"This turns over massive tools of change to the union...This is a very serious mistake and one the mayor and unions bought off on because they're trying to serve each other's interests."

"Yes, this was a negotiation between the mayor and the teachers union, and yes, as in most negotiations, each side gave up things that they wanted, but there was no giving of additional power to the teachers union...People are missing the forest for the trees: Who's in charge is the mayor. There's one person in charge of the system, and that's the mayor."

• L.A. Times: Some teachers like, some see chaos; How UTLA came out a winner.

• LAT School Me blog: Downgrades it's Predict-o-Meter ten points after sobering up from the initial excitement, cites the deal's "fuzzy, though clearly unattractive features."

• Daily News: Lawmakers still undecided if not skeptical.

• Dan Weintraub: Should not be passed without thorough public airing and debate

• Joe Scott: Mayor "badly miscalculated."

The unusual colony is creating quite a stir among local biologists, who say the subspecies rarely breeds north of San Diego and has never been seen nesting on a barge.

“This is currently the northernmost (breeding) colony known in the world, with more than 95 percent of the population breeding further south off the Mexican coast,” said retired Cal State Long Beach biology professor Charles Collins, who has studied terns for years.