Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of the LA teachers union, UTLA, has been warning for months of “dangers” ahead, imploring his members to dig deeper in their pockets to fight them. He will soon find out if the message resonates among the union’s 35,000 members, now that ballots have gone out, asking for a $19 monthly raise...

The LA teachers union, UTLA, is planning to take part in a national “walk-in” event on Feb. 17 set to take place at schools in at least 30 cities, including Los Angeles. The walk-in is being organized by the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, a national group of parent, youth and community organizations and labor groups whose...

* UPDATED The Broad Foundation plan to expand charter schools in LA Unified made an ominous debut before the LA Unified board yesterday as one opponent after another ripped into it as unwanted, unnecessary and destructive to the district and public education in general. The widespread attack came in several forms after the board postponed...

Leaders of the nine unions that represent teaches, administrators and other staffers at LAUSD stood before the district board today to express a united front against the Broad foundation plan to create more charter schools in the district. Flanked at the podium by the union leaders, Juan Flecha, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), told the...

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction yesterday against Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, the latest development in the effort by the LA teachers union, UTLA, to unionize Alliance teachers. The injunction, which was sought by the California’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), follows a temporary restraining order the judge issued in late October when...

The executive director of the state charter schools political action committee sent an email to the LA Unified school board and other district officials yesterday, offering a sharp response to a story in the Los Angeles Times that was highly critical of the group’s campaign finance reporting practices. “I am reaching out to you to ensure that...

In a recorded robo-call sent out to teachers last night, seven UTLA leaders encouraged them to attend the LA Unified board meeting next week and relate positive things that are going on in their schools. The union leaders, led by president Alex Caputo-Pearl, took turns encouraging teachers to remind the board that great things are...

Scott Schmerelson has revised his LA Unified board resolution that attacks an outside group’s plan to expand the number of charter schools in the district. A majority of the seven board members has expressed opposition to the plan. But a shift in mission from the group — Great Public Schools Now, supported by the Broad Foundation and...

In what would appear to be a strategic shift, the organization leading an effort to open more charter schools in LA Unified now intends to expand its mission to support traditional public schools that serve low-income children. The organization, incorporated as Great Public Schools Now, is an outgrowth of a plan by the Broad and...

Spending cuts. Layoffs. Early retirement packages. Reductions in benefits. These needs, which were among recommendations made by LA Unified’s independent Financial Review Panel on Tuesday, are the kind that would make any union leader lose sleep. But three full days since the doom and gloom report was presented at the LA Unified school board meeting, with recommendations that...