LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King said at a news conference last week that the district’s improvement over last year on the state’s standardized tests was among “the highest gains that were achieved among urban districts in California.” But was it really? LA Unified was fourth among the 10 largest districts in the state in overall improvement,...

LA Unified officials persistently wring their hands about losing students year after year, but meanwhile the number of employees continues to rise. In their latest tally, school district employees rose from 59,563 in the 2014-2015 school year to 59,823 last year and 60,191 in the 2016-2017 school year. (A final accounting of the actual hires will be available...

A $1,139 dinner at a steakhouse. A $95 bottle of fine Syrah wine. A $73 bill for flowers. Those charges and others made by staff of a successful charter school were cited this week at an LA Unified School Board meeting and led the district to take the first steps to revoking the school’s charter. El...

Los Angeles charter schools are outperforming traditional schools in math and English A math teacher at LA Unified’s Luther Burbank Middle School takes the latest CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Progress and Performance) scores and finds charter schools outperformed traditional schools in both math and English. He also lists three schools that serve diverse and poor...

How many students actually started school last week at LA Unified? It’s a question that the second-largest school district in the country is a bit sensitive about, especially because enrollment means money. The media cavalierly bandied about a wide array of numbers that may not seem significant but can equate to a difference as big...

A total of 20 schools—14 district schools and six charter schools—that fall under the LA Unified umbrella are among the bottom 5 percent of low-performing schools in the state of California. The schools are eligible for School Improvement Grants (SIG) money that can result in $2 million a year for five years if the school administrators...

While the latest academic reports from the LA Unified school district were positive overall, school board President Steve Zimmer expressed frustration at some of the data presented at Tuesday’s board meeting and said he foresees potential problems ahead. Zimmer asked for a breakdown of how many students are graduating with D grades and in what subjects. “How many...

LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer and other leaders called a press conference this morning at Eagle Rock Elementary School to tout the results of the newly released standardized test scores. Scores in the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) went...

LA Unified students increased their scores this year in the statewide standardized tests, but significant achievement gaps remain for African-American and Latino students, as well as for English learners and students from economically challenged backgrounds. The improvements came along with increases statewide in the second year of the new assessments, which are aligned with the Common Core...

More L.A. Unified students reach goals on statewide exams, district says More students in the Los Angeles Unified School District met statewide goals on standardized tests in 2016 than they did last year, district officials said at a meeting Tuesday. Scores on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress increased in both English and math, they reported....