Education Issues

Monica Ratliff: The Woman Who May Change L.A.

John Deasy is the most admired school superintendent in city history. But this fifth-grade teacher isn't impressed

Democratic Party Schism over Scandalous Schools: Gloria Romero, Slimed By Teacher Unions, Says Sober Up

See also: "LAUSD Supe Fires Lemon Teachers" and "Firing the Bad Teachers." A few days ago, the teachers union wing of the California Democratic Party tarred the growing numbers of breakaway Democrats who, in sync with President Obama, point the finger at teachers unions as a big obstacle to fixing ... More >>

Mayor Michael Bloomberg Pours $1 Million into LAUSD Elections to Oust Steve Zimmer, Elect Monica Garcia

See also, "LAUSD's Dance of the Lemons," and "Can Kate Anderson, Mom of Twins, Fix LAUSD?"Los Angeles Unified School District, whose teachers union UTLA has squelched attempts to raise student learning by making ineffective certified teachers relearn subject matter and skills, just attracted $1 mill ... More >>

Antonio Villaraigosa Led The Way On Education Reform, But His Potential Successors Are Reluctant To Pick Up The Torch

For the last eight years, education reformers have had a staunch ally in the L.A. mayor's office. From the start of his administration, Antonio Villaraigosa showed he was willing to fight the teachers' unions, and to pay a political price for it.But in a few months, Villaraigosa will be gone. And at ... More >>

Eric Bauman v. Gloria Romero in Assembly District 46

Academia Semillas, a Failing School, Escapes Closure

At LAUSD, big friends help

LAUSD Might Eliminate Adult Ed Today

Rich district, poor district: LAUSD spent wildly on the plush Robert. F. Kennedy Community Schools.​When it came time to make cuts for the 2012-13 LAUSD budget, Superintendent John Deasy passed on the scalpel, opting for a chainsaw to hack away at a $557 million deficit. LAUSD's youngest and ... More >>

L.A. Unified School Board Moves to Crack Down on "Founding Parent" Lottery Preferences At Charter Schools, Following L.A. Weekly Story

Julian Callos​The board of the L.A. Unified School District moved today to tighten control of "founding parent" preferences in charter school lotteries, following an L.A. Weekly report on the issue.The report found that two L.A. charter schools were awarding parents "founder" status, even after th ... More >>

Charter Schools Blossom in California: L.A. Has Nearly a Third of The Campuses Statewide

Ryouka Yuzuki​The people have spoken, and they like charter schools, those specialized institutions where parents takeover the curriculum. The California Charter Schools Association says we have more of the publicly funded, privately-run campuses than any other state. The 2010-11 period was ... More >>

Charter Schools Do-Over

Preferred-parent policies get the ax

Cheating Charter Schools

Study: LAUSD's Charter-School Teachers Dropping Out at Alarming Rate

4lakidsnews.blogspot.comAre L.A.'s charter teachers overworked and under-unionized?​Unlike the stubborn, nepotistic Compton Unified School District next door, LAUSD has opened its arms to the booming charter-school movement over the last decade. Between 2002 to 2009, the number of charter cam ... More >>

In Compton, Parent Trigger Supporters File Intimidation Charges With U.S. Department of Education

Parent Revolution organizers Shirley Ford and Mary Nareja (center) with McKinley Elementary parents​Two parents in Compton have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. They charge that intimidation tactics have been used during the ongoing Parent Trigg ... More >>

Governor Jerry Brown's New California Board Of Education Appointments Could Disable Compton 'Trigger'

A new State Board of Education might be Brown's way of pulling the trigger on charters​Jerry Brown announced his California Board of Education appointments yesterday -- and they're sure to throw a wrench in the spokes of the Parent Trigger movement. For a group of parents in Compton, this wil ... More >>

California's Parent Trigger

How McKinley in Compton became the first school taken over by parents under a radical new law

Has Ray Cortines Got Cojones?

If not, LAUSD board could buckle to union over L.A. Times teacher-test-score expose

Educating Maria

On L.A.'s Skid Row, a generational war over how to teach the American children of illegal immigrants

Valley Charter School Operators Accused Of Swindling Public Money

​Operators of four West Valley charter schools were charged this week with crimes related to allegedly embezzling and misappropriating public money -- what prosecutors said was a commingling of their private and public school funding. The District Attorney's office contends that Yevgeny Seliva ... More >>

Insiders Versus Charters at LAUSD

Strings were pulled, and Ramon Cortines was stopped by his own Board of Education

Teachers' Union Sues Over Charter School

​United Teachers Los Angeles filed suit against the Los Angeles Unified School District over its establishment of a charter campus that would relieve overcrowding at the Eastside's storied Garfield High School. What's wrong with charter schools, you ask? This could be about jobs. The UTLA arg ... More >>

Teachers Union's Presidency Up for Grabs

But reform is not on the table

How Superintendent David Brewer Ran Aground

The admiral's sinking ship

Sacramento's Poison Pill

A sneaky move by Fabian Núñez aims to stop statewide charter schools

Antonio Remakes School Board

But with 43,000 kids fleeing LAUSD to charter schools, will mayor follow?

Nasty Battle for Classroom Control

L.A., which educates one of every 12 California students, is ground zero in the Education Wars

The Secret of His Success

Why does a billionaire think Steve Barr is worth $10.5 million?

Come Home, Wayward Angelenos

Antonio’s call to the faithful

Where Did the Love Go?

Mayor V and Eli break up over school reform

Antonio Accelerated

The mayor cuts a few corners – and a bothersome election – on his school takeover plan

Theories of Devolution

Two draft plans for LA Unified would divide the district into dozens of smaller entities

Condom Wars

New guidelines gut HIV prevention — and endanger young people’s lives

Beyond Belief

Screen-door Jesus and a zero dropout rate

A Class Operation

New Academy takes LAUSD to School

Justice for All

The old-school belief in racial equality through public education gets new blood

The Impasse of Consciousness

Tim Parks on Emil Cioran

Charting Their Own Course

Even the best charter schools are no panacea for what ails L.A. Unified

A Choice Experiment

Charter schools’ hype outpaces results

Letters

Letters

No Classrooms,
No Teachers,
No Playgrounds,
No Standards

California’s bizarre charter-school experiment

Held Back

The Miserable State of Black Education

SWM Seeking Reality

Finding it in the culture of books

A School System is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Reform on the Cheap

Schools lose money, control and programs

Cato Caves In

Accused of fraud, mismanagement, maverick school loses charter

Compton's Quagmire

Letters

Big Money in Kids

Charter School for Scandal (page 1)

How a controversial academy scored millions in state education funds

Charter School for Scandal (page 2)

How a controversial academy scored millions in state education funds