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Cortines, Zimmer praise passage of federal ‘No Child’ rewrite

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines and board President Steve Zimmer joined a chorus of praise today from state education leaders as the Senate passed a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which is now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. The bill now awaiting the signature of President Obama cuts back on...
By Craig Clough | December 9, 2015
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Senate passes No Child Left Behind rewrite

By Rebecca Klein The Senate voted on Wednesday to pass an overhaul of No Child Left Behind called the Every Student Succeeds Act. The move comes after the House of Representatives voted to pass the overhaul last week, and over eight years after the No Child Left Behind Act originally expired in 2007. The White House...
By LA School Report | December 9, 2015
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Morning Read: Details of allegations against teacher Esquith released

Documents provide details of LAUSD probe that led to firing of Rafe Esquith The documents claim the famed teacher allegedly fondled children in the 1970s, that in recent years he inappropriately emailed former students, and other allegations. Los Angeles Times, by Zahira Torres Mira Costa principal defends canceling classes again due to bomb threat Principal...
By LA School Report | December 9, 2015
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LA Unified’s union leaders unite to oppose Broad charter plan

Leaders of the nine unions that represent teaches, administrators and other staffers at LAUSD stood before the district board today to express a united front against the Broad foundation plan to create more charter schools in the district. Flanked at the podium by the union leaders, Juan Flecha, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), told the...
By Mike Szymanski | December 8, 2015
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Parents rally at LAUSD headquarters for more charter schools

For Ivey Steinberg, the last straw occurred when her son, Jack, who uses a wheelchair, was left on the second floor during a fire drill at a public school. She needed to find a school that treated her son like all the others, and she found WISH (Westside Innovative School House) Charter. Then, she helped create...
By Mike Szymanski | December 8, 2015
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LIVESTREAM coverage of today’s LA Unified school board meeting

The LA Unified school board is holding a meeting today scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. Among the items up for discussion is an expansion plan for Playa Vista Elementary that has many parents angry to the point they staged a protest yesterday. There are also nine new charter schools applications, including El Camino Real K-8...
By LA School Report | December 8, 2015
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In new report, California gets ‘D’ in supporting teacher effectiveness

A new report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) finds that not only is California behind most other states and the nation on enacting policies that support effective teaching, but it has also slipped from its already low position of a few years ago. The 2015 State Teacher Policy Yearbook report, released today, gives California...
By Craig Clough | December 8, 2015
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1 minute later, LAUSD board resumes private talks on superintendent

* UPDATED The LA Unified school board continued its search for a new superintendent early this morning, moving into another closed session after a one minute open meeting that might have been the shortest in district history. Joining the seven board members in the private session were Hank Gmitro and Darline Robles of the search...
By Mike Szymanski | December 8, 2015
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Commentary: Actually, American students are under-tested

By Jill Barshay Andreas Schleicher, an international education expert based in Paris, attended a summit at the White House last month and left feeling frustrated by the anti-testing backlash in this country. “I listened to several presentations. You got this impression, if they would only get rid of tests, everything would improve,” said Schleicher, who oversees the...
By LA School Report | December 8, 2015
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Playa Vista parents accuse LAUSD of betrayal with new expansion plan

Parents and students at Playa Vista Elementary staged a protest today over an unexpected change in the district’s Westside expansion efforts that directly affect Playa students. Some families held a “sit out” and kept their kids out of school. The LA Unified school board is scheduled to vote tomorrow on an expansion plan for Playa that also involves...
By Craig Clough | December 7, 2015