LA School Report

LAUSD has just announced that it was sending in its $40 million Race to the Top Application today, despite the fact that UTLA refused to sign off on it. “Although UTLA refused to be a partner in this critically important grant,” said Deasy in a press release, “I will advocate for it on behalf of...

Former Democratic state legislator Gloria Romero isn’t the only education reformer who’s taken a position that’s being described as anti-labor. (See: Proposition 32 Divides California’s Education Reformers Huffington Post.)  Sacramento-based StudentsFirst (headed by Michelle Rhee) has given $500,000 to oppose Proposal 2, a Michigan state constitutional amendment codifying collective bargaining rights that has been backed by labor groups,...

In a piece today in the Daily News, Barbara Jones writes that if Proposition 30 doesn’t pass, LAUSD says it would shorten the 2012-2013 school year by as many as 15 days, and the following school year by as many as 15 additional days. But on Monday, Superintendent John Deasy told LA School Report that other cuts...

LAUSD Bracing for Severe Cuts if Prop. 30 Loses To offset the cuts, the state is allowing districts to shave 15 days off their 175-day school calendars this year – and up to 15 additional days next year – a move that LAUSD officials fear could jeopardize students’ hard-won academic gains and hinder efforts to...

Not many people would recognize David Holmquist, general counsel for the LA Unified School District (pictured below). But Holmquist serves as an important role, overseeing all labor negotiations, and representing the district in over 1,000 lawsuits  – including attempts by LAUSD to recover overpayment from 600 employees and dismiss more than 120 teachers. We spoke last...

There’s not really that much new to say about UTLA’s decision to scuttle LAUSD’s application for a federal Race to the Top grant (ostensibly over cost concerns) but news outlets are having a grand time dissecting it and LAUSD superintendent John Deasy seems more than willing to express his disappointment over that decision. This Daily News story (LAUSD,...

Parents Criticize Officials After Cheating Allegations Roil School Leaders of a parent organization at Short Avenue Elementary on Tuesday criticized the school’s former principal and the Los Angeles Unified School District in the wake of alleged cheating and mistakes in administering state standardized tests by teachers. LA Times Dan Walters: What to Do if Proposition...

The California Teachers Association is the 6th most powerful state teachers union in the nation, according to a new report from a pair of East Coast nonprofits. California teachers are #1 in terms of scope of bargaining and perceived influence, according to the state profile (PDF here), and #18 and #20 in its level of political...

It was intriguing to see UTLA president Warren Fletcher sitting at the table with Jordan Henry, co-founder of NewTLA, at last night’s Los Angeles Education Partnership roundtable event titled “Do Unions Drive or Restrain Student Success?” A caucus of teachers frequently at odds with UTLA leadership, NewTLA is currently encouraging members to nominate themselves for union leadership positions at their schools....

When the United States Department of Education announced yesterday that the deadline for Race to the Top applications was being been pushed back due to Hurricane Sandy, a Washington, DC trade publication called Education Week wondered whether the delay might give LAUSD more time to negotiate with UTLA for a chance at as much as $40 million. But, when...