Via The Washington Post | By Lyndsey Layton The Education Department on Wednesday reversed a long-standing policy and will now allow public charter schools that receive federal grants to give admissions preference to low-income children, minorities and other disadvantaged students. The move is designed to try to preserve racial diversity in schools that are attractive...

Candidates in a crowded field to take the top spot at one of the nation’s most powerful teachers union, UTLA, are angling to distinguish themselves online. An online search finds that four of the 10 running, Gregg Solkovits, Alex Caputo-Pearl, Saul Lankster and Bill Gafney, have established a website presence, announcing their candidacies and platforms. UTLA...

President Obama had a few words to say about education in his State of the Union speech last night. Here’s what he told us: “Of course, it’s not enough to train today’s workforce. We also have to prepare tomorrow’s workforce, by guaranteeing every child access to a world-class education. Estiven Rodriguez couldn’t speak a word...

Under cross-examination today, LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy faced pointed questions from attorneys representing California’s biggest teacher unions and the state in a controversial lawsuit that could turn the practice of teacher tenure on its head. At issue in the landmark case,  Vergara vs. California, are five statutes that the nine students bringing the case...

The debate over what makes a good teacher can be, at best subjective and at worst litigious. (See Vergara v California, which got underway yesterday.) But USC’s Rossier School of Education may have cracked the code and is now partnering with Los Angeles Unified and several charter school groups to make more of them. The...

When California decided it was out with old standards and in with the new, Common Core-aligned assessments, it was only the start of a long and arduous transition for local school districts in adopting to the new computer-based “Smarter Balanced” tests. That was seven months ago. Now, an internal LAUSD memo released to LA School...

LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy told a packed courtroom today that it can cost the district “millions of dollars” and can take “slightly less than 10 years” to get rid of an ineffective teacher. Deasy was the first witness to testify in the long-awaited start of Vergara v California, a battle over state laws that govern...

The Los Angeles City Clerk will conduct a candidate workshop this Saturday for candidates in the LAUSD District 1 Special Election on June 3. This is the only workshop to be held by the City Clerk’s election division, and it’s intended to brief candidates on the procedures related to filing the “Declaration of Intention to Become...

A lawsuit that could lead to a seismic shift in teacher tenure and dismissal methods is underway today in a packed Los Angeles courtroom. LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy is expected to take the stand. Courtroom seats are being assigned by lottery – with limited press seating available. We will do our best to update...