A bureaucratic mistake at LA Unified has led to a degree of anxiety among affiliated charter schools in the West Valley, which will begin paying for classroom basics they had previously gotten for free from the district. A lack of oversight and confusion among several departments with little experience in understanding how affiliated charter school...

Commencement season is upon us and with it, the rush to find moving speakers to lead graduating students through the expensive right of passage. Sometimes schools get lucky, such as UC Irvine, which this year reeled in President Barak Obama by sending 10,000 postcards from students, staff and alumni, inviting him to be the guest...

LA Unified Board member Bennett Kayser is not only thinking about the LCAP, arts education, and transitioning to Common Core standards, he’s also thinking about soap. Specifically, unscented soap. According to Kayser, who has championed a variety of health issues since joining the board, the almond-scented, goopy, pink soap found in nearly every restroom, classroom...

Nearly two dozen LA Unified schools were among the 424 elementary schools cited by the state today as California Distinguished Schools. The announcement came from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson who said, “I applaud these strong, thriving schools that are making such impressive strides in preparing their students for continued success.” The 2014...

* UPDATED For the third straight year in LA Unified, the high school graduation rate increased and the dropout rate decreased, according to new state data released today. Last June, the graduation rate climbed to 67.9 percent, or 1.3 percentage points higher than the previous year. And more students stayed in school: The dropout rate...

Once upon a time people turned to local parishes in times of need, whether they needed help for aid for family counseling, putting food on the table or finding safe shelter. Now, labor and city leaders in Los Angeles want that hub of help to be your local school. SEIU Local 99, the school workers...

LA Unified school board member Tamar Galatzan, a strong supporter of Superintendent John Deasy and his efforts to reform public education, said today she plans to run for another term next year. “I plan to seek a third term in order to continue the work I’ve been doing since voters in Board District 3 first chose...

Working for LA Unified could put you among the nation’s highest wage earners. In closed session Tuesday, the school board approved contracts for senior staff, including five worth more than $200,000 a year, more than twice the salary of the highest-earning teachers in the district. The highest paid official in this round of contracts, according...

There’s bad news for parents whose kids go to schools in the poorest areas of LA Unified. A new report by a coalition of organizations lead by the United Way found that it’s harder for parents and guardians in low-income neighborhoods to obtain school information, get answers to their questions and access parent resources, than it...