LAUSD iPads: Officials chose incomplete software over competitors When the Los Angeles Unified School District set out last year to buy tablets for every teacher and student, officials drew up a scoring system to rate 19 hardware and software options. The scores meant a lot: the contract will ultimately be worth about $500 million and...

New teachers scarce after state funding cuts Young teachers have become far more scarce in California classrooms after school districts slashed their budgets to survive the recession. From 2008 to 2013, California saw a 40 percent drop in teachers with less than six years’ experience, according to a Sacramento Bee review of state data. Sacramento...

Students, area school staff embrace changes to SAT Pablo Muñoz is no stranger to academic rigor. And don’t expect him to shirk additional work. As many cheered sweeping changes to the SAT — such as the optional essay — the 15-year-old Loyola High School sophomore is likely not to skip that portion. “I would probably...

Calif. Bill Would Repeal Bilingual-Education Restrictions A new bill that seeks to repeal California’s long-running restrictions on bilingual education may be only the most recent signal of a shifting political climate around English-language-learner instruction in that state. California drew national attention in 1998 when voters passed Proposition 227, a ballot measure that severely restricted the...

In survey, union leader vows to file complaints over ‘teacher jails’ Los Angeles teachers union president Warren Fletcher lashed out at the school district Monday for its handling of teachers accused of misconduct, vowing to file federal and state age-discrimination complaints. LA Times Severely disabled are to face double testing this spring Thousands of the...

L.A. school board to consider expansion of computer science offerings An initiative to address the shortage of computer science offerings in the L.A. Unified School District will go before the school board Tuesday. Only one-in-three of the district’s high schools are offering a basic course this year, and far fewer are offering the Advanced Placement...

Billions would be needed to repair L.A. schools, officials say Maintaining Los Angeles Unified campuses will be difficult because of staffing and funding shortages combined with repair backlogs, aging buildings and more than 100 new schools, officials said Thursday. LA Times LA teachers can only afford 8.7 percent of LA houses A new real estate...

State lawmaker makes new bid to change teacher dismissal rules A state lawmaker introduced a bill Wednesday that would attempt to streamline the process for dismissing California teachers accused of misconduct. The proposed bill by state Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana) also would strive to make the dismissal process less expensive. Recent attempts to change...

Teachers: LA schools’ arts budget ‘a step in the wrong direction’ A plan by the Los Angeles Unified School District to cut the time elementary school children are taught orchestra in half is angering teachers – many of whom learned about it only after KPCC reported on the arts budget, which was released unexpectedly at...

New funding law puts focus on translation for non-English speakers School districts with high concentrations of English-learner students are facing a new challenge in ensuring that parents who need language translation are informed of their role under the funding formula for schools. California’s new Local Control Funding Formula emphasizes the importance of parental involvement in...