LA School Report

The media tends to pay a lot of attention to UTLA, the powerful local union that represents classroom teachers. LA School Report is no different. But there’s another union that arguably just as influential when it comes to LAUSD issues: SEIU Local 99, which represents non-certificated school employees (also called classified employees) such as teacher assistants, bus...

Both LAUSD and UTLA issued statements in response to the rampage at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut this morning, in which the assailant is reported to have killed nearly 20 children and several adults, including his mother, a kindergarten teacher at the school, and the school principal.  Read below, via HuffPostLA

LAUSD — specifically “LA Unified School District” — was one of the most frequent searches on Google for the LA area in 2012, notes the blog LAist — along with pop culture and mainstream topics like Whitney Houston, Lakers, and Batman.  Is the district’s search popularity because of increased interest, or frustration?  Nobody really knows.

There could be small signs of change going on inside UTLA. This week’s internal elections for the 350-member House of Representatives were contested in 22 of 32 districts for the first time in recent years.  Some of those seats were expected to have been won by a new caucus within UTLA, called NewTLA, which is...

It’s still very early goings in the school board race, but Antonio Sanchez is already emerging as the favorite in the East Valley’s District 6 — especially since Ernie Cardenas dropped out earlier this week (see: Cardenas Explains Withdrawal – Sort Of). The 30-year-old Sanchez aims to bridge the bitter divide between unions and school choice...

Here’s UTLA president Warren Fletcher saying that LAUSD can’t afford the computer tablet initiative that LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has proposed (and should use the bond money for teacher salaries and adding school days instead). CBS has the story here.

Miramonte Lewd Conduct Lawsuits Can Proceed An L.A. County Superior Court judge on Thursday lifted a stay on lawsuits arising from alleged lewd conduct at Miramonte Elementary School. LA Times Ex-Miramonte Teacher Mark Berndt Hires Defense Attorney Mark Berndt, the former Miramonte Elementary School teacher accused of lewd conduct against his students, has hired as...

Even with all its magnets, charters, and other options, LAUSD ranks 27th out of 107 large urban school districts when it comes to choice and competition, according to a new report by the Washington DC-based Brookings Institute,  What strengths could LAUSD do to promote more options? You can read all the details here.

Former Washington DC schools superintendent Michelle Rhee credits LAUSD and UTLA for making progress with their tentative teacher evaluation deal but describes it as”falling short in many ways” and cites it as an example of the need for a “strong statewide policy governing teachers’ performance evaluations.” Read below for the full statement from Rhee, who is now...

The nonprofit and independent EdSource Today is one of the best education news sources covering statewide education issues, along withe SI&A Cabinet Reports. Now, EdSource Today journalists John Fensterwald and Kathy Barron are being joined by Lillian Mongeau (pictured), a Peninsula-based reporter who’s covered education issues as a freelancer. From the looks of it, she’s going to focus on...