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Commentary: UTLA needs online voting for a wider union voice

By Linda Yaron A vote for online voting next month might be the most important decision UTLA members make as a union. It has the potential to systemically increase teacher participation at a foundational level of our union and make it far easier for all members to have a voice. As a 10-year teacher in LAUSD,...
By Guest contributor | April 30, 2014
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Decathlon title in hand, El Camino Real gets ready to celebrate

And now for the celebration. In honor of its seventh national Academic Decathlon championship, El Camino Real Charter High School in Woodland Hills is holding a rally tomorrow morning for a team that won the title last Saturday in Honolulu. Neighboring Granada Hills Charter High School, which had won the championship in each of the...
By Yana Gracile | April 30, 2014
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Zimmer: Congratulations for Caputo-Pearl, Thanks for Fletcher

The LA Unified School Distirct issued a statement from board vice president, Steve Zimmer, on the election of Alex Caputo-Pearl as president of UTLA, the teachers union: “I want to congratulate Alex Caputo-Pearl, and his team of candidates upon their election to the leadership of the nation’s second-largest teacher union, local United Teachers Los Angeles....
By LA School Report | April 29, 2014
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JUST IN: Caputo-Pearl wins decisively for UTLA president

UPDATED* Alex Caputo-Pearl was declared the new UTLA president today as he overwhelmed incumbent Warren Fletcher in the second-round of voting, the LA teachers union announced today. After outpolling Fletcher 2-1 in the first round, Caputo-Pearl beat him by more than 4-to-1 in the runoff, with 5,801 votes (80.18 percent) to Fletcher’s 1,434 (19.82 percent)....
By Michael Janofsky | April 29, 2014
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Commentary: Another test, but what is it, exactly?

In a recent opinion piece in The New York Times, “When the Circus Descends,” David Brooks derided opponents of Common Core Standards, implying that they were ideologues on the far left and far right making “hysterical claims and fevered accusations.” But as I visit classrooms across the city talking to teachers about the Common Core,...
By Ellie Herman | April 29, 2014
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LA Times endorses McKenna for District 1 board seat
Via Los Angeles Times | By the editorial board The seven candidates for the District 1 seat on the Los Angeles Unified School Board include several teachers, a reality-show contestant and a former member of the board. The one who stands out, though, is former principal and district administrator George McKenna. In 1985, years before...
By LA School Report | April 29, 2014
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LA Schools’ maintenance budget trails other large districts
Via KPCC | By Annie Gilbertson The Los Angeles Unified spends the least on maintenance and operations of California’s largest school district, according to new analysis by a district committee. The committee, which oversees bond money used for major repairs, argues the district should increase maintenance spending to avoid more costly work from deterioration created...
By LA School Report | April 29, 2014
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LA Unified graduation rates up for third straight year

* UPDATED For the third straight year in LA Unified, the high school graduation rate increased and the dropout rate decreased, according to new state data released today. Last June, the graduation rate climbed to 67.9 percent, or 1.3 percentage points higher than the previous year. And more students stayed in school: The dropout rate...
By Vanessa Romo | April 28, 2014
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Students to school board: Neediest schools deserve more

A new movement is brewing at Fremont High School, a school with a troubled past that has been at the epicenter of community and educational change many times over the years in south LA. For the past week, students there have been using an old-fashioned organizing tool — a petition drive — to bring a message...
By Aaron Stella | April 28, 2014
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SEIU 99 president ‘still thinking’ about LAUSD board seat
Barbara Torres, president of SEIU Local 99, is “still thinking about running” for a seat on the LA Unified School Board against incumbent Bennett Kayser despite concerns raised by the union’s executive director, says her campaign manager Lewis Myers. “She has not made her decision yet,” Lewis told LA School Report. “There is a lot of...
By Vanessa Romo | April 28, 2014