After years of rising graduation rates, LA Unified is facing a stunning reversal this year, with recent estimates showing that no more than 49 percent of seniors are on pace to receive a diploma in 2016. But there may be a chance to avoid the sudden drop. With graduation rates growing steadily over the last four...

The Los Angeles Times today listed former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as having a “medium chance” of becoming a finalist for the job of next superintendent of LA Unified. As the district’s search moves into a phase for identifying potential finalists, the story features a list of 43 possible candidates, based on what it called “interviews...

As he reaches what may be his final weeks with the district, LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines sent a message Friday to all employees, congratulating the district personnel who have helped make improvements to MiSiS. “I am extremely proud of everyone who has been involved in this important work during the past 12 months,” Cortines...

Months after LA School Report found confusion, dated information or simply no information on the websites of LA Unified board members, a number of them still appear to be squandering them as their most direct social media asset to reach constituents. In a self-described era of board openness and transparency, some members have made significant improvements on their...

* UPDATED A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a temporary restraining order against Alliance College-Ready Public Schools late yesterday, ordering its administration to cease stifling a unionization effort. The LA teachers union, UTLA, is currently attempting to unionize the teachers at the charter school organization, which is LA Unified’s largest with 27 schools and...

A resolution approved by the LA Unified school board on Oct. 13 didn’t receive a lot of attention, but the vote to approve a pilot program with the online company Schoology has the potential to completely change how students, teachers, parents and administrators interact. The resolution launches a two-year pilot program that will test an...

Scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card, were released today, and LA Unified’s overall performance took a slight dip — same as scores in California and the nation. It was the first time scores slipped for the district and California since the state’s students started taking the test...

In what may be his final presentation to the LA Unified school board, Chief of External Affairs Edgar Zazueta said he will be giving a “legislative 101” tutorial at tomorrow’s Committee of the Whole meeting. The district announced in September that Zazueta, the district’s chief lobbyist in Sacramento and Washington, is resigning to join the Association of California...

Were it to come to fruition, the Broad Foundation‘s recently announced plan to expand charter schools in LA Unified to include half of all district students would create a system that is unprecedented in size and scope across the United States. LA Unified already has more charter students than any in the nation. Whether expressing support or opposition to...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced today that classrooms in Eagle Rock High School will be the first in the country to pilot the United States Geological Survey’s (USGS) earthquake early warning system, ShakeAlert, a software application that will be installed on classroom computers at the school. The software reads data from 625 seismic sensors...