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‘I live in the same space as you’: As districts nationwide struggle with diversity, how one LA school network is recruiting teachers who look like the classrooms they lead
Each year, on the first day of school at KIPP Academy of Opportunity in South Los Angeles, teacher Kasi Moore-Watts has a reliable way of getting her students’ attention. Her mom was on drugs, Moore-Watts tells them, and her grandparents raised her. When she shares her background with students, she said, she sees “heads that...
By Brendan Lowe | June 19, 2018
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‘The Unafraid’: With DACA’s future uncertain, new film offers intimate look at the struggles of undocumented youth as they fight to attend college
Since the Trump administration announced last year it would end a program that offers protections to undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country as children, their fate remains in limbo.Si Amid the political gridlock in Washington over the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Dreamers must keep pushing forward. Among them are the young...
By Mark Keierleber | June 19, 2018
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LA County Board of Education’s Alex M. Johnson: Answering the call for the greater good — a challenge to the Class of 2018
Graduation season has almost concluded, and students and teachers are anxiously readying to begin summer break. Undoubtedly, many of us have spent the past few weeks taking part in the pomp and circumstance and pageantry that accompany the milestone of matriculation in a student’s educational career. Whether it’s the culmination ceremony of a child going...
By Alex M. Johnson | June 18, 2018
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If Janus ruling means teachers no longer have to join unions, will breaking away from state and national affiliates be a way to save local membership?
The Supreme Court’s pending decision in the Janus case has the potential to decimate the clout and size of public-sector unions by allowing members who disagree with the union’s activity to opt out of membership. But another path to maintaining membership in local unions may be emerging: a split from the more divisive and politically charged state...
By Carolyn Phenicie | June 18, 2018
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LAUSD board frees principals of struggling schools from having to hire teachers sent to them by the district
Updated June 15 About one-fourth of LA Unified schools have just won a coveted freedom: the right to hire the best teacher for the job. However, the majority of Los Angeles schools are still shackled by a longtime districtwide policy that forces principals to hire from a “must-place” list of “displaced” teachers. But that could...
By Laura Greanias | June 15, 2018
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LAUSD cuts positions to plug a budget hole without increasing class sizes
June 20 Update: The LAUSD board approved the 2018-19 budget as expected on June 19, and pledged support for a couple new initiatives, including college savings accounts and free college admissions tests. But again, senior district officials forecast that the district was headed towards financial catastrophe in just four years, when reserves are expected to...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | June 13, 2018
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LA’s graduation rate will now be reported in a second way to reveal how many students are actually eligible for state universities
LA Unified made a big commitment Tuesday: by 2023 all students will be college-ready, and — to make sure parents can hold the district accountable — it will now report two different graduation rates. Through unanimous approval of the “Realizing the Promise for All: Close the Gap by 2023” resolution, the board members “publicly commit” to...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | June 13, 2018
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California’s CORE districts joined forces to bolster social-emotional development, but a study of 400,000 kids reveals gaps in learning & a confidence crisis among middle school girls
As they progress through school, students are getting better at believing they can master challenging subjects, but they are getting worse at managing their behavior and empathizing with others. Those are highlights of a recent study of nearly 400,000 California students in some of the state’s largest school districts, which have collaborated over the past...
By Kate Stringer | June 12, 2018
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LAUSD students: Meet your new school board representative, and he’s going to make sure you register to vote
As LA Unified board members thanked Benjamin Holtzman for his service this school year as Student Board Member, Holtzman introduced his replacement: Tyler Okeke. Here are a few things to know about Tyler, who starts his new post in August. High school: Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy, which at Tuesday’s board meeting was renamed after one of the...
By Laura Greanias | June 12, 2018
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Antonucci: Retiring California teachers will earn more than working teachers in 24 states
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. More than 900,000 current and former public school teachers are covered by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). The pension system has $210 billion in net assets. It will need all of it and more, since it holds only 63.7 percent of the funds necessary to...
By Mike Antonucci | June 12, 2018