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Teacher tenure bill defeated in committee
State lawmakers on Wednesday once again failed to amend teacher tenure laws, this time rejecting a bill that would have extended the probationary period from two to three years — even after the bill was stripped of its boldest language. The bill, AB 934, sponsored by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, was defeated 5-2, with two...
By Sarah Favot | June 29, 2016
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Supreme Court hears case that threatens finances of teacher unions
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments today in a case that could undermine the financial stability of teacher unions in California and 23 other states. The lawsuit, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, challenges the right of states to require public sector employees to pay compulsory dues to unions doing collective bargaining on their behalf. Even employees who...
By Craig Clough | January 11, 2016
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Garcetti promoting local productions as Cortines shuts them down
One day after LA Unified abruptly announced that it is shutting down all film and TV productions from any of its campuses, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti visited the set of American Horror Story: Hotel today to promote how the California Film and TV Tax Credit is helping bring film and TV productions back to the LA area. The show...
By LA School Report | October 9, 2015
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Union supporters weigh in with briefs in Vergara appeal
* UPDATED A group of education experts and organizations supporting the state’s two largest teacher unions’ appeal of the Vergara lawsuit have filed amici curiae, or “friend of the court” briefs with the California Court of Appeals while former California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger weighed in with their own briefs opposing the unions....
By Craig Clough | September 17, 2015
Investigation: Nearly 1,000 Native Children Died in Federal Boarding Schools
Podcast: What a Mentorship Mindset Can Do for Student Motivation
Black and Hispanic Voters Say Democrats Aren’t Focused Enough on K-12 Education
Teen Activist Rhea Maniar on the Power of Abortion to Turn Out Young Voters
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UTLA gearing up for SCOTUS Friederichs decision, whatever it is
Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association, a 2013 case with huge implications for unions’ nationwide in their ability to collect dues, the Los Angeles teachers union, UTLA, is gearing up for whatever the justices decide. A victory by the plaintiffs would reverse a decades-old precedent, Abood...
By Hayley Fox | July 21, 2015
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LAUSD teacher elected as CTA secretary-treasurer
* UPDATED LA Unified elementary school teacher David Goldberg has been elected as secretary-treasurer of the California Teachers Association. Goldberg, 43, spent most of his 19 years at Murchison Elementary, where he is a bilingual teacher who is fluent in Spanish and American Sign Language. He was one of dozens of educators who spent a night in...
By Mike Szymanski | June 29, 2015
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Survey: Teachers support changes in state job protection laws
The majority of public school teachers who participated in a new survey support changes in state teacher job protection laws that were the focus of last year’s landmark ruling in Vergara v. California. The findings were somewhat of a surprise in that the poll, conducted by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research for Teach Plus, a national nonprofit that...
By Craig Clough | January 12, 2015
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Teachers to petition Supreme Court in case vs. CTA over dues
In a case that has implications for millions of public employees in more than two dozen states, a group of California teachers is planning to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case against the California Teachers Association (CTA) over union dues. The case involves a state’s right to require public employees to pay...
By Craig Clough | November 19, 2014
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Vergara witness says state laws governing teachers work
The battle of the experts continued today in Vergara vs. California as an expert in labor economics and public policy called by the defense provided rationales for keeping in place the state laws governing teachers that are under challenge in the case. Jesse Rothstein, a professor at Cal-Berkeley and a former senior economist on the...
By Mark Harris | March 6, 2014
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Vergara defense lawyers preview their case — if they need it
As defendants in the Vergara trial were asking the court to dismiss the case, attorneys for the state’s two biggest teachers union met with reporters outside the courthouse to offer a preview of arguments they intend to make if the judge denies their request, and the trial resumes next month with witnesses for the defense....
By Vanessa Romo | February 20, 2014