While officials from the teachers union, UTLA, are contemplating salary demands in a new labor contract with the district, they have not lost sight of another key issue, how to deal with teachers housed in what union officials derisively call “teacher jails.” The union’s Committee for Unjustly Housed Teachers was meeting today, for the first...

* UPDATED As LA Unified students begin their first day of school tomorrow, district officials will be out in force, welcoming them. Superintendent John Deasy has a full schedule over two days, with plans to greet principals and to tour schools that are under construction. Planning to visit nearly a dozen campuses tomorrow and Wednesday,...

In his annual State of the Schools address, LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy today called to mind Robert F. Kennedy, apartheid in South Africa, Cesar Chavez and national immigration reform. He even hammered home this year’s theme, “My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper,” with an Oprah-like moment. Deasy instructed every LA Unified employee in the audience — about...

As LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy prepared to deliver his “State of the District” speech to school leaders and educators at Garfield High School today, he sat for a wide-ranging interview with LA School Report yesterday, addressing the possibility of a teachers strike, implementation of Common Core, his relationship with the board and the importance...

LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy joined other education officials at The White House yesterday as President Obama announced new partnerships to help young men of color gain greater access to programs offering support from pre-K through high school. The program, which includes private companies, nonprofits and the NBA as participants, represents a $100 million expansion of My...

The stage was set with the two public education luminaries, ready to square off on such lightning rod issues as tenure and teacher dismissal laws in the wake of last month’s Vergara trial: Randi Weingarten, leader of the nation’s second largest teachers organization, AFT, and Superintendent John Deasy, leader of the second largest school district in the...

The plan to expand arts access for students across LA Unified and restore nearly $16 million in arts funding will include data gathered in a new Arts Equity Index, a tool to identify schools in greatest need of arts instruction. School board member Steve Zimmer, who proposed the idea at the board meeting Tuesday, called...

*UPDATE The Los Angeles Unified Board of Education unanimously approved a $6.4 billion budget for the 2014-15 school year, ending a tumultuous year for the district and Superintendent John Deasy. The budget represents the first in seven years that does not include cuts from the previous year. It reflects a $332 million injection of statewide...

The long road toward finalizing LA Unified’s budget for the 2014-2015 school year ends later today (maybe) when the school board votes to approve Superintendent John Deasy‘s $7.2 billion spending plan. The new budget reflects not only added support from the state but also new guidelines for how to use the money, which is earmarked...

In a surprising move, the LA Unified Board of Education today moved swiftly through multiple motions that had been expected to be quite contentious. Most board meetings these day, go well into the dinner hour. The highlight, aside from the meeting lasting less than two and a half hours, was a parade of speakers making...