Reviews of the new release “Won’t Back Down” vary widely and tend to conform with pre-existing views on education reform issues. Critics like The Nation’s Dana Goldstein describe it as a mean-spirited caricature of classroom teachers funded by a conservative millionaire who wants to destroy public schools — a 2012 version of  “Waiting For Superman.”...

US Grant Funds $20,000 Teacher Bonuses at ‘High-Need’ LA Schools Los Angeles Unified Schools Superintendent John Deasy said that a $49 million federal grant awarded to the district this week to improve teacher effectiveness will help pay for a new multiple-measure teacher evaluation system and more professional development programs, including a bonus for certain teachers...

Uncertainty surrounds many district applications for Race to the Top SI&A Cabinet Report: With just over a month remaining to the deadline, about 80 local educational agencies in California are trying to decide whether to seek a federal Race to the Top grant given the long odds and resources required to even compete for a share of...

You might be surprised to find out that “Won’t Back Down” — a screening of which I snuck into the other night — isn’t actually the fictionalized story of Desert Trails, site of the real-life still-unfolding parent trigger attempt outside of Los Angeles, or the CA parent trigger law that allows parents to vote to...

Still no word if and when a trigger petition gets filed in LAUSD, but in the meantime a screening of trigger movie “Won’t Back Down” was approved by the Democratic National Committee for a preconference event in Charlotte earlier this week, and took place complete with an appearance from Mayor Villaraigosa. Whatever Los Angelenos think of...

Failure of teacher evaluation bill clouds CA’s NCLB waiver SI&A Cabinet Report: Withdrawal of the teacher evaluation bill in the final days of the legislative session last week likely removes an easy path for California schools to relief from federal sanctions under the No Child Left Behind Act, state officials said last week. [Also: The California Teachers...

• Adelanto parents lose charter school bid: On Friday, the Adelanto School Board rejected the petition by parents of Desert Trails Elementary (site of the recent parent trigger ruling) to convert their school into a charter, saying there wasn’t enough time to implement before the school year. The board voted, instead, to install a “community advisory council”...