Last week, classroom teachers voted overwhelmingly to approve a new system of evaluations, which include data from California Standardized Tests.  “I’m gratified our members ratified the agreement that clearly states, individual AGT (Academic Growth Over Time) scores will not be used as part of a teacher’s final evaluation,” said UTLA chief Warren Fletcher in a...

Nearly 100 parents of students attending 24th St. Elementary dropped off a “parent trigger” petition yesterday at LAUSD’s headquarters, demanding drastic reforms and new governance for the school. At LAUSD, the parents received a “strikingly” different reception than parents received in previous instances of the parent trigger, according to the LA Times‘ Teresa Watanabe. And...

United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) announced in the latest edition of its weekly newsletter that it plans to mail out surveys next week that give UTLA members the opportunity to grade LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy’s performance. It’s common knowledge that UTLA’s leadership, including union President Warren Fletcher, has often been critical of Deasy’s policies...

Both LAUSD Board Member Tamar Galatzan and UTLA President Warren Fletcher have plans to push for reform of the district’s teacher misconduct investigation process, but their plans have different focuses and end goals, according to a LA Daily News report. Board Member Galatzan is focusing on how long the teacher investigation process can take (an...

Tamar Galatzan, Warren Fletcher Look at Reforming System for Investigating Teachers A year after the Miramonte sex-abuse scandal sparked a flood of teacher misconduct complaints, a Los Angeles Unified board member and the teachers’ union president have launched separate efforts to devise a more efficient system for investigating allegations. LA Daily News To Lock Classroom...

Teacher Vote on Whether to Use Student Test Scores in Performance Evaluations Teachers in Los Angeles Unified will vote Jan. 14-18 on a tentative agreement that would allow the use of student test data in performance evaluations. LA Daily News Calif. Teachers Fund Reviewing Firearm Holdings The nation’s largest teachers’ pension fund announced Tuesday that...

Here’s UTLA president Warren Fletcher saying that LAUSD can’t afford the computer tablet initiative that LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has proposed (and should use the bond money for teacher salaries and adding school days instead). CBS has the story here.

Lots of blame was dished out last week after a state audit found weak dismissal and reporting practices at LAUSD regarding teachers accused of sexual misconduct. Especially vocal was UTLA president Warren Fletcher, who has consistently lobbed criticism at LAUSD for how it has managed the scandal. Now I am a Prop-30-supporting-dyed-in-the-wool union Democrat, but...

A total of 356 teachers nominated themselves for seats on UTLA’s 350-member House of Representatives, triggering internal elections for UTLA policy-setting body that that have not been required in recent years due to low numbers. There will be elections held in 22 of the 32 electoral districts (see list of nominees in contested areas here). In...

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...