LA School Report

The latest IRS tax filing for UTLA, the nation’s second largest teachers union, was made public this week on its website, providing a look into the financial health of the powerful union. For the year ending August, 2012 (the most recent available), the union reported a 2.5 percent drop in total revenue, and a 4...

With new education tax dollars coming in, LAUSD is quickly assembling a 47-member Parent Advisory Committee as part of its Local Control Accountability Plan, which represents the district’s spending priorities. For parents there’s a two-step process for participating. A local School Site Council identifies interested parents as  potential candidates. Then each council nominates one parent of a “low...

By Mike Stryer and Arielle Zurzolo While the judge’s ruling in the Vergara vs. California case about educational equity remains weeks away, one verdict is already in: California suffers from a toxic polarization on educational issues that harms both students and the teaching profession. Ironically, though, the case may provide a unique window for unprecedented...

Brown calls for new fees on teacher preparation review Still struggling to find a fiscal footing in the wake of the recession, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing would be granted additional authority to impose fees on educator preparation programs under a proposal from the Brown administration. The agency, which serves as the state’s standards board...

The Vergara v California trial and its testimony from educators and administrators from around the state continued its geographic journey today, when the focus turned to Fullerton. Assistant Superintendent of the Fullerton School District, Mark Douglas, a 37-year veteran of state public education systems, took the witness stand in state superior court and added another...

Via the Los Angeles Times | By Howard Blume, Richard Winton and Alan Zarembo The Los Angeles Unified School District said it would not reverse its decision to fire former Miramonte Elementary teacher Martin Springer after charges against him were dropped Wednesday, officials said. L.A. County prosecutors canceled Springer’s pending trial after the teacher’s young...

Aspire Public Schools, a nonprofit charter school operator with 12 schools chartered through LAUSD, announced this morning that it will expand its blending learning curriculum to all of its elementary schools in the Los Angeles region by the end of the 2015-16 school year. The expansion is supported by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation,...

  Never say LA Unified doesn’t look out for the kids. This press release arrived from the district yesterday, so everyone can relax:       L.A. UNIFIED’S STATEMENT ON GRAPHIC IMAGES OF COWS DISTRIBUTED TO STUDENTS DURING ANIMAL ACTIVIST PROTEST A cow and a calf, part of a mobile classroom provided by the Dairy...