LAUSD to Pay Nearly $30M to Settle Miramonte Sex Abuse Lawsuits Los Angeles Unified will pay nearly $30 million to settle claims by 58 children who say they were victims of former Miramonte Elementary teacher Mark Berndt, the veteran educator charged with committing bizarre acts of sex abuse against students, attorneys said Tuesday. LA Daily...

Miramonte Lewd Conduct Lawsuits Can Proceed An L.A. County Superior Court judge on Thursday lifted a stay on lawsuits arising from alleged lewd conduct at Miramonte Elementary School. LA Times Ex-Miramonte Teacher Mark Berndt Hires Defense Attorney Mark Berndt, the former Miramonte Elementary School teacher accused of lewd conduct against his students, has hired as...

Lawsuit Against Teacher Tenure Poised to Move Forward A lawsuit to overturn teacher tenure laws and seniority rights remained on track Thursday when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge issued a tentative ruling allowing the litigation to move forward. LA Times [read full text here] Local Votes of Confidence: Most Bonds, Parcel Taxes Pass Proposition 30,...

On Friday, the first hearing will be held in the Vergara v. California, the lawsuit that, in terms of its massive size and scope, one union lawyer described “Doe v. Deasy on steroids.” Brought about by an organization called Students Matter, which is funded by wealthy tech entrepreneur David Welch, the suit takes aim at five laws in...

Not many people would recognize David Holmquist, general counsel for the LA Unified School District (pictured below). But Holmquist serves as an important role, overseeing all labor negotiations, and representing the district in over 1,000 lawsuits  – including attempts by LAUSD to recover overpayment from 600 employees and dismiss more than 120 teachers. We spoke last...

There are some fun parts to this novelty video put together by some filmmaker parents at LAUSD’s Aldama Elementary, including the chorus (“Our budget’s been cut, school’s hitting the skids, We’re coming for you, and we’re bringing our kids.”) Obviously, these parents want voters to support increased funding for schools proposed in some of next month’s...

Gloria Romero to Antonio Villaraigosa: We’re not removing you from Prop 32 ad SFGate: LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was ticked that the pro-Prop 32 folks were using his name and comments “out of context” in an ad. He asked them to remove his name/comments from the ad promoting the measure on the November ballot that would ban...

Starting in 1997, Los Angeles began passing a series of bond measures to fund construction of new schools. Since then, the city borrowed a total of $19.5 billion to build 131 schools– some with large, beautifully designed (and expensive) campuses like the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools and the High School for the Visual and...

Lots of Parent Revolution coverage from around the country. Plus: Ramon Cortines sued for sexual harassment, and Sally Ride: • Lots of Parent Revolution coverage, including pieces from the AP, Reuters, the LA Times, the Wall St. Journal and the The Washington Post. RiShawn Biddle posts as well at Dropout Nation. • Scott Graham filed a lawsuit against former...

LAUSD to fight judge’s ruling in charter case, and more. LAUSD is fighting a court order to give more space to charter schools. The district says enforcement would lead to school busing. LA Times, KPCC RiShawn Biddle argues that the NAACP should get on board with public school choice All sorts of media outlets are...