LA School Report

• Adelanto parents lose charter school bid: On Friday, the Adelanto School Board rejected the petition by parents of Desert Trails Elementary (site of the recent parent trigger ruling) to convert their school into a charter, saying there wasn’t enough time to implement before the school year. The board voted, instead, to install a “community advisory council”...

There are two big articles about teacher preparation programs in the news this week — and one about poverty — that don’t focus specifically on LAUSD but are well worth knowing about for anyone concerned with education reform.

Kids in schools pretty much everywhere love Hot Cheetos, but LAUSD is the only place I’ve seen so many of those crazy, sticky Takis in the garish purple bag. And now they have their rightful place in this rap anthem to schoolyard snacks. Via Gawker

What a strange and interesting first week back in school it’s been for LAUSD — starting three weeks before Labor Day but still a year that will be five school days shorter than last year. And we’re not even done with it yet. The first day back, Tuesday, the district wanted to focus on the...

• Teacher Evaluation Changes threatened by California Bill: AB 5, which is heading to the State Senate for a full vote after getting the nod from the appropriations committee on Thursday, would mandate that all aspects of teacher evaluation be subject to collective bargaining– which has been what UTLA has been asking for in Doe v. Deasy. LA Times [A number of ed...

Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom, a Democrat running for the 50th State Assembly seat against Democratic incumbent Betsy Butler, isn’t refraining from criticizing his opponent for her abstention during the committee vote on SB 1530. “I’ve never done that in 13 years of being a public official,” he told me earlier this week. “I think...

Here are some of the reported posts that Hillel Aron has written while we were still in “soft launch” mode the past couple of weeks: Update: API Delayed Until October [yep — October] How Prop. 32 Could Affect LAUSD [Gloria Romero won’t back down- get it?] Charter & District School Alternatives [infographic on 8 different school models in...

Today I am pleased to announce the official launch of LA School Report. My goal is to provide meaningful coverage on issues related to the Los Angeles public schools and to shine a light on a system that receives little attention despite its enormous importance. As the second largest school system in the country and one that commands...

• LAUSD, Teachers Union Spar Over Voluntary Evaluation System: A robo-call sent out to all UTLA members has their president, Warren Fletcher, urging them not to participate in a voluntary pilot program that evaluates teachers based on their students’ test scores. Deasy hit back at the union, saying, “What a shame we don’t have a partner...

Starting in 1997, Los Angeles began passing a series of bond measures to fund construction of new schools. Since then, the city borrowed a total of $19.5 billion to build 131 schools– some with large, beautifully designed (and expensive) campuses like the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools and the High School for the Visual and...