. research group hired by the district to evaluate the Phase 1 rollout of the program, students and...

Teachers are responding with enthusiasm to a website that helps them find grant money for classroom projects and professional development, according to the LA Fund for Public Education, the non-profit that launched the program last spring. Called Grants HQ, the website puts hundreds of millions of dollars in educational grants online in one place and is...

Via LA Times | by the TImes Editorial Board At L.A. Unified, tensions are high and crisis is in the air. The relationship between Supt. John Deasy and the school board that oversees him is at what is perhaps an all-time low. Deasy is again muttering about quitting; others are grumbling that he should be...

New report on L.A. Unified’s iPads reflects problems with curriculum An evaluation of the iPads-for-all project in Los Angeles schools found that only 1 of 245 classrooms surveyed even used the costly curriculum. LA Times More than 100,000 LA school repairs backlogged Los Angeles Unified schools are waiting on 116,000 maintenance and safety problems reported...

More than 13,000 LA Unified employees of labor groups that struck new contract deals with the district are receiving a 2 percent lump sum payment this week. Among those that found the extra bump in their bank accounts are members of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), which includes school principals, assistant principals, administrators...

Seven education bills are currently awaiting the signature or veto of Gov. Jerry Brown – and before too many more stack up, we thought a review was in order. For more check out Edsource’s EdTracker, a tool that follows the ins and outs of education legislation in Sacramento. “Willful defiance” bill AB 420 would limit the...

The possibility that LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy will no longer be at the helm of the nation’s second largest school district – whether by choice or by force – is looming ever larger as the deadline for his annual evaluation approaches, leaving some district officials to speculate over how to replace him. The seven-member...

Lawsuit challenges teachers’ compulsory dues A lawsuit working its way through the courts is striking at the core of the CTA’s power: its authority to automatically deduct hundreds of millions of dollars a year in dues from the paychecks of both members and non-members. Edsource LAUSD police to give up some weaponry obtained in federal...

LA Unified has received a generous surprise gift from Google, as the tech company announced it has funded all classroom teacher projects in the district on the crowdfunding site DonorsChoose.org. The nearly $1 million donation will go to 769 teachers, who submitted proposals for projects and materials. The donation included pencils, books, laptops, musical instruments...

A veteran teacher at Garfield Senior High School has been selected for a prestigious award from Yale University thanks to one of his former students. The Yale Office of Undergraduate Admissions has honored Kevin Murchie, an English teacher at Garfield, as a recipient of the 2014 Yale Educator Award. Murchie was nominated by former Garfield student, Janet Juarez,...