Tag "Tom Torlakson"

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Tuck outraising incumbent, but union looms large

Education reformer Marshall Tuck has accomplished a rare feat for a political challenger: He’s raised more money than the incumbent. According to the most recent campaign finance disclosure reports released Monday, Tuck has raised nearly $1.6 million since he launched his campaign

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Brown struggles to hit education stride

With education becoming a major state issue just in time for the election, Gov. Jerry Brown has found himself in an uncharacteristic position. The often unflappable governor, who has prided himself on following the beat of his own drum, has

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Torlakson continues lying about teacher-discipline law AB 215

Tom Torlakson supports a status quo in which an average of 2.2 of the state’s 275,000 public school teachers are fired each year for incompetence — a figure so ridiculous you barely need to add context. It shows the public

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Language of teacher discipline bill shows Torlakson’s deceit

At a little bit after the 51-minute mark of a forum in Los Angeles last week with state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and challenger Marshall Tuck, the candidates are asked a question from the audience about the Vergara

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In debate, Torlakson misrepresents teacher-discipline bill

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson debated challenger Marshall Tuck on Wednesday night and once again found himself on the defensive over the teacher tenure laws targeted in the Vergara decision. Cabinet Report details how Tuck went after …

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AG’s low-key Vergara appeal has damage-control vibe

Without fanfare, Attorney General Kamala Harris appealed the Vergara decision throwing out state teacher tenure and job-protection laws late Friday at the direction of Gov. Jerry Brown and with the encouragement of state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. Unlike

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Torlakson says real problem is low teacher pay, not tenure

This was predictable: Friday’s announcement that state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson wanted an appeal of Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu’s ruling that teacher tenure laws are unconstitutional because they funnel the worst teachers to struggling schools

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Historic Vergara ruling finalized; state has weighty decision on appeal

A court decision that puts the interests of Latino and black students and parents on a collision course with those of the mostly white members of the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers has been finalized: The

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Vergara appeal decision: Nixon goes to China for Jerry Brown?

To an astounding degree, prominent California Democrats have so far avoided substantive comment on Judge Rolf Treu’s landmark — but tentative — June 10 ruling in Los Angeles Superior Court that teacher tenure laws are so harmful to minority students in

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CA law promoting school choice, competition barely used

Advocates of education choice in California have been fighting the good fight for decades. They’ve gotten nowhere with school vouchers but have a strong record with charters — albeit a record that requires a constant struggle to defend against the

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