Struggling L.A. schools seek larger class sizes Despite an improving economy and robust tax collections, the Los Angeles School District will petition the state to allow larger class sizes in some of its most under-performing schools through 2014-15.The waiver application, which covers more than 70 school sites, would have in the recent past likely been...

Common Core is latest front in decades-long education wars Commentary: Nearly 20 years ago, after the Clinton administration proposed a program of voluntary national student testing, Chester Finn, then a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, warned that if it failed it would be because “liberals hate the word ‘testing’ and conservatives hate the...

Marshall Tuck for state superintendent of public instruction Opinion: Torlakson has been an able administrator, and after years as a state legislator, his relationships in Sacramento give him some influence on lawmaking. He deserves praise for his role in the state’s smooth implementation of the Common Core curriculum standards. But he has not brought much...

LAUSD foster kids to get more help from school social workers Los Angeles Unified’s plan to help some of its most troubled students — foster kids — calls for creating a corps of social workers and manning 17 centers in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. If approved, the $32.7 million effort would hire 95 social workers to manage...

iPad, Wi-Fi issues interrupt LA schools testing Teachers and students often grumble about end of the year tests,but at the Los Angeles Unified School District, the complaints are mounting: iPads the district purchased to take new state competency tests aren’t getting online. They’re having trouble connecting to keyboards. And, in some cases, they’re not turning...

California graduation rate rises, but achievement gap remains Commentary: Let’s assume, at least for discussion, that maximizing high school graduation rates is – or should be – the primary goal of any public school system. A corollary assumption, of course, is that a system’s diploma is meaningful, that it indicates the graduate is prepared to...

Governor’s proposed rainy day reserve for education would rarely be filled To even out the boom-and-bust revenue cycles that can particularly destabilize education funding, Gov. Jerry Brown is proposing a separate reserve for K-12 schools and community colleges in his revised plan for a rainy day fund. But that lock box for education would gather...

New federal grant will prepare graduates for high-demand careers The Los Angeles Unified School District received $7 million Youth CareerConnect grant to expand career pathways in health care, biotechnology and other tech-related opportunities at three high schools, as well as business and finance, another high growth area, on three additional campuses. Students will benefit from...

L.A. Unified battles lawyers over Miramonte disclosures The litigation over sexual misconduct at Miramonte Elementary has resulted in a struggle over which documents should be part of the public record. This includes testimony that a former teacher had alerted her principal about sexual misconduct by Mark Berndt, who was subsequently arrested and later convicted of...

Lawmakers reject Brown’s online learning proposal A key budget panel on Tuesday rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s latest plan to revamp the K-12 independent study program and create more opportunities for students to use modern technology as part of their academic day. The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Finance also held off on endorsing Brown’s proposed...