In an effort to stave off a pending budget deficit, the LA Unified school board agreed Tuesday to reassign 943 classified employees, laying off 114 of them. These reduction-in-force notices are in addition to 115 administrative layoffs that are expected to be finalized by the end of the month. The latest RIF notices include accounting, financial...

* UPDATED LA Unified is going to get its first phase of a unified enrollment system, but board members held up authorizing the cash for it until they added a stipulation that specifically excludes independent charter schools for at least two years. After a long and animated discussion at Tuesday’s meeting, the board — which...

In a surprise move during Tuesday’s closed session, LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King had her contract extended through June 30, 2020, even though her contract wasn’t up for renewal until next year. The lone dissent came from board member Mónica García who objected because it didn’t give the new pro-reform majority a chance to review...

It’s the last regular LA Unified school board meeting before two newcomers are sworn in next month, and it’s a full agenda that includes some pet project resolutions, new charter schools, and a look at the district budget. The school board going to hear details of the new budget, which will be voted on at a...

At just 28, Kelly Gonez has gone from being an education policy adviser for the Obama administration to middle school math teacher to the youngest member of the LA Unified school board. She won the May 16 runoff for the District 6 seat with less than 1,000 votes, obtaining 16,961 votes, or 51.5 percent, to Imelda Padilla’s...

*UPDATED More people turned in ballots for the two LA Unified school board seats in the May 16 runoff than for either of the city council elections that day or Amendment C, the citywide ballot issue on police discipline. In the final tally, released Friday by the LA City Clerk’s Office, 11.35 percent of the voters showed up...

Many point to record outside spending for the vote this month that brought a new pro-reform majority to the LA Unified school board. But what really made the difference is a groundswell of parent power as more than 2,500 parents were galvanized to usher in change. Hundreds of parents in the predominantly Latino east San Fernando...

*UPDATED The teachers union in Los Angeles — one of the largest local teachers unions in the nation — suffered a huge loss in last week’s school board election, but observers say it will only cause union leadership to fight harder. Ultimately, that could mean United Teachers Los Angeles will bolster efforts to unionize charter...

With a new majority coming to the LA Unified school board, one of the first tasks will be to select the next board president, and all signs point to relative newcomer Ref Rodriguez taking over the top spot. The position is largely ceremonial, but it puts a face on the second-largest school district in the...

Steve Zimmer’s vote in April to direct LA Unified to support a state bill dubbed a “charter killer” factored into the board president’s defeat at the polls this week, his board colleagues say. The contentious 4-3 vote supported State Bill 808 authored by Sen. Tony Mendoza, which allowed school districts to reject public independent charter schools if they...