By Jill Stewart One of Emilio Pack’s most vivid childhood memories is that of his Cuban immigrant single mom, desperate to hold together her extended family amid the poverty and street violence that gripped their chosen new city, performing illegal dentistry in the bathroom of their crowded Elysian Park home. To young Emilio, it was...

UTLA contract fails to guarantee a single additional teacher in LAUSD LA Unified is not obligated to hire a single teacher to help ease crowded classrooms under the terms of its tentative agreement with UTLA. Los Angeles Daily News LA teacher says wi-fi makes her sick — so she wants it out of every classroom...

Candidate forum update: Well, there aren’t any. Aside from two debates in the Valley with District 3 candidates Tamar Galatzan, the incumbent, and challenger Scott Schmerelson, voters have no additional opportunities to hear from those seeking the next term on the LA Unified school board. Five charter school groups offered to sponsor debates in District...

By Howard Blume As many as three-quarters of Los Angeles 10th-graders are at risk of being denied diplomas by graduation because they are not on track to meet rigorous new college prep class requirements. This has prompted some in the L.A. Unified School District, including Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, to suggest reconsidering the requirements, which...

Some schools still waiting for Internet connection A handful of California schools are located in areas so remote that there are no providers. SI&A Cabinet Report L.A. County supervisors OK $450,000 payment for father of slain boy A wrongful-death complaint is still pending against the Los Angeles Unified School District. Los Angeles Times One Anaheim school...

* UPDATED Two weeks from the May 19 runoff elections, outside money continues to pour in for two incumbents on the LA Unified board — Tamar Galatzan in District 3 and President Richard Vladovic in District 7. A third incumbent — Bennett Kayser in District 5 — still trails far behind his challenger, Ref Rodriguez....

By Eryn Brown and Teresa Watanabe Since state laws made it harder for California elementary school kids to get their hands on sugary drinks and junk food snacks on campus, researchers found, students’ risk of becoming overweight or obese fell slightly — but mostly if they came from higher-income neighborhoods. Examining body mass index measurements...

L.A. Unified will investigate food-service contracts at PUC charters The findings of a state investigation into PUC Schools showed an alleged conflict of interest in the awarding of millions of dollars in food contracts. Los Angeles Times Commentary: LA Unified must recommit to goal of college for all The goal of college access for all at...

By Patricia Levesque and Kevin Welner | New York Times It is much easier to correctly identify a problem than to come up with a workable solution. When No Child Left Behind was signed into law in 2002, the United States did indeed have a problem — one that was identified, at least partially, by...

LAUSD charter group gave food contract to an employee’s firm The probe involved Jacqueline Duvivier Castillo, who works for PUC Schools and is a part-owner in Better 4 You Meals. Los Angeles Times Democrat’s teacher tenure law gets killed The legislature is faced with changing longstanding California laws for evaluating, firing and laying off teachers....