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Former LAUSD food services director accused of public corruption charges

*UPDATED LA Unified’s former food services director who resigned under a cloud of controversy has been charged with 15 counts of misappropriation of public funds, embezzlement of public funds, conflict of interest, perjury, and forgery. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced the charges Tuesday against David Binkle. Binkle, 55, pleaded not guilty in...
By Sarah Favot | August 8, 2017
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JUST IN: Father arrested by ICE agents outside his daughter’s school avoids deportation, for now

Romulo Avelica-González, an undocumented immigrant and Los Angeles father who could have been deported to Mexico on Monday, was granted an “emergency stay of removal” by the Board of Immigration Appeals on Monday morning. Avelica-González, 49, will not be deported until the board reviews his case, according to his attorney, Alan Diamante. Avelica-González was arrested...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 7, 2017
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Two candidates for state superintendent raise nearly $2 million

*UPDATED The election is 10 months away, but the two candidates for the state superintendent of schools have together raised nearly $2 million. Marshall Tuck, who narrowly lost the 2014 contest against Tom Torlakson, leads in fundraising, reporting $1.2 million in contributions from Jan. 1 through June 30, according to the latest reports filed with...
By Sarah Favot | August 7, 2017
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Summit charter schools launch nation’s first teacher residency program for personalized learning

A network of charter schools in Northern California this month will launch the nation’s first teacher residency program focused on personalized learning. Twenty-four teachers-in-training will be part of Summit Public Schools’ first Summit Learning Residency Program, which will train teachers to lead students in a personalized learning classroom setting, a hallmark of the Summit model....
By Sarah Favot | August 7, 2017
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Half of U.S. high school students say they feel prepared for college, according to new survey

Half of high school students surveyed nationwide say they feel academically prepared for college, a new survey reports. YouthTruth, a national San Francisco-based nonprofit organization, surveyed 55,000 high school students between September 2015 and December 2016 in 21 states through anonymous online surveys about school climate and culture. It released Tuesday an analysis of the...
By Sarah Favot | August 4, 2017
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California may see more ‘parent triggers’ to force school improvement as state’s ESSA plan ‘punts’ on responsibility

With only weeks to go until California’s deadline to submit its Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan to the federal government, parents are wondering if the state will offer any guarantee that the lowest-performing schools will improve. Esther Covarrubias, a mother from South LA, believes the nearly finished draft does not. A stronger option, she...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 3, 2017
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Raids targeting undocumented youth net up to 16 arrests in LA; activists call Trump support for slashing legal immigration ‘dangerous’

Los Angeles activists decried as “dangerous” new support by the Trump Administration for slashing legal immigration, which came on the heels of news of arrests in Los Angeles during raids targeting undocumented youth. Federal officials announced Tuesday that as many as 120 undocumented immigrant youth who had entered the country illegally as unaccompanied minors were...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | August 2, 2017
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When charters and traditional schools share a building, all students improve: A new study finds 7 reasons why

By Beth Hawkins Few education policy battles have burned as hot as debate over the practice of requiring traditional public schools to share under-used space with charter schools. Co-location, as the practice is called, is often cited as damaging to students in mainline district schools. But groundbreaking new research from Temple University Assistant Professor Sarah Cordes finds that at...
By Guest contributor | August 1, 2017
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Back to school, ALL together now: For the first time in 36 years, all LAUSD district schools will start on the same date

For the first time in 36 years, all LA Unified district students are starting school at the same time, now that the last school — Bell Senior High School — has ended its multi-track schedule. In 1981, Bell and nearly 80 percent of the district’s schools went on a year-round schedule to alleviate overcrowding. Even though...
By Mike Szymanski | August 1, 2017
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State’s first STEM school, proposed for LA, is targeted by unions before it can open

A proposed state-run STEM school in Los Angeles is being opposed by teachers unions and others, including STEM teachers. Teachers unions and other groups spoke out against the school’s unique governance structure and process for approval through the Legislature as well as the uncertainty of whether teachers and staff would be able to collectively bargain....
By Sarah Favot | July 31, 2017