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JUST IN: Los Angeles Unified School District announces 3-year health and welfare deal with 8 labor partners

Late Thursday night, the Los Angeles Unified School District announced they had reached a tentative three-year agreement with eight different labor partners over health and welfare payments. The plan still requires ratification by both the unions and the Board of Education. Four key points in the tentative agreement, as distributed to the press in a...
By LA School Report | January 19, 2018
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California inflated its high school graduation rate by 2%, federal audit finds

California education leaders inflated the state’s high school graduation rate by 2 percentage points in 2014, according to the results of a federal audit announced Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education. The Department’s Office of Inspector General found that California education officials inaccurately calculated its graduation rate and failed to provide “reasonable assurance” that...
By Mark Keierleber | January 17, 2018
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For LA’s next superintendent, school board members want a unanimous choice

LA Unified’s school board members want a new superintendent they can all support. They would like to get a unanimous decision, as it was with Michelle King’s selection two years ago. They also want public input on the choice and to have a new leader in place by the time school starts in August. “Yes,...
By Mike Szymanski | January 17, 2018
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Los Angeles Dreamers march on D.C., joining hundreds of undocumented youth in demanding Congress pass Dream Act this week

*Updated Jan. 17 Los Angeles’ Luis Tadeo sent his DACA renewal application Tuesday from Washington, D.C., where he and 30 other California undocumented youth have gathered with an urgent goal: Get Congress to pass a “clean” Dream Act by Friday. Tadeo traveled with a group of Californians, mostly college students, organized by the Coalition for...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | January 16, 2018
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LA teachers step up interventions as students’ fears increasingly impede their ability to learn

*Updated Jan. 17 Throughout Los Angeles, the scope and intensity of students’ fears are greater this school year than ever before, teachers say. The possibility of their parents being deported, domestic violence, homelessness, racial tensions, and even fears of terrorist attacks are affecting children more than ever, according to administrators and teachers at both LA Unified...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | January 16, 2018
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Lifting up California’s Latino students in 2018: 4 big things parents say they want to see in their schools this year

In 2018, Latino parents and advocates are preparing to fight for more funds and better support for their students, from kindergarten to a college degree, as data show California’s Latino students are not succeeding at the same rate as students from other ethnic groups. Topping their list: protecting undocumented students’ education, making sure money gets...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | January 10, 2018
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LAUSD’s school board can begin superintendent search; Ekchian is named interim head

LA Unified’s school board can begin the search for a new superintendent immediately, the district’s lead attorney said Tuesday, and the board president said members will hold weekly discussions as they move to bring stability to a district that has had nine superintendents in 20 years. The school board held its first meeting of the...
By Mike Szymanski | January 9, 2018
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‘Disappointing but not surprising’ — California’s ESSA plan gets some of the harshest feedback yet from Washington

California’s plan to improve its schools received some of the toughest criticism in the nation from the federal Department of Education, which came as no surprise to parents and education advocates, who will get another chance this week to tell the state how they want their schools improved. On Tuesday, the state has invited the...
By Mike Szymanski | January 8, 2018
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LAUSD Superintendent Michelle King, on medical leave as she fights cancer, will retire by end of June

Updated Jan. 5 LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King announced Friday afternoon she will be retiring from the district by the end of June as she undergoes treatment for cancer. King, 56, has been on a medical leave of absence since Sept. 15 after feeling weak during a long school board meeting three days earlier. In...
By Mike Szymanski | January 5, 2018
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The 7 hottest California education storylines we’re watching in 2018

While 2017 was undoubtedly a huge year for education in national politics and in Los Angeles, 2018 has the potential to bring big changes to education across California. A new governor, who will appoint a new state Board of Education, will have a significant impact on how education is funded and what students are learning. Here are seven things to...
By Sarah Favot | January 3, 2018