LA School Report

A lawsuit that could dramatically change how California public schools deal with ineffective teachers gets underway Monday in a California Superior Court for Los Angeles County, where LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy is expected to be the first witness to testify. The suit, Vergara v California, has been brought by students who are challenging state...

Another candidate has thrown her hat into the ring. Hattie McFrazier is the latest contender in the special election race for LA Unified’s District 1 seat. She is another district lifer. McFrazier spent 31 years with the district, retiring in 2012, and held a variety of positions including teacher, counselor, School Attendance Review Board Chair...

California should give all kids the pre-K advantage Commentary: “Early education is our No. 1 priority.” That’s the 2014 message from California Democrats. Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg introduced the Kindergarten Readiness Act (SB 837) on Jan. 6, and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez included an aggressive early education agenda in Democrats’ budget recommendations in...

Some of the names and faces might be not be familiar, but five of the 10 candidates running for president of the teachers union, UTLA, have agreed to participate in a candidate forum next Thursday, Jan. 30th at Thomas Starr King Middle School. Click here for announcement. Wil Page, the school’s chapter chair, said in...

Via The Center for American Progress Five years ago, U.S. teachers were asked in a survey how many years of experience they had; their most common answer was one year. Policymakers feared an impending crisis because, if past trends held, about half of these teachers would leave in their first five years. But the latest...

Brown touts education accomplishments, priorities in State of the State Gov. Jerry Brown highlighted his education accomplishments in an upbeat State of the State on Wednesday that marked the final address of his current term and laid out priorities for the coming year and his likely reelection campaign. EdSource Gov. Brown reemphasizes local control of state’s...

The California Department of Education is setting aside $250 million for school districts to link high school curricula to careers beyond the classroom, an initiative designed to keep students engaged in classes often consider dull and dry, while preparing them for a high-skilled job market. The 40 one-time grants bundled in the Career Pathways Trust –...