-
Commentary: With SB 614, California is in danger of going backward on literacy and teacher qualifications
Children do not just figure out how to read on their own because the human brain is not wired to read. We know that children can learn how to talk naturally by being talked to, by being surrounded by speech. The same is not true of reading. Scientific research has repeatedly shown that the reading...
By Ruth Green | July 2, 2019
-
LAUSD Superintendent Beutner relieved as Supreme Court blocks census question on citizenship, says district faced potential loss of $20 million

Education advocates were hopeful but still concerned after the Supreme Court ruled the Trump Administration — for now — cannot add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. “The Supreme Court’s decision to not include the citizenship question in the 2020 census is the right thing for public education,” L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner said in a...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 28, 2019
-
New teacher survey shows many educators report feeling satisfied in their job — but undervalued by their community

Teachers in the United States work long hours and feel undervalued by the public — but like their jobs anyway. Those findings, from an international education survey released this month, offer fodder for all sides of a debate about teacher pay and working conditions that is mobilizing teachers to protest across the country. The Teaching and Learning...
By Mark Keierleber | June 26, 2019
-
Coming soon: School-level spending data, courtesy of ESSA. Here are 5 things states must focus on when creating their new report cards

Plenty of very smart people have written about how, despite policy efforts to funnel resources to the students who need the most support, like English learners and kids who are raised in lower-income households, it doesn’t always work out that way. At times, district leaders may not even be aware that the way they’re spreading...
By Brennan McMahon Parton | June 26, 2019
-
Charters, child care and more: 5 ways education could come up at the Democratic debates

Education, an issue that has been pushed to the sidelines in recent presidential cycles, is getting some more attention in the early days of the 2020 contest. Mentions of universal pre-K and college affordability are practically stump-speech mandates. Teachers unions, riding a high of public support after successful strikes last year, have deep pockets and...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 25, 2019
-
Antonucci: One year later, it’s clear — the Janus effect is not yet what either side had hoped for, or feared
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public-sector unions could no longer charge representation fees to nonmembers. The decision in Janus v. AFSCME was expected to have an immediate explosive effect. Unions had argued before the court that the loss of fees would be devastating,...
By Mike Antonucci | June 25, 2019
-
Exclusive: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos calls for greater school accountability in helping English learners succeed and commits to ensuring immigrant children’s education

During a visit to Southern California last month, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos addressed educational needs of the Latino community, calling for more accountability for schools to help English-learning students succeed, guaranteeing immigrant students’ rights and explaining why school officials should embrace and encourage bilingual students. “A focus around the benefit of having a...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | June 24, 2019
-
LAUSD approves $7.8 billion budget for next year: Here’s what it means for high-needs students, lowest-performing schools and district finances

*Updated June 25 L.A. Unified board members passed the 2019-20 budget and accountability plan on Tuesday — but not before acknowledging that they are “unintelligible” documents that provide little insight into specific program and funding changes as the district looks to the next school year. “None of the documents add up to anything you can...
By Taylor Swaak | June 21, 2019
-
Government watchdog warns that schools are underreporting the restraint and seclusion of students

The Education Department should take immediate action to remedy underreporting of seclusion and restraint in federal civil rights data, a government watchdog said in a report released Tuesday. Seventy percent of districts reported no incidences of seclusion and restraint in the 2015-16 Civil Rights Data Collection, but an analysis indicates that it likely didn’t capture...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 21, 2019
-
Exclusive: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos talks about why parents deserve more school options, why she supports ‘Freedom Scholarships’ and what it’s like working with a new Congress

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos sat down for an exclusive interview with LA School Report — her first major interview with California media — on a recent trip to the state to visit a school in San Diego. Her insights ranged from why she believes she’s made progress toward her goals (because “we hear the...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero and Laura Greanias | June 19, 2019