State Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) announced Thursday that he was shelving SB 10, his controversial bill intended to speed up and streamline the teacher dismissal process in California public schools. Now, Padilla plans to join forces with Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), head of the Assembly’s Education Committee, who introduced her own alternative teacher dismissal bill...

“There is no reasonable explanation for why firing a teacher in California is such a time-consuming, tortuous and expensive procedure… Appeals often drag on for years — during which the school district must pay the teachers’ salaries and benefits — and almost invariably favor the teachers… The dysfunctional process benefits no one except bad teachers. The...

LA School Report is increasingly being recognized for its coverage of critical Los Angeles education issues. The latest example is the site’s inclusion in the Students Matter newsletter for our story about SB 10, the resurrected version of SB 1530: Teacher Dismissal Bill, Redux.

Some of the most interesting items scheduled to be discussed and/or voted on at Tuesday’s monthly Board meeting are expedited removal of teachers accused of misconduct, the use of student achievement to evaluate teachers, and Board approval for large grant applications. Read below for more highlights.

SB 10, a bill aimed at streamlining the dismissal process for teachers accused of sexual misconducted, was introduced earlier this week and is now out in a full-text version. A carbon copy of SB 1530 (the previous bill seeking to address this issue) SB 10 is among a handful of proposals sure to garner attention...

The LAUSD Board will hold a special closed session on Tuesday, December 4 to confer with its legal counsel about the Doe v. Deasy case and to discuss labor negotiations: Board Members Monica Garcia and Tamar Galatzan will also introduce a resolution calling on state legislators to change “the lengthy, expensive [teacher] dismissal process required...

Lots of blame was dished out last week after a state audit found weak dismissal and reporting practices at LAUSD regarding teachers accused of sexual misconduct. Especially vocal was UTLA president Warren Fletcher, who has consistently lobbed criticism at LAUSD for how it has managed the scandal. Now I am a Prop-30-supporting-dyed-in-the-wool union Democrat, but...

You might enjoy (or be appalled by) this Thursday night segment from the CNN Show Anderson Cooper 360 including footage of reporter Kyung Lah chasing the four SB1530 abstainers around the statehouse. It’s a little heavy-handed, but three of the four legislators play right into CNN’s hands by ducking interviews and issuing terse “no comments”...

Rumors are flying fast and furious about Assembly Bill 5, a proposed amendment to the Stull Act offered by San Fernando Valley Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes. The latest word from EdSource is that AB 5 is being revised slightly to try and mollify opponents and also to help make the state eligible for a No Child Left...