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California’s 2013 Testing Results to be Released Thursday
It’s almost that time of year again. No, not school opening – that’s next week. Test scores. California’s annual review of how students are doing will be released on Thursday. Known as the STAR Program, for Standardized Testing and Reporting, it’s an alphabet soup of separate assessments, covering various subjects and administered to 4.7 million...
By LA School Report | August 7, 2013
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The ‘California 8’ Waiver: What it Means for Local Schools
The No Child Left Behind waiver won by Los Angeles Unified and seven other California school districts gives them more funding and flexibility to improve schools that serve more than a million students around the state. The waiver is a one-of-a-kind, as it marks the first time a group of districts were exempted from “No...
By Brianna Sacks | August 7, 2013
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No Child Left Behind Waiver for CA Districts Includes ‘Unique’ Oversight Panel*
In granting eight CA school districts a No Child Left Behind waiver, the federal government is creating for the first time an oversight body to measure schools’ progress. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called the panel “unique” among the waivers granted to 39 states and the District of Columbia. “We went back and forth about how...
By Brianna Sacks | August 6, 2013
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‘No Child’ Waiver OKd for LA Unified, 7 Other CA School Districts*
The U.S. Department of Education today approved a long-awaited federal waiver that allows LA Unified and seven other California districts to replace No Child Left Behind accountability rules with their own school improvement system. The waiver creates a unique 14-member oversight body to provide an “unbiased external compliance review” of each district’s progress after a...
By Brianna Sacks | August 6, 2013
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Rick Jacobs Joins Garcetti’s Team
Mayor Eric Garcetti today announced the appointment of Rick Jacobs as his administration’s Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations. Jacobs, a political operative who runs the California grassroots advocacy organization, Courage Campaign, will oversee the Mayor’s communications, external affairs, scheduling, protocol and strategic partnership, according to a press release issued by City Hall. In April, Jacobs...
By LA School Report | August 6, 2013
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LA Teachers Get Their Hands on the Future as iPad Era Begins
More than 100 elementary school teachers from around the Los Angeles school district gathered Monday at Theodore Roosevelt High School in east LA as one of the first group of instructors to learn how to use the Apple iPad, a key teaching device in the academic year that opens next Tuesday. These K-through-6 teachers were...
By Brenda Iasevoli | August 6, 2013
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UTLA Factions Lining Up to Oust Fletcher as President
Campaign season for UTLA began in ernest this weekend at the union’s annual leadership conference with one slate of members emerging as the leading opposition group to incumbents and other candidates testing the waters. “Unions have to be unified to do whatever they do,” said LAUSD Adult Education teacher Matthew Kogan. “But democratic processes are divisive. We...
By Hillel Aron | August 6, 2013
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Fiery Speech by UTLA Chief Gets Mixed Response From Members
Teachers union President Warren Fletcher delivered a fiery speech to more than 400 UTLA chapter chairs and activists on Saturday, using language more suited to a situation room than a classroom. “UTLA is under attack,” he said at the union’s leadership conference in Los Angeles “We are still at war.” His closing line sounded a battle cry: “Let us take the...
By Hillel Aron | August 5, 2013
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Challengers to Fletcher Could Emerge at UTLA Conference
The teachers union’s annual Leadership Conference starts today (click here to see the program), and perhaps the biggest question on members’ minds is who will rise to challenge UTLA President Warren Fletcher as he seeks reelection in January. Filing won’t officially begin until December, but the campaign season begins today. “Most slates [of candidates] are...
By Hillel Aron | August 2, 2013
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The Buzz: Thelma Melendez Likely to Run Garcetti’s Education Team
As Mayor Eric Garcetti considers his top education appointment, one name is generating more buzz than any other — Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana. Melendez, 55, recently ended a short, two-year tenure as Superintendent of Santa Ana Unified School District, the sixth largest in the state, with 58,000 students and a $483 million budget. She...
By Hillel Aron | August 2, 2013