Today’s deadline for LAUSD teachers to nominate themselves for UTLA’s House of Representatives raises two key questions: The immediate question is will there be enough nominees to require an actual election. In the last few cycles, the numbers have been so few that self-nomination was tantamount to election. The underlying question is whether the House of...

Several District 2 LAUSD Board Member candidates including Michelle “Hope” Walker, Robert D. Skeels, and Isabel Vazquez are scheduled to convene Thursday, November 15 at 6 p.m. in the Pico Union area of District 2 to participate in a candidate forum hosted by the District 2 Neighborhood Coalition. The event is endorsed* by the teachers union’s Political...

In a race that is still considered too close to call, Assemblywoman Betsy Butler is trailing her upstart opponent, Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom, by just over 200 votes in Assembly District 50, which covers one of the wealthiest areas of the city from Beverly Hills to the ocean. In the end, the narrow margin...

LAUSD Looks to Restore Some Staff, Programs With Prop. 30 Revenue The passage of Prop. 30 means the district may be able to cancel some of the 10 unpaid furlough days facing teachers and other district employees, he said. Moving forward, some of the thousands of lost jobs may be restored. Daily News L.A. Teachers Union...

There’s a Friday deadline for teachers to nominate themselves to become part of the union’s House of Representatives, according to NewTLA, the progressive caucus within UTLA encouraging members to sign up for the job.  Though previous elections have often been uncontested, there are a number of standing committees, and in the past the HoR has even...

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...

Not too far removed from the seven-day strike that captured the nation’s attention in September, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has signed off on the district’s Race to the Top application. “Chicago — one of the most militant teachers unions in country — sees the light of day, and UTLA is still hiding under a...

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...

There’s not really that much new to say about UTLA’s decision to scuttle LAUSD’s application for a federal Race to the Top grant (ostensibly over cost concerns) but news outlets are having a grand time dissecting it and LAUSD superintendent John Deasy seems more than willing to express his disappointment over that decision. This Daily News story (LAUSD,...