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LAUSD board to consider removing a policy that forces schools to hire from a list of displaced teachers — and forces teachers into assignments they don’t want
*Updated Feb. 19: Board members voted down the resolution 4-2. Voting against it were George McKenna, Scott Schmerelson, Kelly Gonez and Richard Vladovic, who had co-sponsored the resolution. The L.A. Unified school board will vote Tuesday on whether to get rid of a district policy that can force schools to hire “displaced” teachers — even if...
By Taylor Swaak | February 15, 2019
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Meet the 10 candidates running for LAUSD school board in District 5
*Updated Feb. 13 The 10 candidates in the race for L.A. Unified’s vacant school board seat are in full swing participating in community forums and other public events as the March 5 special election approaches. The new board member for Board District 5 will represent about 100,000 students in some very different communities: from the...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | February 12, 2019
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The L.A. teacher strike may be over, but observers warn there’s no ‘clear path forward’ for how the school district can afford its new contract
The L.A. Unified school board has approved a contract with its teachers union that officials admit they can’t fully afford, calling the deal’s sustainability into question as the district receives repeated warnings from the county that it’s in severe financial straits. To shoulder about $840 million in added costs through 2021, district officials say they’re...
By Taylor Swaak | February 10, 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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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
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‘A call to action’: School board vote on supporting a charter moratorium leaves a lot unanswered but presents an opportunity for inclusive talk and real change, advocates say
Today’s L.A. Unified school board vote on a resolution calling for a moratorium on new charter schools is the latest fallout in the battle against charters that engulfed the district during the six-day teacher strike. But despite scant detail on the resolution’s origin and impact, advocates believe it poses an opportunity for an inclusive community...
By Taylor Swaak | January 29, 2019
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After teacher strike agreement, LAUSD school board to vote Tuesday on supporting charter school moratorium
The L.A. Unified school board will vote Tuesday on a resolution that would direct the superintendent to pursue a moratorium on new charter schools in the district. The resolution would also require the school board to call on state officials to study the financial impact of charters on the district to inform revisions to the...
By Taylor Swaak | January 25, 2019
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Commentary: Rush to pass ‘backroom’ deal banning charters would be bad for L.A. students — transparency calls should be for all public schools
Despite the fact that parents and students were on the outside looking in when it came to the high-stakes contract negotiations in Los Angeles, the teacher strike drew much-needed attention to public education and secured small but meaningful steps toward providing schools and teachers with more resources, including academic counselors, librarians, nurses and a small...
By Seth Litt, Katie Braude and Ben Austin | January 25, 2019