The strike is on in LA. It’s about bigger political agendas than the district (national narratives, political ambitions of people involved, etc…) and so the district’s situation is getting lost. Remember, from 2001-2016 expenditures in LAUSD are up 55%, but salaries and wages 24%. That’s in large part because spending on benefits are up 138% over that time. That’s the downward pressure on wages that is frustrating teachers but also hamstringing the finances of addressing their frustration. The problem is particularly acute in LA but hardly limited to LA or California.
Max Marchitello on looking beyond averages on teacher pensions.
Cami Anderson talks with Drew Faust.
Dan Willingham on what funders should do.
“What we don’t want to see happen here is for the reformers to become the establishment,” Brown said. “One of the roles of The Mind Trust is to ensure that doesn’t happen.”
Bob Rothman on equity, demographics, and destiny.