Recently in Schools Category

Charter schools nationwide could be violating the civil rights of students because they are increasingly separating them by race, class and language, according to a report released Thursday by the Civil Rights project at UCLA. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The study finds that black and Latino students enrolled at charters - schools that are publicly funded but independently run - are more likely to be isolated with classmates of their same race.

"We are seeing a lot of charters as segregated as schools in the old South that were the target of the civil-rights movement," said Gary Orfield, co-founder of the Civil Rights project.

Los Angeles Unified parents, teachers and community members will get to vote on their favorite school proposals this week as the district inches closer to launching a landmark reform plan handing over control of some schools to the best bidders.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

But what was supposed to be a healthy competition has turned into a heated battle between district employee unions, charter school operators and other nonprofits that are vying for control of 36 district schools.

Applicants accuse each other of foul play and the only thing all can agree on is that the voting process leaves too much room for voter violations.

Los Angeles Unified officials released the district's second annual school report cards Wednesday, giving parents of 617,000 students access to detailed information about their children's schools, ranging from test scores to teacher attendance. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

For many parents, the report cards will convey good news. LAUSD schools on average showed gains in English and math proficiency and high-school graduation rates in 2008-09.

San Fernando Valley schools continued to lead the way in many key academic indicators. For example, elementary schools in the West Valley's Local District1 earned the district's highest overall proficiency rates in English (55 percent) and math (67 percent).

The State Board of Education approved a plan Thursday that gives independent charter schools statewide more control over how they educate their special-needs students. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Under the plan, charters will no longer have to go through larger school districts like Los Angeles Unified to get their special-education funding, which will give the publicly funded and independently run campuses more control over how they run their special-ed programs.

LAUSD officials made an overnight trip to Sacramento in hopes of delaying the vote on the plan that they said would reduce services to local students with disabilities.

The Los Angeles Unified school board agreed in principle Tuesday to accept new state accountability standards for teachers, principals and schools, potentially making the district eligible for millions of federal dollars.Connie LLanos in the Daily News.

At least 800 other school districts statewide have also agreed to implement new reforms in exchange for a shot at the $4.35 billion available in competitive federal "Race to the Top" grants. Those reforms could include using test data to evaluate teachers and pushing for the shutdown of low-performing schools - policies long opposed by teacher unions.

The board's approval came as the state Legislature also voted on two bills to change state law to allow some of the controversial reforms required by the Obama administration to qualify for the grants.

Hoping to block Los Angeles Unified's bold reform plan that opens the doors for charter operators and other outside entities to take over public schools, the teachers union filed a lawsuit Monday that says the plan violates state law. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Under LAUSD's School Choice plan, approved by the Board of Education this August, some 220 outside groups have submitted bids to run 36 new and underperforming schools.

The deadline to apply for the schools is next month, with the school board expected to decide winners in February. Daily operations will be turned over by fall of 2010.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines
Los Angeles schools chief Ramon Cortines said Thursday that he's done "coddling" under-performing teachers and plans to streamline district operations to ensure sub-par educators are removed from the classroom. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Cortines' statements came as the district faces a massive budget deficit that could lead to layoffs of 5,000 employees, including 1,500 teachers, next year.

Under current rules, the pink slips would go first to the newest teachers, even as dozens of chronically poor-performing teachers -- some who have been removed from classrooms for egregious behavior -- continue to stay employed due to their tenured status.

A somber Los Angeles Unified school board approved a budget plan Tuesday that calls for the elimination of more than 5,000 district positions over the next two years. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

The plan includes several cost-cutting proposals to help the district close a projected budget deficit of $1.2 billion through 2012, but all included some kind of employee pay cuts to prevent layoffs.

Approving the plan 6-1, board members denounced the cuts that would include layoffs of more than 1,400 teachers, nearly 1,000 janitors and maintenance workers and 520 school office workers, but said they had no other choice unless employees agree to some concessions.

The Los Angeles Unified school board is expected to vote on a two-year budget plan today that calls for the elimination of more than 5,000 district positions unless employee unions agree to furloughs and pay cuts.Comnnie Llanos in the Daily News.

The layoffs could be avoided if all district employees were to take an 11.75 percent pay cut, which could come in the form of furloughs or other cuts.

The district is facing a shortfall of some $1.2 billion through 2012, according to a report by Chief Financial Officer Megan Reilly.

For nine-year-old Ferran Romero, there is no sweeter sound than the boisterous bellows of his trombone. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

"It sounds like an elephant," Ferran said as he balanced the brass instrument, nearly his size.

The fourth-grade student from Topeka Drive Elementary started playing the trombone last year thanks to a Los Angeles Unified program that brings music, dance, theater and art classes to every elementary school in the district.

n the face of a multimillion-dollar budget deficit, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Ramon Cortines ordered an immediate hiring freeze Monday and cut other expenses, including travel, conferences and food at district meetings. Daily News.

Cortines said the district is facing an estimated $50 million to $60 million deficit this year and a possible $480 million deficit for the 2010-11 school year.

"As a result of the financial challenges that we are facing, it is imperative that we ensure that every dollar we spend is essential to the operation of this district, and more importantly, supports our instructional mission," he said. "Therefore, effective immediately, I am placing a freeze on the hiring and filling of vacancies; travel, conference and convention attendance; procurement of contracted professional development services; the rental of non-district facilities and the purchase of catering or refreshments to be served at employee meetings."

One in five Angelenos between the ages of 16 and 24 is unemployed and not in school, putting a severe drain on the city's limited resources, a study released Thursday said. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Statewide, about one in 6.25 people in that age group are out of work or school, and can expect to live in poverty for about nine years, according to the study produced by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

"If people are living in poverty they are probably not paying taxes, they are drawing on welfare and they're more of a drain to the city," said study author Paul Harrington, a Northeastern professor

Facing their own financial crises amid the state's budget crunch, most of California's largest school districts are increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade, eroding the most expensive education reform in the state's history. California Watch in the Daily News.

California Watch surveyed the 30 largest K-12 districts in the state and found that many schools are pushing classroom enrollment to 24 students in some or all of the primary grades. Other districts have raised class sizes to 30 students - reverting to levels not seen in more than a decade.

In cash-strapped Los Angeles Unified, each of the district's 524 elementary schools could choose between retaining all their teachers and keeping class sizes low - or laying off teachers and retaining support staff such as nurses, math coaches and "intervention coordinators."

Dozens of charter school operators, non-profit groups and even the teachers union have made it clear that they think they can do a better job running L.A. public schools than Los Angeles Unified bureaucrats.Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

All met a Monday deadline to submit bids to operate some or all of the 36 schools up for grabs under an ambitious reform plan that lets outsiders - and insiders - take daily operational control of public schools.

"Today we have finally stopped talking about reform and we've taken a deliberate and strong step towards ending business as usual at this district," said LAUSD boardmember Yolie Flores-Aguilar, who authored the School Choice plan.

As Los Angeles Unified officials scrambled to avert up to 8,500 layoffs, leaders of the teachers' union demanded Monday that the district slash bureaucracy and disclose spending before imposing furloughs and deep pay cuts. Connie Llanos in the Daily News.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines announced last week that layoffs are the only way to close a looming $500 million budget deficit unless employees take a four-day furlough this year and a 12 percent pay cut next year.

A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, on Monday rejected Cortines' ultimatum, but said the union was "willing to talk" about options.