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‘So Many Threats to Kids’ — ICE Fear Grips Los Angeles At Start of New School Year
The night before school, Adriana Abich always gets nervous. Nervous there won’t be enough school supplies for new students, or that classrooms won’t be quite ready. But this year is different. This year, the CEO of Camino Nuevo Charter Academy is worried immigration agents with guns are coming for her kids. “There are so many...
By Ben Chapman | August 13, 2025
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“It’s a Victory” – Behind the Charter Sector’s Big Court Win in Los Angeles
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the court that struck down Los Angeles Unified’s policy banning charters from using classrooms. The judge was from the California State Superior Court. The article also incorrectly identified the institution where Yvette King-Berg works. She is the executive director of Youth Policy Institute Charter Schools. The nation’s...
By Ben Chapman | August 5, 2025
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LAUSD’s Carvalho: ‘We’ve Got More Resilience Than Taylor Swift’
Updated July 28 Los Angeles Unified superintendent Alberto Carvalho struck a defiant tone in his back-to-school address Tuesday, pitting the district against federal authorities while praising its resilience from recent wildfires and the pandemic. Three weeks before half a million L.A. Unified students return to classes, Carvalho used the annual speech to preview new initiatives...
By Ben Chapman | July 24, 2025
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Looming California Budget Changes Threaten Black Students, Study Says
Looming funding cuts threaten the academic progress of Black students in districts across California, according to a report by researchers at the University of Southern California. “The Cost of Equity: Exploring Recent K-12 Federal and State Funding Shifts and Their Impact on Black Students,” examines how changes in legislative and policy could impact California’s school...
By Ben Chapman | June 24, 2025
Across All Ages & Demographics, Test Results Show Americans Are Getting Dumber
Parents, Medical Providers, Vaccine Experts Brace for RFK Jr.’s HHS Takeover
After Declaring NAEP Off-Limits, Education Department Cancels Upcoming Test
Interactive: Data From 9,500 Districts Finds Even More Staff and Fewer Students
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L.A. Families Are Mostly Satisfied With Their Schools, Survey Says
Families are mostly satisfied with their LAUSD schools — although they want improvements in school safety and better mental health services for students, an annual survey of district parents has found. The 79-page “Family Insights” report found LAUSD families saw improvements in their schools in the past year, with support for leadership of the nation’s...
By Ben Chapman | June 17, 2025
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L.A. Schools Create ‘Perimeters of Safety’ Against ICE Agents
Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said Monday school police will create “perimeters of safety” around high school graduation ceremonies to keep out immigration enforcement agents after federal raids rocked the city last week. Speaking at a press conference at LAUSD headquarters, Carvalho also said the district would offer transportation to graduation events,...
By Ben Chapman | June 9, 2025
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Los Angeles School Board Moms Push For Paid Parental Leave
Three moms on the L.A. Unified School Board have assembled a resolution to improve benefits for pregnant teachers and other district employees who don’t qualify for California’s state-paid family leave. The board passed the resolution unanimously last month — and now the district is putting together a preliminary plan, with a deadline of February, 2026...
By Ben Chapman | June 3, 2025
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Top LAUSD Schools with Empty Seats Shut Out Needy Students, Report Says
Dozens of highly-rated Los Angeles Unified schools in wealthy neighborhoods have empty seats — but most students can’t access them, according to a new analysis of state enrollment data. “Crisis in the School House,” a 36-page report published by Available To All, a nonpartisan nonprofit led by Tim DeRoche, an author and parent who lives...
By Ben Chapman | May 20, 2025
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Q&A: LAUSD Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin Talks Budget, Enrollment and Safety
When she was laid off from her job as a Los Angeles Unified middle school teacher in the Great Recession, LAUSD school board member Tanya Ortiz Franklin couldn’t have imagined she’d be back one day as the boss. But such is life. Ortiz Franklin took her layoff and went to law school for a second...
By Ben Chapman | May 7, 2025
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Q&A: LAUSD Board Member Nick Melvoin on the Wildfires, Trump and Smartphones
Sharp and independent, Brentwood native Nick Melvoin has served on the LAUSD school board since 2017. But the attorney and former teacher said he’s never seen anything like this year, where he’s currently helping to guide the nation’s second-largest school system through some rough situations. That includes federal agents turning up at schools, looking for...
By Ben Chapman | April 29, 2025