LA School Report

Schools Face Test From Voters [This] is the largest number of education-tax initiatives to appear on state election ballots in two decades, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Wall St. Journal (subscription required; via KPCC) Fact Check: Obama Supports Smaller Classes in Public Schools The president has publicly supported the concept...

LA School Report has learned that Jeneen Robinson (pictured) plans on running for LAUSD Board member in District 4 against incumbent Steve Zimmer, though she has yet to file official paperwork. Robinson, 40, grew up in Virginia and moved to Los Angeles about 10 years ago. She lives in Westchester and has a son attending a...

Here’s a chart from the folks at UCLA IDEA that tells a familiar story in a particularly stark visual way: See: The Education Battle that All Sides Could Lose

On Friday, LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer told LA School Report that his charter school oversight proposal would be revised and reintroduced yet again at the next Board meeting on November 13 in a version that is “a better representation of what my overall purpose is.”  As described, the latest version is nonbinding and asks charter...

Deasy: Teachers Delaying LAUSD Bid for $40M in Federal Grants Officials with the Los Angeles Unified School District raced on Monday to meet a fast-approaching deadline to apply for up to $40 million in federal grants. But Superintendent John Deasy said United Teachers Los Angeles has yet to sign off on the bid because it “requires...

In early October, LAUSD board member Tamar Galatzan told us about “middle-class schools that don’t qualify for Title I anti-poverty dollars,” and that a lot of them “are becoming affiliated charters in order to get access to additional funds.”  (See: Board Member Galatzan Tells (Almost) All.) There are 42 “affiliated charters”, schools which operate within the UTLA contract, but...

One of the lowest-performing schools in LAUSD, Samuel Gompers Middle School, opened two new learning gardens this week. The gardens were installed with a grant from a non-profit called Kitchen Community and are intended to help fight childhood obesity and diabetes. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, who is strong proponent of linking nutrition and education, was...

Communities for Teaching Excellence, Los Angeles-Based Education Organization, Closing A Los Angeles-based education advocacy organization backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will disband next month as a crowded field of reform groups compete for limited funding, officials said Thursday. The board of Communities for Teaching Excellence voted last week to dissolve, with a target...

A slightly deeper look into last week’s campaign fundraising filings for Board President Monica Garcia reveals not more only the charter school support that we’ve reported previously but also at least two members of the Hollywood elite: David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, each of whom gave the $1,000 maximum. Over all, Garcia brought in just over $75,000 during the...

Picking up on our story from yesterday afternoon (LAUSD & UTLA: Headed To Mediation), the Daily News‘ Barbara Jones has a story out today in which UTLA President Warren Fletcher is quoted calling LAUSD’s declaration of an impasse and call for mediation “premature.” (LAUSD says talks with UTLA on teacher evaluations are at impasse). However,...