The non-profit group behind the Vergara lawsuit, Students Matter, went on the offensive today against three bills introduced recently in the California legislature that the group says are “anti-Vergara” as well as unconstitutional. The bills, AB 753, AB 575, and SB 499, all work in direct opposition to the landmark Vergara v. California decision, Ben Austin, who leads policy development and advocacy...

Supporters of a state bill aimed at making classified school employees eligible for unemployment benefits over the summer are touting a new report that found an overall economic benefit, should it become law. Introduced by Assembly Member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, Assembly Bill 399 would make over 248,000 classified workers eligible for benefits over the summer months when they...

Despite hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on the race by supporters, voter turnout in the District 5 LA Unified school board primary in March was pretty dreadful, with only 12 percent of registered voters coming to the polls. But now a nonprofit dedicated to getting more Latinos to the polls seems to think a...

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the second largest teachers union in the country, has reached a tentative agreement with LA Unified, according to an announcement issued by UTLA late last night. The new contract would includes a 10 percent raise over two years, likely bringing to an end the threat of a strike that has...

Things went from bad to worse for publishing giant Pearson yesterday, as its stock took a dive following the news Wednesday that LA Unified announced plans to seek a refund for thousands of Apple iPads pre-loaded with Pearson educational software that the district said was ineffective. Pearson was the single worst performer on the Financial Times...

Move over, No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In an unusual show of bi-partisan support, the Senate Committee on Education this week approved the overhaul of the controversial Bush-era legislation, re-branding it ‘Every Child Achieves Act of 2015.’ The bill’s strong bipartisan support — it passed with a 22-0 vote — gives it some...

The Securities and Exchange Commission has met with LA Unified seeking more information about its use of bond money for purchasing iPads that were pre-loaded with software supplied by education giant, Pearson. The meeting into the now-cancelled $1.3 billion program was “informal,” according to the Los Angeles Times, which said it focused on if the...

In the latest chapter of the bungled  iPads-for-all program, LA Unified has informed Apple, Inc. that it will not pay for any future deliveries of iPads that have Pearson educational software on them and will also be looking to recoup the cost of any devices that did not work properly. In a memo to Apple,...

LA Unified school board President Richard Vladovic has received a boost to his reelection efforts with an endorsement from a primary opponent, Euna Anderson. Anderson, an early education principal with LA Unified, finished third in the three-way District 7 election on March 3 but still garnered close to 20 percent of the vote. Vladovic finished with 42.61 percent...

Despite spending billions of dollars since 2003 to build new campuses, LA Unified still uses thousands of “portable” or temporary classrooms, and a recent presentation by the district’s Chief Facilities Executive Mark Hovatter made it clear they have become a permanent headache for the district. Despite recent reduction efforts, the district still uses roughly 8,300 portables,...