LA School Report

L.A. Unified principals given guidance on student free speech rights As unrest continues in Ferguson, Mo. and, to a degree in Los Angeles, after the fatal police shootings of unarmed black men in those cities, Los Angeles schools chief John Deasy asked principals Tuesday to be vigilant in their efforts to provide an environment for...

The City Clerk Elections Division has certified the results of the LA Unified District 1 election, giving George McKenna final tally of 52.81 percent of the vote, to 47.18 percent for Alex Johnson. Overall, turnout for the Aug. 12 runoff was 9.5 percent of the district’s 342,493 voters, a disappointing but not horrible count, given...

Two weeks into the new school year, LA Unified administrators are still working out bugs in a new computer system, a disruption that has made instruction particularly difficult for special education teachers, who need specific information for each of their students.. The new MiSiS — My Integrated Student Information System — is designed to track...

While officials from the teachers union, UTLA, are contemplating salary demands in a new labor contract with the district, they have not lost sight of another key issue, how to deal with teachers housed in what union officials derisively call “teacher jails.” The union’s Committee for Unjustly Housed Teachers was meeting today, for the first...

Via NY Times | by Frank Bruni There are perils to the current tenure talk: that it fails to address the intense strains on many teachers; that it lays too much fault on their doorsteps, distracting people from other necessary reforms. But the discussion is imperative, because there’s no sense in putting something as crucial as...

Los Angeles Unified works to fix new computer system Although Los Angeles Unified teachers were told Monday they could use a scaled-back version, the district’s new computer system continues to be plagued by problems. LA Daily News LAUSD policy restricts use of citations, arrests Students involved in relatively minor offenses on school campuses will no...

The LA teachers union today intensified its attack against LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy and the administration over the management of the district’s new student data computer system. For the second time in less than a week, the union put out a press release critical of Deasy and what UTLA says are his attempts to...

A major shift is underway across LA Unified in how schools and administrators approach student disciplinary issues. LAUSD officials and LA School Police Chief Steve Zipperman are planning to announce new district-wide protocols tomorrow that will define and limit the role of police on campus, incorporating new student protections and providing opportunities for students to...

The growing diversity gap between teachers and students of color has been problematic for years, and school districts have struggled to find ways to attract a workforce that more closely resembles changing student demographics. Now, one organization is tackling the issue head on: Half of this year’s Teach for America (TFA) recruits are people of...

Via NY Times | by David Kirp Today’s education reformers believe that schools are broken and that business can supply the remedy. Some place their faith in the idea of competition. Others embrace disruptive innovation, mainly through online learning. Both camps share the belief that the solution resides in the impersonal, whether it’s the invisible...