LA School Report

A tentative but potentially historic agreement was reached late Friday, November 30 between LAUSD and UTLA that will define how teachers are evaluated in the second largest school district in country. The agreement includes the use of individual student test scores as a part of the review process – a measurement that has been championed...

Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom seems like he’s on the verge of having won his race against Assembly member Betsy Butler. (See: KPCC, LA Observed, LA Weekly). If this happens, Bloom will have won despite being outspent by a wide margin, lacking key Democratic endorsements, and even having the state Democratic party circulate flyers against him.  And his victory...

Privacy advocates and technophobes have responded with alarm to the news reported in the SF Gate that the FAA has lately been inundated with requests from public and private agencies to launch drone programs domestically.  So far as we know, LAUSD isn’t among those public agencies who’ve inquired about using drones, but it might not...

“Although it wasn’t recommended by the auditor, Deasy wants the Legislature to try again to pass a bill making it easier to suspend teachers accused of child abuse…. LAUSD said it is working with Sen. Padilla on that legislation. UTLA opposed last year’s bill, but Fletcher wouldn’t say what position the union would take on a new...

LAUSD Slow to Report on Teacher Misconduct Los Angeles school officials failed to promptly report nearly 150 cases of suspected teacher misconduct — including allegations of sexual contact with students — to state authorities as required by law, an audit released Thursday concluded. LA Times See also: LA Daily News, KPCC Teacher Says District Has...

According to yesterday’s state audit (above), LAUSD has been required to pay $3 million in salaries to 20 teachers who have been ‘housed’ (removed from site) the longest while being investigated for misconduct — including one who’s been housed for 4.5 years.

Superintendent John Deasy said this morning that he expects a tentative agreement with UTLA over a new system of teacher evaluations, as mandated by the court in Doe v. Deasy, at some point in the next four days — just before the deadline set by the judge. “I’m not a betting or predictive kind of guy,...

While changes in district policies governing charter school oversight seem to be off the table for now, today’s SI&A Cabinet Report reminds us that the state may well take up the issue on its own. New legislation likely to be considered in the near future would require authorizers like LAUSD to consider charter schools’ performance in...

State Audit on How LA Unified Handles Child Abuse Claims The results of a state audit on how L.A. Unified handles child abuse claims is set to be released Thursday morning. KPCC California School Districts Face Huge Debt on Risky Bonds Two hundred school districts across California have borrowed billions of dollars using a costly and...

Many schools already require students to wear IDs with pictures, ID numbers, and class schedules on them. Now, a Texas high school student is on the verge of being transferred out of her magnet program to another school because she’s refused to participate in the pilot RFID tracking program in which plastic ID badges being...