LA School Report has learned that ‘fiscal mismanagement’ and a host of other irregularities are the reasons behind the sudden closure last month of two LA Unified charter schools, Magnolia Science Academy 6 and Magnolia Science Academy 7, according to a letter sent from LAUSD’s Charter Division. Both are considered high-performing schools; MSA-6 is a...

The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) kicks off its annual convention in downtown Los Angeles tomorrow bringing more 3,500 national union delegates to the home of LA Unified, the second largest school district in the country. On the agenda: fending off what the union sees as its biggest threats, including billionaire money, an assault on...

Heading into the final month of the special election run-off to fill LA Unified school board’s District 1 seat, candidates George McKenna and Alex Johnson are collecting endorsements from former opponents. The seat, which represents much of South LA, was left vacant when longtime school board member Marguerite LaMotte died in office late last year....

Two high performing LA Unified charter schools, Magnolia Science Academy 6 and Magnolia Science Academy 7, have been ordered to shut down after failing a new round of scrutiny, leaving the possibility that 450 students will be looking for a new school in the fall. The two schools had initially been approved for renewal by...

For the second time in recent weeks, Tamar Galatzan has turned a critical eye toward LA Unified’s Bond Oversight Committee and the role it plays in monitoring district spending on bond-funded projects. At the board meeting on Tuesday, she objected to the BOC’s wholesale approval of a library project that earmarked $116,000 to move library...

The LA Unified School Board yesterday unanimously approved labor contracts for four of its major union partners, all of which would put (at least a little) more cash in the pockets of employees after years of devastating budget cuts  and furlough days. The district signed off on deals with Service Employees International Union Local 99...

*UPDATED The LA Unified School Board today re-elected Richard Vladovic to serve as president for the 2014-15 school year. Rather than postpone the vote until after the August runoff to fill the vacant District 1 seat, the six member board voted and by a 5-1 margin supported Vladovic’s continued leadership. Tamar Galatzan was the lone...

SEIU Local 99, which represents school cafeteria workers, custodians, special education assistants, campus safety monitors and other school service workers, has reached a tentative contract agreement with LA Unified that includes an incremental rise to a minimum wage of $15 an hour. The three-year phase in brings workers up to $11 an hour for the coming...

Not too long ago the iPad train barreling toward LA Unified seemed unstoppable. At the beginning of the school year, it was a given that all district students would have an Apple device in their Millennial and Generation Z hands by the end of 2016. But after a series of very public blunders and intense...