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‘Taking a knee’ spreads from NFL games to the Los Angeles school board meeting
When the LA Unified school board said the Pledge of Allegiance Tuesday afternoon, at least three people in the audience of about two dozen took to their knees. Most prominent was Cecily Myart-Cruz. She is vice president of both the National Education Association and the local United Teachers Los Angeles. She was flanked by two other...
By Mike Szymanski | September 26, 2017
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JUST IN: Mónica García becomes new board president
In a vote that fell along the reform and labor lines, Mónica García on Tuesday became the new president of the LA Unified school board. She named Nick Melvoin to the vice president’s position. Melvoin joined the board in July after defeating the former board president in May’s general election. She also confirmed that she...
By Mike Szymanski | September 26, 2017
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1 in 4 students report being bullied, and experiences can vary by gender identity, national survey of 180,000 students finds
A national survey shows that 1 in 4 students experienced bullying, and those who identify as something other than male or female are bullied at slightly higher rates. The YouthTruth Student Survey, released Tuesday by the San Francisco-based education nonprofit, found that more than 48,000 students — or 25 percent — surveyed in 34 states said...
By Mike Szymanski | September 26, 2017
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Exclusive: Mónica García is likely pick for next school board president
Mónica García — a staunch education reformer and a favorite of the district’s Latino majority — will likely become LA Unified’s new school board president next Tuesday. She has served as president twice before, for a total of six years, and she is already the longest-serving school board president in district history. The District 2...
By Mike Szymanski | September 22, 2017
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Good news on chronic absences and the budget, despite a ‘structural deficit’ — a wrap-up of board action
This Tuesday, the school board will meet in a non-voting session, called the Committee of the Whole. It will be the first meeting of the board since last week’s revelations of felony charges against school board President Ref Rodriguez. That news came just after last Tuesday’s board meeting, the second that Rodriguez presided over as...
By Mike Szymanski | September 18, 2017
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Cases settled in firing of Shakespeare teacher Rafe Esquith
LA Unified has settled three cases involving the firing of Rafe Esquith, a celebrated teacher who won many national and international awards, the district announced late Tuesday. The case ends a threatened $1 billion federal class-action lawsuit against the district by attorney Mark Geragos, who was representing Esquith about 2,000 other teachers in opposing the district’s...
By Mike Szymanski | September 13, 2017
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JUST IN: School board president Ref Rodriguez charged with felony campaign violations
*UPDATED LA Unified school board President Ref Rodriguez and his cousin were charged Wednesday with conspiracy and perjury felony counts and 25 misdemeanor counts in connection with allegedly improper campaign reimbursements stemming from his 2014 campaign documents. Rodriguez and his cousin Elizabeth Tinajero Melendrez were each charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit...
By Mike Szymanski | September 13, 2017
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LAUSD’s graduation rate tops 80 percent, surpassing its own goals
LA Unified is heading faster than expected toward the stated goal of 100 percent graduation, with a surprise announcement at Tuesday’s school board meeting that the district hit an 80.2 percent graduation rate for the 2016-17 school year. That’s more than a year ahead of the aggressive graduation growth that Superintendent Michelle King had planned....
By Mike Szymanski | September 12, 2017
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Board members withdraw Title I revamp that would give a bigger chunk to poorest schools
A plan that could have hurt funding for magnet and affiliated charter schools was withdrawn as LA Unified leaders continue to debate the issues of equity in distributing money to schools in the poorest communities. A resolution proposed in June would have reshuffled the Title I money that the federal government allots for low-income schools. The realignment...
By Mike Szymanski | September 11, 2017
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One of LA’s first inner-city charter schools celebrates 20 years — and is proud to keep ‘Watts’ in its name
*UPDATED When Gene Fisher opened an independent public charter school in September 1997 in Watts, it shared a one-room bungalow in a housing project with the Urban League State Preschool. Fisher quickly realized that recruiting kids from rival gangs was not going to happen. So he moved his two kindergarten students and tiny staff, ending...
By Mike Szymanski | September 11, 2017