Latinos struggle to close gap with whites in California ACT scores “I find it really disturbing,” said Mark Schneider, a vice president at American Institutes for Research. Los Angeles Times Bill protecting contractors in district leaseback deals dies in committee A bill aimed at protecting school construction contractors from financial losses if their “lease-leaseback” deals...

By CBS Los Angeles Neighbors of the Ralph Waldo Emerson Middle School in Westwood are outraged that the school has recently installed lush, green grass – in the midst of a historic drought. “I find this outrageous considering the Mayor of Los Angles has requested residents to remove their lawns or water as little as possible,”...

Marking a big turnaround managing teacher misconduct Three years after an audit found the average misconduct case could take 22 months, state officials reported that timeline has been cut almost in half. SI&A Cabinet Report Why some in education believe truancy deserves much more attention It’s difficult to pinpoint the size of the challenge because...

By Anya Kamenetz Chester E. Finn, Jr. has three very bright granddaughters. He thinks they “have considerable academic potential and are not always being challenged by their schools.” But Finn is not just a proud grandpa; he’s a long-established expert on education policy with the Fordham Institute and Hoover Institution. So its not surprising that...

It’s true: Kindergarten is optional in California Educators and state lawmakers who want to close this achievement gap say it’s time to do away with optional kindergarten for California children. Los Angeles Times Raising graduation bar poses challenges for school districts More than 65,000 LAUSD students were funneled into summer school this year because they...

By Matt Krupnick They were once the envy of the world for the access they offered to high-quality education for all students at a low price. But California’s public colleges and universities delivered something different to Andrew Hotchkiss when he applied for admission two years ago: a punch to the gut. Hotchkiss, now 21 and...

Public officials celebrate affordable housing milestone in Hollywood The project will house school district employees and families earning 30 to 60 percent of the area’s median income. City News Service A request for the new LAUSD superintendent: Ask our kids what they need Two moms and their children talked about what they would like the...

Major news outlets in the Los Angeles area did a “Los Angeles Unified heads back to school” story this week. But there was no unanimity among them on the number of students the district serves. Three local television stations — NBC, ABC and CBS — all pegged the number at roughly 550,000, likely ignoring students enrolled...

By Corey Turner The defendants may be one southern California school district and its top officials, but an unprecedented, class action lawsuit could have a big impact on schools across the country. Today in Los Angeles, a U.S. District Court judge will preside over the first hearing in the suit against the Compton Unified School...

Angry parents protest after LAUSD send unvaccinated kids home As many as 100 students were removed from their classrooms and told to call their parents, according to protesters. ABC7 Getting to the ‘why’ of discipline disparities What happened at a rural high school was, according to a new guide to school discipline, the starting point...