Earlier this week, Stanford economist Al Roth — known for having helped Boston, New York, and several other large districts create improved systems to match parent preferences with school choices — was awarded a Nobel prize. On his blog, Roth recently posted an interesting link about LAUSD’s new enrollment projection system, E-Cast, headed by chief prognosticator Valerie Edwards  (District...

You’ve probably never heard of Mike Antonucci, but you might be glad — or angry — that there’s someone like him around. Described by Education Week as “the nation’s leading observer — and critic — of the two national teachers’ unions and their affiliates,” Antonucci writes an insider blog called Education Intelligence Agency that tracks teachers union revenues, membership, campaign spending,...

Raised in Pacoima and an alumna of San Fernando High School, District 6 School Board Member Nury Martinez earlier this fall announced that she isn’t running for re-election to the LAUSD board in order to run for City Council (see Martinez Running For City Council). The announcement hasn’t made the four-year board member any less busy....

“I think it’s a huge blow to the [Democrats for Education] brand,” says Green Dot Public Charter Schools founder Steve Barr in this new Huffington Post story about the controversial endorsement of Prop. 32 by Gloria Romero, former state legislator and current head of Democrats For Education Reform California.  “I don’t want to have much to do...

The largest health foundation in the state, the California Endowment, is putting big money behind an issue not usually associated with health: student suspension and expulsion policies. Earlier this week, the Endowment ran a full-page advertisement in four major California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, praising legislators for recently passing six statewide laws to...

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has pretty much everything that Los Angeles Mayor Anthony Villaraigosa could ever have wanted when it comes to control over his school district.  By state law, the former Obama chief of staff appoints the school board and the superintendent. He and his City Hall deputies effectively set policy and budget priorities. But...

The Washington Post’s national education blog, which is called The Answer Sheet, recently highlighted our recent interview with Board member Steve Zimmer (Ex-Teach For America member changes his mind).

L.A. Schools Improve by State Standards, Not Enough by U.S. Yardstick Just like across California, campuses are at their highest-achieving level yet, but they aren’t keeping pace with rapidly rising federal targets. LA Times Also see stories from the Daily News, Ed Source, City News Service, SI&A Cabinet Report The Times also reports that two L.A. schools this...

The long-delayed Academic Performance Index (API) was released today, showing double-digit gains for LAUSD. The API is a yearly number that charts the progress of public school students in California and is used to measure individual school and district performance statewide. The 16-point gain for LAUSD was its fifth double-digit improvement in a row, and...

Yesterday we explained the unfortunate rift between ideological allies Jerry Brown and Molly Munger over Propositions 30 and 38, ballot initiatives that would increase education funding (Competing Ballot Initiatives Split Ideological Allies). Today’s news is that the conflict continues to heat up — and may only get worse between now and Election Day. Late yesterday afternoon,...