* UPDATED As LA Unified students begin their first day of school tomorrow, district officials will be out in force, welcoming them. Superintendent John Deasy has a full schedule over two days, with plans to greet principals and to tour schools that are under construction. Planning to visit nearly a dozen campuses tomorrow and Wednesday,...

George McKenna and Alex Johnson appeared yesterday in the KNBC Sunday talk show, “News Conference,” and it was as close to a debate as the candidates for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat have had since the June 3 primary propelled them into tomorrow’s runoff. McKenna had the advantage in time, appearing for 8 minutes, 45...

In a deal with UTLA, the teachers union, LA Unified said late today it will provide $10,000 stipends that pay for mentor teachers to help instructors at 37 highly-challenged schools. The mentors qualify for funding over the next three school years at campuses included in the Reed case court settlement. The goal is to reduce high...

Mid-career and late-career teachers are not earning what they deserve, nor are they able to gain the salaries that support a middle-class existence, concludes a new report on teacher salaries from the Washington-based research group, the Center for American Progress. Even mid- and late-career teachers in states with some of the high salaries are grappling...

With LA Unified’s District 1 election approaching, LA School Report asked each of the candidates, Alex Johnson and George McKenna, a series of questions about some of the bigger challenges facing the district. The effort was based on the fact — an unfortunate one for voters — that the two have not appeared together for a policy debate since...

Via Edweek | by Catherine Gewertz The U.S. Department of Education is on the verge of releasing the first draft of new guidance on the peer-review process for standards and tests, a document that could exert a powerful influence on how states set academic expectations. Little known outside the assessment world, the process is wonky...

LA Unified teachers will return to school next week with no new UTLA contract. Negotiators met for the second time yesterday, and the next session is not scheduled until Aug. 21 — nine days after school starts. While the teachers union put out a press release yesterday, chiding the district for not being cooperative, the...

Since the June 3 primary that produced Alex Johnson and George McKenna as the finalists for LA Unified’s District 1 board seat election on Aug. 12, the candidates have engaged in no public debates that would give voters a better opportunity to learn their views on contemporary issues. As a result, LA School Report has...