-
Ex-Miramonte Teacher Agrees to 25-Year Prison Term
Via the Los Angeles Times | By Stephen Ceasar and Richard Winton Mark Berndt, the teacher charged with committing lewd acts against nearly two dozen children at Miramonte Elementary School, including spoon-feeding them semen, has agreed to plead no contest to all charges, sources said Thursday. He has agreed to a sentence of 25 years in...
By LA School Report | November 14, 2013
-
Parents Ask LA Unified for Timely Sexual Assault Notification

Parents at Superior Street Elementary in Chatsworth last night pressed LA Unified officials to change district regulations so that the public is notified of sexual assaults on school campuses. At issue was a three-year-case that only came to light after the LA Times reported back in May that the district awarded damages of $1.4 million to...
By Chase Niesner | November 14, 2013
-
Commentary: A Teacher’s Story of Burn Out — Or How ‘La Bestia’ Won

I burned out after teaching for five years at a high school in a very low-income neighborhood. What made me burn out was not that so many of my students came in with reading skills several years behind their grade level. Nor was it that many of them also came in with a history of...
By Ellie Herman | November 14, 2013
-
Union Teachers Tell LA Unfied: ‘I Want My Money’

For the hundreds of teachers who packed a nearly block-long stretch of Beaudry Avenue in front of LA Unified headquarters late yesterday afternoon, the message to the superintendent was simple. “Hey, Deasy, baby, I want my money,” the red-shirted crowd sang in a hip-hop inspired chorus at a rally organized by UTLA in its ongoing...
By Ryan White | November 14, 2013
-
Kayser Abstention Dooms Effort to Spread Out Title 1 Money*

LA Unified School board member Tamar Galatzan had hoped to sway her colleagues to change the way the district distributes Title 1 funds for low-income students. But her motion, co-sponsored by Monica Ratliff, failed to get majority support at yesterday’s board meeting. The vote was split, 3-3, with Galatzan, Ratliff and Steve Zimmer, all of...
By Vanessa Romo | November 13, 2013
-
LA Unified Board Votes to Reshape iPad Program

The LA Unified school board re-calibrated its push for technology in the classroom last night, voting to continue into a second phase of its iPad plan but also to launch a pilot test of laptops among high school students. Further technology plans will depend on the outcome of a study. The decision — approved by...
By Vanessa Romo | November 13, 2013
-
Breaking: Motion to Censure Vladovic for Sexual Harassment Allegations Dies

An effort to censure LA Unified Board President Richard Vladovic for allegations that he violated the district’s ethical code failed today as a resolution from board member Tamar Galatzan did not get a “second” to put it before the board for a vote. The resolution sought to censure Vladovic for complaints of sexual harrasment and...
By Vanessa Romo | November 12, 2013
-
Today Live: LAUSD School Board to Look at Renewals for Charters

Check back here at 1pm PST today to watch live coverage of today’s LA Unified School Board meeting. On the agenda (in addition to the censure motion of school board president who has accused of sexual harassment, and the future of the iPad rollout) are a number of renewals and approvals of various charter schools,...
By LA School Report | November 12, 2013
-
UTLA Lampoons Deasy in Promoting Salary Rally
UTLA is planning a rally outside LA Unified headquarters at 4 p.m. tomorrow to demand pay raises. The protest comes on the one-year anniversary of Prop 30, a measure that raised state taxes to avert nearly $6 billion in cuts to public education. “We cannot allow the Superintendent to squander Prop 30 funds on pet...
By Chase Niesner | November 12, 2013
-
LA Unified Gets Next Installment for Common Core, $54 Million
California schools this week are receiving the second half of a $1.25 billion block grant from the state to support their move to the Common Core academic standards, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today. Districts received the first half of the funds in September and the second half—about $622 million—today. LA Unified...
By LA School Report | November 12, 2013