Not many people know much about LA Unified’s $133 million MiSiS computer system that has held the center of attention for the past year—and will determine the success or failure of the school year now underway. District officials this week gave LA School Report a behind-the-scenes look at the system to understand what it does and...

After reviewing preliminary results of the Smarter Balanced Assessments, LA Unified officials say the test scores are lower than what parents typically see but want them to know “it does not mean our kids are getting dumber.” Cynthia Lim, Executive Director of the Office of Data and Accountability, told the LA School Report today that parents should...

This is an oops moment. In recent stories about LA Unified’s search for a new superintendent to replace the soon-to-be-departing Ramon Cortines, we reported that no female has led the school district, drawing attention to the possibility that board President Steve Zimmer and his colleagues might want to make a little history in their next hire. That conclusion arose...

On the first day of school yesterday as he visited a school in his district, LA Unified board president Steve Zimmer encountered an unexpected issue: Parents at Vine Street Elementary in Hollywood were complaining about the tents, mobile homes and the homeless people living on the street behind the school. “I know, I saw that while coming into...

The first day of school went off yesterday without a hitch for LA Unified’s MiSiS system, a huge improvement over last year’s rocky start that caused so much disruption across the district. The My Integrated Student Information System allowed 23,110 users to log into the system and handled the schedules of 439,756 students, according to...

It was already the end of the first day for most LA Unified schools today, but for Superintendent Ramon Cortines, the day was far from over. At 2:30 p.m., he stopped in and thanked the MiSiS computer team for avoiding the computer crisis that occurred at the opening of school last year. “The biggest reason that it...

LAUSD School Board president Steve Zimmer discussed the superintendent race on KNX News Radio this morning and mentioned Chief Deputy Superintendent Michelle King as a potential “top candidate” to replace Ramon Cortines. While on his way to Vine Street Elementary School to kick-off the school year, Zimmer was was asked in the interview about potential...

In the first effort of its kind, LA Unified staged a whirlwind of events for the first day of school today, with board members fanning out across the district, each visiting schools and other sites to welcome back staff, students and district employees. At 9 o’clock this morning, board president Steve Zimmer greeted students at...

The Los Angeles teachers union, UTLA, attacked a proposed expansion of charter schools in LA Unified with a robo-call to district teachers from union president Alex Caputo-Pearl, vowing to fight the education reform foundations behind the effort. Mentioning Eli Broad by name in the call, Caputo-Pearl told the teachers that these groups, which include the Broad, Keck...

About 100 students, teachers and parents picketed Hobart Boulevard Elementary School this morning to protest the removal of celebrated teacher Rafe Esquith by LA Unified while an investigation continues, focused on him and his nonprofit program, the Hobart Shakespeareans. Carrying signs that say “Reinstate Rafe” and chanting “Be Nice, Work Hard,” the students marched around the front...