While district enrollment has declined, charter enrollment in L.A. has soared. Most of the signs and chants call for better pay, smaller classes and more staff support, but the backdrop to the Los Angeles Unified School District strike is a battle that has long loomed large over education in California: The fight over charter schools….
Monthly Archives: January 2019
Districts laboring under higher mandated expenses would receive a surprise windfall — pension-cost relief — in Gov. Newsom’s first proposed state budget for 2019-20, which will also provide big spending increases for early and higher education. Using surplus money from the state’s General Fund, Newsom would wipe out $3 billion of districts’ rising obligations to…
By the end of January, the state will publish the initial list of hundreds of low-performing CA schools that must receive intensive help under the Every Student Succeeds Act, which Congress passed in late 2015. The State Board of Education approved how districts with any of those schools must verify what they’re doing to turn…
OPINION: Why the Los Angeles teachers union must be broken
January 15, 2019
By Tom Rogan The Los Angeles teachers union must be dislodged from its position of power. By whatever means necessary, Los Angeles must no longer be held hostage to the union’s capricious greed and deep dishonesty. I note this in light of the Los Angeles teachers’ strike. Teachers union head, Alex Caputo-Pearl, says the strike…
AG demands charters comply with sunshine laws
January 15, 2019
A new legal opinion from the state’s Department of Justice paves the way for lawmakers to finally impose clear mandates on California charter schools to comply with good governance laws. Attorney General Xavier Becerra issued what might be the most definitive answer to date as to whether charter schools should be allowed to operate outside…
New leadership in CA, but agenda doesn’t change
January 15, 2019
Although former Assemblyman Tony Thurmond was only sworn-in Monday as California’s twenty-eighth Superintendent of Public Instruction, a major piece of the education agenda for the next year has already been decided. Gov. Newsom and Thurmond have a long list of ideas to pursue. But like many things in Sacramento, their agenda will only become reality…
Is Newsom’s plan the best way to fund universal preschool?
January 15, 2019
Gov. Newsom’s nearly $2 billion plan to expand early childhood education in CA, with $1.5 billion coming from a one-time general fund expenditure is a precarious way to fund education. New research says it’s possible to finance Newsom’s loftiest goals – just not in the way the governor has proposed. Researcher Bruce Fuller says that…
The economy is booming. Why are so many CA schools broke?
January 15, 2019
Facing a $36 million deficit and a possible state takeover, the top budget officer at the Sacramento City Unified School District has a sober message for his counterparts around California. Sacramento is “just one of the first dominoes,” said John Quinto, the district’s chief business officer. By any measure, Sacramento City’s distress is worse than…
The number of poor students enrolled in a certain school district is one of the most important education data points that exists, and the stakes are high for getting the count right. But counting how many students qualify for free and reduced-priced lunch is no longer a reliable proxy for poverty. And getting an accurate…
A few years ago, cybersecurity threats were not on the radar of most school district leaders, much less being one of the top items in their budgets. But today, it’s one of the highest priority issues facing school technology departments. An increasing number of district leaders are realizing the importance of bolstering their network security,…