Top candidates for state schools chief in close money race The top contenders to be the state’s public schools chief are neck-and-neck in campaign funds leading into the June primary, according to finance reports filed Thursday. Current state superintendent Tom Torlakson has just under $200,000 in the bank for the final stretch of the campaign....

With less than two weeks before the special election to fill a vacant seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board, two candidates appear to be leading the field of seven, suggesting the probability of an August runoff. People familiar with two separate but consistent polls of likely voters conducted by professional firms said the two...

Racial tensions are rising at Watts middle school Fanning racial tensions at a Watts middle school, several African American parents asserted Wednesday that Latino administrators are unfairly targeting their children and unofficially suspending them from classes. The practices at Markham Middle School, parents said, contradict directives by the Los Angeles Board of Education and L.A....

L.A. Unified hires respected D.C. principal to lead arts education The leader of one of the nation’s top arts high schools has accepted a position in charge of arts education for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Rory Pullens, 56, has served as head of school and chief executive officer at the Duke Ellington School...

Associated Press writer Lisa Leff takes a look at the race for California Superintendent of Public Instruction San Francisco (AP) — Tom Torlakson, the veteran lawmaker seeking a second term as California’s elected superintendent of schools, and Marshall Tuck, a former charter school executive hoping to unseat him, are both Democrats. The two agree the...

LA School Report will cover the LAUSD School Board meeting live today starting at 9:00 a.m. until it retires for a closed door session. Click here for LIVESTREAM coverage. Starting at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, the school board’s Committee of the Whole Meeting will convene.     For board agenda, click here. For board materials,...

As reading scores climb overall, gap persists Despite higher reading scores in classrooms across the nation, the achievement gap between white, black and Hispanic youth has seen very little improvement according to a report released last week by Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that monitors how children and teens use media. S&I Cabinet Report...

Not all of the seven candidates vying for the vacant seat on the Los Angeles Unified school board are turning up the heat as the special election on June 3 heads to the finish line. To reach voters in South LA’s District 1, which as been without a board member since Marguerite LaMotte died in December, four...

Justice Dept. investigating California’s services for English learner students The U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division is looking into whether California is adequately overseeing the education of 1.4 million students in the state who are still learning English, according to court records. The investigation began after civil rights lawyers filed a lawsuit in April 2013...

This just in from the LA City Clerk’s Office: Monday is the deadline to register for any LA Unified District 1 resident who intends to vote in the June 3 special election. Registrants must be a citizen of the United States, live within the school district, be 18 years old by Election Day and not be...