LA School Report

For the last two years, parents at Haddon Elementary in Pacoima have been gathering signatures for a parent trigger petition much like the one seen recently at 24 Street Elementary School. According to Parent Revolution, the petition drive gathered signatures from about a third of all parents. But in January, parents voted to put the process...

In L.A. School Board Race, Sky-High Spending Continues Record spending will continue in the last remaining race for a seat on the Los Angeles school board, as a political action committee has put together a war chest of about $600,000 to use on behalf of a candidate endorsed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. LA Times See...

UTLA’s political action committee, or PACE, has given $1,000 to the Monica Ratliff campaign, according to paperwork filed with the City Ethics Commission — but hasn’t funded her opponent, Antonio Sanchez. Both candidates have been endorsed by the teachers union. The move is all the more notable because on Wednesday, UTLA’s House of Representatives again...

Here’s an iconic picture of Sal Castro, the LAUSD teacher and activist who played a big role in the 1960s student walkouts and who passed away earlier this week. Read more: LA Times, KPCC. IDEA, LA Weekly

AirTalk, KPCC’s half-hour interview/call-in segment with LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy from earlier in the week includes the Superintendent’s comments and answers on hot-button topics including teacher evaluations, the parent trigger, layoffs and furloughs, student rights, and the UTLA poll on his performance.

There were lots of interesting tidbits thrown out during the Yale School of Management education summit session on community mobilization held earlier this month in New Haven, and no shortage of quips from panelist organizers Jeremiah Kittredge and Derrell Bradford, Kristen Wiegand, and Derwin Sisnett (moderated by Suzanne Tacheny Kubach). But the conversation at the end about the...

Mayoral Candidates Greuel, Garcetti go Head to Head Even if it was Greuel who came out with a stronger-sounding defense of “choice” on Thursday night, loudly proclaiming her support for the “parent trigger” law, which allows parents to vote out a school’s administration and bring in a new operator, Garcetti, who has been endorsed by...

The Coalition for School Reform’s District 6 (East San Fernando Valley) runoff election coffers have been replenished thanks to big donations received from Los Angeles philanthropist Eli Broad and StudentsFirst, Michelle Rhee’s education advocacy group, among others. According to reports just filed with the LA City Ethics Commission, Broad gave the Coalition $250,000. StudentsFirst contributed another...

Earlier this month, LA School Report interviewed education players in California about AB 375, sponsored by Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), which would streamline the dismissal process for teachers accused of sexual abuse and other forms of misconduct.proposal. EdVoice, LAUSD, and others generally said they were happy something was being done to improve the current teacher dismissal process....

On Wednesday, Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti toured 99th St. Elementary School, one of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s 22 Partnership for Los Angeles schools. Appearing at the Watts school with Partnership CEO Marshall Tuck and a handful of others, Garcetti was full of praise for nearly everything he saw. “This and the other 21 other Partnership schools...