California moves to bring special education students ‘into the fold’ of mainstream education Ordered by the federal government to elevate academics for students with disabilities, and by the state to raise low-income student achievement, the California Department of Education is working to create a unified system that will do both. EdSource, by Jane Meredith Adams...

LA Unified has rejected a parent petition to take over a failing elementary school in South Central Los Angeles, reversing district policy and essentially asserting that no California school qualifies under the state “parent trigger” law. Parents of 20th Street Elementary School were informed of the district’s rejection in a letter late Saturday, the last day...

Superintendents, but not teachers, give high grades to Common Core rollout Most California teachers, principals and superintendents view the Common Core as more rigorous and more relevant to students than the previous state standards but disagree over how well the Common Core has been implemented, researchers from the nonprofit education agency WestEd have concluded. EdSource,...

  A civic group protesting the military-style weapons once held by LA Unified police said they will continue to disrupt meetings and hold demonstrations until they get answers and action. The group, Fight for the Soul of the Cities, took over a committee meeting at the LA Unified school board headquarters last month, and this week...

As educators from around the state head to Long Beach next week for the 23rd annual California Charter Schools Conference, California is holding steady in its friendliness to charter schools, says a January report from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), a pro-charter advocacy group that releases an annual study of state-level policies. The survey...

What exactly is a good school? California is trying to find out The California State Board of Education on Thursday heard from about 60 people who commented on how to define a good or bad school. Some focused on “school climate,” or how students felt in school, and relationships with teachers. Los Angeles Times, by...

LA Unified is making no bones about wanting to change the chicken industry, and federal officials visiting the district Thursday say they’re on their way to doing it. LA Unified became the first large school district in the nation to contract for antibiotic- and hormone-free chicken and turkey in a vote Tuesday. On Thursday, visiting...

Mikelah Wynn, 11, looked skeptically at the tall man in the suit who sat down with her and her friends as she opened up her breakfast Thursday morning. The man was Kevin Concannon, USDA Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, who came from Washington, D.C., to her fifth-grade class in Winnetka to celebrate the...

The principals of a charter and a district elementary school that share a Baldwin Village location have teamed up to bring dual-language educators together this weekend to learn from each other and share best practices, strategies and resources. About 60 educators from the LA area have signed up to attend Saturday’s free half-day “unconference,” in...

    To help a model charter school expand into high school, the LA Unified school board took unprecedented steps Tuesday night to cobble together a plan, concocting at least half a dozen proposals and amendments during a lengthy and at times contentious discussion. District staff had recommended that the board reject the school’s petition. Ultimately, the charter...