Take the pledge to #resist and fight for public schools as a public good TODAY. DeVos had to have the assistance of Vice President Mike Pence’s unprecedented tie-breaking vote in order to win her confirmation. Two GOP Senators voted against, all Democratic Senators voted against. Yet all the other GOP Senators who received campaign donations […]
Parents’ Guide To Charter Schools: How Do They Work?
By Name Withheld for job-security reasons First, a note: Are charter schools public schools? I describe them as private schools run with public money. The charter sector will insist that they’re public schools when it suits them and insist that they’re not public schools when it suits them. The common term for non-charter public schools […]
Why the Los Angeles Times Missed the Biggest Education News this Week
By Karen Wolfe. She is an LAUSD parent activist and supporter of public schools with children who currently attend district schools. According to the Los Angeles Times, there was not much to report: “Protestors Add a Little Rain to Otherwise Sunny Broad Museum Opening Day.” Not “Education Activists Rain on Eli Broad’s Parade” or even […]
Open Letter to Parents on Common Core Testing Results
Dear Parents, Soon California will release the results of your child’s Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, or SBAC tests. These tests are also known as the new Common Core test that California and states across the country implemented last year. Please know that as you receive the results of your child’s SBAC scores our child’s results […]
California Department of Education, Inform Parents of Opt Out Rights: Sign the Open Letter to Governor Brown and SSPI Tom Torlakson!
It seems wealthy communities in California know all about exercising their opt out rights under California Education Code 60615: “Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, a parent’s or guardian’s written request to school officials to exclude his or her child from and or all parts of the assessments administered pursuant to this chapter shall […]
Marshall Tuck: Last Chance for Big Money Backers to Control LAUSD?
Guest post by Los Angeles resident and edublogger Understanding Equity. Dear Friends and Neighbors: Next week, you will have the opportunity to vote for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This is the first time I have made an appeal of this nature. As a retired teacher working with many other concerned […]
The Deasy Debacle: Six New Rules for a New Superintendent
By Roberta Eidman, MPH. She is a community member and resident of Los Angeles interested in a healthy public commons and excellent public schools for ALL children. The Deasy era was never really about Public Education. It was never really about the kids, or their parents, or the future of Los Angeles as a cultural […]
Why Marshall Tuck, Candidate for State Superintendent of Schools, Is The Wrong Choice
By Cheryl Ortega, Director of Bilingual Education, UTLA (United Teachers of Los Angeles). Cheryl Ortega taught for 38 years in kindergarten and primary education bilingual programs in LAUSD. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of UTLA as Director of Bilingual Education. I became acquainted with Mr. Tuck in 2008, the first year of the […]
Los Angeles Unified Must Refocus: Five Ways Bad Ed Tech Deals in LAUSD Hurt Kids Right Now
Recently released investigative reports by Southern California radio station KPCC have increased public scrutiny of Superintendent John Deasy’s cozy relationships with Apple and Pearson executives in the period 2011 to 2013, before both corporations won the 2013 bid to supply Los Angeles Unified with iPads and software. This is the infamous “$1 billion iPad” deal […]
iPad Watchdog Stuart Magruder’s Re-Appointment: Which Way Will LAUSD Go?
The question for many school districts around the country this spring was this: how are they supposed to give computer-based, end-of-year Common Core State Standards (CCSS) tests? For over a year in Los Angeles Unified, parents, students, teachers, and community members have wrestled with the details of Superintendent John Deasy’s 1:1 iPad program and its […]