After issuing strong objections on Friday, the teachers union is now taking a wait-and-see attitude to LAUSD’s new guidelines saying principals should prepare to evaluate teachers with as much 30% of the evaluation based on student achievement. “We have to see how this rolls out,” UTLA President Warren Fletcher told LA School Report. “There’s a right way...

The latest independent expenditure (IE) committee numbers posted on the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission website show an eye-popping $2.2 million in spending by outside groups thus far. That number is sure to grow in the next two weeks before the March 5 primary election date. The messaging has already gone negative in the more contentious...

Union Fights Mayor Bloomberg in LA Mayor Bloomberg and teachers union boss Randi Weingarten are going head-to-head again — this time in a high-stakes, bitter national fight over school reform in Los Angeles. NY Post The Mayoral Endorsement That Isn’t Los Angeles Unified School District board member Tamar Galatzan has spent the last few weeks...

Deasy Wants 30% of Teacher Evaluations Based on Test Scores L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy announced Friday that as much as 30% of a teacher’s evaluation will be based on student test scores, setting off more contention in the nation’s second-largest school system in the weeks before a critical Board of Education election. LA Times...

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has issued guidelines to all principals regarding the new teacher evaluations, which will be implemented by the start of the 2013-14 school year. But UTLA President Warren Fletcher says that the guidelines may violate the underlying agreement, which was ratified by UTLA on January 19th and approved by the School Board on Tuesday.

An election mailer sent out this week by UTLA-PACE is just the latest negative entry in the high-stakes LAUSD election. UTLA-PACE’s new mailer targets candidate Kate Anderson, who is running against LAUSD Board incumbent Steve Zimmer for a seat representing the Westside and Hollywood’s District 4. Among other things, the mailer accuses Anderson of wanting...

LA Times Announces Endorsements for L.A. School Board  We would prefer to see more candidates who fall between the two ideological poles, but the realities of L.A. Unified politics sometimes make this impossible. LA Times School Board Candidates Debate Bloomberg’s $1-Million Donation A record-setting donation to Los Angeles school board contests quickly became a topic...

Los Angeles Unified School District Approves Historic Parent Trigger, L.A. Mayoral Candidates Weigh in or Stay Mum Garcetti and Greuel have been hesitant to say exactly where they stand on the Parent Trigger issue, even though it has been supported by such Democratic political stars as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Newark Mayor Corey Booker....

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) has suspended its plan to send union members a survey asking them to rate LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy’s performance, according to a recent union newsletter. The UTLA Board of Directors voted to suspend the survey, which had been set to go to members early this month. UTLA has not yet...

Outside Groups Trying to Influence L.A. School Board Races Outside groups are mounting campaigns to influence the outcome of three races for seats on the Los Angeles Board of Education. LA Times See also: LA School Report L.A. Schools Need Technology, but Can We Afford It? On Tuesday, the Los Angeles School Board will consider...