LA School Report

When the Board meeting agenda came out last week, it initially included Board member Zimmer’s resolution regarding use of student achievement data to evaluate teachers (see PDF here).The Zimmer resolution sought to block LAUSD from using a new student achievement measurement called Academic Growth Over Time (AGT) when evaluating teachers – even in combination with other...

Tonight, Monday October 8, Superintendent John Deasy will make his “State of the District” speech at 5 PM at the 2-year-old Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools in Koreatown. The whole event will last an hour, and include speeches from board member Marguerite LaMotte and school board president Monica Garcia. Deasy’s speech, accompanied by a power point presentation,...

LAUSD Board’s Martinez Wants To Restore Arts Funding In Schools She also wants a commitment to make arts a component of the new Common Core curriculum, integrating skills like drama, drawing and dance into the teaching of math, English and science. The national standards are set to take effect in Fall 2014, and the district is...

You may already have heard that LAUSD Board member Nury Martinez will introduce a motion at the Tuesday October 9 monthly school board meeting to make arts a “core subject” (KPCC: LAUSD considers making arts education a ‘core subject’). And we’ve already told you that Board member Steve Zimmer is holding off on offering a revised...

On Monday, October 8, the day before the monthly board meeting, Superintendent John Deasy will speak about the state of LAUSD at Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools. LAUSD stakeholders will gather to hear Deasy’s strategic plan and strategies for the district’s next three years. Click here for full event details. It’s not yet clear if...

South LA Schools Team Up To Fight Reconstitution The two South LA schools [Dorsey, Crenshaw] joined forces and organized a public meeting tonight to inform Crenshaw parents and students about the district’s effort to reform underachieving schools. KPCC 4 In Alleged Soccer Team Hazing File Claims Against School District Four teenagers who say they were...

Here’s an interesting chart from the November issue of Chicago Magazine which seems to show that LAUSD schools run longer than other big cities like DC or NYC (and that the poverty rate for LAUSD kids is second only to Chicago). However, the average teacher salary is lower than all but Miami-Dade. And the graduation...

LAUSD board member Steve Zimmer’s proposal to overhaul charter school oversight and, more controversially, to place a moratorium on new charter schools, has been postponed until the November 13 board meeting, according to the just-posted agenda for the meeting this Tuesday, October 9. Zimmer’s idea was first presented at last month’s board meeting, and generated heavy...

LAUSD Considers Making Arts Education A ‘Core Subject’ The L.A. Unified school board will vote on a measure Tuesday that would make arts education a “core subject,” prohibit further cuts to the arts, and ultimately restore some money to arts programs. KPCC Fact Check: On Education, Gains Difficult To Demonstrate Education reporter Howard Blume fact checks...

Until recently, millions of dollars of special interest money flowed directly to candidates for their own campaigns (shown in red). However, the March election for three LAUSD Board seats promises to be dominated by a torrent of outside money from independent expenditure committees (IEs) – much the way super PACs have eclipsed campaign contributions at the...