Earl R. Perkins, LA Unified’s assistant superintendent for school operations, was recently honored by the  Los Angeles chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Perkins was one of eight given the Youth Council Men of Valor Award at a ceremony at the Double Tree Hilton in Torrance on Saturday. According to...

By Paul L. Morgan and George Farkas More than six million children in the United States receive special-education services for their disabilities. Of those age 6 and older, nearly 20 percent are black. Critics claim that this high number — blacks are 1.4 times more likely to be placed in special education than other races...

Who will be Los Angeles Unified’s next superintendent? Superintendent Cortines told board members at Tuesday’s meeting he would leave the district in six months. Los Angeles Daily News Vaccine mandate bill up for vote Thursday in California assembly The legislation, already approved by the state Senate, is expected to draw hundreds of parents to the...

By Dan Gordon As the superintendent of Coachella Valley Unified School District (CA), where 80 percent of the children live in poverty and 70 percent are English language learners, Darryl Adams spearheaded a successful bond measure that funded a 1-to-1 iPad initiative for Coachella Valley Unified’s 20,000 students. The district then began putting WiFi routers on idle...

2015-16 state education budget by the numbers The $115.4 billion state budget is full of numbers – big ones when it comes to record high spending for K-12 schools and community colleges. Ed Source Music Center cuts back its arts education at schools After decades of sending artists to work with students in LA County...

By Motoko Rich The new academic standards known as the Common Core emphasize critical thinking, complex problem-solving and writing skills, and put less stock in rote learning and memorization. So the standardized tests given in most states this year required fewer multiple choice questions and far more writing on topics like this one posed to...

New initiative for teacher development School boards must prepare plans for how they will spend their share of a $500 million block grant aimed at boosting teacher competency. SI&A Cabinet Report Court upholds LAUSD decision to offer Crenshaw facilities to charter school LAUSD did not violate the state’s charter school law by offering school facilities...

By Rachel M. Cohen The April sun had not yet risen in Los Angeles when teachers from the city’s largest charter network—the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools—gathered outside for a press conference to discuss their new union drive. Joined by local labor leaders, politicians, student alumni, and parents, the importance of the educators’ effort was not...

Nearly 14 percent of LAUSD students in special education programs Students in LAUSD were more likely to be placed in special education programs than their peers statewide, according to records. Los Angeles Daily News California vocational education in danger Career technical education is once again in peril in California. Fresno Bee The deplorable way LAUSD...

By Gail Robinson When the 24 third-graders in Morgan Mercaldi’s class arrive at the Jackson Avenue School every morning, they take their iPads out of their backpacks and put them on their desks. The tablets will remain there, or in hands and laps, until the children put them in their packs to take them home....