Superintendent John Deasy, left, UTLA President Warren Fletcher, right

The Los Angeles teachers union said today that LA Unified’s application for a federal Race to the Top grant had “so many glaring problems” that the union could not support it.

This was the second straight year the union refused to sign off on the district’s application, which was unanimously approved by the school board. Union participation is a federal requirement for submission.

Tamar Galatzan, an LA Unified Board member, called the union’s decision “a travesty,” adding: “This district is still woefully short of funds,” she said in a statement. “To turn down millions in funding for our neediest and most at-risk students at a time like this is inexcusable. Our mission is to serve students above all else, and this action did not do that.”

Board member Monica Garcia agreed, saying, “Children lose when leadership stands in opposition rather than finding solutions to work together for the benefit of our children and communities.”

A statement from the union, United Teachers Los Angeles, said union officials last month expressed concerns with the district about the grant proposal and said the district “did not collaborate” with union president Warren Fletcher, who was only presented the proposal a day before the deadline.

The union complained that “pages were not numbered in this thick document and appendixes were missing. There was nothing to indicate what, if any, changes had been made.”

The union further questioned what would happen to counselors who would only be funded for two years by a four-year grant. The statement also said portions of money for digital “tablets” and training were “earmarked for an outside vendor and the District failed to provide any information on the vetting process.”

For all those reasons, the statement said, Fletcher found it not in the best interest of district students.

“I hope a day comes soon when the leadership of UTLA supports its teachers and our students by being a partner in bringing much needed resources to LAUSD,” said Superintendent John Deasy in a press release, announcing the demise of the application.

Elise Buik, CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, which is leading an effort to involve more teachers and administrators in district spending decisions, said: “Its disappointing to see funding opportunities for students squandered away because of adult politics.  Students lose here, and so do thousands of teachers who want more funds for their classrooms.  It’s a deeply frustrating situation.”

According to LA Unified’s submission, the district was seeking $29.7 million in federal grant money to serve 20,500 students, with three specific goals:

• All graduating 12th graders are proficient, having completed a rigorous college preparatory curriculum and participated in a career pathway.
• All 9th grade students earn enough credits to reach 10th grade on-time, thereby ensuring they are on track for high school graduation.
• All 8th grade students leave middle school at or above grade-level proficiency, so that they are ready to take on the challenges of high school work and not require significant remediation.

A spokesman for the California Federation of Teachers, Fred Glass, said it’s not unusual for local unions to decline participation. “One reason for the refusal,” he told LA School Report, “is that one of the requirements is teacher evaluation based in part on state standardized test schools. That’s a line in the sand for many unions.”

The district’s statement made no mention of evaluation issues.

Glass also said that union’s contend that the value of the grant is often less than the costs of administering it, which is the reason UTLA cited when it declined to join the district’s application last year.

Deasy sent the application in anyway, but it was rejected by the U.S. Department of Education, which said the application was incomplete without UTLA signing off on it.

*Includes UTLA response.

Previous posts: School Board Approves New Application for Race to the Top; LAUSD Applies Without Union Support; Union Unmoved by Hurricane Extension; 

In Part One of a two-part interview, LA School Report contributor Vanessa Romo talks with Deasy about his relationship with teachers, the challenges of pioneering the new Common Core curriculum and the possibility that district-wide test scores might fall this year.

Q: Despite the upward trend of metrics that suggest the district is making progress – rising API scores, increasing graduation rates, and a significant reduction in suspension rates – the vast majority of respondents* to a teachers’ union survey found your performance either “below average” or “poor”, especially when it comes to morale and spending money. How do you answer your critics?

A: I can make no sense of it whatsoever. I have a fantastic relationship with the teachers of this district. Our teachers are doing a phenomenal job. I’ve been calling on the Board to give teachers and all employees a raise. I admire them, and I’m not confused about my mission, which is to lift youth out of poverty.

If you want to get technical about it, I don’t spend money. I make recommendations, and the [school] board decides. So since my recommendation is that 96 cents of every dollar go to schools, I don’t even know how to respond to that statement. I’m looking for partners to do this work with the teachers union leadership. I would love to have a partner to advance this work and recognize great teaching.

(*About 27 percent of the union’s 32,000 members participated in the survey.)

Q: In a speech at the teachers’ union leadership conference, UTLA President Warren Fletcher said you have conducted a “witch hunt” on teachers, and that Los Angeles “has become the teacher dismissal capital of California. While LAUSD employs about 10 percent of the state’s teachers, the district accounts for nearly 40 percent of California’s teacher dismissal cases.” Are you on a witch hunt?

A: Of course not. The board recommends to dismiss teachers when they harm children. Like when they sleep with a child or do drugs with a child or strike a child or steal money from the system; that’s when people get dismissed. I think those are morally obligatory reasons to have no one working with a child.

I don’t criticize the union, and I don’t criticize their leadership. I think the record is explicitly clear, I’ve never actually had a criticism out loud of Warren Fletcher.  But I certainly hope he wants to be a partner for the new $30 million in federal money to honor classroom practice that’s in Race to the Top. I hope they don’t leave that money on the table again.

Q: California’s Department of Education has yet to develop materials to support the new common core guidelines. In fact, state lawmakers suspended textbook adoptions until a year after students take the first mandated test under Common Core standards. How do you prepare students for a test without textbooks?

A: We can’t wait for the state. We actually have to provide for our teachers already and that’s what we’ve been rolling out this summer. There are curriculum materials for every single grade in the subject in the common core in every classroom developed by our teachers. We just launched digital texts for English language arts K-12 that was developed for LAUSD, and all of the training being done by our own teachers. We call them Common Core Fellows. We are absolutely prepared for the new school year.

Q: Leaders of the California Teachers Association and American Federation of Teachers have asked the U.S. Dept. of Education to temporarily suspend penalties on schools that score poorly on tests until teachers and students can “master this new approach.” Do you agree that a moratorium is necessary?

A: We’re making one of the biggest adjustments ever in education. People have been trying to make the case that teachers need time to train, and that’s absolutely true. I think the use of the test and accountability systems, [those] merit real pause as we learn to teach in a new way, and I’d like that to be two to three years.  But I don’t think we should have a moratorium on tests to let us know how students are doing.

Q: Do you have a strategy for managing the public-relations problem or morale problem that could arise when scores on the new tests look worse than those on the state’s current tests?

A: Test scores are going to change completely because it’s an entirely different system. You actually can’t compare California Standardized Tests to Smarter Balance. The scores themselves will be very, very different and what you’re doing is setting a new baseline. If you think that at one point you were at 80 percent, and now you’re 40 percent, so, therefore, it’s plummeting morale, it’s quite the opposite.

We were talking about this the whole week with Principal groups. People who care so much about this profession, their anxiety is up, and what we wanted to say is: Use the time to really focus on leading improvement of practice. Stop being so concerned about results until we actually learn how to do this.

Part Two of the interview appears tomorrow.

 Previous Posts: Defiant Deasy Says He’ll Push Targeted Spending Plan Anyway, Deasy Skirmish With Board Members a Long Time Coming, Board Members Ask Deasy To Explain Himself

School Boards Join Movement Against Out-of-School Suspensions
The National School Boards Association has labeled the use of out-of-school suspensions a “crisis” in a new report. EdWeek

Baldwin Park School District Wins #1 Spot in Closing the Achievement Gap
Recently we reported on two schools in the Baldwin Park school district that have unique programs: a high school that helps teenage parents stay in school, and an elementary school where teaching a dual language immersion program is yielding top results. KPCC

Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti Engage in Acrimonious Debate
Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti blasted one another with a torrent of allegations Wednesday night in the most acrimonious debate of the Los Angeles mayor’s race. LA Times

Frustrated Parents Fought to Reclaim Their Kids’ Destiny—And It Worked
The parents of children attending the 24th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles made history this week. And, in doing so, the use of ‘Parent Trigger’ legislation to ensure parents have a seat at the education decision-making table for their children has gone mainstream. TakePart Op-Ed

Voters Favor Extra Funds for Poor Students but Not English Learners
A majority of Californians support Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposal to provide additional funding to districts with more low-income and English learner students, according to a newly released poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. EdSource

Students Rally to Support Adult Education Programs
A group of adult education students held a rally Wednesday to demand greater funding for adult education programs. LA Times

New RTTT Competition Announced, Targets Early Learning
The majority of the Obama administration’s remaining 2013 Race to the Top funds – some $370 million – will be available for states looking to develop successful early learning programs for children, according to an announcement Tuesday. SI&A Cabinet Report

Education Advocate Michelle Rhee Fends Off Accusations
Michelle Rhee, head of a group that advocates using student test scores to evaluate teachers, fends off accusations that she failed to pursue evidence of cheating when she ran the D.C. school system. LA Times

Study: Charters Get Less Funding Than Traditional Public Schools
Public charter schools received significantly less funding than traditional public schools in five cities, including the District, between 2007 and 2011, according to a new study released Wednesday. WaPo

CA Legislature Kills Bill to Shield Identities of Armed Teachers
A bill pushed by Assemblyman Tim Donnelly to train and shield armed “school marshals” failed to make it out of the Assembly Education Committee today after a 5-1 vote. Sac Bee

Southland Schools Come up Empty in Contest for Federal Grants
No district or organization in the region qualified for Race to the Top money. Green Dot Public Schools could have received $30 million but fell short. LA Times

LAUSD Board Narrowly OKs New Parent Policy at Low-Income Schools
A long-simmering controversy about which parents can have a voice at Los Angeles Unified’s low-income schools erupted Tuesday, with boisterous critics accusing a district administrator of bullying and discriminatory tactics. LA Daily News

L.A. School Menus to Keep Aiming High in Childhood Obesity Fight
The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education approved a resolution to continue monitoring and improving its nationally recognized food and nutrition policy. Marina del Rey Patch

Parents to Hear About Future of Crenshaw High School
Crenshaw High School may soon go the way of Dorsey, Manual Arts and Westchester high schools; it could face a district takeover as early as next year. KPCC

November Success Prompts Bill for 2014 State Bond for School Facilities
Buoyed by voter support last month for two measures benefitting public education, a key lawmaker introduced legislation late last week that would place a statewide school facilities bond measure on the ballot in 2014. S&A Cabinet Report

Three California Districts Win in Federal Race to the Top Competition
Three California school districts are among 16 winners in the latest round of the federal Race to the Top funding competition. The relatively small districts beat out several of the state’s largest districts, which didn’t even make it into the final round. EdSource

Four CA Districts Make Race to the Top Finals
Out of 17 districts that applied for a share of the nearly $400 million in federal grant money, only four made the cut to the finals.  Districts that didn’t make the cut include Los Angeles, Fresno and Clovis Unified. EdSource Daily

Charter Group, but Not L.A. Unified, Finalist for Race to the Top
A local charter school organization is a finalist for a high-profile federal grant, but the Los Angeles Unifed School District failed to qualify in the same competition. LA Times

Great Uncertainty Over Direction of State Standardized Tests
What subjects should be tested, for whom, how often (not every year in every subject, perhaps), at what cost, and, perhaps the biggest question, for what purpose? EdSource

Inglewood Superintendent Returns to Turn Schools Around
Kent Taylor hopes to stabilize the insolvent district that he says set him on his course through life. But not everyone is rooting for him. LA Times

SBE Waivers Provide LEAs Relief From Class Size Restrictions
Requests to exceed class size limits continue to dominate the State Board of Education’s waiver calendar, with 10 districts this month seeking relief from various provisions of the laws aimed at maintaining low student-teacher ratios. SI&A Cabinet Report

LAUSD Teacher Pleads Guilty to Molesting Underage Girl
A Los Angeles Unified School District teacher pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to molesting an underage girl and leading police on a wild pursuit. CBS

Charter Schools Chain Cut Costs and Reformed Spending to Stay Open
The head of Inner City Education Foundation – ICEF – Public Schools, Parker Hudnut, detailed cost cutting and major philanthropic help as he described a two-year effort that’s led the 14-campus charter school company on a financial turnaround. KPCC

Well it took the US Department of Education about five minutes to reject LAUSD’s application, and — thanks to 300 peer reviewers — it took just a few weeks to whittle nearly 1200 district applications down to 61 finalists.

LAUSD is not one of them, of course, but Animo Charter High School (a part of Green Dot) is included on the list.  And in related news, Green Dot founder Steve Barr noted that Green Dot NYC was awarded a “big fat A” by the NYC Department of Education.

*UPDATE: Also on Monday, Green Dot announced that founder Barr had resigned from its board, severing the last remaining official connection between them. See LA Daily News for more.

Previous posts:  LAUSD Applies Without Union Support, Deasy’s Go-It-Alone Application, Cautious Union, Sad Superintendent

However, thanks to an all-out effort and a fair bit of compromise, Fresno was able to win an agreement with its local union, as were Denver, Las Vegas, and even Chicago.

The Huffington Post LA and the  LA Daily News editorial page criticized the teachers union for the collapse of talks in LA.

The LA Times editorial page put the blame on both parties: “Both UTLA and Supt. John Deasy could have been more flexible on the cost issue.”

Previous posts: Deasy’s “Go-It-Alone” Application, Chicago Teachers Approve “Race” Application, LAUSD Applies Without Union Support

Campaign Spending to Promote Props. 30 and 38 Exceeds $100 million
Proponents of Propositions 30 and 38 have now poured a combined total of $117 million to convince voters to support their respective measures, both of which are intended to raise billions of dollars for schools and other programs. Ed Source 

Prop. 30: OC Schools Struggle Amid Anti-Tax Fervor
The district’s students have already lost a week of instruction this year and stand to lose two more weeks if Prop. 30 does not pass. But Capo Unified admnistrators don’t talk about that. KPCC

State Supreme Court Wants Arizona Donors Audited
The high court orders a group that donated $11 million to a fund fighting Prop. 30 and supporting Prop. 32 to hand over records. The group is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. LA Times

Is There a Plan B For the State Budget if California’s Proposition 30 Fails?
Education leaders have privately discussed fallback efforts to spare schools from some of the worst consequences, especially after the initiative fell below 50 percent in recent polls. Sac Bee

Fresno Teachers Union Lets District Apply For Federal Grant
After a marathon debate, the Fresno teachers union agreed to endorse its school district’s application for a federal grant that would require controversial changes in instructor evaluations. LA Times

Ed Source has more

LAUSD Parent Centers Aim to Boost Involvement at Schools
Los Angeles Unified School District’s parent centers offer free classes that focus on parents’ needs, from helping their children with their homework to learning English. LA Times

LAUSD and Mental Health Partners Get Grant For Trauma Work
The $2.4-million grant will aid the school district’s work with students struggling after exposure to traumatic events. The district partners with UCLA, USC and the Rand Corp. LA Times

Interest in Master Teacher Credential For California Won’t Go Away
After years of debate and discussion, supporters of a new master teacher credential in California find themselves largely back at square one following a veto this fall of a bill promoting the concept. SI&A Cabinet Report

A Better Way to Grade Teachers
Effective evaluation requires rigorous, ongoing assessment by experts who review teachers’ instruction, looking at classroom practice and evidence of student learning. LA Times (opinion)

“I think both sides are ready to fight each other full steam on Tuesday [after the election],” said one insider who didn’t want to be named. “He’s just smarter and more nimble than UTLA, so he started throwing a few punches. ”

“It is a publicity stunt,” said another observer. “There was no tangible chance of it getting approved.” [Indeed, the U.S. Department of Education rejected the application almost immediately.]

Deasy also knew he had Board members on the record in support of the proposal. As he references in his letter to Secretary Duncan, the Board voted unanimously in support of the district’s Race to the Top application just last month, on October 9th.

Previous posts: Chicago Teachers Approve “Race” Application, LAUSD Applies Without Union Support, Update: Cautious Union, Sad Superintendent, Union Unmoved by Hurricane Extension

L.A. Unified Competes For U.S. Funds Without Key Element
A handful of California school districts have overcome hesitation or distrust from teacher unions to agree on applying for a high-profile, controversial federal grant. Los Angeles Unified, however, has opted to compete for the award without union endorsement, which it could not obtain. LA Times

Prop. 30 Fact Check
KPCC’s Tami Abdollah is fact checking the different arguments against proposition 30.  KPCC

Student-Centered Teacher Evaluations Focus on Learning Goals
Though the teacher evaluation bill, AB 5, collapsed again in August, there is wide agreement on the state’s responsibility to ensure that every student has an effective teacher.  Ed Source

California Ballot Holds Credit Risk for School Districts
If voters in California next week reject ballot measures to raise taxes, school districts in the Golden State will be among the first victims of spending cuts – a major concern not only for teachers and parents but also bondholders. Reuters

The Chicago Teachers Union, which recently went on strike

Not too far removed from the seven-day strike that captured the nation’s attention in September, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has signed off on the district’s Race to the Top application.

“Chicago — one of the most militant teachers unions in country — sees the light of day, and UTLA is still hiding under a rock,” noted Los Angeles-based Democratic political consultant Mike Trujillo.

However, it is not yet clear whether the as yet-unannounced Chicago agreement resembles the Los Angeles proposal in all its key details.

Meanwhile, a group of community leaders, including  Elise Buik of United Way and Ama Nyamekye of Educators 4 Excellence sent a letter to the union head urging him to reconsider: “There is nothing controversial about these services,” noted the letter. “Indeed, our schools have viewed these resources as scarce luxuries in this harsh economic climate.” (Read the whole letter here.)

Previous posts: LAUSD Applies Without Union Support, Update: Cautious Union, Sad Superintendent, Union Unmoved by Hurricane Extension

“Although UTLA refused to be a partner in this critically important grant,” said Deasy in a press release, “I will advocate for it on behalf of the administrators, students, and faculty of this District.  To that end, I have instructed staff to submit an application with all required signatures except that of the teacher’s union.”

You can read the full press release here.  You can read Deasy’s letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan here via KPCC. The Obama administration established the district-focused version of Race to the Top in order to give access to districts in states like California that had not applied for or won Race to the Top funding.

Update: According to Barbara Jones of the Daily News, the U.S. Department of Education considers the application incomplete without UTLA’s endorsement.

Previous posts: Update: Cautious Union, Sad Superintendent, Union Unmoved by Hurricane Extension

This Daily News story (LAUSD, other districts miss out on Race to the Top grants) has UTLA head Fletcher expressing his cost concerns:  “You’re essentially setting up a system with a lot of bureaucracy, and those pieces have to stay.” This KPCC story (LA teachers union blocks LAUSD’s Race to the Top) highlights UTLA’s argument that the grant would have cost the district too much, with a supportive quote from former board member Tokofsky. This HuffPost LA editorial (Teachers Union Just Cost Us $40 Million) takes a harsh look at the situation, blaming UTLA and CTA for a series of failures to win federal education funding in recent years.

Dan Walters: What to Do if Proposition 30 Fails?
As the political odds turn against Proposition 30, Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax measure, political insiders are turning their attention, however reluctantly, to the fallout should, indeed, voters reject the sales and income tax hike on Tuesday. Sac Bee (Commentary)

How Proposition 30 Can Still Win
If the November turnout is only 62 percent of registered voters, Proposition 30 will lose because that electorate will be much more like a non-presidential year electorate than what we are used to in a presidential year. Fox and Hounds

More coverage of UTLA’s refusal to sign off on the Race to the Top application: CBS, ABC, Witness LA and KPCC

San Jose Unified, Teachers Reach Breakthrough Evaluation, Pay Plan
The superintendent of San Jose Unified and leaders of the district’s teachers union have agreed on an innovative evaluation and compensation system that, if implemented, would be significantly different from any in California. Ed Source

State and School Officials, Students Getting First-Hand Look at Computer Testing
Small-scale trials of new computer-aided assessments are underway. They will be used starting in 2014-15. SI&A Cabinet Report 

When the United States Department of Education announced yesterday that the deadline for Race to the Top applications was being been pushed back due to Hurricane Sandy, a Washington, DC trade publication called Education Week wondered whether the delay might give LAUSD more time to negotiate with UTLA for a chance at as much as $40 million.

But, when LA School Report called in to check with LAUSD about this yesterday afternoon, Superintendent John Deasy’s response was that the extension didn’t matter. “Negotiations have ended,” Deasy told LA School Report. “UTLA won’t be a partner on this.”

Officially, the union’s opposition to the grant application isn’t related to teacher evaluations.  UTLA President Warren Fletcher told LA School Report that the decision came from the belief that the grant would be worth less than the cost to comply with.

Previous posts: Still No Race to the Top Deal, Union Blocks $40M Grant Plan, Big Interest In “Race” Money

See also the LA Times

Gov. Jerry Brown Has Yet to Pick a Central Prop. 30 Sales Pitch
Mixed messages about Gov. Jerry Brown’s tax-hike initiative underscore his struggle pitching Prop. 30 to voters and have provided fodder for foes. LA Times

Credit Rating for California School Districts Could be Downgraded if Props 30 & 38 Fail
Moody’s Investors Service says the forecast for California school districts is dire, and many are at risk of having their credit rating downgraded if both ballot measures fail. KPCC

Texas, California Do Compete – in Funding Race to the Bottom
In this state, where only 25 percent of schoolchildren are non-Hispanic whites, but 66 percent of likely voters are, it’s not hard to understand why voters are so resistant to tax increases even for public education. Ed Source

SBE’s Charter Network Struggles Like Other Schools With Federal AYP
A new report on the performance of the sprawling network of charter schools under the management of the California State Board of Education found most made progress last year – although like the majority of all other schools statewide, most board-authorized charters also failed to meet federal benchmarks. SI&A Cabinet Report

For These High School Grads, Pomp With Different Circumstances
A fall graduation ceremony in Montebello honors students who had a second chance to catch up. LA Times 

LAUSD Unveils State-of-the-Art Science Center Named for Astronaut Sally Ride
The Sally Ride Center for Environmental Science is a $4.8 million LEED-certified facility that sits behind the Sonia M. Sotomayor Learning Academies. KPCC

New Playa Vista Elementary School Opens After Overcoming Skeptics
On Monday, the brand-new Playa Vista Elementary School just off Lincoln Boulevard held its official grand opening ceremony, complete with statements from politicians, educators, parents and students – many of whom were not yet born when the plan to build the school was conceived. Daily Breeze 

Four L.A. Unified Schools to Offer Free Flu Clinics
Four schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District will offer free flu vaccination clinics Tuesday for students, their families and staff, district officials announced Monday at the Edward Roybal Learning Center. LA Times 

Measuring the Worth of a Teacher?
L.A. Unified School District’s Academic Growth Over Time measurement system, based on students’ progress on standardized tests, spurs debate over fairness, accuracy. LA Times

State Strips 23 Schools of API Rankings for Cheating
Teachers helped students correct mistakes on standardized tests, prepared them with actual test questions or left instructional posters displayed in the classroom during testing, according to school district reports. LA Times

Proposition 30 Analysis: Does California Need More Tax Money?
Even if the measure fails, funding for schools is expected to increase 21 percent from 2012 to 2015 because of economic growth. The $6 billion trigger-cut figure stems from the fact that he and the Legislature started the budget year by assuming that Proposition 30 would pass. Daily News

Brown Brings Prop. 30 Campaign to L.A.’s Grand Central Market
Fighting for support for his tax-hike initiative to help fund education, Gov. Jerry Brown aims his message at Latinos. LA Times

Scare Tactics — and Scary Protests Over Prop. 30 — and Some School-Based Advocacy May Be Illegal
With less than two weeks before the Nov. 6 elections, officials have been stressing the potentially devastating impacts on public education if the measure fails. But some critics call these methods scare tactics and in at least one case say the educators’ efforts violated election laws. Daily News

State Auditor Takes a Closer Look at LAUSD Misconduct Cases, Practices
State auditors are expected to finish in the coming weeks a formal review of how Los Angeles Unified handled claims of misconduct lodged against teachers and other employees, including whether district officials followed all applicable laws. SI&A Cabinet Report

LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer Honored as Elected Official of the Year
Los Angeles Board of Education Member Steve Zimmer is being honored Saturday as the 2012-13 Elected Official of the Year by the California Association of School Counselors. Patch / Press Release

A Lot is New Under the Hood in High School Auto Shop Classes
Auto shop’s long skid in the face of budget cuts and a shift toward college-prep classes may be reversing. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the San Diego Unified School District. LA Times

See also Ed Source

Molly Munger’s Prop. 38 Is Spoiling Jerry Brown’s Prop. 30. She’s Not Sorry.
Both proposals could fail, leaving Brown and the Legislature to grapple with huge budget cuts they’ve threatened to make to schools and other government programs. LA Weekly

L.A. Schools Chief Urges Union Cooperation on Federal Funds
The union fears the grant won’t cover all the costs of implementing the district’s proposal. LA Times

See also LA Daily News and Ama Nyamekye’s editorial in the Huffington Post

LAUSD Loses Appeal in Settlement of Teacher-Layoff Lawsuit
The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to overturn an appellate court ruling invalidating a landmark settlement that would have exempted dozens of struggling Los Angeles Unified schools from seniority-based layoffs. Daily News

Innovation at L.A. and Long Beach School Districts May Pave Way for Others
The innovative actions by eight school districts — including LAUSD and LBUSD — who have come together to form a consortium that plans to seek federal funds to be targeted toward students is encouraging. Daily News (editorial)

Charter Schools Surpass 1,000 Campuses in California
The popularity of charter schools continued to grow this year as the movement marked its 20th anniversary, with 109 new campuses bringing the statewide total to 1,065, an industry association said Wednesday. The California Charter Schools Association reported that enrollment in charters grew by 17 percent, increasing by 70,000 students to 484,000. Daily News 

Federal Audit Finds Lax Charter School Oversight in California
In this state, they found that the people assigned to inspect charter schools were unqualified and didn’t know what was expected of them. KPCC

Report: LAUSD Misses Mandated Special Ed Targets
Los Angeles Unified schools failed to meet targets for providing speech therapy and other instructional services to special-education students as required by the settlement of a 1993 lawsuit, according to a report released Wednesday. Daily News

Calif. Poised to Spotlight ELLs Stalled in Schools EdWeek: California is poised to become the first state to unmask the extent to which English-language learners languish in public schools for years without ever reaching fluency.

Teacher Evaluations At Center Of Chicago Strike NPR: In California, after the state legislature mandated the use of student progress benchmarks to rate teachers, an education reform group sued the Los Angeles Unified School District to force the issue.

Segregation Prominent in Schools, Study Finds New York Times: Across the country, 43 percent of Latinos and 38 percent of blacks attend schools where fewer than 10 percent of their classmates are white, according to the report, released on Wednesday by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Skeptical unions pose challenge to districts’ Race to the Top Ed Source: Nearly 900 districts nationwide, including 76 districts and charter schools in California, have told the federal government that they plan to compete for the final $400 million Race to the Top district competition. But with local unions having in effect a veto over their districts’ application, that number could dwindle.

Governor Signs CTA Bill to Help Laid-off Educators Retrain for Hard-to-Staff Fields CTA Blog: Teachers laid off because of California’s bruising education funding cuts will be able to collect unemployment benefits while retraining to fill other teaching positions in California’s shortage fields because of Gov. Jerry Brown’s signing of a CTA-backed bill.

Brown kills bill establishing study committee on school finance EdSource: Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have created a task force to explore options for school finance reform, thus ensuring that his own weighted student formula won’t be drowned out in a marketplace of ideas when the Legislature convenes in January.

Most adults don’t think social isolation is bullying: poll KPCC: And only 56 percent of parents believe social exclusion of a student, which may be linked to school violence and teen suicide, merits school intervention.

CSU board OKs tuition increase — good only if Prop. 30 fails LA Times: Trustees vote 11 to 3 for the 5% tuition hike that would raise $58 million in 2012-13. If the Prop. 30 tax-increase measure fails, CSU faces a $250-million loss.

Texas adopts CA’s strategy on NCLB waiver, prompting new risk SI&A Cabinet Report: California is no longer the only state trying to get relief from the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act without committing to the conditions set down by the Obama administration – Texas is trying to do the same thing.

11 parcel taxes, 44 school bonds on November ballot Ed Source: In this round, however, five of the 11 districts are in Central or Southern California: Santa Barbara Unified, Ventura Unified, and three in Los Angeles County – Centinela Valley Union High School District, Lake City School District (near Whittier), and Westside Union School District (in Quartz Hill).

Deferred Action hopefuls flood LA schools with doc requests Fox News: The LAUSD confirmed that since Aug. 15, when the Deferred Action program went into effect, it has built up a backlog of more than 2,300 requests for transcripts or diplomas. Applicants must prove that they have resided continuously in the country since ..

Parent Trigger Movie ‘Won’t Back Down’ Inspired by L.A. Weekly Feature Story LA Weekly: Although some would beg to differ, the Weekly’s Patrick Range McDonald claims his own award-winning piece on the Parent Trigger fight in Compton was the inspiration for the new film.

I Have to Leave LAUSD … Teaching Ate Me Alive City Watch: A teacher explains why he’s leaving the profession: “It wasn’t one single incident that made me quit teaching in a public middle school. It was the steady, moldy accumulation of dehumanizing, lifeless, squalid misadventures of which I was a part.”