For the first time since LA Unified has collected such data, the number of incidents involving fights, suicidal behavior, bullying, drugs and other disruptions on campuses was higher at middle schools than at high schools. The district last week released the 2015-2016 iSTAR Annual Report, which stands for the Incident System Tracking Accountability...

Proposition 58 certainly isn’t the highest-profile among the 17 ballot questions facing California voters this fall — those would probably be the proposals to repeal the death penalty or legalize marijuana. It isn’t even the newsiest among the education propositions. That’s probably Prop. 55, which would extend a special tax on individual incomes over $250,000,...

In an effort to counter the misconception that charter schools don’t accept special needs students, the California Charter Schools Association released a report Thursday highlighting how 10 charter schools in the state serve students with disabilities. The qualitative study included best practices based on interviews with charter school leaders and staff and focused on how...

It was supposed to be a simple primer on the Charter School Petition Authorization Policy at a committee meeting, but it ended up bringing up new issues and old problems. Scott Schmerelson expressed consternation that his fellow board members often go against the recommendations of the Charter Schools Division staff as well as the superintendent...

Mary Najera didn’t even know what a charter school was when she applied to the first Green Dot Public School, but within two years it had transformed her son who was on the brink of falling into a life of gangs and drugs. Najera told her family’s story Tuesday evening at a town hall event...

You may have seen the uniformed police officers on campus when dropping the kids off at school. Here are a few facts you probably didn’t know about the Los Angeles School Police Department: • The LASPD is on duty 24 hours a day seven days a week to monitor more than 1,300 schools. • They...

Every day, the news headlines make Police Chief Steven K. Zipperman aware of something more he has to do to help 664,000 children feel safe coming to school. Chief Zipperman cradles the responsibility of keeping LA Unified’s students safe, as well as its 60,000 employees. And that’s a tall order in a today’s world, with...