Los Angeles Times sues LAUSD over teacher performance data

The Los Angeles Times has asked a judge to order the Los Angeles Unified School District to release records that would allow the newspaper to update its online database which uses student test scores to rate the performance of individual teachers.

In its lawsuit filed Oct. 12 in Los Angeles Superior Court, the Times claims the school district illegally denied or omitted details of the information it requested under the California Public Records Act.

Although Los Angeles Unified provided updated test scores it used to gauge a teacher's performance - a formula known Academic Growth over Time - the district withheld the teachers' names and the schools where they worked, citing privacy concerns, the suit said.

The district also changed the teacher identification numbers it had used to release test scores from 2002-2009, making it impossible for the Times to connect teachers with AGT scores for subsequent years, the suit said.

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