Among the biggest challenges facing California school districts in the coming years is a growing teacher shortage. Enrollment in teacher preparation programs has plummeted since 2008, and more than 100,000 teachers are expected to retire in the next decade. Despite the gathering storm, the state lacks any cohesive strategy to solving the problem, according to a...

The LA Unified board takes its first step in choosing a new superintendent, with a largely closed door meeting scheduled for tomorrow night. It’s a baby step, with the seven-member board most likely deciding on the parameters and requirements for a head-hunting firm that will bring them the top names for the position. While it’s a lofty...

By Claudio Sanchez Many high schoolers hoping to attend George Washington University in Washington, D.C., one of the top private universities in the country, breathed a sigh of relief this week. GWU announced it will no longer require applicants to take the SAT or ACT. The move comes after the school formed a task force...

The Rookies of the Year have been chosen among the LAUSD new teachers, and 23 of them will be going to the Dodgers play the Angels Sunday at Dodger Stadium. The winners were selected from among 920 first-year teachers last year, 87 of whom were nominated by school administrators and new teacher support staff. The winners were...

Principals at K-12, option and early education schools at LA Unified will start the 2015-16 school year next month working under a new evaluation system that was developed over the course of a two-year, no-stakes pilot program. The new system was announced in the recent newsletter of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), the...

By Paul E. Peterson and Martin R. West | Education Next Testing and accountability have become a focal point of the congressional debate over the new federal education bill designed to replace No Child Left Behind (NCLB), originally scheduled to expire in 2007. The Senate and the House have each passed a bill revising the...

With LA Unified needing another $40 billion or so to modernize every school, it is likely that the district will ask voters for a lot more through bond sales in the coming years. But a new report from the California Policy Center says voters should be more skeptical and engaged when it comes to construction bonds, arguing that...

In a new position statement, a coalition of food professionals from the nation’s six largest school districts, including LA Unified, is asking for triple the amount of money now provided per school lunch by the USDA and allowing for more free meals as well as autonomy on how to serve them. The Urban School Food Alliance, which also...

To keep local children fed and ready for school the next day, LA Unified officials are hoping to expand the program that serves dinners to students who remain at school hours after the final bell. Already 76,000 meals a day are provided around dinner time at 584 schools in the district’s After School Supper Program,...