Following a contentious discussion at the Sept. 10 board meeting, LA Unified announced today that it will fully fund the Physical Education Teacher Incentive Program by siphoning off $1.6 million from the budget that now pays for substitute teachers. The shift in money satisfies a resolution offered by Bennett Kayser and Steve Zimmer that passed...

A coalition representing “tens of thousands” of parents, teachers and education reform organizations is petitioning Governor Jerry Brown to veto a bill letting California schools off the hook for testing students while the state transitions to a new curriculum and testing model. Gov. Brown has expressed his support for AB 484 and has has until...

The Los Angeles Unified School District today blamed state laws for why it took the district so long to dismiss an El Sereno Elementary School teacher who is facing a lawsuit accusing him of sexually abusing students as long ago as 2007. David Holmquist, the district’s chief lawyer, said in a press release today Armando Gonzalez was removed from...

The teacher dismissal bill awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown‘s signature includes no specific language for streamlining the process of removing teachers for sexual and physical abuse, which had been the focus of earlier bills. The final version simply creates protocols to govern any dismissal case. Brown has until Oct. 13 to sign it. Assembly Bill 375,...

Four LA Unified teachers of the year for 2012 and Superintendent John Deasy were treated to a meal on Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters” last night that they won’t soon forget. Pictured above are Deasy (fourth from left) and the teachers (with certificates): Carlos Lauchu of Millikan Middle School; Jeffery Austin of the Social Justice Humanitas Academy at the Cesar...

October 9th is “Walk to School Day” for Los Angeles schools, the kick-off event of “International Walk to School Month,” which is designed to educate kids about pedestrian safety and celebrate the benefits of walking. Though only nine Los Angeles schools are currently registered, organizers are hoping the event encourages parents, students, school personnel and...

New research sponsored by the National Academy of Education seeks a deeper understanding of  why there are so few black male teachers in U.S. public schools. The backdrop for the work by Travis Bristol of Teachers College, Columbia University and Ron Ferguson of the Harvard Achievement Gap Initiative is the startling fact that black males, who are six percent of the...

LA Unified said today that more than $27 million has been allocated for 58 settlements with the parents of children who were suing the school district over allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers at Miramonte Elementary. That brings to 61 the number of financial settlements with two more awaiting final paperwork and 68 other cases...

The LAUSD School Board today finally approved a $113 million budget for transitioning to the Common Core curriculum. The 6-1 vote marked the end of a tumultuous and seemingly directionless process that led to the resignation of Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Jaime Aquino, an LA Times editorial calling the Board “dysfunctional,” and finally to Mayor Eric Garcetti wading in to Board...