Fewer California parents refuse to vaccinate children The number of California parents who refuse to vaccinate their kindergartners dropped in 2014 for the first time in a dozen years. Los Angeles Times Legislative leaders want to debate school bond Gov. Jerry Brown has made it clear he doesn’t like the idea of issuing another statewide...

How safe is your child’s sports field? KCET recently took an in-depth look at “crumb rubber” synthetic fields and the recent reports of possible health hazards related to them. The segment, which features interviews with parents, city officials, an LA Unified official and experts, focuses on parks in Los Angeles and at LA Unified that have crumb rubber...

Students from 18 LA Unified schools will be taking part in the third-annual Aspen Challenge on Saturday at the César E. Chávez Learning Academies in San Fernando. Launched by the Aspen Institute and the Bezos Family Foundation,the Aspen Challenge provides a forum for high school students and teachers to take on some of the world’s most pressing...

By EdVoice To ensure that every student in California has an effective and supportive teacher, schools and districts need to provide educators the help they need to thrive. And to target help and support to best meet the needs of teachers, schools need to conduct meaningful performance evaluations of instructional staff and leadership that include...

‘Village’ program supports at-risk LAUSD students The novel program brings together volunteers and students of diverse backgrounds into campus “villages” to support an encourage young men. NBC Los Angeles Officials fight back against anti-immunization parents Health officials have long been frustrated with the increasing number of parents who decline to have their children vaccinated. Los...

A measles outbreak that has been traced to starting at Disneyland last month has returned the issue of declining immunization rates to the headlines. So far, the outbreak has spread to 54 people across California, at least three other states and Mexico. Today, the Los Angels Times reported that the outbreak is the state’s worst...

As part of its contract negotiations, the teachers union, UTLA, is asking LA Unified for a new approach to school oversight, a demand that seeks to move decisions on school management and operations into the collective bargaining process. In effect, the proposal would insinuate UTLA into areas now the sole province of the board and...

* UPDATED   LA Unified is getting close to fixing its schools most in need of repair. Superintendent Ramon Cortines has developed a priority list for rehabilitating 11 campuses, once the Bond Oversight Committee, then the school board approve his plans. In a memo to school board members last week, Cortines said he would present...

LA Unified school board President Richard Vladovic’s campaign today filed an ethics complaint against one of his challengers in the school board race for District 7. Vladovic’s complaint to the City Ethics Commission charges Euna Anderson with failing to report campaign contributions in a timely fashion, in compliance with the California Political Reform Act. A section of the...

LA Unified is facing yet another civil suit connected to a former teacher at Miramonte Elementary School after an LA County Superior Court judge ruled today that the case can move forward. The case, E.Z. v LAUSD, was filed May 7 and involves a single plaintiff who says she was a student of Mark Berndt‘s in 1996-1997,...