The LA Unified school board will likely decide next week how to fill the seat vacated by the sudden death of Marguerite LaMotte, according to the board meeting agenda posted today. For now, the vote that could determine which way appears to be Steve Zimmer‘s. With a choice of appointing a replacement or calling a...

Since becoming Mayor Eric Garcetti’s top education advisor four months ago, Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana has made few public appearances but, today, for the first time, the 30-year educator took center stage alongside LA Unified officials. She was one of several speakers at the UCLA Community School in the Robert F. Kennedy Complex, kicking-off...

The California Charter Schools Association, or CCSA, has become the latest group pushing LA Unified leadership to hold an election to fill the seat left open by the sudden death of board member Marguerite LaMotte. As the school board continues to weigh the options of appointing a replacement or staging a special election — stakeholders around...

A day after the death of the LA Unified school board’s only African American member, Marguerite LaMotte, community leaders with ties to her south Los Angeles district began speaking out about how to fill the vacancy and who should fill it. “Unfortunately in these moments there is no opportunity to wait,” U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass...

As LA Unified debates when to buy keyboards to go along with the district’s new iPads, experts say typing skills and accuracy are essential to student success on Common Core testing. The new Smarter Balanced standardized tests in California will be taken on computers by all students, even at the elementary school level. The language...

For the second year in a row, LA Unified is losing fewer teachers, and district projections indicate that the trend will continue through the current school year. Vivian Ekchian, the district’s Chief Human Resources Officer, told a committee meeting yesterday that the trend is largely due to more diligent work at the front end of...

Another long day for LA Unified board members is gearing up tomorrow, with their regular meeting at 10 a.m., followed by two committee meetings. Only one item at the board meeting is open to the public: a motion to urge the US Army Corps of Engineers to adopt a new plan, called Alternative 20, to revitalize...

LA Unified Superintendent John Deasy used the resolution of the Mark Berndt molestation case to campaign for a new law that would make it easier to get rid of abusive teachers. Berndt, a Miramonte Elementary School teacher who was accused of abusing 23 students under the age of 14, pleaded no contest in court today and...

LA Unified School board member Tamar Galatzan had hoped to sway her colleagues to change the way the district distributes Title 1 funds for low-income students. But her motion, co-sponsored by Monica Ratliff, failed to get majority support at yesterday’s board meeting. The vote was split, 3-3, with Galatzan, Ratliff and Steve Zimmer, all of...