It was bound to happen sooner or later. In implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act, the nation’s new education law, the odds were high that the U.S. Department of Education would issue a regulation meant to protect the rights of poor children (for instance), that congressional Republicans would interpret as the department’s effort to chew...

Retiree benefits become a flashpoint between charters, traditional schools Financial challenges are all-but-universal in the education world, and retiree benefits are particularly costly. The latest battle is over who should pay for an employee’s health benefits after retirement. LA Unified’s unfunded liability for employee benefits has escalated to $13.6 billion. By Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times...

The day after the state Court of Appeal ruled that the job protections for teachers do not predominantly harm minority students, the key players in the case said they feel confident the California Supreme Court will take up the issue. The three-judge panel reversed a landmark 2014 ruling by Superior Judge Rolf Treu, who struck...

Yep, it’s just a toilet. That’s what the students are saying at Santee Education Complex where today they’ve become the first LA Unified school to have a gender-neutral restroom. The issue has become controversial throughout the country, with some states passing laws restricting transgendered people’s restroom use and boycotts being waged against certain cities and states. The...

Garcetti proposes free year of community college for LAUSD graduates At his State of the City address, Mayor Eric Garcetti said LA will commit to giving every graduate of LA Unified one free year of community college. Funding would come from the community college district, the city and a private philanthropist. ABC7  44 LA Unified schools...

The California Court of Appeal on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling that had challenged teacher tenure and declared school employment laws unconstitutional. The nine student plaintiffs intend to appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court, according to a statement from StudentsMatter, a group representing the students. The three-judge panel unanimously reversed Vergara v....

Vergara v. California was reversed today. The landmark lawsuit sought to scuttle teacher tenure laws and “last in, first out” layoff policies, stating they disproportionately harm minority and low-income students. The plaintiffs – nine students in five California public school districts – argued that five laws governing teacher dismissal deprive them of their right to a quality...

Another $40.3 million was approved to repair and run the beleaguered MiSiS computer system for the next year, but the big question at Tuesday’s LA Unified School Board meeting was how much it will cost to maintain once all the repairs are done. The answer came late into the nearly six-hour meeting when board member Monica Ratliff asked Diane...

Los Angeles students attend 2016 White House Science Fair The White House Science Fair features winners of prestigious science, technology, engineering and math competitions from around the country. KPCC LAUSD reaffirms commitment to teaching Armenian genocide, Asbarez Taking math in morning may lead to higher grades for teens, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Districts, unions innovate to evaluate...

Although an ethnic studies mandate was approved by the school board in 2014, LA Unified is only now taking steps to fulfill their hope of getting ethnic studies into every high school. But it won’t be a graduation requirement any time soon, and it won’t be a requirement for the class of 2019, as the school...