LA School Report

According to multiple sources familiar with the fast-approaching LAUSD school board race, the competition for District 2, currently held by School Board President Monica Garcia, is likely to attract the most energetic attention from UTLA, the powerful teachers union. The candidate who may be the biggest challenge to Garcia is Annamarie Montañez.  The cousin of former...

Tomorrow, December 5,  is the deadline for LAUSD Board candidates to submit nominating petitions with at least 500 signatures to the City Clerk’s office in order to qualify for the March 2013 elections. There are 22 candidates who have declared their intent to run for a seat on the board. But as of this morning,...

“Auditors reviewed 61 settlements with LAUSD teachers – including 47 involving misconduct with a student – and found that more than $2 million in payouts had been made… Officials said Monday that 299 teachers are now being “housed” at district offices after being accused of misconduct. Each case takes an average of six months to investigate...

Bill to Speed up Teacher Dismissals Is Revived Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) acted in the wake of a state audit concluding that current laws added excessive cost and time to the firing process. LA Times See Also: LA Daily News  Billboards Promote Law That Lets Students Leave Low Performing Schools The Open Enrollment Act became...

On Friday, LAUSD and UTLA finally came to tentative agreement on a new way to evaluate teachers, just days before the court-imposed December 4 deadline in Doe v. Deasy. The initial responses were generally positive, including from the plaintiffs. “Assuming that everyone behaves in good faith, I think we’ve achieved what we’ve set out to...

The LAUSD Board will hold a special closed session on Tuesday, December 4 to confer with its legal counsel about the Doe v. Deasy case and to discuss labor negotiations: Board Members Monica Garcia and Tamar Galatzan will also introduce a resolution calling on state legislators to change “the lengthy, expensive [teacher] dismissal process required...

“Over the past several years, teachers who have spent 10 years or fewer in the classroom have become the dues-paying majority. These newer teachers, along with many longtime teachers, are looking for their unions to elevate the profession — not to sacrifice teaching quality for job security.” — Teachers for New Unionism head Michael Stryer...

Lots of blame was dished out last week after a state audit found weak dismissal and reporting practices at LAUSD regarding teachers accused of sexual misconduct. Especially vocal was UTLA president Warren Fletcher, who has consistently lobbed criticism at LAUSD for how it has managed the scandal. Now I am a Prop-30-supporting-dyed-in-the-wool union Democrat, but...

LAUSD, Teachers’ Union Reach ‘Historic’ Agreement on Evaluations Just days before a court-ordered deadline, L.A. Unified and its teachers’ union announced a “historic” tentative agreement allowing administrators to use student test scores in teacher evaluations. KPCC See also: LA Times, EdSource, LA Daily News, EdWeek, WSJ, UTLA California Legislator Vows to Reintroduce Bill to Speed Teacher...

Superintendent John Deasy explained to LA School Report why the tentative agreement reached between LAUSD and UTLA on teacher performance was so historic: “You don’t do this stuff in California – this has never been done. People were very very conscious and concerned, people were very worried about the precedent it would set.” UTLA President Warren Fletcher’s...