LA School Report

• John Deasy’s State of the Schools Speech: The LAUSD superintendent just made a speech in front of principals and administrators. KPCC was live-blogging the affair, while the Daily News’ Barbara Jones was live-tweeting. CBS also had a preview. • Teacher From Freeway Chase Pleads Not Guilty to Molestation Charges: PE teacher Kip Richard Arnold, 51,...

It’s not just about 186 independent charter schools and 763 public schools in LA anymore. Nowadays, there are eight different school models, each with a different level of autonomy. Last week, we told you about Steve Barr’s interest in starting pilot schools, which are  small schools with under 500 kids that operate within the district but...

Former majority leader of the California State Senate and current head of the California chapter of Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), Romero was the first prominent Democrat to endorse Prop. 32, which would set new limits on union fundraising. See my previous post, How Prop. 32 Could Affect LAUSD, for more on the measure and Romero’s...

• State schools suspend students at higher rates than rest of nation: A new report from UCLA says states and districts differ greatly in how frequently they suspend students.  LAUSD ranks 63rd out of nation’s biggest school districts. San Bernardino ranked 15th. LAT • Do Anti-Bullying Laws Help? California lawmakers will ask for a state audit on...

For those of you wondering when the California Department of Education (CDE) will release its much-maligned Academic Performance Index (API) for 2012, don’t hold your breath. The API Index is the single number used to reflect a school’s progress, based on statewide testing. Traditionally timed to coincide with the start of the school year, the API release has...

• Summer Ends Early For LAUSD Students: School starts in exactly one week! That’s three weeks earlier than it used to start for LAUSD. That’s because the district just moved to an “early-start” calendar, with the first semester ending at winter break, giving kids three weeks off around Christmas. Daily News • Cal State Cuts Transfers: California State...

Campaign disclosure statements for the first half of 2012 are now online, providing information on contributions for the two LAUSD board members next up for re-election.  Steve Zimmer‘s fundraising appears not to have really begun in earnest (he’s raised less than $10,000. However, Board President Monica Garcia (pictured) has raised a hefty $100,000, about half of which comes...

• LAUSD to Begin Phasing In Common Core Curriculum Standards: The standards, the first ever national standards for public school curriculum, have been adopted by all but five states. Lots of changes are coming, including: basic algebra and geometry starting in kindergarden (!), less literature and more informational reading, and more integration of math and english....

Federal Money For Low-Income Students’ AP Tests:  California will receive $7.6 million from the federal government to pay for Advanced Placement tests for low income students. LA Times PTA Endorses Munger, Not Brown: The California Parent Teacher Association has endorsed Proposition 38, Molly Munger’s ballot measure to raise taxes to pay for education, which it helped write....

The hyper-cute daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes is going to enroll at Avenues, an entirely new K-12 private (for-profit!) school being opened this fall in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC (right near the High Line, if you want to impress your friends). All this via the NY Post: Suri Cruise to attend new Chelsea school....