*UPDATED Five state teachers have been selected as California Teachers of the Year, including LA Unified’s Isela Lieber, a former English learner who now teaches English and English as a Second Language at James Monroe High School, state Superintendent Tom Torlakson announced Wednesday. Lieber is an immigrant from Ecuador who came to the U.S. with only...

U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. was joined by LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King and a number of education leaders at the USC Rossier School of Education Wednesday to announce the release of his department’s new teacher preparation regulations. The regulations call for more detailed information to be gathered on how new teachers are performing,...

Magnolia charters face closure over past use of teachers from Turkey Three Los Angeles charter schools could be shut down, largely because of their practice of bringing in teachers from Turkey, The Times has learned. The schools are part of a group of 10 campuses operated by locally based Magnolia Public Schools, which has relied heavily on using temporary work...

As part of College Awareness Month in October, LA Unified officials on Tuesday presented a new initiative designed to inspire and prepare the district’s students for college, starting at the pre-K and kindergarten level and continuing every year through 12th grade. “The Division of Instruction wanted to begin a dialogue of specific activities by grade level,...

Racism and stereotypes continue to plague LA Unified, and it’s up to leaders to change that, according to a UCLA professor who is holding seminars at some schools. Tyrone C. Howard, associate dean for equity and inclusion at UCLA’s graduate school of education and information studies, spoke to the Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Equity Committee...

The application period began Tuesday for LA Unified’s popular magnet schools and centers, which next fall will add nearly a dozen new options for families seeking a specialized education. Applications will be accepted online and by mail until 5 p.m. Nov. 10 for one of the 225 themed magnets, which will have an estimated 87,000 available seats...

Why an organization once seen as LA Unified’s biggest threat now plans to give money to LAUSD schools In late January, a mere three weeks into her tenure as Los Angeles Unified School District’s superintendent, Michelle King welcomed two surprising guests into her office: representatives of the nonprofit group that sprouted from the controversial “Great...

A Pasadena-based startup called codeSpark has raised $4.1 million in seed funding for web and mobile games that teach kids how to code even before they know how to read and write effectively. CodeSpark’s games were developed for kids 4 to 9 years old, and with a goal of not just teaching them STEM concepts, but engaging...

A new report shows that growing numbers of the 12 million Hispanic children in American public schools are turning to charter schools, where they tend to reach higher levels of achievement than at traditional district schools. “While district public schools still continue to serve the majority of Hispanic students, an increasing number of Hispanic families...

*UPDATED While LA Unified is firmly committed to online credit recovery classes as a means to the district’s newly stated top goal — 100 percent graduation — Los Angeles charter school operators use these classes much more sparingly, as their graduation rates tend to be far ahead of the district’s. At three of the city’s...