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How LAUSD’s superintendent intends to make every school ‘a place of great teaching’
As the Los Angeles teachers union is poised to strike amid stalled contract negotiations, LA Unified’s new superintendent, Austin Beutner, held his first big policy speech Thursday before about 100 parents in the library of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools. Beutner outlined what needs to change in the nearly 570,000-student district, as well as...
By Laura Greanias | September 18, 2018
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New nationwide poll: Most people support teachers’ right to strike, but less than half believe their unions improve the quality of education
Thousands of teachers across the country have walked out of classrooms this year to demand better wages and more school resources. And Los Angeles could very well be next. But a new nationwide poll shows that support for teachers doesn’t necessarily translate to their unions. The poll, conducted by USA Today and Ipsos Public Affairs,...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | September 18, 2018
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Los Angeles schools accelerate support for LGBTQ students as data show more than half have been bullied in high school
Los Angeles Unified is increasing supports for students and their families as new data reveal more about LGBTQ students’ emotional harm in school. According to data presented at last week’s school board meeting, 56 percent of LGBTQ high schoolers in the district have been bullied at school, and 60 percent have seriously considered suicide. The...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | September 16, 2018
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New textbooks and guidance help California K-12 teachers cover LGBT issues and historical figures in the classroom
As the new academic year gets rolling for California public schools, instructional materials are available for the first time that ensure every K-12 classroom has access to accurate and unbiased depictions of the sexual orientation and gender identity of historical figures. The state’s FAIR Education Act — FAIR stands for Fair, Accurate, Inclusive, and Respectful —...
By Beth Hawkins | September 16, 2018
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It gets worse for LAUSD: This week both the county and the state showed up to say, ‘Get your fiscal house in order or else we’re taking over’
LA Unified board members were jolted last month when a top county official showed up unannounced to say, You’re spending more money than you make and the savings you’ve been living off of are about to run out. It got worse this Tuesday, when she came back and brought a top state official with the...
By Laura Greanias | September 12, 2018
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UTLA wanted immigrant parents’ support for a teachers strike. Instead, parents wanted to know, ‘How would this strike guarantee a high-quality education for our children?’
What will we do with our kids if the teachers go out on strike? To find answers to that question, about two dozen public school parents gathered Monday morning at a prominent Latino community organization in downtown Los Angeles. They had invited a teachers union representative to their monthly meeting so they could learn more...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | September 10, 2018