As the operators of El Camino Real Charter School High School prepare to ask the LA Unified board for approval to turn three vacant elementary school sites into new charter schools, one of the main hurdles they face is the growing skepticism of board President Steve Zimmer. The sites are located in the western San Fernando...

A new LA Unified police diversion program, which replaces arrests with counseling, is keeping hundreds of students out of the city’s criminal justice system. “If we didn’t have this program, a lot would have gone into a courtroom and before a judge,” said LAUSD police chief Steven Zipperman, in a presentation yesterday to the district’s school...

By Jasmine Garsd It’s been a year since thousands of unaccompanied minors surged into the U.S., overwhelming some school districts. These children, many of whom don’t speak English and have lived through violence, trauma and abuse, pose a serious challenge to schools. Some districts weren’t ready. Oakland, Calif., was. It was spring of 2014, well...

Friedrichs v. CTA: What you need to know about challenge to union dues The lawsuit challenges the authority of the CTA and other public-employee unions to collect mandatory fees, a main source of their income and, by extension, their power. EdSource, by John Fensterwald More than half of LGBT students have felt unsafe at school...

LA Unified plant managers are putting together a things-to-do list for every school in the district to prepare for a possible record El Niño. Everything from cleaning out gutters to replacing a roof could help schools weather a strong storm system that is forecast to start this winter and last through spring. The concerns were...

In a room set to accommodate 300, fewer than 50 signed in at the Roybal Learning Center auditorium last night to give their input into what they want to see in LA Unified’s next superintendent. “We are just beginning,”  said Hank Gmitro, president of the firm conducting the search, Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates. “We provide...

The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) will be seeking an injunction in Los Angeles County Superior Court to stop what it says is illegal interference by officials at Alliance College-Ready Public Schools against a unionization effort by some of its teachers. The LA teachers union, UTLA, is currently attempting to unionize the teachers at...

The LA teachers union, UTLA, organized a press conference at at Hamilton High School in Palms yesterday to draw attention to what it says is overcrowding in classrooms at the school. The press conference featured parents, teachers and students. “If we don’t get the quality education that we need to succeed, then we are being set...

California’s 2013-14 grad rate increased from year before The state’s graduation rate mirrored the previously announced national average of 81 percent. EdSource, by Theresa Harrington Final budget report notes big school spending upturn The Proposition 98 minimum school funding guarantee has jumped almost 32 percent from the depth of the recession to surpass $68.4 billion...