-
Commentary: No single solution to the making of great schools
By Ama Nyamekye What makes a great school? This fundamental question has been lost in a heated debate about a draft proposal spearheaded by the Broad Foundation, the most controversial part of which includes a plan to accelerate charter school growth in LAUSD. This idea has sparked concern and curiosity among parents, community members, philanthropists...
By Guest contributor | November 17, 2015
-
Coalition Calls on Gov. Brown to Veto Testing Bill, AB 484
A coalition representing “tens of thousands” of parents, teachers and education reform organizations is petitioning Governor Jerry Brown to veto a bill letting California schools off the hook for testing students while the state transitions to a new curriculum and testing model. Gov. Brown has expressed his support for AB 484 and has has until...
By Vanessa Romo | September 19, 2013
-
With Few Leadership Options, LA Teachers Drop Out
“Dear Mayor of Los Angeles,” Educators 4 Excellence writes in the introduction of a new report that contends LAUSD’s most effective teachers don’t have enough leadership opportunities to keep them in their classrooms. The new report, STEP: Supporting Teachers as Empowered Professionals, aims to reverse L.A. Unified’s high turnover rate, close to 50 percent according...
By Brianna Sacks | July 18, 2013
-
Pictures: Deasy & Ratliff at Effective Teachers Event
Earlier this month, Educators 4 Excellence-Los Angeles (E4E) held an event at which the teacher advocacy group unveiled a set of recommendations its members had developed, which included ideas for retaining and rewarding effective teachers in LAUSD. Below, you can check out some snapshots provided by E4E from the event, which was attended by Board...
By Brianna Sacks | June 28, 2013
Schools After COVID: 6 Ways For Districts to Better Engage Parents Amid Concerns About COVID Learning Loss
74 Interview: Why Social Media is Being Blamed for the Youth Suicide Crisis
Thousands of Schools at Risk of Closing Due to Enrollment Loss
Free New AI Tool to Help Americans Search and Compare Student Test Scores Across All 50 States
-
Board Member-Elect Clarifies Teacher Pay Position
More than a few eyebrows were raised when School Board member-elect Monica Ratliff appeared at a Thursday Educators for Excellence (E4E) event and seemed to signal support for some kind of a test-based pay system to attract and keep good teachers in LA classrooms. See LA School Report (Ratliff Supports Proposal Linking Teacher Pay to Test Scores)...
By Hillel Aron | June 17, 2013
-
Board Candidates Differ on Teacher Retention, School Turnaround
According to a press release distributed by the teacher advocacy group Educators 4 Excellence, District 6 School Board candidates Monica Ratliff and Antonio Sanchez agreed on several things during recent interviews (such as Superintendent Deasy’s leadership of the district and charter schools) but disagreed on others (including teacher retention and school improvement strategies). Hear the...
By Alexander Russo | May 13, 2013
-
Teacher Advocacy Group to Interview Board Candidates
It’s not a live public forum or debate where we can see the candidates answer questions or exchange views in real time, but it’s better than nothing: Educators 4 Excellence, an organization that advocates for teachers to take a more active role in shaping education policies, plans to host a podcast interview with District 6...
By Samantha Oltman | May 6, 2013
-
Reform-Minded Teachers No Match for Deasy Referendum
If UTLA’s referendum on John Deasy meant little to the Superintendent himself, and wasn’t persuasive to UTLA-endorsed mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti, it was, perhaps, a sign of just how little clout teacher groups like Teach Plus, Educators 4 Excellence and Teachers for a New Unionism have exhibited thus far within the union. Those groups, which...
By Hillel Aron | April 23, 2013
-
Local Groups Join Up for School Improvements
A panoply of community groups and education-related organizations are forming a super-coalition called “Communities for Los Angeles Student Success” (or CLASS) in an effort to help fill the void that is expected to be left when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa leaves office in July. “The mayor had a large bully pulpit when it came to education,” said Ryan...
By Hillel Aron | April 11, 2013
-
Group Calls for “Courageous” School Board
Ama Nyamekye, the executive director of Educators 4 Excellence Los Angeles, an organization that advocates for teachers to take a more active role in shaping education policies, wrote an op-ed in last week’s Huffington Post LA calling for a more “courageous” LAUSD School Board: “Our school board needs to get to work tackling a tall order of...
By Samantha Oltman | March 19, 2013