LA School Report

This is a guest commentary written by Viviana Sosa, a former LAUSD teacher, chapter chair, and House of Representatives member who joined the staff of Educators for Excellence Los Angeles  a little over a year ago: I grew up and went to school in South Los Angeles.  I became a teacher in the same types of schools...

Yesterday, mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti challenged opponent Wendy Greuel to an education debate. Today, her campaign responded. “Wendy Greuel is not only willing to debate Eric on education, she is ready to debate today,” wrote Greuel spokesperson Shannon Murphy. “Rather than holding a political press conference calling for an education debate, let’s use that time to HAVE an education...

Check out this visual breakdown of suspension and discipline rates in school districts across the country, via EdWeek. The positive takeaway is that even three years ago (which is when the data used in this interactive was sampled), LAUSD’s rate of suspensions and expulsions was lower than in many other school districts in the nation. While...

Mayor Villaraigosa wants the two mayoral candidates to focus more on education. “Education reform can’t be a footnote on a campaign mailer or fodder for an attack ad,” said Villaraigosa in his speech last night. Sensing some sort of political opportunity, candidate Eric Garcetti has challenged his opponent Wendy Greuel to an education debate. But LA Weekly‘s...

Graduations Up, Dropouts Down in LAUSD, Statewide High school graduation rates for Los Angeles Unified and districts across California increased last year, with Latino students showing larger gains than their white and Asian classmates, the state Department of Education said Tuesday. LA Daily News See also: LA Times, KPCC Villaraigosa Criticizes Mayoral Candidates Over Education...

Responding to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s Tuesday night challenge, Mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti is now calling for a May debate with opponent Wendy Greuel that would be focused solely on education. “We agree that education has to be seriously debated in this campaign,” said Garcetti spokesman Jeff Millman in an email. “That’s why today we are calling on Controller...

Outgoing Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is scheduled to deliver his final State of the City address at UCLA tonight, and he plans to use the speech to criticize mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel on their education plans. Villaraigosa spokesperson Peter Sanders told the LA Times that the mayor will “take to task”...

In a wide-ranging Scholastic Administrator interview, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy talks about the fight to make student achievement a meaningful part of teacher evaluations, his hopes for the $80 million that will be freed up if LAUSD gets a waiver from some of the burdensome provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind, and how he sees...

Wednesday morning at 9 a.m., the decision of the parents over the fate of 24th Street Elementary School is scheduled to be announced at a park near the school. The decision will be based on a vote of the 369 parents who signed the original parent trigger petition, according to the LA Weekly.  Whichever of the...

While a recent Daily News headline described LAUSD Board Member Tamar Galatzan’s new “teacher jail” proposal as an “overhaul” of the current system, the resolution is probably best described as an effort at streamlining the process. Slated for a vote at next Tuesday’s Board meeting, the Galatzan resolution would shorten the time it takes to inform teachers what...