At the request of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) undertook this analysis of the teacher policies in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). A coalition of civil rights groups were also involved in this project, including Parent Organization Network, Families in Schools, Alliance for a Better Community, Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Los Angeles Urban League and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. This report seeks to shed light on the policies that can improve the quality of the teaching force in LAUSD. This paper explores these policies both as they are written on paper and as they play out in practice. NCTQ frames this analysis around five standards supported by research and best practices from the field for improving teaching quality: (1) Teacher Assignment. District policies facilitate schools' access to top teacher talent; (2) Evaluations. The evaluation of teacher performance plays a critical role in advancing teacher effectiveness; (3) Tenure. Tenure is a meaningful milestone in a teacher's career and advances the district's goal of building a corps of effective teachers; (4) Compensation. Compensation is strategically targeted to attract and reward high quality teachers, especially in hard-to-staff positions; and (5) Work Schedule. Work schedule and attendance policies maximize instruction. (Contains 38 figures and 30 footnotes.)