The morning after California voters passed Proposition 30, which temporarily raises taxes to avoid further cuts to public education, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy expressed gratitude in a written statement: “These funds will better equip us to provide a quality education to all LAUSD youth over the next several years and begin the road back to...

On Friday, the first hearing will be held in the Vergara v. California, the lawsuit that, in terms of its massive size and scope, one union lawyer described “Doe v. Deasy on steroids.” Brought about by an organization called Students Matter, which is funded by wealthy tech entrepreneur David Welch, the suit takes aim at five laws in...

Lots of school districts besides LAUSD failed to come to agreement with teachers unions about applying for the district version of Race to the Top funding from Washington. However, thanks to an all-out effort and a fair bit of compromise, Fresno was able to win an agreement with its local union, as were Denver, Las Vegas, and even...

Superintendent John Deasy submitted the district’s Race to the Top application to Washington yesterday without the support of UTLA — and without any real chance of wining approval — largely to score political points against the teachers union, according to Board-watchers. “I think both sides are ready to fight each other full steam on Tuesday [after the...

LAUSD has just announced that it was sending in its $40 million Race to the Top Application today, despite the fact that UTLA refused to sign off on it. “Although UTLA refused to be a partner in this critically important grant,” said Deasy in a press release, “I will advocate for it on behalf of...

In a piece today in the Daily News, Barbara Jones writes that if Proposition 30 doesn’t pass, LAUSD says it would shorten the 2012-2013 school year by as many as 15 days, and the following school year by as many as 15 additional days. But on Monday, Superintendent John Deasy told LA School Report that other cuts...

When the United States Department of Education announced yesterday that the deadline for Race to the Top applications was being been pushed back due to Hurricane Sandy, a Washington, DC trade publication called Education Week wondered whether the delay might give LAUSD more time to negotiate with UTLA for a chance at as much as $40 million. But, when...

The administrators’ association has been repeatedly complaining to the school district about administrators’ workload (see: Principals: Too Many Plans). But the AALA hasn’t been getting much time or attention from LAUSD Superintendent Deasy who, according to the October 22  newsletter, says he’s too focused on Props 30 and 38 to meet with them. “Finding resources to help and committing them...

Support Plunges for Prop. 30, Gov. Jerry Brown’s Tax Initiative Only 46% of registered voters now support Prop. 30, a drop of 9 percentage points over the last month, and 42% oppose it. LA Times See also Ed Source Molly Munger’s Prop. 38 Is Spoiling Jerry Brown’s Prop. 30. She’s Not Sorry. Both proposals could...

In a Friday memo to the school board, Superintendent John Deasy has outlined the “devastating” financial impacts on LAUSD should Proposition 30 (Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed tax measure) not pass. Deasy says that the only way the district could deal with such drastic cuts is by ending the school year “shortly after April.” The district would...