Principals at K-12, option and early education schools at LA Unified will start the 2015-16 school year next month working under a new evaluation system that was developed over the course of a two-year, no-stakes pilot program. The new system was announced in the recent newsletter of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), the...

With LA Unified needing another $40 billion or so to modernize every school, it is likely that the district will ask voters for a lot more through bond sales in the coming years. But a new report from the California Policy Center says voters should be more skeptical and engaged when it comes to construction bonds, arguing that...

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson came to the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce today to announce his latest action plan for California’s education system. The five-year plan is a continuation of his 2011 effort, called A Blueprint for Great Schools, which has been updated and rebranded as A Blueprint for Great Schools Version 2.0. The...

LA Unified’s efforts at reforming its school discipline policies were applauded at a White House national conference yesterday attended by school administrators from around the country. The day-long “Rethink Discipline” conference held up LA Unified as one of five districts that has seen positive results by moving away from “zero tolerance” disciplinary rules. LA Unified board...

A state lawmaker is challenging California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson‘s recent assertion that grants intended to help low-income, English learners and foster youth can be used for across-the-board teacher raises. Assemblymember Shirley Weber, a Democrat from San Diego, says Torlakson’s interpretation of the law could completely erode the purpose of the grants, opening...

A 28-year-old female teacher has been arrested on suspicion of sexual abusing one of her students at San Pedro High School. Michelle Yeh, who was on temporary assignment in the science department of the school during the past spring semester, was arrested Friday after a 15-year-old male student claimed she had abused him on several...

As the result of a new law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last month, California’s school districts must specifically outline in their Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAP) how they will help homeless students, through tracking their test scores and other accountability measures. The law is believed to be the first of its kind in the...

There’s a little good news/bad news in a new report analyzing the college-readiness of low-income students who took the ACT test. More low-income students than ever took the test in 2014, according to the report, and a high level of them expressed a plan to attend college. But the bad news: performance by low-income students...

The Senate passed a rewrite of the expired No Child Left Behind law yesterday with broad, bipartisan support. The George W. Bush-era law is controversial due to the high-stakes standardizing testing it ushered in, and the Senate’s bill would strip away much of the federal government’s test-and-punish powers. The bipartisan support it received is in...

A majority of American school districts have no policies protecting LGBT students from bullying, with California also coming in on the low-end, according to a new report that looked at the anti-bulliing policies of districts across the nation. The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) analyzed the policies of 13,000 districts in all 50 states...