As you may recall, Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ordered LAUSD, the teachers union (UTLA) and the administrators union (AALA) to provide a September 4 progress report on a negotiations over new way of evaluating teachers and administrators that includes some measure of pupil progress. So what’s the update? LAUSD has made a proposal, according to the...

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...

• Teacher Evaluation Changes threatened by California Bill: AB 5, which is heading to the State Senate for a full vote after getting the nod from the appropriations committee on Thursday, would mandate that all aspects of teacher evaluation be subject to collective bargaining– which has been what UTLA has been asking for in Doe v. Deasy. LA Times [A number of ed...

Campaign disclosure statements for the first half of 2012 are now online, providing information on contributions for the two LAUSD board members next up for re-election.  Steve Zimmer‘s fundraising appears not to have really begun in earnest (he’s raised less than $10,000. However, Board President Monica Garcia (pictured) has raised a hefty $100,000, about half of which comes...

Federal Money For Low-Income Students’ AP Tests:  California will receive $7.6 million from the federal government to pay for Advanced Placement tests for low income students. LA Times PTA Endorses Munger, Not Brown: The California Parent Teacher Association has endorsed Proposition 38, Molly Munger’s ballot measure to raise taxes to pay for education, which it helped write....

There was a time when Green Dot Public Schools founder Steve Barr — the man responsible for the 2008 hostile takeover of Locke High School and a frequent critic of the teachers union and the Board — was seen by many as the barbarian at the gate. Now, Barr has a daughter in 2nd grade at Ivanhoe...

When former UTLA head A.J. Duffy helped found Apple Academy, a charter school, in 2011, it seemed like the ultimate case of a zebra changing his stripes. Nearly a year later, Duffy still gets quoted in the Times, but he’s no longer head of Apple, which didn’t enroll enough kids to justify his salary, and...