*UPDATE The first civil trial against LA Unified over the sex abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary School is headed to court later this week but first, a County Superior Court judge has ordered the two sides to meet for a last ditch effort to settle the case. Judge John Shepard Wiley has ordered the district to...

In a race still too close to call, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction election between incumbent Tom Torlakson and Marshall Tuck may come down to an unlikely pairing of minorities and Republicans. “There’s going to be a coalition of Republicans and minority voters if Tuck is going to do well on election day,” said Michael Madrid,...

Can LA Unified be saved? This difficult question is examined in the in latest episode of the PBS SoCal show, “Studio SoCal.” The episode features an in-depth discussion among the hosts Elizabeth Espinosa and Rick Reiff, reporter David Nazar and California Teachers Empowerment Network President Larry Sand, a frequent critic of UTLA, the LA teachers union. It also...

Ron Chandler, LA Unified’s Chief Information Officer and the public face of the district’s two biggest technology programs, iPads and the new student-tracking system, resigned today in a shuffling of the district’s Information Technology Department. The move is the latest and most decisive change during Ramon Cortines‘s first two weeks as superintendent, and it comes as...

* UPDATED Ron Chandler, LA Unified’s Chief Information Officer and the official responsible for the implementation of MiSiS, the new student-tracking system, has has resigned after four years with the district. The move represents the most decisive change in Ramon Cortines’s first two weeks as superintendent. It comes as the district continues efforts to clean...

After the downpour of bad news coming out of the district here’s a ray of sunshine: Graduation rates for all race and ethnic groups in LA Unified were up by double-digit margins last year. Across the board graduation rates for the class of 2013-14 rose by 12 percent over the previous year, the highest increase...

Via Education Week | By Peter Cunningham In the interest of seeding progress, not scoring points, I offer the following feedback to American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten in response to her Oct. 22 speech to the West Coast Labor Management Institute in the wake of John Deasy’s recent resignation as the superintendent of the Los...

LA Unified police say $8 million needed to keep iPad-toting students safe Los Angeles Unified school police say 80 new officers are needed to provide “safe passage” for students walking home from school with $500 iPads. KPCC Parents, teachers deliver 100,000 signatures to Time, demanding apology Teachers, parents and union leaders gathered in front of...

A consultant to the committee that oversees how LA Unified spends taxpayer bond dollars today recommended a complete overhaul of the district’s Information Technology operations, suggesting the district might consider outsourcing the entire department. Tom Rubin delivered the report to the Bond Oversight Committee, blasting the IT department and asserting that the recent bungled rollout...

As support in the state for the idea is growing, the LA Unified school board next month is scheduled to vote on a resolution requiring an ethnic studies course for all district students as a high school graduation requirement. The resolution was introduced by board member Bennett Kayser and would begin the process with a pilot...