More salacious charges against celebrated teacher Rafe Esquith were released this week, and for the first time LAUSD superintendent Ramon Cortines commented publicly about the case. At a forum last night, Cortines said he was surprised about the charges but stood behind the district for taking action, once its investigation was complete. “For me, six...

*UPDATED LA Unified is exploring building two new schools in the western San Fernando Valley on the sites of two campuses that have been vacant for decades at a potential cost of tens of millions. The move comes as the district has no current plans for any new schools and would need to spend an...

* UPDATED In what may be his last public appearance as superintendent of LA Unified, Ramon Cortines last night spoke to about 300 people in a wide-ranging discussion that touched on many of the hot-button issues now confronting the district. Sitting alongside Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, who served as moderator, Cortines said Eli Broad’s...

After one meeting last Sunday, two yesterday and another scheduled for the Sunday ahead to winnow the field of candidates for the superintendent job, LA Unified board member are moving along “on schedule,” board President Steve Zimmer said today. “We’re on target,” he said. “It would not be a mischaracterization to see we’re on schedule.”...

* UPDATED The Broad Foundation plan to expand charter schools in LA Unified made an ominous debut before the LA Unified board yesterday as one opponent after another ripped into it as unwanted, unnecessary and destructive to the district and public education in general. The widespread attack came in several forms after the board postponed...

LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines and board President Steve Zimmer joined a chorus of praise today from state education leaders as the Senate passed a rewrite of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which is now known as the Every Student Succeeds Act. The bill now awaiting the signature of President Obama cuts back on...

By Rebecca Klein The Senate voted on Wednesday to pass an overhaul of No Child Left Behind called the Every Student Succeeds Act. The move comes after the House of Representatives voted to pass the overhaul last week, and over eight years after the No Child Left Behind Act originally expired in 2007. The White House...

Documents provide details of LAUSD probe that led to firing of  Rafe Esquith The documents claim the famed teacher allegedly fondled children in the 1970s, that in recent years he inappropriately emailed former students, and other allegations. Los Angeles Times, by Zahira Torres Mira Costa principal defends canceling classes again due to bomb threat Principal...

Leaders of the nine unions that represent teaches, administrators and other staffers at LAUSD stood before the district board today to express a united front against the Broad foundation plan to create more charter schools in the district. Flanked at the podium by the union leaders, Juan Flecha, president of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), told the...

The LA Unified school board is holding a meeting today scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. Among the items up for discussion is an expansion plan for Playa Vista Elementary that has many parents angry to the point they staged a protest yesterday. There are also nine new charter schools applications, including El Camino Real K-8...