Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Last week, I expressed doubt that press outlets would revisit the assumptions made prior to the election about teacher candidates for office in the “uprising” states. I was wrong to be so pessimistic, as there were dozens of stories about how the results did not live up...

My husband and I consider ourselves to be bilingual and biliterate. My husband was born in Honduras and came to the U.S. when he was 8 years old, but still maintained his native language at home. While I was born in California, Spanish was my primary language at home and I was also an English...

I was entering elementary school when the Spanish spoken in my home slowly disappeared. Up to that point, my mother, an immigrant from Peru, had taught me both Spanish and English at home. But soon after I began school, the only times Spanish was spoken was during overheard calls with my family members in Peru...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Last week, United Teachers Los Angeles shot down another district proposal to settle their years-long contract dispute. UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl called the latest offer “insulting” and “anemic” and announced a major march and rally scheduled for Dec. 15. UTLA has not made a counter-proposal since its...

Los Angeles is currently home to the largest juvenile justice system in the nation. In my hometown of Inglewood, improving public safety is among our biggest priorities. We care about safety and care about the wellbeing of our communities. However, I firmly believe that losing faith in and ceasing to invest in our young people...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Whenever stories about the political spending of California’s teacher unions appear in the news, they focus on the major statewide races. This year is no different, with school employee unions devoting about $15 million in independent expenditures so far to elect Tony Thurmond as state superintendent of...

I grew up in Sudbury, Massachusetts, zip code 01776, home of the very first town meeting on this continent in 1649. My mother, a Daughter of the American Revolution, and my father, an immigrant from India, attended this town meeting monthly and instilled in me a deep sense of civic responsibility and civic engagement. These...

Ask most adults when their U.S. history textbook stopped. Was it World War II? Maybe Korea? Perhaps it was the Vietnam War, but the last few chapters were rushed as you hurtled towards summer vacation. Then ask most adults what they know about the defining social and political movement of the modern era, the civil...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Long before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME, public employee unions in California anticipated the loss of agency fees. Last year they persuaded the state legislature to pass Assembly Bill 119, which gave unions mandatory access to new employee orientations and required public employers...

Last month, the San Fernando Valley scored two big victories. The Los Angeles Unified School District board approved a petition by Granada Hills Charter (GHC) High School for its charter renewal and the establishment of a K-8 grade school. These developments are important steps toward creating opportunity for parents and their students while establishing a...