US Grant Funds $20,000 Teacher Bonuses at ‘High-Need’ LA Schools Los Angeles Unified Schools Superintendent John Deasy said that a $49 million federal grant awarded to the district this week to improve teacher effectiveness will help pay for a new multiple-measure teacher evaluation system and more professional development programs, including a bonus for certain teachers...

Uncertainty surrounds many district applications for Race to the Top SI&A Cabinet Report: With just over a month remaining to the deadline, about 80 local educational agencies in California are trying to decide whether to seek a federal Race to the Top grant given the long odds and resources required to even compete for a share of...

You might be surprised to find out that “Won’t Back Down” — a screening of which I snuck into the other night — isn’t actually the fictionalized story of Desert Trails, site of the real-life still-unfolding parent trigger attempt outside of Los Angeles, or the CA parent trigger law that allows parents to vote to...

Teachers union wants a say in L.A. Unified’s classroom breakfast program LA Times: As the district begins expanding the classroom breakfast program to 279 schools this year, United Teachers Los Angeles has asked for the matter to be brought to the bargaining table. Small central coast district leads the way on teacher evaluation, mentoring SI&A Report: Two major...

Still no word if and when a trigger petition gets filed in LAUSD, but in the meantime a screening of trigger movie “Won’t Back Down” was approved by the Democratic National Committee for a preconference event in Charlotte earlier this week, and took place complete with an appearance from Mayor Villaraigosa. Whatever Los Angelenos think of...

The parents of Desert Trails Elementary, along with Parent Revolution, have filed a “Motion to Compel” the Adelanto School Board to comply with the judge’s order in the Desert Trails case. According to California law, parents of a failing school can, if they gather signatures of over half the parents, change their school’s management structure.You can...

Feds offer new details about NCLB waiver flexibility SI&A Cabinet Report: With the Legislature creeping closer to deciding the fate of AB 5 – which would restructure teacher evaluations in California – there’s new focus on the state also winning a federal waiver from No Child Left Behind mandates. Hagman Blames Teachers’ Unions for Bill’s Failure Diamond Bar...

Nothing really important will probably happen at the conventions this week or next but there are more education-related events scheduled than in previous years (when there was next to nothing) and some of the education events that will be taking place might be interesting or at least amusing.  Check below for a list, and let...

• Adelanto parents lose charter school bid: On Friday, the Adelanto School Board rejected the petition by parents of Desert Trails Elementary (site of the recent parent trigger ruling) to convert their school into a charter, saying there wasn’t enough time to implement before the school year. The board voted, instead, to install a “community advisory council”...

• LAUSD is cutting adult education offerings in half– and that’s the good news, since some were afraid that the program would be completely eliminated. “An agreement by LAUSD’s unions to take up to 10 unpaid days restored about $105 million for Adult Ed, enough to accommodate about 105,000 students.” Daily News • LA School Police...