Superintendent Ramon Cortines

Rock Star Superintendents: Are They Overpaid?

Justin Snider | Posted 05.25.2011

Justin Snider

They command six-figure salaries. No, we're not talking rock stars, pro athletes or even pro coaches. We're talking school superintendents.

Hail to the Incoming Superintendent

Larry Strauss | Posted 05.25.2011

Larry Strauss

The new super, John Deasy, calls himself a reformer, which these days means he wants to re-form student test scores into teacher evaluation scores.

Value-Added Misses the Mark - And the Point

Brock Cohen | Posted 05.25.2011

Brock Cohen

In the span of time it's taken the LA Times to publish what amounted to a three-part love letter, Value-Added has gone from experimental evaluation metric to union-busting public education panacea.

Ray Cortines' Birthday Present

Charles Kerchner | Posted 05.25.2011

Charles Kerchner

Ray Cortines gave himself a birthday present last week. At age 78, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District announced his intent to retire in the spring. A transition path has been created.

The LA Compact: A Dollop of Hope for Our Schools

Charles Kerchner | Posted 05.25.2011

Charles Kerchner

Get Los Angeles Unified, the mayor, unions, and universities together to help schools get better? Yeah, we've heard that story before. But this time it might be different.

Time to Replace Los Angeles' Third World Education System

Fernando Espuelas | Posted 05.25.2011

Fernando Espuelas

The idea that we can wait, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, for the system to somehow fix itself is unacceptable. The lives of the 700,000 students currently in the LAUSD are at stake.

The Death of Public School Choice

Charles Kerchner | Posted 05.25.2011

Charles Kerchner

The LAUSD board, which in August voted 6-1 for a competition between internal and external education providers, did its best to kill it off on last week. A different policy for change is needed.

Tensions High As LAUSD Decides Fate Of Underperforming Schools

LA Daily | Posted 05.25.2011

Protesters gathered outside Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters Tuesday afternoon as its board of directors pondered recommendations to a...

Snatching Outrage From the Jaws of Victory

Charles Kerchner | Posted 05.25.2011

Charles Kerchner

Superintendent Ramon Cortines has made everyone angry. His recommendation for who should run 30 Los Angeles schools gave everyone a little, but everyone has a grievance.

And the Winner Is? Who Knows?

Charles Kerchner | Posted 05.25.2011

Charles Kerchner

In the contest to determine who will run the schools for 36,000 Los Angeles students, all the votes are in, except those that count.

LA Schools' Big Experiment

Charles Kerchner | Posted 05.25.2011

Charles Kerchner

Think of it as a big chem lab experiment. The Los Angeles Unified School District is testing the hypothesis that allowing a bunch of people to compete for running schools will yield better ones.

Expanding L.A. School District Shuts The Door On New Hires

LA Daily | Dennis Romero | Posted 05.25.2011

Even as the Los Angeles Unified School District is in the midst of a historic building boom that includes the massive and still-rising campus at the s...

LAUSD Chief Aims To Bounce Weak Teachers

LA Daily News | Posted 05.25.2011

Los Angeles schools chief Ramon Cortines said Thursday that he's done "coddling" under-performing teachers and plans to streamline district operations...

Hey LAUSD, Please Save Ms. Brier Before It's Too Late

John Koch | Posted 11.17.2011

John Koch

Ms. Brier is at the cutting-edge of K-6 education, described as "exceptional" by parents. There was just one problem. She had just received her pink slip by the LA Unified School District.

The Day My Union Died

Dennis Danziger | Posted 05.25.2011

Dennis Danziger

Our strike wasn't about us teachers asking for better health care or more money, we were going to protest Cortine's decision to hold back funds allotted for education.