Bernie Sanders isn’t the only progressive who is confused about charter schools. On the left, misunderstandings and mischaracterizations about non-traditional public schools abound, many of them spread by an educational establishment that fiercely guards its turf. One of the most popular misconceptions is that charter schools represent “takeovers” by wealthy corporate interests or rich conservatives...

Granada Hills Charter triumphs again in state academic decathlon For the fifth time in six years, students at Granada Hills Charter High School have won the California Academic Decathlon. They will defend the school’s national title in April. KPCC The ‘Broad plan’ for LA schools grows to more than charters only, KPCC How to help elementary...

LA Unified and its 221 independent charter schools have reached an agreement on the court-ordered requirement that charters sync their student data information systems with the district’s massive MiSiS system. The agreement calls on the district to develop an interface solution that will allow data systems at charter schools to communicate with MiSiS but allow...

Three Los Angeles charter school students were among the winners of $2,000 scholarships awarded at the 23rd Annual California Charter Schools Conference this week. The 10 recipients of the Susan Steelman Bragato Scholarship Award have “a passion for community service and for reaching their educational dreams,” the California Charters Schools Association (CCSA), which hosted the...

Editorial: California should restore the trigger allowing parents to force change at low-performing schools An editorial challenges the arguments that LA Unified has had against the parent takeover of the failing 20th Street Elementary School. The editorial muses: “Had the parents been hard-nosed from the start, they’d have transformed the school by now.” Los Angeles...

Rising concussion numbers have spurred LA Unified to examine how to better monitor head injuries and ensure the safety of student athletes. “I love football,” said board member Richard Vladovic, who noted that this week the NFL for the first time recognized a link between football and brain disorders. “But I’m very concerned about long-term effects on...

By Nick Melvoin Last week’s Los Angeles Unified School Board meeting was a political circus. Scores of parents, students and advocates in a packed boardroom vied for a chance to speak as the board debated their futures in real time. And while the politics may interest an arm-chair social scientist—“everyone is in such a bunkered...

Are charter schools suspending too many students? In the 2011-12 school year, charter schools nationwide had an average out-of-school suspension rate of 7.8 percent, as opposed to 6.7 percent in traditional public schools, meaning the rate in charter schools was 16 percent higher. However, the data is a few years old, and much has changed...

The California Charter Schools Association handed out nine Hart Vision Awards Tuesday at the 23rd Annual California Charter Schools Conference, and five of them were given to schools or leaders from the Los Angeles area. Among the winners at the event, which is taking place Monday through Thursday at the Long Beach Convention Center, was The CHIME Institute for Charter...

About 100 parents from 20th Street Elementary School met Tuesday night in the auditorium with more than a dozen school administrators after the district denied a “parent trigger” that would allow them to make sweeping changes to the school. Some of the parents were still unhappy, however. “It was like a big cheerleading session,” said parent...