Parents of the most vulnerable students in Los Angeles are experiencing heightened stress in the run-up to a teacher strike because they feel they have the most to lose, say the leaders of two community organizations that work closely with parents of public school children. Their children are already behind academically, and the parents fear...

Winter break was still almost two weeks away when a parent came into Principal Adan Martínez’s office to tell him he was taking his child out of school that day and wouldn’t be back until January. “It started today! One of our students left in the middle of the school day to go to Mexico...

*Updated Dec. 13 Ten of the 17 individuals who filed their intention to run for the upcoming special election for LA Unified’s vacant school board seat have officially qualified to be on the March 5 ballot in Board District 5. The winner will fill out the term of Ref Rodríguez, serving only a year and a...

In this series, Los Angeles parents talk about their students, their schools and the questions or suggestions they have for their school district. (See our previous interviews.) María Elena Meraz has spent 25 years, as both a mother and an advocate, learning and sharing about how public schools in California can better serve the needs of Latino...

As English learners in LA Unified continue to post little to no growth on state tests, the district this year has a new strategy to help students become proficient in English. Struggling English learners have started getting individualized reclassification plans, similar to the plans known as IEP’s that outline the needs and supports for each student...

The authors of a new report are calling on California’s newly elected governor, Gavin Newsom, and state legislators to do more to ensure Latinos graduate from college. Only 12 percent of Latinos attain a four-year college degree, and they continue to be the group with the lowest rate of college completion in the state and lag behind...

Eight out of 10 LA Unified seniors applied to college, and nearly two-thirds applied to at least one four-year college, according to a new report —  the first in a series examining Los Angeles students’ college-going data. Those figures, for the Class of 2017, show that Los Angeles seniors apply at similar rates as their...

*Updated Nov. 26: Bennett Kayser and City of Bell Mayor Fidencio Gallardo have dropped out of the race to support Jackie Goldberg. Teachers, elected officials and parents are among the 17 candidates who have filed their intention to run in LA Unified’s special election in March to fill the board seat that has been vacant since Ref Rodríguez...

LA Unified on Tuesday ended the requirement that parents have to pay to volunteer in their children’s schools. The school board voted unanimously to approve a resolution by Superintendent Austin Beutner, who exercised his authority to waive the $56 fee for fingerprinting and background checks. The district will also nearly double — from seven to...

Six months after taking over as LA Unified’s superintendent and vowing to bring change, Austin Beutner is weeks away from unveiling his strategic plan for the nation’s second-largest school district. Beutner shared some of his plan’s goals after a parent summit last week at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels downtown, one of...