LA School Report has learned that Jeneen Robinson (pictured) plans on running for LAUSD Board member in District 4 against incumbent Steve Zimmer, though she has yet to file official paperwork. Robinson, 40, grew up in Virginia and moved to Los Angeles about 10 years ago. She lives in Westchester and has a son attending a...

Here’s a chart from the folks at UCLA IDEA that tells a familiar story in a particularly stark visual way: See: The Education Battle that All Sides Could Lose

On Friday, LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer told LA School Report that his charter school oversight proposal would be revised and reintroduced yet again at the next Board meeting on November 13 in a version that is “a better representation of what my overall purpose is.”  As described, the latest version is nonbinding and asks charter...

In early October, LAUSD board member Tamar Galatzan told us about “middle-class schools that don’t qualify for Title I anti-poverty dollars,” and that a lot of them “are becoming affiliated charters in order to get access to additional funds.”  (See: Board Member Galatzan Tells (Almost) All.) There are 42 “affiliated charters”, schools which operate within the UTLA contract, but...

One of the lowest-performing schools in LAUSD, Samuel Gompers Middle School, opened two new learning gardens this week. The gardens were installed with a grant from a non-profit called Kitchen Community and are intended to help fight childhood obesity and diabetes. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, who is strong proponent of linking nutrition and education, was...

A slightly deeper look into last week’s campaign fundraising filings for Board President Monica Garcia reveals not more only the charter school support that we’ve reported previously but also at least two members of the Hollywood elite: David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg, each of whom gave the $1,000 maximum. Over all, Garcia brought in just over $75,000 during the...

Picking up on our story from yesterday afternoon (LAUSD & UTLA: Headed To Mediation), the Daily News‘ Barbara Jones has a story out today in which UTLA President Warren Fletcher is quoted calling LAUSD’s declaration of an impasse and call for mediation “premature.” (LAUSD says talks with UTLA on teacher evaluations are at impasse). However,...

LA School Report has learned that LAUSD has filed a “declaration of impasse” in their negotiations with UTLA over teacher evaluations, and as a result the negotiations have gone to mediation with the Public Employee Relations Board. The “impasse” declaration was filed more than a couple of weeks ago, according to LAUSD Chief Labor and...

Ed Source has an excellent, 8-part infographic comparing Propositions 30 and 38, the competing ballot measures that would temporarily raise taxes to fund public education in California. As you may recall, Proposition 38, sponsored by the well-to-do Molly Munger, would raise a bit more money than Prop 30, sponsored by Governor Jerry Brown, but wouldn’t avoid “trigger...

Capping charter school growth seemed to have been a priority for LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer until recently, when he twice postponed, then watered down, his controversial proposal that would have banned new charter schools. The motivation behind his hedging has been something of a mystery. One answer could be he’s listening: California Charter Schools...