Charter school groups spending big in California legislative races Groups that support the expansion of charter schools in California are spending big this year to support the campaigns of sympathetic Democrats vying for open seats in the state Legislature. By Aaron Mendelson, KPCC Building California’s initial college, career readiness metric could prove challenging, EdSource Holocaust...

By Richard Winton and Howard Blume In a recent court hearing, one young man after another claimed that former Franklin High football coach Jaime Jimenez befriended them during summer practice before 9th grade, then sexually abused them. But it’s not the allegations against Jimenez that are at the center of a lawsuit filed this month against the Los Angeles...

California charter schools involved in multiple political battles A major front in the perpetual war between California’s educational establishment and school reform groups is the role of charter schools, which function outside the traditional structure and are semi-free to experiment with new methods of teaching. A fierce clash in the state’s largest school district, Los...

How much do charter schools cost LA Unified? Fact-checking the teachers union’s estimate The study commissioned by Los Angeles’ teachers union determined that charter schools cost the LA Unified School District more than $591 million annually. A closer look at the calculation of fixed costs left behind when students leave LAUSD, whether those students would end up...

LA School Report is thrilled to welcome Sarah Favot to the team as writer/reporter. Favot’s data-driven, investigative and political reporting will bolster the breadth and depth of education coverage in California for LA School Report and nationwide for The 74. Favot comes to LA School Report from the Los Angeles Daily News where she covered Los...

By  Mike Reicher Just a 10-minute drive from the school, the waiter brought the table a $95 bottle of fine Syrah wine. Dimly-lit Monty’s Prime Steaks & Seafood, with its red booths and white linen, doubled as a high school meeting room that Wednesday night, Principal David Fehte says. And on many other nights. In 2014...

Turning around Artesia, Part 2: This school figured out how to make it ‘cool’ to succeed Almost 12 years ago, Sergio Garcia became principal of Artesia High School, a school smack in the middle of a neighborhood in Southern California that has seen its share of gang violence. At Garcia’s first meeting with the staff,...

By Laurel Rosenhall  A group that lobbies to change public education is pouring money into a handful of Northern California legislative races ahead of the June 7 election, aiming to influence the kind of Democrats who hold power in the state Capitol. Democrats make up a solid majority of the Legislature, but they do not...