A growing split among parents over unionization efforts at Alliance charters  The fight to unionize the largest provider of charter schools in Los Angeles is beginning to divide parents. Los Angeles Times, by Joy Resmovits Prop. 98 guarantee could reach $80B by 2020 The minimum funding guarantee for K-12 schools and community colleges is expected...

By Eric Patnoudes As the parent of four kids, I had the pleasure of listening to Fredi Lajvardi give a keynote at CETPA’s annual conference last year, and it was the sort of talk that sends shivers down educators’ spines and gives them goose bumps.  It was an hour of awe-inspiring pure education magic — the type of story...

By Roxana Kopetman Students sit down for homework, plug in their earbuds and turn on their cellphones. And they don’t get yelled at. Because they’re actually working. Their history class, at Esperanza High, is part of a small but growing trend in education. The teaching method, “flipped” learning, is catching on in Orange County and...

Brown urged to ‘reaffirm the vision’ of funding law A team of researchers found that, two years into the state’s new school financing law, “nagging concerns” are tempering enthusiasm. EdSource, by John Fensterwald Clinton says ‘no evidence’ that teachers can be judged by student test scores Clinton said she is opposed to using student test...

LA Unified’s preliminary graduation rate climbed seven points for the class 2014-15, making it the ninth straight year the district has seen an increase. Seventy-four percent of seniors earned their diploma in the spring, the district announced this afternoon. An additional four points was added to the total from Senate Bill 725, the district said, which...

The more you hear about attempts to improve the nation’s schools, the sorrier you have to feel for the kids. After years of “No Child Left Behind” and “Race to the Top” initiatives, national test scores dived deeper into failure and mediocrity in the last reading. In a stunning reversal, the Obama administration, a tireless...

New era near for No Child Left Behind Congress is expected to take up a long overdue rewrite of the federal K-12 law, but passing the revamped version won’t be easy. US News & World Report, by By Lauren Camera Laurene Powell Jobs launches college-support program in Watts Her organization, College Track, announced last week...

By Elizabeth Aguilera The McDonald’s on Whittier Boulevard in Boyle Heights is jammed on a recent weeknight. Outside, a bright yellow poster welcomes customers to “McTeacher Night.” It’s a fundraiser that funnels a portion of the evening’s proceeds to nearby Stevenson Middle School. Behind the counter, teachers watch over the French fryer and assemble orders onto trays....

Charter school expansion could reshape L.A. Unified, officials say In the first public discussion involving the Broad Foundation’s efforts, Executive Director Gregory McGinity said that charter schools have transformed education. Los Angeles Times, by Howard Blume Neighborhood opposes charter school location A proposed charter school in West Adams is running into a wall of opposition...

By The Los Angeles Daily News Editorial Board Before school board members decide who they want to be Los Angeles Unified’s next superintendent, they must agree on what they want. That won’t be easy. But it’s vital. If they don’t come to a consensus soon about the qualities they’re looking for in an L.A. schools...