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Unified enrollment plan on hold as tech decision is delayed

A sweeping technology plan for LA Unified that included an expanded unified enrollment system was postponed Tuesday night as school board members await more information and staff adds up the total costs. The school board was being asked to set aside money for a unified enrollment system even as one has launched on the district’s website this week...
By Mike Szymanski | May 10, 2017
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LAUSD board takes another strong stand against feds to soothe immigrant fears

LA Unified reinforced its position Tuesday as the strongest school district to stand against the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant policies by passing a resolution that specifically forbids employees from cooperating with federal authorities over immigration inquiries. The resolution was another addition to a series of sweeping propositions passed by the second-largest school district in the nation since...
By Mike Szymanski | May 9, 2017
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Reaching 90% grad rate unlikely without an acute focus on low-income, minority kids, report finds

As the national high school graduation rate continues to rise — it hit a record 83.2 percent last year — the leaders of a campaign to raise that number to 90 percent by 2020 said they fear the country will not meet that goal. Hitting that ambitious target would require a far more intense focus...
By Mark Keierleber | May 8, 2017
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Meet the 3 new education advocates to be inducted into the national Charter School Hall of Fame

Three charter school advocates — Greg Richmond of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Caprice Young of Magnolia Public Schools, and Malcolm “Mike” Peabody of Friends of Choice in Urban Schools — have been chosen as this year’s inductees to the Charter School Hall of Fame, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools announced...
By Kate Stringer | May 5, 2017
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The public charter school principal being honored today by TFA credits her mentor — frequent charter critic Steve Zimmer

*UPDATED MAY 3 It’s not every day that a charter educator and a frequent charter critic converge to praise each other’s achievements in public education. But Marisol Pineda Conde, principal of Camino Nuevo Charter Academy’s Miramar High School, credits her mentor for much of her success — LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer. “I’ve known...
By Esmeralda Fabián Romero | May 2, 2017
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LAUSD diverts $27 million toward schools — and looks to move employees to local offices

*UPDATED More than $27 million is being funneled from the downtown LA Unified headquarters to local school districts, and the district is looking to move more employees out of their main office building. “We are decentralizing and putting more resources closer to the learners in the local districts,” Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson told the...
By Mike Szymanski | May 2, 2017
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Your cheat sheet on this week in education in Los Angeles — and quick fact: attendance was up on May Day Monday in LA schools

*UPDATED The week and the month kicked off Monday with 100,000 people participating in May Day marches across Los Angeles, which for the first time in more than a decade all joined together at their final destination at City Hall. Teacher union organizers had called on Superintendent Michelle King to close the schools, but the...
By LA School Report | May 1, 2017
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Immigration fears in California schools: Report shows 1 in 8 students have undocumented parents

Much attention has focused recently on a heightened fear of deportation among undocumented K-12 students, but the number of children actually affected is far greater, according to a new report from The Education Trust–West. About 250,000 undocumented children between the ages of 3 and 17 are enrolled in California public schools, says the report, released in...
By Mark Keierleber | May 1, 2017
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Anger erupts over LAUSD’s lack of transparency about sharing space with public charter schools — and inflames the board election

It seems everyone is angry at LA Unified over its lack of transparency and leadership surrounding proposed co-locations of charter schools at district campuses. District staff, school board members, charter school leaders and parents throughout Los Angeles all say the number and intensity of the protests over these Prop. 39 co-locations are at an all-time...
By Mike Szymanski | April 28, 2017
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U.S. News ranks America’s top public high schools — and for the first time, charters dominate Top 10

U.S. News and World Report has released its 2017 rankings of America’s public high schools, and for the first time ever, the majority of the schools in the top 10 are charters. BASIS Scottsdale, BASIS Tucson North, and BASIS Oro Valley — all Arizona public charter schools in the BASIS network — placed one, two, and three atop...
By Kate Stringer | April 26, 2017