A new proposed statewide ballot initiative that would allow school districts to fire employees accused of abusing children or selling drugs to children has been submitted for certification and could go before voters a year from now. LA School Report has learned that the initiative, called “Stop Child Molesters, Sexual Abusers, and Drug Dealers from...

What’s the reaction to the Phase 1 rollout of LA Unified’s iPad program? By one very unscientific measure, not so bad. At the request of Monica Ratliff, who chairs the board’s Common Core Technology Committee, the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, the group representing school principals and assistant principals, surveyed schools among the first 47...

In Dennis Danziger’s English class at Venice High, they play musical chairs every day; if you come in late, you don’t get a desk and have to sit in a chair on the sidelines. Unfortunately, they’re not playing for fun. They’re playing because his class of 50 students is so overcrowded the students can barely...

Despite all the sky-is-falling-rhetoric over the past week, things at LA Unified are much as they were: John Deasy is still the man in charge as superintendent, and teachers union president Warren Fletcher continues as his chief adversary. While Deasy was keeping out of the spotlight today — he was attending an event in Albuquerque...

LA School Report has learned the deal to extend the contract of LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy might not have been possible without the involvement of former LA mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. According to three people with knowledge of events, none of whom would speak for attribution, Villaraigosa made a flurry of calls to both Deasy and...

Now that the LA Unified school district leadership is back to work after a day of maybe-this and what about-that, here are a few takeaways from yesterday’s drama leading to the school board surprise renewal of Superintendent John Deasy’s contract (live links send you to the full stories): 1. Grassroots support may actually matter if...