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Blink and you missed it: Beyond a single reference, K-12 education is notably absent from President Trump’s State of the Union
Discussion of K-12 education was next to nonexistent in the State of the Union address Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s second. The president mentioned the issue just once, when he said, without elaboration, “To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America’s children.” The words echoed Trump’s 2017 address to...
By Carolyn Phenicie | February 6, 2019
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Antonucci: Oakland and Los Angeles — a tale of two teacher strikes
Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Members of the Oakland Education Association voted to authorize a strike by a margin of 2,206 to 105, the union announced Monday. A fact-finding report is not due to be issued until the middle of the month, so a potential strike probably cannot be launched until after...
By Mike Antonucci | February 5, 2019
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For the first time in six years, California names its lowest-performing schools — & here are the 110 district and charter schools in LAUSD that require intervention
*Updated Feb. 5 For the first time in six years, California has released the names of its lowest-performing schools. The 780 schools are in the bottom 5 percent of public K-12 schools as measured by the state’s new accountability tool, the California School Dashboard, and require “comprehensive school improvement.” The state identified a total of 1,640 schools...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | February 4, 2019
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Commentary: Instead of calling for a charter pause, Los Angeles needs to leave labels behind and put students first
Los Angeles faces many serious educational challenges that require immediate solutions, including a declining student population, inadequate funding and an expensive housing market that makes it difficult for families to stay in L.A. These are all real issues that require careful planning to solve. Unfortunately, we fear these problems will take a backseat to the...
By John Ildefonso and Ana Ponce | February 4, 2019
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Michelle King, former LAUSD superintendent who championed unity, dies at 57
*Updated Feb. 4 Michelle King, who as L.A. Unified’s first female African-American superintendent championed unity and collaboration among all public schools, has passed away at age 57 after fighting cancer. King was “a collaborative and innovative leader who broke down barriers to create more equitable opportunities for every student,” the district stated Saturday in announcing...
By LA School Report | February 3, 2019
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Commentary: LAUSD may owe $13.6 billion for health care & pensions — and the strike made things worse. Obamacare is a way out
When then-President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the law immediately made some employee benefits offered by state and local governments redundant at best or regressive at worst. This issue is playing out in a painful way in Los Angeles. Teachers in the second-largest school district are now back at work after...
By Chad Aldeman | February 3, 2019
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A mom asks: What if we talked with our kids about school the way we do about football?
A version of this essay originally appeared on the VolumeandLightNashville.org blog. The Super Bowl. Football’s field of dreams. The Mecca of elite athleticism and competition. For avid football fans, the Big Game is a big deal, even if the teams they’ve cheered for since forever (ahem, Steelers/Packers) failed to make it to the largest stage in American...
By Vesia Wilson-Hawkins | February 3, 2019
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After charter moratorium vote, families voice anger, betrayal, disappointment — and vow to fight back
*Updated Feb.1 Families, teachers and students from Los Angeles’s independent charter schools turned out by the thousands Tuesday to urge school board members to reject a resolution calling for a moratorium on new charters in L.A. Unified. After the resolution passed with only one dissenter, parents said they felt betrayed and worried about what the...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | January 31, 2019
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Commentary: LAUSD board retreats from fiscal challenge again — and teachers union boss may be the big winner
Nearly a year ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Directors voted to approve a new three-year agreement with United Teachers Los Angeles and seven other district bargaining units, extending union members’ ability to earn free lifetime health, dental, and vision care for themselves, their spouses, and their dependents. Long acknowledged as one...
By Chris Bertelli | January 30, 2019
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After thousands rally for charter schools, LAUSD board votes for a moratorium
*Updated Jan. 30 Hours after about 3,500 charter school supporters rallied at Los Angeles Unified’s headquarters, the school board approved a resolution Tuesday calling for a moratorium on new charters. Only the state can change charter law, so the 5-1 vote directs the district to ask state leaders to study potential changes to the law...
By Taylor Swaak and Esmeralda Fabián Romero | January 29, 2019