LA School Report

In anticipation of tonight’s UTLA House of Representatives debate over the union’s District 6 runoff endorsements, an anonymous tipster sent LA School Report a copy of a flyer sent out by District 6 candidate Monica Ratliff during the primary campaign that touts her support from Republican LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich and describes her as “the Republicans’...

In the last few days, many explanations have been tossed about for the Coalition for School Reform’s failure to unseat incumbent Steve Zimmer and replace him with challenger Kate Anderson in last week’s School Board election: Some have blamed a backlash against out-of-state money given by the likes of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch. Others...

Districts are wrong to oppose new state limits on the use of the state’s 4,400 alternative certification teachers who work with English Language Learners, according to former LAUSD teacher Walt Gardner, writing on his Education Week blog: “I don’t dismiss the idealism of new college graduates. I’m sure their desire to “make a difference” is sincere, but...

When District 6 runoff candidate Antonio Sanchez showed up to the UTLA endorsement interview last year, he was accompanied by Miguel Santiago, an old friend of Sanchez’s as well as a member of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees and — more importantly — State Assembly Speaker John Perez’s District Director. Santiago’s appearance...

LAUSD to Pay Nearly $30M to Settle Miramonte Sex Abuse Lawsuits Los Angeles Unified will pay nearly $30 million to settle claims by 58 children who say they were victims of former Miramonte Elementary teacher Mark Berndt, the veteran educator charged with committing bizarre acts of sex abuse against students, attorneys said Tuesday. LA Daily...

“Punishing Numbers” — a widely-noted investigative series depicting harsh school discipline rules in California schools — has won the top investigative journalism prize for medium-sized newsrooms in the 2012 National Awards for Education Reporting. The series was a joint reporting effort shared by Vanessa Romo at Los Angeles public radio station KPCC, Krissy Clark at San Francisco...

Last week’s School Board primary outcome wasn’t a win or even a mixed result for Mayor Villaraigosa and his merry band of reformers, according to former state senator Gloria Romero. It was a big loss. Romero has had public disagreements with Villaraigosa in the past, and she first made her negative assessment of the outcome...

Expressing concern about increasing divisiveness between LAUSD and the teachers union, the LA Times editorial page calls for a more thoughtful, balanced approach to making much-needed improvements, including a proposal for LAUSD to make student achievement less than 30 percent of teacher evaluations: “We don’t know what heft test scores should have in performance reviews —...

Tomorrow’s much-anticipated House of Representatives debate over District 6 endorsements isn’t the only potentially divisive issue UTLA’s governing body has on tap this Spring. Next month, members of the teachers union will also vote on a new initiative to demand various things from LAUSD such as better pay, reduced class size, restored funding of early childhood...

Now that the dust has started to settle around last week’s LAUSD Board primary election, you might be wondering what outside spending groups have in store for the May runoff election for the District 6 (East San Fernando Valley) Board seat. However, it may be awhile. The Coalition for School Reform and UTLA-PACE won’t have...