By Elizabeth A. Harris Students are not the only ones struggling to pass new standardized tests being rolled out around the country. So are those who want to be teachers. Concerned that education schools were turning out too many middling graduates, states have been introducing more difficult teacher licensing exams. Perhaps not surprisingly, passing rates have...

Early education makes substantial gains in state budget The final budget deal struck by lawmakers on Tuesday provides more than $300 million for early education. Ed Source Editorial: Keeping better tabs on California’s education funding The LCFF will work only if districts are committed to spending the money for the benefit of the disadvantaged students...

LA Unified school board Vice President Steve Zimmer was honored recently by the Los Angeles Food Policy Council for his efforts in getting the district to take a more progressive approach to food purchasing.  The council developed the Good Food Purchasing Program, which LA Unified adopted in 2012 and strengthened in late 2014 with two “Good Food” resolutions that Zimmer...

Aspire Public Schools, which operates 10 independent charter schools in LA Unified, today named Carolyn Hack as its new CEO. Hack, who is chief financial and operating officer for Uncommon Schools in New York, will replace outgoing CEO James Willcox, who is stepping down in September. “We are delighted that Carolyn Hack will be the next leader of Aspire,” Aspire...

The LA Unified board yesterday provided a closer look at how the district plans to spend next year’s $7.1 billion budget, including a windfall of $415 million that is expected to cover ongoing costs and to expand priorities established through community engagement called the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). The board meeting was the final...

By Eilene Zimmerman Andrea and I sat cramped around a little two-top table at a Starbucks near her apartment, materials from her U.S. government class spread out before us. The handouts were photocopied news articles about teenagers pursuing The American Dream, the topic of an essay Andrea was writing. There was the Somali “Lost Boy”...

The LA Unified school board is scheduled to meet today at 2:30 p.m. The meeting will primarily be dedicated to discussing the budget and LCAP spending, and many guest speakers are expected. Board member Monica Ratliff will also introduce a resolution that would extend the term limits of the board president from two years to...

With the national mood trending toward schools solving more and more of their students’ social problems, a new report by the Economic Policy Institute takes a look at the issues that schools alone cannot solve but depress student performance. What kind of services public school districts should provide and the problems they should solve seems...

By Sam Stein & Jason Cherkis The aftermath of school shootings is now all too familiar. The shock of the breaking news, the scenes of school evacuations, the ensuing political debate and the inevitable inaction. And for Ed Burke, the wave of new customers. As CEO of the Massachusetts-based company Bullet Blocker, Burke sells one...