Obama administration announces new testing guidelines The Obama administration announced new guidelines toward standardized tests, saying kids spend too much time taking “unnecessary” exams in schools. CNN, by Laurie Ure and Kevin Liptak Families are choosing this L.A. school over privates and charters As L.A. Unified’s enrollment shrinks, with tens of thousands of students fleeing...

Everybody seems to have an idea about how the Los Angeles Unified school board should go about finding a new superintendent. Open up the interviews to the public, some say. Or at least make the identities of the finalists known, or their background and qualifications, so that people can weigh in with their opinions. Most...

Who might head LA Unified after Cortines? What type of person would the next superintendent be? And who would want a job that presents almost insurmountable challenges? Los Angeles Times, by Howard Blume DOE to schools: You must teach all students, regardless of legal status The Edu­ca­tion De­part­ment just is­sued a subtle re­mind­er to edu­cat­ors...

Considering the looming A-G graduation crisis, an option that appears to be gaining appeal among some district leaders is extending winter break to include time for a credit recovery session. The College and Career Readiness Plan, a year-long collaboration of administrators, teachers, parents, students and union leaders that was released this month, includes an endorsement of...

The LA Unified school board is currently on the hunt for a new superintendent and may hire one by the end of the year. Needless to say, it will not be a simple task for whoever succeeds Ramon Cortines: The district is facing a growing list of formidable challenges, including several that have generated negative headlines...

By Rebecca Klein High school graduation rates were on the rise during the 2013-2014 school year, according to new preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Education. The numbers also show that the graduation rate gap between white and black students and white and Hispanic students is decreasing in many states — a positive sign. The new data...

Charters’ clout grows as top performer to disadvantaged Half of the top-performing schools serving low-income students in California are charters, according to a new analysis of test scores. Cabinet Report, by Kimberly Beltran Principal churn highlights tension in in San Diego school district Since San Diego Unified Superintendent Cindy Marten took over in 2013, about...

By Jasmine Garsd It’s been a year since thousands of unaccompanied minors surged into the U.S., overwhelming some school districts. These children, many of whom don’t speak English and have lived through violence, trauma and abuse, pose a serious challenge to schools. Some districts weren’t ready. Oakland, Calif., was. It was spring of 2014, well...

Friedrichs v. CTA: What you need to know about challenge to union dues The lawsuit challenges the authority of the CTA and other public-employee unions to collect mandatory fees, a main source of their income and, by extension, their power. EdSource, by John Fensterwald More than half of LGBT students have felt unsafe at school...