UTLA President Warren Fletcher

The Los Angeles teachers union will ask the LA Unified Board of Education to temporarily suspend the two most recent rounds of teacher dismissals, which the board approved in closed sessions this month and last month.

“Teachers want to make sure that if there are any bad guys in the classroom, that they stop being in the classroom,” union President  Warren Fletcher, said in an interview. “But this system leads to many innocent educators being scooped up in the dragnet.”

Every time a teacher is fired in California, local school boards meet behind closed doors to review the dismissals. These meetings are often pro forma; the LAUSD board routinely votes unanimously to approve all of the recommended firings.

A group of UTLA activists is up in arms over the Sept. 17 board meeting, when, according to Fletcher, the dismissal of over 30 teachers was approved. UTLA activists have taken to calling the day “Black Tuesday.”

“The teachers did not know that their names were coming up,” said, Scott Mandel, a member of the UTLA board. “None of them had gotten previous notification at all. And the board accepted their dismissal recommendation without comment, and nobody questioned anything. They didn’t see the other side, they didn’t see any defense.”

At a special meeting of the union’s board, a motion by Mandel passed unanimously to ask the school board for a “stay” on all dismissals approved in the recent closed meetings.

“We want the board members to review [the teachers’] cases,” said Mandel. “These charges are absolutely ridiculous. A lot of them are trumped up, false and exaggerated.”

The motion is expected to be a approved by UTLA’s governing body, the 350-member House of Representatives, tomorrow night, where it will then become official union policy.

David Holmquist, the district’s general counsel, said that the dismissals that the Board approved of in September were high because dismissals aren’t initiated during the summer, although he added: “There’s no doubt that we have been raising the bar, and one of the consequences of that is there are going to be more dismissals.”

Holmquist denied UTLA’s claim that board members don’t have all the information they need to make a determination.

“I can’t talk about what we do in closed session, because it’s confidential,” he said. “But I will say that in my opinion, the board has all they need to make a proper decision.”

As far as Fletcher’s charge that LA Unified hasn’t provided UTLA with a list of all housed teachers, Holmquist said that the district provides the union with a partial list of housed employees, with some names left out – the names of employees that wish to remain anonymous.

The number of teachers fired in LAUSD has risen sharply under the leadership of Superintendent John Deasy – the result of an intentional policy decision, on his part, to weed out teachers that are found guilty of misconduct, but also teachers who have gotten two “unsatisfactory” evaluations in a row. Many UTLA activists accuse Deasy of being on a “witch hunt” to fire old teachers with higher salaries.

After teachers are dismissed, they can appeal to the state, a process that can drag on for years and cost both sides hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyers fees. Once dismissed, teachers stop receiving a salary.

Earlier this year, UTLA filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Public Employee Relations Board, saying that the district was failing to provide the union with a list of “housed teachers.”

Before teachers are dismissed, they are often taken out of the classrooms and placed into “teacher jails” or “rubber rooms.” These teachers are “housed” while the district conducts investigations into alleged misconduct – often without knowing their charge, or knowing how long they are to be housed.

“The district, at multiple points, creates obstacles for UTLA to know who is even housed, or subject to dismissal proceedings,” said Fletcher.

*Updates with response from David Holmquist, LA Unified chief legal counsel.

Previous posts: Gov. Brown’s Veto Leaves Teacher Dismissal in Limbo*; Charted: Teacher Dismissals By the Numbers; More Failing Teachers Pushed Out Under Deasy; Teacher Misconduct Proposal Wins Unexpected Support;

Assembly member Joan Buchanan, left, and State Senator Alex Padilla, right

Governor Jerry Brown’s veto of AB 375, a bill that would have amended California’s teacher dismissal process, doesn’t mean the effort is dead.

“The governor still wants to do something,” LA Unified’s chief lobbyist, Edgar Zazueta, told LA School Report. “I do see there will be one, if not several, efforts to do this next year. Hopefully we’re able to find somewhere in the middle, where more stakeholders can embrace final product.”

Zazueta added that Brown “always wants to make sure that all the stakeholders are on board. With 375, it was unbalanced. None of the folks who do dismissals were part of process.”

Gloria Romero, who just left California Democrats for Education Reform to start her own organization, the Foundation for Parent Empowerment, also sees a pathway forward, even if it remains uncertain who’s leading the effort.

“The stars are aligned,” she said. “There will be a very bright public spotlight on this. The legislature will have to act. The question is, who carries it this time?”

Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, the East Bay Democrat who sponsored the measure, has not decided whether she will go forward with a reconfigured approach or defer to someone else on the issue. One possibility is State Senator Alex Padilla, who authored a bill, SB 10, that would have made it easier to fire teachers accused of harming a student.

That bill died in committee after an intense lobbying blitz from the California Teachers Association.

This year, Padilla declined to take the lead on the new version of the bill – perhaps because he’s running for California Secretary of State and doesn’t want to antagonize the teachers unions. Buchanan’s bill was supported by teacher unions but widely attacked reform groups and newspaper editorial boards statewide.

“I still strongly believe that the discipline appeal process is broken,” Buchanan said in an email. “It takes too long and costs too much money. However, I agree that the path forward is uncertain.”

The question then, is there a compromise to made?

Romero also said that if the legislature doesn’t act, there could be a move by outside groups to write a ballot initiative. “There’ve been discussions, believe me, about which way to go forward,” she said.

A ballot initiative could pressure the legislature into acting. But the real pressure might come from Vergara v. California, the lawsuit filed by Students Matter aimed at tearing up many of the laws that govern the teacher dismissal process. That trial is set to being on January 27 – and could have an enormous impact on how teachers in California are fired.

Students Matter spokesperson Danielle Kelton said that Brown’s veto “definitely highlights the failure of the legislature to address the problem.”

*This update includes a comment from Buchanan. An early version of the post mistakenly identified the Vergara plaintiffs as Students First.

Previous posts: John Deasy on AB 375 Veto: ‘Wise Decision’; BREAKING NEWS: Brown Vetoes Weak Teacher Dismissal Bill; Brown Facing Pressure to Veto ‘Flawed’ Teacher Dismissal Bill; Unions Ask Court to Dismiss ‘Bad Teacher’ Suit

Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-San Ramon)

After nine months of hearings and amendments, legislation aimed to quicken and streamline teacher dismissal procedures failed to pass in the Senate Education Committee by one vote.

The Chair of the Senate Education Committee Carol Liu (D-Glendale) — the only LA-area lawmaker on the committee — decided not to vote for or against the bill because of district administrators and attorneys’ concerns. Many other lawmakers followed suit.

Liu did grant the bill reconsideration, however, but it now will not be reconsidered until at least January.

Unless the process is changed at the state-level, bill sponsor State Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-San Ramon) says LAUSD and other districts will continue to wade through onerous dismissal procedures that can last 18 months or longer.

However,  Edgar Zazueta, the director of government relations for LAUSD, said that while Buchanan’s bill would be a great improvement to the current law there are some serious flaws that could damage the district if the bill passed as is.

The Buchanan legislation has been supported by the teachers union, among others.

Assembly Bill 357 was expected to pass with strong support from teachers’ unions and student advocacy groups.  It would have made it easier for districts to suspend and fire teachers for serious offenses, an especially pertinent issue given the continuous slew of child molestation and teacher misconduct cases that continue to crop up throughout LA Unified.

First reported by EdSource Today, the failure of the Buchanan legislation was a repeat of the failure of similar legislation in 2012.

Last year, Buchanan voted against the legislation, SB 1530, which was championed by Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).  This year, she developed her own legislation and was joined by Padilla, but was met with similar push back by the state Senate.

What is really holding the bill back, from perspective of LAUSD, is the proposed seven-month time frame for dismissing teachers accused of misdeeds in the classroom.

“This bill says that if the seven months pass without a resolution, a district gets another 30 days,” Zazueta explained. “But ultimately that time period may lapse, and the bill states that the district would have to refile the case. That’s a big concern for us.”

“It doesn’t make sense for us to have to start from scratch, put people back on the stand and do the whole thing over,” he added.

District lawyers warned that Office of Administrative Hearings, where the dismissal cases are heard, has a difficult time putting these on the calendar from the get go, according to Zazueta. To district administrators, a seven month dismissal resolution seems like a long shot.

“What our lawyers told us is that the Office of Administrative Hearings (where the dismissal cases are heard) has a difficult time putting these on the calendar from the get go,” said Zazueta. “Just because we say it will happen in seven months, will it actually happen?”

Buchanan disagrees with this assessment, saying that most dismissal hearings actually take days or a week once they are scheduled at the Office of Administrative Hearings because their deadlines are written into statues, and that forces the OAH to make sure cases are concluded.

“It works,” said Buchanan. “So to say you cannot get it done in seven months’ time, I don’t believe is correct, since these cases are not part of judicial branch.”

United Teachers of Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher said the union will continue to support the bill despite the recent setbacks. The administrators’ union also said they support the bill, though they also have concerns about the hard-set time deadline, among other details.

“Yes the process should be faster, but I think [the bill’s sponsors] tried to make it faster than would be possible,” said AALA President Judith Perez.

Perez said that she was concerned at the speed teachers could be dismissed if the bill passed and explained that putting such a specific length of time could backfire for school districts.

Buchanan acknowledges that’s what prevented the bill from passing.

“The bill stalling really hinged on one law firm who testified and said the process cannot be completed in seven months so cases will get dismissed and end up costing districts more money,” said Buchanan.

Depending on the severity of the charges in a teacher dismissal case, the process can drag on for a year or more, costing districts money they don’t have.

Buchanan says the biggest problem facing schools is actually not the sexual abuse and misconduct cases like Miramonte, but the dismissals for unprofessional conduct and unsatisfactory performance which are less cut-and-dry, harder to prove, “drag on for extended periods of time” and often costs districts hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On this issue, Buchanan and LAUSD agree.

“Sometimes cases last over a year,” said Zazueta. “Some cases have even dragged on for multiple years.”

These delayed dismissal cases can cost LAUSD anywhere from $150,000 – $300,000 for one case, he said. If the district loses a case once it finally gets to trial, Zazueta says the district has to pay the two panelists it finds to sit in for the hearing about $7,000-$9,500.

Under Supt. Deasy’s administration, Zazueta says the district has tried to “be more aggressive to see which employees should be in the classroom,” which can result in more teacher dismissal cases.

With months until the January consideration, Buchanan says she will do whatever it takes to get the bill ready to pass.

“I need to sit down individually with every member of the Senate Committee on Education to make sure they truly understand what the bill really does,” she said. “If we need to amend it we will.”

Previous posts: Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill; Deasy Wants Stronger Teacher Dismissal Bill; State Teachers Union Rejects Criticism of Teacher Dismissal Bill; Deasy Requests Changes to Teacher Dismissal Bill

A controversial bill aimed at ensuring teachers accused of sexual misconduct and other immoral acts can be more easily removed from the classroom is now awaiting referral in the Senate Rules Committee before its eventual hearing by the Senate Education Committee.

Given the array of allies and opponents focused on teacher misconduct — especially after reports of ongoing sexual misconduct at Miramonte Elementary School shocked LAUSD — the bill’s next step will be closely followed and hotly debated.

Recently passed by the House, the bill (known as AB 375) being championed by Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) will be heard and referred in the next seven to 10 days, according to the Senate Rules Committee’s Bob Franzoia.

“The Education Committee should hear this bill by June 26 or July 3,” said Franzoia.

The Buchanan legislation is a response to the Miramonte scandal, where Los Angeles Unified elementary school teacher Mark Berndt was fired and charged with 23 counts of sexual misconduct with students.

Berndt appealed the case and the district chose to pay $40,000 to drop his challenge, according to the Sacramento Bee.

A previous and somewhat stronger version of the legislation, AB 1530, was proposed and defeated last summer, thanks in large part to opposition from teachers unions.

Lawmakers’ votes against the legislation made national news and contributed to the defeat of at least one Assemblymember in November 2012.

Buchanan’s AB 375 would set a deadline of seven months for the administrative appeal, start to finish, expanding the current law’s deadline of 60 days

However, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has expressed concerns about the legislation despite amendments made earlier this month.

Deasy is not alone.  The current union-backed bill doesn’t strengthen the teacher dismissal process nearly enough, according to former State Senator Gloria Romero.

In a highly critical piece published by the Orange County Register, Romero asked, “what good is shortening the [dismissal] timeline if it only results in a the same flawed outcome?”

The California Teachers Federation says the bill’s timeline is needed to give removed teachers ample time to prepare their cases.

And, according to CTA spokesperson Frank Wells, AB 375 is also opening the door to companion legislation aimed at holding school districts and administrators accountable for school employees accused of child abuse.

“AB 375’s companion bill, AB 1338 would strengthen reporting and employee education requirements on school districts,” Wells told LA School Report.

“We believe school districts should face penalties for not following the law and failing to report serious misconduct to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing; that is an issue that still needs to be addressed.”

Previous posts: Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill, Villaraigosa Expresses Concerns About Teacher Dismissal Bill, Deasy Wants Stronger Teacher Dismissal Bill

The above graphic is from Barbara Jones’ excellent Daily News piece on Superintendent John Deasy’s push to dismiss more teachers. The article also includes a sidebar briefly summarizing 83 cases against teachers accused of misconduct in the last 15 months — accusations ranging from “showing students images of naked children” to “paying students to do his work, such as mailing letters and returning phone calls.”

The way the district gives out figures for dismissals makes it difficult to suss out what percentage of teachers are fired for misconduct rather than performance, which was the focus of this LA Weekly article. But the data available sure makes it seem like the vast majority are fired for misconduct.

Previous posts: Increased Teacher Dismissals; Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill; The “Ineffective” Teachers Game; Tenure Approval Still +90 Percent

Former Miramonte Elementary School teacher Mark Berndt (via SCPR)

California Teachers Association President Dean Vogel has issued a sharp response to criticism of the proposed teacher dismissal bill being championed by Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), focusing in particular on those of former state lawmaker Gloria Romero:

“Far from jumping late onto any dismissal bandwagon, CTA has led support of efforts to expedite the dismissal process, maintain existing safeguards that remove teachers from classrooms immediately when charged with serious offenses and toughen penalties for districts and school personnel who fail to follow mandated abuse-reporting procedures. These are the facts, despite any claims from paid spokespersons for organizations founded and funded in part by outspoken, school-privatization proponents and hedge-fund managers who see dollar signs in public-school funding… We applaud California lawmakers who are moving ahead with bills that keep children safe and streamline the process for removing people who don’t belong in our classrooms, while still maintaining safeguards against false allegations.”

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has added his voice to a group of education leaders who are reluctant to support the current union-supported teacher dismissal bill being considered in Sacramento unless it’s amended to address key issues.

In an April 19 letter sent to the bill’s sponsor, Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), Villaraigosa praises Buchanan for her “willingness to tackle this difficult and sensitive issue.” But he says he’s withholding support for the bill, known as AB 375, unless she addresses “areas of concern” he has — many of which echo those that have been expressed by LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, education advocacy group EdVoice, and former State Senator Gloria Romero.

Both the Mayor and LAUSD want Buchanan to amend the rules to make it easier to find teachers to serve on the three-person Commission on Professional Competence that has the final say on whether teachers are fired. (Read about LAUSD’s position on the teacher dismissal bill here.)

Villaraigosa also agrees with EdVoice CEO Bill Lucia on the bill’s revised timelines; current law requires dismissal hearings to begin within 60 days, but AB 375 would actually extend that time to six months. They both think the longer timeline delays the process unnecessarily.

Last but not least, the Mayor takes issue with the bill’s rules on pretrial evidence, writing, “the process for allowing the use of relevant information must be less onerous.” Education advocate Gloria Romero, who is head of California Democrats for Education Reform, also warned that the bill could “severely limit pretrial evidence discovery.”

Read the full Villaraigosa letter here.

What remains unknown is how Buchanan and the bill’s current supporters, including the California Teachers Association, will respond to these concerns.

Previous posts: Deasy Requests Changes to Teacher Dismissal Bill; Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill; Assemblymember Bloom Opposes Teacher Dismissal Bill

“That’s how CTA infamously killed a [2012] law to fire sex-pervert teachers, SB 1530,” LA Weekly writer Matthew Mullins wrote. “A badly watered-down version, AB 375, is alive — because CTA backs it,”

What the LA Weekly didn’t note was that the “badly watered-down” bill moving through the state legislature was amended last week or that LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has proposed several further changes to make sure that districts have a stronger role in the dismissal process and that teachers who review dismissal cases can be removed if necessary.

In an April 19 letter sent to the bill’s sponsor, Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), Deasy takes note of the School Board’s recent vote in support of her bill’s intent — and then suggests seveal amendments to strengthen it.

Deasy’s key suggestions include giving districts more discretion on dismissing teachers and loosening eligibility requirements for the people who review dismissal cases on the Commission on Professional Competence. (Read the full letter here.)

In particular, LAUSD wants a bigger role for school districts who employ teachers accused of sexual misconduct. A previous teacher dismissal bill, SB 10, would have given school boards the final decision on dismissals.

In particular, Zazueta says Deasy wants to be sure the teacher dismissal legislation make it easier to find the teachers who serve on the professional competence review panel.

Current law (and the new bill) have limited, very specific requirements about what kind of teachers can review misconduct cases. “Time and time again the biggest hurdle and delay is finding these people. We feel they could improve that and make it easier,” Zazueta said.

LAUSD isn’t the only one looking to modify the Buchanan proposal.  Other education advocates remain skeptical of the bill even if they still haven’t concluded whether they support it or not — in part because it’s already being amended in Sacramento.

“At face value, some amendments to the bill seem like they’re working on our concerns,” EdVoice CEO Bill Lucia told LA School Report, referring to a series of amendments that were adopted last week.  “But we still have concerns, so I can’t say at all whether we’re leaning toward support.”

Previous posts: Assemblymember Bloom Opposes Teacher Dismissal Bill; Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill; Teacher Misconduct Proposal Wins Unexpected Support

Earlier this month, LA School Report interviewed education players in California about AB 375, sponsored by Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo), which would streamline the dismissal process for teachers accused of sexual abuse and other forms of misconduct.proposal.

EdVoice, LAUSD, and others generally said they were happy something was being done to improve the current teacher dismissal process. But they also expressed concerns that the Buchanan bill didn’t have enough teeth to fix a system that has failed repeatedly to effectively dismiss teachers.

Since then, concerns have continued to surface — along with a handful of praise. Most recently, Assemblyman Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica) has come out against the proposal. And written commentary from Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is in the works, according to his office.

On April 1, Gloria Romero, the head of California’s Democrats for Education Reform, wrote a harsh critique of the bill the O.C. Register, claiming it will make things worse by “severely limiting pretrial evidence discovery, creating an entirely new hearing process for suspended teachers and disallowing consideration by the panel of new information.”

On April 7, the LA Times published an editorial in support of the proposal, observing that it “makes more sense” than “several reform-oriented bills [that] went overboard.”

But an April 11 Daily News editorial (“Bill makes it (a tiny bit) easier to fire abusive teachers,”) described the Buchanan proposal as a “watered-down” version of the previous legislation that makes only “small changes around the edges, but is hardly revolutionary.”

Specifically, “the bill requires appeals be wrapped up in seven months, which hardly seems speedy. And it retains an appeals board rather than leaving it up to district officials,” according to the Daily News.

Despite all the shortcomings it finds with AB 375, the Daily News wrote, “this bill should pass because it would improve the system we’ve got now – a little. The original [Padilla] bill would have served the public better, but because of the inordinate power of one organization, it didn’t have a chance.”

Earlier this week, Chris Wheat, a spokesperson for Assemblymember Bloom, told LA School Report that Bloom would not vote for the bill in its current form.

Bloom won a November 2012 contest against incumbent Betsy Butler in which he highlighted Butler’s refusal to support a previous teacher dismissal bill that was championed by Senator Alex Padilla.

“If we get the bill as written on the floor, we would not be able to support it,” Bloom spokesperson Wheat said.

Bloom specifically criticizes how the bill includes two teachers on a three-person commission that has the final say in whether a teacher is dismissed or not.

The LA Times raised the same issue, noting that “Buchanan’s bill would have better balanced the makeup of the review panel, by placing an administrator on it, or a parent.”

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa plans to write a letter responding to AB 375, according to press secretary Vicki Curry, but she wasn’t able to disclose what kind of response it will be.

LA School Report has also reached out to lawyers representing victims affected by the Miramonte sexual abuse case to hear what they think about the bill. We’ll update you when we hear back.

On Tuesday, the LAUSD School Board voted to support the new teacher dismissal bill that’s making its way through the statehouse in Sacramento as well.

Previous posts: Mixed Reactions to New Teacher Dismissal Bill; Teacher Misconduct Proposal Wins Unexpected Support; More Failing Teachers Pushed Out Under Deasy

L.A. Unified Board Ratifies ‘Parent-Trigger’ Partnership
The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday ratified a partnership between the school district and a charter school to take control of struggling 24th Street Elementary under a controversial parent-empowerment law. LA Times
See also: Color Lines, LA School Report

School Board Renews Contract for Ivy Academia Charter
The petition by Ivy Academia Entreprenurial Charter School was renewed with little discussion, less than two weeks after a jury convicted its founders of grand theft, embezzlement and other charges. LA Times
See also: LA School Report

L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa Challenges on Schools
Unions and other elements of the education establishment strongly backed Antonio Villaraigosa’s steps up the political ladder – until he became an advocate of charter schools, parental empowerment, modifying teacher seniority and tenure and other reforms that the establishment despises. Sac Bee Opinion

State’s Budget Fakery Takes a Toll on Charter Schools
Because state funding is often deferred for months, charter schools must take out bridge loans to pay the bills. The interest costs come at the expense of pupils. LA Times
See also: EdWeek

More Than Half of Suspensions Are for “Willful Defiance” of School Authorities
More than half of all suspensions and a quarter of expulsions in California schools are for “willful defiance” of school authorities, according to a new database that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson is scheduled to release this Friday. EdSource

A More Confident System
Educators 4 Excellence recently interviewed members for their input on this “Vote of No Confidence” process, the approach to engaging teachers in critical conversations about leadership, and how it could be improved. We heard three overarching themes. Huff Po Op-Ed

Upcoming EdSource Symposium to Tackle State Education Reform
As California embarks on a slate of reforms that could drastically change the face of public education, an upcoming symposium sponsored by EdSource will help the public and policymakers make sense of the complex issues facing educators. EdSource

Senate GOP Leader Revives Parent Trigger, Open Enrollment for Second Act
Two lasting educational imprints from the Schwarzenegger years – the Open Enrollment Act and Parent Trigger – are set for remakes this session under legislation offered by Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff. SI&A Cabinet Report

School Board Transparency a Challenge in Digital Age
School board members are struggling to interpret laws that govern where and how they do business now that as many conversations take place digitally as they do face to face. EdWeek

Children’s Books With Minority Characters Are Hard to Find
Veteran educator Louise Derman Sparks has written volumes on what she calls “anti-bias education” for children.   Sparks firmly believes that children can start absorbing an anti-bias message just from what we read to them because children’s books are one of the first ways we introduce infants to the world. KPCC

The LAUSD Board, via LA Times

The agenda for today’s School Board meeting is packed with hot-topic resolutions, including a plan to streamline LAUSD’s teacher misconduct investigation process, a call to work with state legislators to pass a new teacher dismissal bill, and a plan to reduce student suspensions and discipline for “willful defiance” in LA schools.

These topics have received scads of media coverage and statehouse activity in recent months. LAUSD Board members have obviously been paying attention, and the media is getting behind their resolutions.

Board Member Tamar Galatzan penned an op-ed published Monday in the Huffington Post that explains the rationale behind her resolution to streamline investigations of teachers who have been accused of misconduct in the classroom.

And the LA Times published an editorial piece Tuesday morning urging the School Board to approve Board President Monica Garcia’s resolution that would update schools’ discipline policies across the district and cease the suspension of students for “willful defiance.”

Read on for more details on the resolutions up for vote at today’s School Board meeting.

As Galatzan writes in her op-ed, a key part of her plan is for teacher investigations to be run by a “team of professionally-trained investigators who are beholden only to the truth.”

LA School Report detailed last Tuesday how the resolution is an attempt to reduce the number of LAUSD teachers who wait with full pay in “teacher jails” while the district goes through a lengthy — and costly — investigation process.

Board Member Bennett Kayser, who frequently sides with the teachers union, has signed on as a cosponsor of the resolution, along with Board President Monica Garcia. It’s rare when these three Board members agree with each other, so enjoy it while you can.

Kayser and Galatzan have joined forces on another resolution voicing approval for AB 375, the new teacher dismissal bill that is working its way through the State Assembly thanks to unexpected backing from the California Teachers Association and Senator Alex Padilla.

As we reported, some education advocacy groups have expressed concerns that AB 375 won’t be effective enough when dealing with teachers accused of sexually or physically abusing their students.

But a recent LA Times editorial says it’s a good proposal, and Galatzan and Kayser want Superintendent John Deasy to work with the bill’s author, Joan Buchanan, to make it happen.

Moving from teacher-related issues to student discipline, Board President Monica Garcia has a resolution to update discipline codes in schools across LAUSD to mirror state-level efforts to reduce student suspensions and limit gaps in disciplinary proceedings among different groups of students.

Under Garcia’s resolution, schools must pursue all alternatives to suspension before suspending students; students cannot be suspended for acts of “willful defiance”; and schools must begin implementing discipline policies centered in “restorative justice” techniques that use counseling and peer mediation to resolve discipline issues. (Read more of our coverage on school discipline policies here.)

Kayser will be a busy Board member this meeting: His postponed resolution that would create new rules for magnet schools and their approval process is back up for a vote. (Read about the magnet resolution here.) Kayser’s attempt to bar School Board members who received financial support from charters from voting on charter-related motions will be back up for discussion as well.

Also up for vote on the agenda are several charter renewals and proposals for new charter and pilot schools.

Click here to see the full Board meeting agenda, and remember to follow us at @laschoolreport for live coverage of the meeting.

Previous posts: Teacher Misconduct Proposal Wins Unexpected Support; “Rubber Room” Teachers Rarely Return; Suspension Rates Vary Widely Among Schools; Kayser’s New Magnet Proposal

Teacher Dismissals: How Do We Protect Children and Safeguard Teachers’ Due Process?
Fire them. Dismiss them. Send them back. Let them languish in “teacher jails” while investigations drag on for months — or even years.  There’s got to be a better, quicker and fairer way to get rid of teachers who truly do not belong in the classroom and support those teachers who do. Huff Po Op-Ed by Tamar Galatzan

Deasy Should Be Thrilled With Union’s No Confidence Vote
It means he’s shaking up the moribund Los Angeles Unified School District and bucking the union that has battled every education reform proposed to protect the livelihood of its teachers – a livelihood that has put a stranglehold on education. LA Daily News Editorial

‘Willful Defiance’ in L.A. Schools
A proposal to prevent the suspending of students for a relatively minor infraction deserves the approval of the school board. LA Times Editorial

Sal Castro Dies at 79; L.A. Teacher Played Role in 1968 Protests
Sal Castro, a veteran Los Angeles Unified School District teacher who played a central role in the 1968 “blowouts,” when more than 1,000 students in predominantly Latino high schools walked out of their classrooms to protest inequalities in education, died in his sleep Monday after a long bout with cancer. LA Times
See also: KPCC

Teachers Dislike Breakfast in the Classroom Program, Survey Finds
An L.A. Unified program to serve breakfast in the classroom to make sure students don’t start school hungry has increased pests, created messes and cut down on instructional time, according to a teacher survey released Monday. LA Times

Teach for America: California Schools Need Their Talent
The English Learner Authorization embedded within the intern credential is a very hot issue for the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing due to the concerns over incomplete education and preparation of intern teachers who serve students who are English Learners. Silicon Valley Mercury News Op-Ed

District’s Voting Rights Called Into Question
Latinos make up 42 percent of ABC Unified School District, located in Southeastern Los Angeles County. They are the largest ethnic demographic in the 30-school district, but the last time a Latino was elected to the seven member board was in 1997. EdWeek

Family Fee for Half-Day State Preschool Likely to Be Rescinded
A much-disputed daily fee for families with children in state-funded preschool programs will likely be removed from next year’s state budget. EdSource

They show a rise in teacher dismissals and “unsatisfactory” ratings — even as the number of teachers in LAUSD has decreased by thousands.

Click below for the charts.

Last school year, 99 teachers were fired 122 resigned to avoid dismissal proceedings. While that number — 221 — is less than 1% of the now 27,208 teachers in LAUSD but way more than the three teachers that were fired five years earlier, in the 2006-07 school year:

Post-Miramonte, there’s been a stepped-up effort to get rid of teachers that have been found to have harmed students. But the district has for the last couple of years been firing more teachers than ever before for poor classroom performance (ie, teachers receiving “unsatisfactory” Stull Evaluations) — even before the controversial new teacher evaluation system has been put in place:

Rising dismissal numbers and growing numbers of teacher ineffectiveness ratings are all the more surprising when you consider just how fewer teachers there are than there eight years ago — down from almost 36,0000 to just over 27,000:

The rise in the number of teachers not getting tenure isn’t as dramatic as the spike in dismissals, but it’s still a noticeable rise:

For more, see this new LA Weekly story.

Note:  All statistics in this post are courtesy of LAUSD’s office of human resources

Previous posts: Read: Superintendent Deasy Tells All, The “Ineffective” Teachers Game, Tenure Approval Still +90 Percent, Lawmaker Supports Former Opponent’s Teacher Dismissal Bill

Greuel Vows School Reform as Garcetti Seeks End to ‘Division’
Los Angeles mayoral candidate Wendy Greuel laid out her plans to improve public schools on Thursday, pushing for tougher evaluations of teachers and principals, while opponent Eric Garcetti secured endorsements from a handful of African American leaders. LA Times
See also: LA Daily News, LA School Report, LA Times Now, LA Weekly

Education Leaders Divulge What They Want From LA’s Next Mayor
There’s been a lot of talk about what the next mayor of Los Angeles should do for public education. KPCC talked to three leaders in the education field about what they expect from the city’s next leader. KPCC

Imagine That: Happy Ending to a ‘Parent Trigger’ Petition
The “parent trigger” movement underwent a maturation process in its latest campaign, a petition to restructure 24th Street Elementary in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Unlike in previous campaigns, there were no lawsuits against the district, no claims by parents that they had been duped into signing the petition. LA Times Op-Ed

Defiance No Reason to Suspend Students, Board President Says
Administrators in the Los Angeles Unified School District would no longer be allowed to suspend students for mouthing off or other acts of “willful defiance” under a groundbreaking school board resolution set to be proposed next week. LA Times
See also: LA School Report

Bill Makes It (a Tiny Bit) Easier to Fire Abusive Teachers
A bill that would have made it easier to fire teachers accused of molesting students or committing other serious crimes died in committee last summer – a victim of the most powerful force in state politics today: teachers unions. There’s a new version of the bill in the Legislature this year. Pasadena Star News Op-Ed

LAUSD Reform Agenda Gets High Marks From Civic Groups
A new coalition of civil rights groups, led by the United Way, released a poll today showing strong support for reforms taking place in Los Angeles Unified and calling for an even more aggressive approach to improving student achievement and increasing local control of neighborhood schools. LA Daily News

LAUSD Summer Enrichment Programs Reduced Again
The Los Angeles Unified School District announced today that funding limits are forcing it to reduce its summer enrichment programming, which includes academic, fitness and other enrichments like art, music and drama activities. KPCC
See also: LA Times

With Police in Schools, More Children in Court
As school districts across the country consider placing more police officers in schools, youth advocates and judges are raising alarm about what they have seen in the schools where officers are already stationed: a surge in criminal charges against children for misbehavior that many believe is better handled in the principal’s office. NY Times

APU to Hold First-Ever Spanish Language Spelling Bee for L.A. County High School Students
Native Spanish speakers and Spanish class students from throughout Los Angeles County will compete in the first-ever Spanish language spelling bee on at 2 p.m. Saturday at Azusa Civic Auditorium. LA Daily News

Superintendent John Deasy via LA Weekly

From LA School Report contributor Hillel Aron:

“Bad teachers are rarely fired. In the 2005-06 school year, according to LAUSD’s human resources division, just six of L.A.’s army of 34,000 teachers were dismissed, and 10 were convinced to resign. In 2006-07, those numbers were three and 15….

“Without fanfare, the school district famous for its unacknowledged Dance of the Lemons — a policy of repeatedly transferring the worst teachers to unsuspecting new schools — has started to fire its bad teachers…

“Last year, 331 teachers flunked their Stull evaluations, and 89 of those were fired or pushed out.”

Read the rest of the story at LA Weekly.

Eric Garcetti Avoids Schoolyard Tussle With Wendy Greuel
On the heels of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa calling on the two mayoral candidates to step up and communicate their education platforms during his State of the City address Tuesday night, Wendy Greuel stepped up with a challenge to Eric Garcetti. KPCC
See also: LA School Report, Annenberg News, LA Times

LAUSD Superintendent Fires Lemon Teachers
The speed with which Deasy moves and speaks is well documented. He brings an uncomfortable impatience to the LAUSD supe’s job as he moves to increase the types of schools available to students (known as School Choice), raise achievement on test scores and graduation rates, and require accountability from L.A.’s more than 20,000 tenured-for-life teachers. LA Weekly

Education Coalition Wants to Stay Course in L.A. Unified
A coalition of groups, including the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, has launched an effort to put education at the center of the mayoral race and civic attention. LA Times
See also: LA School Report

Operation Back in School Sweeps up Truant Kids
Operation Back in School, a multi-agency task force in the Harbor area Wednesday to sweep up truant kids who should be in school. No citations were issued in a friendlier approach to the problem that offered counseling for kids and parents. Daily Breeze

Parents Choose Unique School Takeover Model in ‘Trigger’ Vote
In the latest test of California’s controversial “parent trigger” law, South Los Angeles parents have voted to transform their struggling neighborhood school into a charter school hybrid beginning this fall, organizers announced Wednesday. Hechinger Report
See also: LA Times, LA School Report

Garcetti and Greuel Trade Barbs on Union Support on Eve of Debate
Greuel has argued that her record as controller proves her judgment will not be swayed by campaign contributors. Appearing with school board member Garcia at a high school in Garcetti’s district, the controller contended that it is her former council colleague who is in the thrall of a union — United Teachers Los Angeles — which is supporting his bid for mayor. LA Times

Gates’ Warning on Test Scores
In a recent op-ed article, he cautions against overusing students’ standardized test scores in evaluating how well teachers are doing their jobs. LA Times Editorial

Here’s Why Students in Los Angeles Aren’t Going to College
The stakes just got higher for high-schoolers in Los Angeles—but will they be prepared? TakePart

Qualified Math Teachers Elusive for Struggling Students, Studies Find
In many schools in the United States, students struggling the most in mathematics at the start of high school have the worst odds of getting a qualified teacher in the subject, new research finds. EdWeek

When a Teacher Is 2 Feet Tall
This year, robots will be teaching everything from math to vocabulary to nutrition inside classrooms in California and New York, a move the researchers call a first in American education. WSJ

Alemany Enjoys Unified State at Championship Assembly
When Alemany celebrated the school’s first state championship last year, the boys basketball program had the spotlight all to itself. LA Daily News

Bullies Shoot 8th Grade Student With BB Gun in Class, Victim Says
LA school district police plan to investigate a shooting incident at a Carson middle school where a BB gun injured a 13-year-old student. NBC LA

Obama Budget Would Allocate $75 Billion Over Next Decade to Preschool
In an ambitious and highly anticipated budget plan, President Barack Obama called Wednesday for allocating $75 billion over the next 10 years to expand public preschool by raising the federal tax on tobacco products. EdSource

Slated for a vote at next Tuesday’s Board meeting, the Galatzan resolution would shorten the time it takes to inform teachers what they’re being accused of, speed the internal investigation process for teachers whose actions may be inappropriate but fall short of criminal prosecution, and put the internal investigation in the hands of district rather than school-based staff.

And — thanks to its modest scope and careful planning that went into the development process — the proposal by the San Fernando Valley-based Board member is being cosponsored not only by Board member Monica Garcia but also UTLA-friendly Board member Bennett Kayser, whom Galatzan says volunteered to co-sponsor the resolution.

“We met with [United Teachers of Los Angeles], [Associated Administrators of LA], and district staff,” said Galatzan. “We got everyone’s input on what they thought the problem was. That was our jumping-off point.”

The Board fired 99 teachers and allowed 122 others to resign last year, according to the Daily News — and has already fired 24 and allowed 92 to resign as of February 2013.

Normally, when a teacher is accused of physically and seriously harming a child (i.e., hitting them or touching them inappropriately), law enforcement officials investigate.

During the investigation, the teacher is removed from a classroom and placed in a so-called “teacher jail” or “rubber room” pending investigation of alleged misdeeds .

The time teachers spend there can be lengthy — most of it due the time it takes for law enforcement to do its investigation, according to Galatzan.

According to a November 2012 audit, LAUSD has been required to pay $3 million in salaries to 20 teachers who have been ‘housed’ (removed from site) the longest while being investigated for misconduct – including one who’s been housed for 4.5 years.

In most cases, teachers do not end up returning to the classroom.  Last year, only 16 returned, and only 14 have been reassigned as of December this year.

However, sometimes law enforcement, for a variety of reasons, determines that there is no criminal act or decides it can’t make the charges stick.

That’s where Galatzan’s resolution comes in.

“My resolution targets what happens next,” according to Galatzan.

Its main purpose is to deal with teachers being accused of the most serious of offenses — such as allegations of physical or sexual misconduct.

In these cases, the school district can investigate any violation of the State education code or the district rules.

Galatzan doesn’t know how many investigators would be needed. Should the Board approve her resolution, Superintendent John Deasy would report back within 90 days to say how many investigators the district should hire and how the district would pay for it.

In the meantime, Galatzan is optimistic about the new bill coming out of Sacramento, AB 375, that would make it easier for school districts to fire teachers found guilty of serious misconduct.

“My resolution is almost a companion piece,” she said. “Sacramento is working on making changes to the [state] ed code. My focus is on policies and procedures within the district.”

Previous posts: UTLA Have Different Plans to Reform “Teacher Jails“; UTLA Rails Against “Teacher Jails”; LAUSD’s Crowded “Rubber Rooms”; “Rubber Room” Teachers Rarely Return

New Analysis Bolsters Case Against Suspension, Researchers Say
The results of a new analysis of out-of-school-suspension data that show staggering rates of the punishment’s use at some schools are even more reason to rethink that common method of disciplining students, researchers said Monday. EdWeek
See also: KPCC, EdSource, Yahoo

LA Unified Off Track to Meet Deadline for College Prep Courses
Los Angeles Unified School District has some work ahead of it to meet its deadline for all students to pass college-preparatory classes in order to graduate. EdSource
See also: LA Daily News

California Federation of Teachers Lobbies Lawmakers
It’s lobby day for the California Federation of Teachers, which means members of the state’s second-biggest teachers union (after the California Teachers Association) are in Sacramento to petition lawmakers. Sac Bee

Shepard Fairey Taps LAUSD Students for Ideas
Fairey is the third high-profile L.A. artist who has signed on to participate in the “Arts Matter” public awareness campaign by the L.A. Fund for Public Education, which plasters artwork on city buses and billboards to help get their message out. LA Times

Targeting Classroom Predators: The Encore
Last June saw one of the rawest displays ever of the power wielded by the half-million-plus members of the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers. SD Union Tribune

LAO Seeks Conditions on Brown’s Surplus Property-Charter Proposal
The governor’s plan to provide charter schools with more access to surplus property appears to have support within the Legislature – but lawmakers also seem interested in conditioning the proposal. SI&A Cabinet Report

Reform Falls Short
Lest there was any doubt, it is now clear that the pension bill Gov. Jerry Brown signed last September was not reform, it was merely a tweak. San Jose Mercury Editorial

Long Beach Has Jumpstart on Transitional Kindergarten
When California school districts were required by state law to start a new early kindergarten class for some 4-year-olds for the first time this year, Long Beach Unified had an easier task than most: to simply expand the existing “preppy kindergarten” program it started five years ago. EdSource

Assemblymember Joan Buchanan

AB 375, a new bill meant to streamline teacher dismissals, could be headed for quick passage after clearing the State Assembly’s Education Committee with a 7 – 0 vote Thursday.

The bill’s chance at passing is undoubtedly aided by the announcement last week that the state’s largest teachers union, the California Teachers Association, was joining forces with Assemblymember Joan Buchanan and Senator Alex Padilla to support AB 375.

But the alliance of Padilla and Buchanan and the quick pace of action in the statehouse have left some observers confused and concerned. Is AB 375 a watered-down teacher dismissal bill? Or have the unions, legislators, and education advocates finally come to a working compromise that will help streamline the teacher dismissal process?

Edgar Zazueta, the director of government relations for LAUSD, praised AB 375 as a “step in the right direction.”

But he also expressed reservations.

“I think we’d argue that there’s more consideration to be done here. We thank [Buchanan] for moving in the right direction, but we think we could push envelope a little further,” Zazueta said.

LAUSD, StudentsFirst, EdVoice, and Democrats for Education Reform have expressed a mix of praise and concern.

To be sure, the CTA, Padilla, and Buchanan are unlikely allies.

The union vehemently opposed both of Padilla’s teacher dismissal bills (SB 10 and last year’s SB 1530), and when SB 1530 was up for vote in the Assembly last year, Buchanan helped kill the bill when she voted against it. Yet Padilla has shelved SB 10 and teamed up with Buchanan to help pass AB 375.

According to CTA spokesperson Frank Wells, the union supports AB 375 because the bill “does the things we wanted.” He cited how Buchanan’s bill leaves the final dismissal decision in the hands of a Commission on Professional Competence made up of two fellow teachers and an administrative law judge.

In SB 10, Padilla planned to limit the commission to having only an advisory role, instead giving the local school board the final decision on whether to fire a teacher. Padilla also wanted to exclude the teachers from the commission, reducing it to a lone judge. It was this plan to limit the commission to an advisory role that “was a major sticking point” for the CTA with SB 10, Wells said.

Reform-minded Gloria Romero, head of Democrats for Education Reform in California, is skeptical the bill will accomplish much. (Read her critical review of the CTA’s involvement with AB 375 in an O.C. Register column here.)

EdVoice and StudentsFirst praised Buchanan for lifting the statute of limitations on evidence that can be used against a teacher during the dismissal process. (Current law prohibits the use of evidence from more than four years ago.)

However, both groups said they are still reviewing the bill and deciding just what they think.

In a letter sent to Buchanan, EdVoice expressed specific concerns that AB 375 won’t effectively improve the dismissal process for teachers who have sexually or physically abused their students.

EdVoice CEO Bill Lucia told LA School Report that he has several issues with the bill. “There’s no question whatsoever that SB 10 was more streamlined than AB 375 in terms of dealing with people who are child predators on the payroll at taxpayers’ expense,” Lucia said.

Lucia’s main concern clashes directly with the CTA’s praise for AB 375: The bill maintains the current law that gives the Commission on Professional Competence the final dismissal decision for teachers accused of “immoral conduct” such as sexual and physical abuse.

“To maintain the same process for someone who can’t teach and for someone who is a child molester is unacceptable,” Lucia said. “That kind of behavior is criminal, not a matter of professional competence.”

Lucia also takes issue with AB 375’s revised timelines, which have been extended longer in some cases than the timelines SB 10 proposed. While SB 10 would have required hearings to begin 60 days after a teacher asked for it, AB 375 allows the hearing to start within six months; and while SB 10 required that the Commission reviewing the case to choose its three members within seven days, AB 375 extended the time to 45 days.

The CTA’s Frank Wells defended the new timelines: “Padilla’s bill may have had a shorter timeline, but it was less fair. We want to streamline process, but we also want to give people adequate time to prepare their cases.”

Both EdVoice and StudentsFirst say they’re in the process of carefully inspecting AB 375 and meeting with stakeholders, including parents, teachers, and community members, to decide whether or not AB 375 has enough force to merit their support. They expect to decide by the end of the month.

To read the full text of AB 375, go here; for SB 10, go here.

Previous posts: Lawmaker Supports Former Opponent’s Teacher Dismissal Bill; Report: Teacher Dismissals Costly, Lengthy; Commentary: Implications of a Bloom Win

Teacher Dismissal Bill Off and Running With Committee Approval
A bill intended to make it quicker and less costly to dismiss teachers received a 7-0 approval from the Assembly Education Committee on Wednesday, and its author – the chair of the committee, Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo – received much praise from her colleagues for taking on a contentious issue. EdSource
See also: Sac Bee

Calif. Districts’ Waiver Bid Now in Review Phase
The U.S. Department of Education and a band of outside peer reviewers are now weighing the details of a precedent-setting waiver application from nine districts in California that want flexibility under the No Child Left Behind Act even though their state’s bid for a waiver was unsuccessful. EdWeek

L.A. Unified Filling Security Jobs Created After Newtown Shooting
Los Angeles Unified has hired more than 750 security aides in response to the 26 deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. About 250 openings remain. LA Times

California’s Prop 30 Gains Could Be Eaten Up by Crisis in Teacher Pension System
A recent report from the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office found a $70 billion shortfall in state teachers’ retirement plans — and that deficit has the potential to suck up a significant amount of Prop 30 revenue. HuffPo

Atlanta Cheating Scandal Reverberates
The criminal indictments last week of retired Atlanta schools Superintendent Beverly L. Hall and 34 other educators for their alleged roles in a far-reaching cheating scandal could have widespread fallout and potentially undermine efforts in other school districts to improve the academic achievement of poor and minority students, according to education leaders. EdWeek

Winners of Head Start Grant Re-Competition Announced
Every one of the four California Head Start operators required to compete for their federal grant in a new process aimed at improving program quality was told Tuesday that their grant had been renewed. But some of those grants will be smaller next year, as the money will now be divided between additional grantees. EdSource

Educators and Safety Experts Reject NRA-Funded Plan
Leading educational and school safety groups rejected key recommendations of a National Rifle Association-funded school safety report released Tuesday. MSNBC

5 Disruptive Education Trends That Address American Inequality
Fixing how we teach our children is of paramount importance. What if the solution also started to fix America’s broader socioeconomic problems? New ways of thinking about edtech just might start that process. Co.Exist

Calif. Bill Would Require Panic Alarms in Schools
Lawmakers gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a bill that would require panic alarms to be installed throughout school campuses in California, but only if the federal government pays for it. AP

School-to-Prison Pipeline Presents Growing Concern for Administrators
Federal mediators and public school administrators in Meridian, Miss., have reached a landmark agreement to launch a rewards-based disciplinary plan, aimed at keeping in the classroom more black students who routinely received harsher disciplinary action when accused of relatively minor infractions. LA Daily News

An Urban School District That Works — Without Miracles or Teach For America
Union City makes an unlikely poster child for education reform. It’s a poor community with an unemployment rate 60 percent higher than the national average. Three-quarters of the students live in homes where only Spanish is spoken. A quarter are thought to be undocumented, living in fear of deportation. WaPo Opinion