By Eric Westervelt Ah, back-to-school season in America: That means it’s time for the annoyingly aggressive marketing of clothes, and for the annual warnings of a national teacher shortage. But this year the cyclical problem is more real and less of a media creation. There are serious shortages of teachers in California, Oklahoma, Kentucky and places in between....

State lawmakers seeking greater oversight of clean jobs program An Associated Press report found that a fraction of the promised jobs have been created. Associated Press LAUSD preschooler cries on TV when reporters asks about missing his mom The first day of school is tough for everyone. It doesn’t make it any easier when you’re...

By Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education  On the Westside of Los Angeles, there’s a school where eighth-graders code and build websites, develop entrepreneurial ventures and use gaming software to design solutions for saving local endangered species. At the Incubator School, teachers leverage technology to individually tailor student learning and track progress toward challenging academic...

By Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles Do you remember your first day of school? The thrill of seeing friends, the sense of possibility for the year ahead. That moment arrives Tuesday for 640,000 students in the Los Angeles Unified School District. But when they step into the classroom, the rubber will meet the road...

LA Unified looks for smoother tech operations this school year As schools opened Tuesday, LA Unified officials are hopeful that they’ve turned the corner on their technology fiascoes.. Los Angeles Times LAUSD Students Head Back to School Hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District students will be heading back to class Tuesday. NBC...

By Jon Street Three years after California voters passed a ballot measure to raise taxes on corporations and generate clean energy jobs by funding energy-efficiency projects in schools, barely one-tenth of the promised jobs have been created, and the state has no comprehensive list to show how much work has been done or how much...

Rating California schools is a big battle It’s extremely difficult, bordering on impossible, to know what ratings system will emerge, or when. Fresno Bee As school starts, LAUSD officials work to boost vaccination rates LAUSD officials said preparations are underway to get ready for a stricter state law. Los Angeles Daily News Report: No relationship...

By Anya Kamenetz There are few household names in education research. Maybe that in itself constitutes a problem. But if there was an Education Researcher Hall Of Fame, one member would be a silver-haired, plainspoken Kiwi named John Hattie. Hattie directs the Melbourne Education Research Institute at the University of Melbourne, Australia. He also directs...

As ‘Sesame Street’ heads to HBO, will low-income kids lose out? The deal will allow Sesame Workshop to produce more episodes and to expand its puppet-related kids content with new shows and spin-offs. NPR Science, art camp sneaks in language for English learners Students who are English learners learned new, advanced English words and phrases...

In his first extensive interview since he was elected president of the LA Unified school board in July, Steve Zimmer had a few blunt words about the recent  announcement that power brokers in the charter school movement intend to expand the ranks of charters in the district to include half of all students. The move, welcomed...