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New charter high school prepares LA students for film and TV careers
*UPDATED Charis Holloman walked onto the campus of his new school Tuesday and didn’t even look back to say goodbye to his parents. “He’s excited,” Suzette Holloman said of her son’s independence as he started ninth-grade. Teachers and school staff greeted students with applause, cheers, handshakes, and fist bumps as they arrived for the first...
By Sarah Favot | August 15, 2017
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Here’s what the first day of school in Los Angeles looked like on social media
Tuesday signaled a return to class for LA Unified students — and that means lots of back-to-school photos on social media. There was some news Tuesday afternoon when reports came out that a swarm of bees attacked students at Palmdale High School. Dozens of students were stung and taken to hospitals, according to reports. UPDATED:...
By Sarah Favot | August 15, 2017
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Meet the 15 new schools opening in LAUSD this week
Even as enrollment has steadily declined over the last decade in the nation’s second-largest school district, LA Unified is opening four new schools this week, while independent charter schools will continue to grow with 11 new schools opening in Los Angeles. The district will launch a new all-boys school called Boys Academic Leadership Academy, the...
By Sarah Favot | August 14, 2017
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Maywood school is the last to open in massive building project. But dwindling enrollment makes today’s LAUSD a very different district.
When the Maywood Center for Enriched Studies welcomes students next week, it will be the last school — the 131st — to open under the district’s more than $20 billion school building project. But as the district’s enrollment has plummeted since the building program began, the state of the district is far different now than...
By Sarah Favot | August 11, 2017
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‘Teacher jail’ numbers drop 25%, but LAUSD expects the cost will remain the same
The number of LA Unified employees housed in “teacher jail” while the district is investigating disciplinary complaints against them has dropped by nearly a quarter, but officials are projecting it will cost roughly the same to pay their salaries as they await adjudication. The number of teachers who are “reassigned, pending investigation,” the official name,...
By Sarah Favot | August 9, 2017
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Former LAUSD food services director accused of public corruption charges
*UPDATED LA Unified’s former food services director who resigned under a cloud of controversy has been charged with 15 counts of misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, perjury, and forgery. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges Tuesday against David Binkle. Binkle, 55, pleaded not guilty in...
By Sarah Favot | August 8, 2017
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Two candidates for state superintendent raise nearly $2 million
*UPDATED The election is 10 months away, but the two candidates for the state superintendent of schools have together raised nearly $2 million. Marshall Tuck, who narrowly lost the 2014 contest against Tom Torlakson, leads in fundraising, reporting $1.2 million in contributions from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to the latest reports filed with...
By Sarah Favot | August 7, 2017
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Summit charter schools launch nation’s first teacher residency program for personalized learning
A network of charter schools in Northern California this month will launch the nation’s first teacher residency program focused on personalized learning. Twenty-four teachers-in-training will be part of Summit Public Schools’ first Summit Learning Residency Program, which will train teachers to lead students in a personalized learning classroom setting, a hallmark of the Summit model....
By Sarah Favot | August 7, 2017
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Half of U.S. high school students say they feel prepared for college, according to new survey
Half of high school students surveyed nationwide say they feel academically prepared for college, a new survey reports. YouthTruth, a national San Francisco-based nonprofit organization, surveyed 55,000 high school students between September 2015 and December 2016 in 21 states through anonymous online surveys about school climate and culture. It released Tuesday an analysis of the...
By Sarah Favot | August 4, 2017
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State’s first STEM school, proposed for LA, is targeted by unions before it can open
A proposed state-run STEM school in Los Angeles is being opposed by teachers unions and others, including STEM teachers. Teachers unions and other groups spoke out against the school’s unique governance structure and process for approval through the Legislature as well as the uncertainty of whether teachers and staff would be able to collectively bargain....
By Sarah Favot | July 31, 2017